A black woman, Juanita Holmes, was promoted Thursday to one of the key New York police stations, a first that should help restore confidence in a police under fire from criticism since the Black Lives Matter movement.
New York Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Juanita Holmes head of patrols, placing her in charge of the 77 police stations and a majority of police officers for the NYPD, the United States’ largest municipal police force with nearly 35,000 employees.
“It’s incredibly important that the police leaders look like the city (…), that they really feel the neighborhoods and the people,” said the Democratic mayor.
After 30 years of rising in the police force, and a brief experience in the private sector, Mrs. Holmes was already, since December, as person in charge of the “collaboration” with the population, the most senior woman of the NYPD.
She admitted her appointment came in “a troubled time” for New York police.
The NYPD was first accused of numerous brutalities during the massive Black Lives Matter protests that rocked New York City following the death of George Floyd in late May. Then to have eased off, contributing to an outbreak of homicides and shootings, for the first time since the 1990s.
An unusually high number of police have left or want to retire, a sign of low morale. And the previous Patrol Chief, of Dominican origin, had recently resigned, after less than a year in his post, after disagreements with the mayor, according to local media.
The main New York police union, hostile to Mr. De Blasio and calling for the re-election of Donald Trump, applauded the appointment of Ms. Holmes.
“New York police are in desperate need of capable leaders like Chief Holmes who can stand up to politicians and help stem the city’s decline,” tweeted its chairman, Patrick Lynch.
As the city prepares for a particularly tense period as the November 3 presidential election approaches, and drastic budget cuts due to the fiscal shortfall linked to the pandemic, Holmes pledged to work to “restore the New Yorkers’ confidence ”in the police, in particular by deepening the community policing efforts already underway, which should in turn boost police morale.
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