NEW YORK — Nassau County Chief of Detectives Keechant Sewell has been named as the new police commissioner of the NYPD by mayor-elect Eric Adams.
“I’m here to meet the moment,” Sewell told the New York Post in an interview Tuesday, just a few weeks before she becomes the city’s 45th police commissioner.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, has long said he would appoint a woman to the position and his team launched a nationwide search as the department and its officers are at a crossroads over a dramatic rise in violent crime amid several years of anti-police reforms.
“I’m very humbled to even be considered for this and it’s an extraordinary opportunity. And I take it very seriously, the historic nature of this,” she said.
The 49-year-old from Long Island is a surprise choice since she’s recently led just 351 uniformed officers for the past 15 months. Yet Adam called it a “gut choice.”
According to sources, the incoming mayor has favored her since the hunt began for the next leader of the largest police department in the country with more than 52,000 members.
“Keechant Sewell is a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve,” Adams told the Post.
“Chief Sewell will wake up every day laser-focused on keeping New Yorkers safe and improving our city, and I am thrilled to have her at the helm of the NYPD,” he said.
Sewell — a 25-year police veteran — will replace Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“I want to let them know that we are absolutely focused on violent crime. Violent crime is the No. 1 priority,” she said.
Sewell will be the first woman to take charge of the department in its 176 years.
