Caban becomes first Latino to lead the NYPD

Edward Caban, who joined the New York Police Department as a young patrol officer in 1991 and rose through the ranks, was sworn in Monday as police commissioner, becoming the first Latino to lead the 178-year-old department.

Mayor Eric Adams administered the oath of office in front of the Bronx stationhouse where Caban started his career, and praised his new police commissioner as "representative of this blue-collar city."

Caban, the son of a transit police officer who served with Adams when the now-mayor was on the transit force, said he joined the NYPD as "a young Puerto Rican kid" at a time when "the top bosses of the police department didn't really look like me."

His beaming father, retired Detective Juan Caban, and other family members joined Caban as he was sworn in as the city's top police official.

Caban thanked Adams for choosing him to head the 33,000-member police department.

"To be the first Hispanic police commissioner is an honor of the highest measure," Caban said.

Caban, 55, has served as acting commissioner since the resignation of Keechant Sewell, who announced last month that she was stepping down after 18 months.

Sewell, the first woman to lead the department, did not provide a reason for her resignation, but there had been speculation that other officials including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III, an Adams ally, were undermining her authority.

Adams and Caban both praised Sewell, who did not attend her successor's swearing-in.

"Commissioner Sewell smashed a glass ceiling," Caban said, "and she did so with grace, confidence and honor."

NYPD unions, who like the rank and file admired Sewell, congratulated the new commissioner. 

“He comes from good stock: his father was a First Grade detective. He understands what we need to get the job done. That’s more detectives in precinct squads where case loads often exceed 500 per detective,” The president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo, said. 

The PBA president, Patrick Hendry, welcomed Caban but asked that he begin to deal with a shortage of cops from the off. 

“We know he knows what New York City police officers are going through right now, and that strong leadership is needed to reverse the current staffing crisis,” he said. “There is no time to waste. We look forward to getting back to work with him immediately to improve quality-of-life for our police officers and ensure public safety for our entire city.”

The Legal Aid Society, whose attorneys represent many who are arrested by city cops, said Caban needs to work to improve the NYPD’s relationship with the public. 

“This starts with acknowledging that law enforcement isn’t a panacea for many community issues and that initiatives like the evidence-based CURE Violence model must take precedence over the continued revamping of the racist and fraught policies and practices of yesteryear,” a statement from the organization said. 

It also asked Caban to repudiate what it called “the culture of impunity” that it said exists within the department. 

Nearly 1/3 of cops are Hispanic

Adams said Caban, who served as first deputy commissioner under Sewell, had "worked side by side with Commissioner Sewell to deliver double digit decreases in shootings and murders."

Caban worked in several precincts across the city as he climbed the ranks from patrol officer to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, executive officer, commanding officer, deputy inspector, inspector and first deputy commissioner.

The police department he will lead, the nation's largest, is more diverse than the largely white and male police force he joined 32 years ago.

According to department figures, 31 percent of uniformed officers are Hispanic, a slightly higher number than the 29 percent of the city's population identified as Hispanic by the Census Bureau.

About 11 percent of the department's officers are Asian and about 16 percent are Black, compared with a city population that is about 14 percent Asian and 24 percent Black.

Richard Khavkine contributed