Janice R. Andrews
It is said that New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban is about to step down because of a high-profile federal probe into corruption involving top officials in Mayor Eric Adams’s administration. Multiple sources quoted by Politico said the announcement could happen within days. However, as of Monday, Caban had not yet resigned, even though city leaders were putting more and more pressure on him to do so.
A spokeswoman for City Hall, Fabien Levy, responded to the rumours by saying, “We are still focused on making sure New Yorkers are safe every single day, and that’s our top priority.” At this point, we’re not going to guess based on rumours.
Mayor Adams supported his choice to hire Caban at a press meeting on Monday, saying that Caban had been serving for decades. Adams said, “I chose him because of his decades of service and what he brought to the table.” Adams wouldn’t say anything about the rumours that he was resigning when asked about them: “I don’t think anything in life is guaranteed.”
Caban’s phone was taken by the FBI last Thursday as part of a probe into corruption in New York City. This news of his retirement comes soon after. Caban’s phone was taken by the FBI, as were the phones of NYPD Chief Raul Pintos and two station leaders. The investigation into Caban seems to be different from another investigation into Adams’ campaign finances. As part of that investigation, federal agents searched the homes of several top aides, such as Deputy Mayor Phil Banks and Sheena Wright.
Wright’s apartment in Upper Manhattan and Banks’ home in Queens were both raided at the same time. The investigation also looked into Terence Banks, who is Phil Banks’ brother and works as a consultant. At the same time, Adams’s other important assistant, Timothy Pearson, had his phone called into court.
The corruption investigation has made people pay more attention to Adams’s government, and City Councilman Robert Holden is leading the calls for Caban to step down. “I do think he has to do something because it does cast a bad, deep shadow over the police department,” Holden told CBS News. “We need to be sure that he’s following the law.” He shows the rest of the group how to do things.
As the investigation goes on, the future of New York’s top cop is unclear, which makes the NYPD and the city’s leaders less sure of what to do.
