NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell says goodbye to the 34,000-member department

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said goodbye to the 34,000-member department she led for 18 months during an emotional ceremony Friday punctuated by two standing ovations for the Nassau County resident.

Sewell, 51, the first woman to hold the top spot in the NYPD, wept openly following the promotions ceremony, as she was embraced by many department staffers and chiefs at the police academy in Queens.

A special commemorative video about her career in the NYPD and the significant decrease in violent crime she presided over was played during the ceremony.

“I ask you to lead with integrity, courage and compassion,” Sewell told the officers at the ceremony in final remarks before promotions were announced. “I will be watching.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who law enforcement sources said constricted Sewell with his micromanaging style of governing, did not attend the ceremony in which about 100 people received promotions.

But Adams’ chief adviser, Chaplain Ingrid Lewis-Martin, appeared with a delegation of City Hall officials and five deputy mayors to give Sewell hugs and good wishes.

“We love you,” Lewis-Martin said as she gave Sewell a large flower bouquet.

 Earlier, Sewell mentioned a number of retired NYPD officers and made special note of 100-year-old Norman Halliday of Englewood, N.J., who  became a beat cop in the Bronx in 1945. Halliday got a round of applause as Sewell introduced him to the crowd at the academy in College Point. 

Sewell never revealed why she so abruptly announced on June 12 she was quitting one of the most prestigious jobs in policing. Coming into the city after a stint as chief of detectives with the Nassau County Police Department, Sewell took the job with fanfare in January 2022 and presided over a number of efforts to drive down violence and increase community ties.

Sewell officially leaves her post at midnight Saturday.  First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban, 57, will take over the vacancy by operation of law.

“We're going to find a suitable replacement to the continued success that Commissioner Sewell put in place,” Adams said in a radio interview Friday. 

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.