Tom Donlon officially took over as the NYPD’s interim police commissioner, replacing Eddie Caban. But while there may be a new head of the nation’s largest police force, the effects of Caban’s resignation will continue to reverberate across the administration of Mayor Eric Adams. NBC New York’s Melissa Russo reports.
Tom Donlon officially assumed duties as interim NYPD commissioner, the third top cop of the Adams administration so far, when the embattled outgoing chief's resignation took effect at the end of the workday Friday.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned Thursday from his post helming the country's largest police department amid a federal investigation into its nightclub enforcement, according to a memo obtained by News 4.
The transition became official at 5 p.m. Friday.
"My complete focus must be on the NYPD – the Department I profoundly honor and have dedicated my career to serving," Caban's statement said in part. "However, the noise around recent developments has made that impossible and has hindered the important work our city requires. I have therefore decided it is in the best interest of the Department that I resign as Commissioner."
"After 30 years of service to this city, I hold immense respect and gratitude for its brave officers, and must put their interests before my own," he added. "I believe firmly in the vital role of leaders with integrity, who, by example, demonstrate the difference between right and wrong every day. I will continue to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation."
Caban, who was appointed to the job in July 2023, became the first Latino to serve as commissioner of the NYPD in its 179-year history. It wasn't immediately clear when the resignation would take effect.
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It means Mayor Eric Adams is looking at his third police commissioner in less than three years.
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Adams said at an afternoon briefing that he had accepted the resignation and wishes Caban well. He also said his administration, rocked by a series of investigations, remained focus on running the city. He announced Tom Donlon, who has extensive experience in law enforcement at local, state and federal levels of government, as the interim.
Adams' current campaign chairman and former chief of staff, Frank Carone, helped broker Caban's departure, urging him with the mayor's blessing to step aside, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
Earlier in the week, Adams declined to say whether Caban had been barred from communicating with federal law enforcement agencies, which work in close cooperation with the NYPD.
The development comes days after News 4 reported the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division had joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in the inquiry.
At least one phone belonging to Caban was among several the SDNY and IRS seized from multiple NYPD officials, His twin brother, who owns a nightclub security business, also had his phone seized in the corruption investigation.
Several sources tell NBC New York federal investigators want to know if James Caban profited from his ties to his powerful brother and the NYPD. Specifically, the investigation is looking into whether James Caban was paid by bars and clubs in Midtown and Queens to act as a police liaison, and if those clubs were then afforded special treatment by local precincts, the sources said.
Other questions being investigated are if officers were asked to crack down harder on clubs that did not do business with the commissioner's brother or if promotions were given to officers who played along with the potential scheme, according to sources.
An NYPD spokesperson has said the department is aware of and fully cooperating in the investigation.
No one has been charged.
In a joint statement Thursday, Caban's attorneys lauded his legacy as a public servant.
“Commissioner Caban is an accomplished public servant who has dedicated his life to the safety and security of the people of this great city and maintains unwavering respect for the women and men of the New York City Police Department," Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski, partners at Cooley LLP said in a statement. "We have been informed by the government that he is not a target of any investigation being conducted by the Southern District of New York, and he expects to cooperate fully with the government.”
News 4 left several messages for James Caban on his phone and with a family member upon the initial report of the investigation. They were not returned.
