New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban has resigned a week after it came to light that federal authorities had raided his home and seized his phone, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced.
The federal government has launched multiple criminal probes into the city government, that have involved officials including Mr Caban, the city’s first Latino police commissioner.
Mr Caban’s resignation left Adams to appoint a new leader of the world’s largest police force for a third time in three years.
He tapped Tom Donlon, who ran the FBI’s National Threat Center and helped lead the investigation into the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center by the city’s police force.
During a brief news conference on Thursday afternoon, Adams praised Mr Caban’s tenure as the head of the NYPD, noting that there was “a drop in crime for 13 of the 14 months he served as commissioner”.
He then thanked Mr Donlon, a native of the Bronx, “for stepping in during this critical moment”.
He noted that along with investigating the 1993 Twin Towers bombing, Mr Donlon helped probe the attacks on US embassies in Africa and the USS Cole in Yemen by al Qaeda.
Mr Caban sent a letter – obtained by BBC’s US partner CBS News – announcing his departure to members of the NYPD on Thursday.
“I hold immense respect and gratitude for the brave officers who serve this department, and the NYPD deserves someone who can solely focus on protecting and serving New York City, which is why – for the good of this city and this department – I have made the difficult decision to resign as Police Commissioner,” he wrote.
Mr Caban led the NYPD since 2023. He is considered a close ally of Mayor Adams.
He wrote in his letter that the raid on his home and the accompanying investigation had “created a distraction for our department”.
Other top New York officials appointed by the mayor – who has faced a corruption probe that appears to be unrelated to this case – also saw their homes raided last week.
Those officials included First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III and Chancellor of New York City Public Schools David C Banks.
US attorneys seized their phones, along with the phone of Mr Caban’s twin brother, as part of their ongoing investigations.
There is no indication whether Mr Caban or other city officials have been involved in wrongdoing, or are the subjects of the investigations.