NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has named Brooklyn North Chief Jeffrey Maddrey the new head of the department's Community Affairs Bureau, with a broad mandate -- a "clean slate for change," he announced Wednesday.
Current community affairs chief Nilda Hofmann will take over the NYPD's Transportation Bureau, where she will work closely with state and city agencies, while Judith Harrison, the head of Special Victims, will take over the role Maddrey leads as commander of Brooklyn North.
Known for his community policing efforts, Maddrey recently took a knee with protesters demonstrating over the death of George Floyd. It came amid during the chaos of the earlier protests in the days immediately following Floyd's death, when demonstrators had tense clashes with police and late-night looting destroyed stores from midtown Manhattan to the Bronx.
At the time, Maddrey said he understood the pain felt by the Black community.
"They're hurt. They're upset. They are not our enemies. We just have to show them that we do understand their pain and that we do love them," Maddrey said. "Those are our brothers and sisters, but we just have to figure out how we can work with them, let them know that we want to do their protests in peace."
The peaceful gesture was broken up minutes later when glass bottles were thrown into the crowd. Police officers dispersed the group and mayhem followed.
Maddrey first joined the NYPD in 1991 in Queens' 110th Precinct and steadily climbed through the ranks, from street cop to lieutenant to assistant chief inspector before assuming his current role in Brooklyn.
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The latest shakeups come as the NYPD implements sweeping changes to address long-stalled reform needs. Last week, Shea announced he would eliminate the department's plainclothes anti-crime units as part of a move toward more community policing. Hundreds of officers are being reassigned to detective work or neighborhood policing roles.
