New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell resigned from her position on Monday afternoon in a surprise announcement that left her department reeling. According to a mayoral adviser, Sewell walked in unannounced to Mayor Eric Adams’s office, spoke to him for about 15 minutes, then sent a department-wide email announcing her resignation. The 51-year-old had made several public appearances in the days before her announcement, making it all the more unexpected. Sewell had not given any indication to her aides that she was planning to step down.
There had been rumors for a year that Sewell’s authority was being undermined by other appointees in the department, including Philip Banks III, the deputy mayor of public safety, and Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to Mayor Adams. Sewell had stripped the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Jeffrey Maddrey, of 10 vacation days, after he had interfered with the arrest of a retired officer. Moreover, she had been told not to make discretionary promotions even at the lower levels of the department without the Adams administration’s clearance.
According to Kenneth Corey, a former chief of the department, Sewell was being gradually stripped of power. Corey praised Sewell’s professionalism, intelligence, and integrity, and said her resignation had “devastated” and angered many officers.
Sewell’s decision to step down was her own, and she didn’t provide any reason for her departure. The mayor praised Sewell, calling her “probably my proudest appointment” at a news conference, and said he was a deeply involved manager.
Sewell and Adams had both been expected to attend a celebration at Police Department headquarters, but Adams canceled at 6 p.m. on the evening of her resignation. Little is known about the conversation that happened between the mayor and Sewell, or what led to her resignation. Sewell said that it was “time to move on” in a phone call with Patrick Ryder, commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department, where Sewell was formerly the chief of detectives.
Sewell had made a public appearance at the Police Athletic League ceremony the day after her resignation, where she was given a standing ovation. A total of 200 people, including Chief Maddrey, clapped for Sewell for about two minutes before she gave a four-minute speech, encouraging the students to consider making a career in law enforcement. Sewell had been the Police Commissioner for less than 18 months, with a salary of approximately $243,000 a year.