Experts say NYPD commissioner resigned because she was made 'powerless.' The mayor disagrees.

A day after the NYPD’s first female commissioner announced her plans to resign, Mayor Eric Adams said he had unwavering faith in her ability to lead. But members of law enforcement and policing experts told Gothamist his actions told a different story — saying Adams, a former officer himself, regularly undermined Commissioner Keechant Sewell — a habit that may have finally driven her from her post.

“I told the commissioner from the beginning: ‘As long as I’m mayor, you can be my commissioner. I like you as a professional and I like you as a person,’” he told reporters during an unrelated press conference Tuesday.

Adams has been clear since his campaign that public safety is one of his top priorities, and that he wants to put his own stamp on the city’s approach to policing. He’s a former police officer himself, and he often cites his law enforcement experience when attempting to justify his strategies.

Many observers of the NYPD and the mayor’s office have suggested that Adams and Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Philip Banks, both retired NYPD officers, have played an outsized role in the leadership of the department.

At public safety-related press conferences, Banks and Adams often speak before Sewell, and the mayor typically takes the mic for longer. Banks has also been leading weekly public safety briefings — not Sewell.

Law enforcement experts said Sewell didn’t have the space to set her own vision for the department while Adams has spearheaded his own initiatives, including reviving the disbanded anti-crime units as the newly branded Neighborhood Safety Teams and flooding of the subways with officers to assuage fears about transit crime. It’s unclear how Sewell felt about those tactics, because she’s given few interviews and rarely goes off script when speaking with reporters.

Michael Alcazar, a retired detective and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said he had been hearing rumors for months that the police commissioner was planning to step down.

“I was actually surprised she stayed on this long,” he said.

Alcazar said it’s not uncommon for police commissioners to be reined in by the mayors who appointed them. He said it seemed like Sewell had also been “handcuffed.”

Former officer Jillian Snider, also a professor at John Jay, said she believed that Sewell felt “powerless” in her role. In a text message, she said Adams “chiseled away her independence and diminished the astute leadership abilities she possesses” by hiring Banks as the deputy mayor of public safety — a position that has not existed in recent administrations.

Adams tried to dispel claims that Banks is the de-facto police commissioner.

“That’s been a narrative that you had all along. You’ve been saying that,” he told reporters, placing the blame on journalists for spinning a tale about what he considered to be nonexistent power struggles. “Deputy Mayor Banks is a Deputy Mayor of Public Safety.”

Banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘Wasting her talents’

Detective Christopher Muchow, who worked with Sewell at the Nassau County Police Department, said he felt like Sewell “wasn’t allowed to do her job.”

“I believe that that’s the NYPD’s loss. And sadly, that’s the loss of the residents in New York City, because they had one of the greatest in law enforcement,” said Muchow, Second Vice President of Nassau County Detectives Association. “I think somebody’s wasting her talents.”

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told the Len Berman and Michael Riedel In The Morning show it seems like there were too many people “clouding” Sewell’s decisions.

“I think if she had been left to her own devices, she would have done an even better job,” he said. “But there are a lot of cooks in the NYPD kitchen at the moment, and Mayor Adams is going to have to sort out who’s running the police department.”

Former NYPD Lieutenant John Macari said rank-and-file officers have struggled to make sense of what have felt at times like competing law enforcement philosophies: the return of “broken windows” style enforcement of low-level crimes and progressive laws and policies that urge officers to use more restraint.

“It’s a completely mixed message,” Macari said.

Sewell was the first woman to lead the nation’s largest police department, a historic pick that followed promises from Adams on the campaign trail to pick a female commissioner. But several observers noted that, even though a woman was technically in charge, it seemed like the men around her were making many of the decisions.

“At a time when police morale is already at an all-time low, having the first female police commissioner resign just 18 months into her appointment will no doubt be disheartening to the rank-and-file,” Snider said.

In an email to NYPD staff, Sewell noted the challenges members of the department face, like excessive overtime, barriers to getting promoted and a disciplinary system that doesn’t always feel fair or timely. She said their wellness has been one of her priorities.

“While my time here will come to a close, I will never step away from my advocacy and support for the NYPD,” she said.

The commissioner did not explain why she was leaving or provide a timeline for her departure.

But in the meantime, Adams said the department would continue working to keep New Yorkers safe.

“It’s a well-oiled machine,” the mayor said. “She put in place a platform that we can all build on. And we’re going to continue to build on it.”

Adams said New Yorkers elected him to be mayor, and that he plays an active role in every agency — not just the NYPD.

“Every agency understands that this is a mayor that wants to know: what product are you giving New Yorkers?”

Adams said he’s just following his mom’s advice to “inspect what you expect or it’s all suspect.”

“Some people may call that a micromanager,” he said. “I call it being mayor of the city that you love, and taxpayers elected me to give them the product they deserve.”

Adams said he has a short list of potential replacements but didn’t share who was on that list. Several current and former officers said they’d heard First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban may be tapped for the role.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Eric Adams is the first former police officer to serve as mayor.