By Canadian Press

New York City police commissioner resigns after his phone was seized in federal investigation

Sep 12, 2024 | 10:44 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned Thursday, one week after it emerged that his phone was seized as part of a federal investigation that touched several members of Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle.

Caban said he made the decision to resign after the “news around recent developments” had “created a distraction for our department,” according to an email to the police department obtained by The Associated Press.

“I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD,” he added.

It was not immediately clear who will replace Caban as police commissioner. Inquiries to the police department were not returned.

Caban was one of several high-ranking city officials whose electronic devices were seized last week by federal investigators, according to people familiar with the matter. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

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The subject of the investigation, which is being led by U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, remains unclear. It was not immediately clear whether federal authorities were seeking information linked to one investigation or several.

Federal authorities are also investigating Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, who runs a nightclub security business, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Edward Caban, 57, had been in charge of the nation’s largest police department for about 15 months. Of Puerto Rican heritage, he was the first Latino to lead the 179-year-old NYPD.

Other officials whose devices were recently seized include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; his brother David Banks, the city’s schools chancellor; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former high-ranking NYPD official.

The searches added to a flurry of investigative activity around Adams’ administration and his campaign. Adams, a first-term Democrat, was subpoenaed in July, eight months after federal agents seized his cell phones and an iPad while he was leaving an event in Manhattan. Federal authorities haven’t publicly accused him or any officials of any crimes, and Adams has denied any wrongdoing.

The investigation that led to Caban’s devices being seized is not believed to be tied to a probe that led federal investigators to seize Adams’ devices last November, according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

On Tuesday, Adams acknowledged that the sudden increase in federal scrutiny had “raised a lot of questions and a lot of concerns.”

Caban joined the department as a patrol officer in 1991 in the Bronx, where he grew up. His father, retired Detective Juan Caban, had served with Adams, a former police captain, when they were both on the city’s transit police force. Three of Caban’s brothers were also police officers.

Caban worked in precincts across the city, rising to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, executive officer, commanding officer, deputy inspector and inspector. He was the department’s first deputy commissioner, second-in-command, before being named commissioner last year.

Caban replaced Keechant Sewell, the first woman to lead the force. She resigned 18 months into a tenure clouded by speculation that she was not truly in control of the department after Adams appointed ex-NYPD chief Philip Banks as his deputy mayor of public safety. She is now the senior vice president of security and guest experience for the New York Mets.

“There is nothing in the world like public service,” Caban said in an interview with his alma mater, St. John’s University, after his appointment. “My father taught me that every day on the job is an opportunity to change lives, and in the NYPD we get to do that every single day.”

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 1, the department tallied 243 murders, compared with 279 in the same period last year. Burglary, grand larceny and auto thefts were also down. At the same time, there was a 17.8% spike in reported hate crimes, 11.1% jump in rapes and smaller increases in some other categories.

Caban was also criticized for his handling of officer discipline.

In April, he declined to take any internal department disciplinary action against two involved in the fatal 2019 shooting of a Black man, Kawaski Trawick, inside his Bronx apartment. Caban said the officers “acted within the law” and that the city’s police watchdog agency waited too long to bring administrative charges.

In August, Caban upheld a department administrative trial judge’s recommendation to drop a disciplinary case against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, who was accused of ordering officers to void the November 2021 arrest of a retired officer who previously worked for him. The trial judge, Rosemarie Maldonado, said the watchdog agency didn’t have jurisdiction to investigate the case.

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press