Keechant Sewell will be the first woman to lead the New York Police Department, the largest police force in the United States, revealed that city’s newly elected mayor, Eric Adams on Wednesday.
New York’s mayor, who was elected November 2, has appointed Long Island Police Officer Keechant Sewell to be the city’s next police commissioner, who would become the third black person to hold the position.
Eric Adams, the former captain of the New York Police Department, was released on Wednesday, breaking barriers in one of the most important and powerful positions within his administration, the Associated Press reported.
“She’s the right woman for the job,” the mayor said during a news conference in his “neighbourhood” in Queens, where she appeared alongside Sewell.
“He has carried a sledgehammer with him throughout his career and smashed all the glass ceilings placed in his path. Today [quarta-feira], destroyed the last one we needed in New York City,” Eric Adams added.
Keechant Sewell, 49, now chief detective for Nassau County, NY, replaces Dermot Shea, who is retired from the NYPD [polícia de Nova Iorque] After 30 years.
The new Chief of Police and the new Mayor will take office on January 1, 2022.
During the campaign, Eric Adams promised that he would appoint a woman as commissioner.
Former Seattle Chief Carmen Best, Philadelphia Commissioner Daniel Outlaw, former Newark Chief Yvonne Roman and NYPD Chief Juanita Holmes were also selected as candidates.
For the new “mayor” of the North American city, Sewell was distinguished by her “emotional intelligence,” describing her as “calm, controlled, and confident.”
Benjamin Ward and Lee Brown were the last blacks to take command of the NYPD, serving in the 1980s and 1990s.
As a mission, Keechant Sewell will strive to keep crime levels low after years of reaching historic levels.
The rise in shootings and killings is part of a national trend recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, although security forces are also blaming state reforms that scrapped pre-trial detention on several charges.
Kishant Sewell stressed that he would focus on “violent crimes”, particularly those related to firearms.
“We are at a critical moment in New York, as our city faces a dual challenge of public safety and police responsibility. They are not mutually exclusive,” he said during the conference.
New York’s new mayor and police chief have also pledged to diversify the NYPD, which has 35,000 workers, about 45% white, 30% Hispanic, 15% black and 10% Asian.
“Hardcore alcohol maven. Hipster-friendly analyst. Introvert. Devoted social media advocate.”