Former NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir, who served under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is dead at 81

Howard Safir, whose tenure as New York City's 39th police commissioner was marked by a big reduction in violent crimes and two high-profile episodes involving Black men that dramatically increased tensions between the NYPD and minorities, died on Monday in Maryland, family members and officials said.

Safir, who also was the first Jewish person to serve as the city's top cop, was 81.

The death was reportedly the result of a sepsis infection at a hospital after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

Safir was initially tapped by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to run the FDNY in 1994.

But after then-police Commissioner William Bratton left the job in 1996 after a very public falling out with Giuliani, the mayor appointed Safir to head the NYPD, a job he left in 2000 to work on security consulting.

Growing up in the Bronx and on Long Island, Safir attended Hofstra University in Hempstead and graduated in 1963 with a bachelor of arts in history and political science, according to his online biography.

Safir also attended programs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also reportedly attended Brooklyn Law School for two years without graduating.

Safir and his wife, Carol, had two children: a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Adam.

In a statement, Safir’s daughter described her father as a man “devoted to his family, a leader and mentor in our law enforcement profession, an innovative business owner, and a steadfast advocate for equality, truth and justice.”

Safir’s first significant exposure to government service came in 1965, when he joined the old federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the forerunner of the current Drug Enforcement Administration.

Safir stayed with the DEA and took part in some headline cases, including the arrest in of Timothy Leary and some other fugitives. Safir in 1977 was appointed assistant director of the DEA before he joined the U.S. Marshals Service in 1978, when he became chief of the witness security division, according to his biography, which noted that he retired from the Marshals Service in 1990.

As head of the NYPD, Safir was credited with initiating a number of anti-drug initiatives in various neighborhoods and helped establish closed-circuit television systems in housing areas and subways. Safir also was credited with establishing a firearms simulation training program, which was credited with leading to a marked reduction in firearm discharge incidents by NYPD officers.

Two violent episodes strained his relationship with the Black community: the sodomy attack in a Brooklyn station house of Abner Louima in 1997 and the fatal shooting in the Bronx of Amadou Diallo in February 1999 by anti-crime cops in the Bronx.

When Safir retired from the NYPD, he was reported to have been treated for prostate cancer and went on to hold other jobs in security and in DNA technology.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Bratton said that while his relationship with Safir was initially tense, the men became good friends later in life, professionally and socially.

"Howard had good times and had bad times [as commissioner] … We all had that," said Bratton. "In retrospective he had a very successful life." 

In a statement Tuesday, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban called Safir a dedicated public servant who made groundbreaking strides in the training of police officers.

“Howard Safir was a devote, dynamic leader whose pioneering work in fugitive apprehension, illicit drug enforcement and officer training is still emulated today,” Caban said. “The noblest of pursuits guided him throughout.”

Tom Von Essen, who followed Safir as FDNY commissioner in 1996, said Safir left his mark on the fire department, too.

“In his two short years [at the FDNY], he taught us how far behind we were in techniques, safety and accountability and good management," Von Essen said. "He showed me all of these areas could be improved and I was able to work on them and improve them.”

A wake for Safir will take place on Sept. 20 at the John M. Taylor Funeral Home in Annapolis, Maryland, from 10 a.m. to noon. A service will then immediately take place at the chapel, followed by cremation.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.com

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.