NEW YORK — Even before she finished her first year as New York City’s top cop, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell suggested she was frustrated by those who second-guessed her and told her things they would never tell a man.
“You will get free, unsolicited personal advice,” she told a group of female cops. “Your hairstyle is wrong, you look tired, already worn out in less than a year. You should wear different clothes.
“You’re not qualified — you are in over your head.”
Her comments, during a dinner dance for the Policewomen’s Endowment Association, take on more significance now that Sewell, the first female police commissioner in the city’s history, has resigned.
Or do they?
If anything is clear now, much about Sewell, who resigned Monday, remains unclear.
She kept her resignation plans secret — save for a few in her inner circle to whom she offered the possibility of transfers to the New York Police Department units of their choice, according to two police sources.
Sewell was so private she wouldn’t even say where in the city she sometimes stayed, said one of the sources. But it’s been well-documented she never officially moved to the five boroughs and kept her home on Long Island, thanks to a COVID-19 pause in a rule requiring commissioners to live in the city.
But most importantly, Sewell hasn’t publicly said why she quit.
Numerous police sources have said she grew tired of how Mayor Eric Adams and Deputy Mayor Philip Banks — one a former NYPD captain, the other a former chief of department — micromanaged the NYPD, down to low-level promotions and transfers.
A source close to Sewell, however, said the media overstated ”the meddling you guys talk about.”
“She makes plenty of decisions.” the source said. “She hasn’t lost her power.”
Another source said if Sewell’s hands were tied, she would have felt the heat when she opted to go forward with departmental charges against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, a close ally of the mayor, after the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated a complaint that he abused his authority by voiding the arrest of a retired cop accused of pulling his gun on three teens in Brownsville.
“But nothing happened,” the source said. “What were they going to do? Fire her? Fire the first female police commissioner after you say that if you get elected you’re going to put a woman in charge?”
Now, as Sewell enters her last weeks as commissioner, she is working with First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban, who will serve as interim police commissioner until Mayor Adams decides who will lead the nation’s biggest police force next. It seems likely in her final days, Sewell will opt to maintain her typically low public profile.
Sewell, who has not granted any interviews since her announcement — made via an email sent to every cop on the force — has not indicated where she is headed next. She hasn’t even discussed her future plans with the brass she works with most closely.
There’s speculation she could wind up back on Long Island — she was previously chief of detectives for the Nassau County Police Department — or in a job with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration.
During her time as police commissioner, Sewell railed against the bail reform laws and pressed legislators to consider amendments making it easier to lock up repeat offenders.
Also during Sewell’s tenure, the NYPD started reversing two years of sharp crime spikes— particularly in gun violence. In her first year, murders dropped 11% and shootings declined 17%, even as the overall crime rate spiked 22% compared with 2021.
Crime has stayed mostly flat in 2023 — but is down in significant categories. Murders are down 14% and shootings are down 26%, police data shows.
Sewell on Tuesday morning was greeted with a standing ovation at a One Police Plaza award presentation for students.
For Adams, however, Sewell’s departure is bad news, at least in the short term, according to political observers.
Longtime political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said it’s more likely than not that the storm clouds surrounding Adams over Sewell’s resignation will clear up. But he also believes her departure contributes to the idea that the city is in chaos.
Sheinkopf pointed to the migrant crisis, the city’s fiscal shortcomings and a spike in car thefts as problems feeding that narrative.
“It’s a toxic cocktail for him,” he said, referring to Mayor Adams. “It’s something he needs to correct, and correct publicly.
“It doesn’t matter if she left on her own volition or not, he’s going to get blamed for it because he’s the mayor,” Sheinkopf added, noting that this will be play out most acutely among progressives. “We’re a city that’s obsessed with race, gender and social class. She’s a symbol for progressives of what’s wrong.”
