Eric Adams Names Chief Keechant Sewell as the NYPD’s First Female Police Commissioner

By Yehudit Garmaise

Mayor-elect Eric Adams has chosen, after considering many well-qualified candidates for the job, Nassau County Chief of Detectives Keechant Sewell to serve as the NYPD’s first female police commissioner in the NYPD's 176-year history.

Chief Sewell, who currently serves as the chief of detectives of Nassau County, will replace Commissioner Dermot Shea, who is set to retire within weeks.

The Long Island native has served on the NYPD for 25 years, but now Sewell will be taking the helm of the country’s largest police department, which employs 52,000 officers.

New York’s newest commissioner, who wants to bring order back into New York City, “see what’s not working,” and defended the use of "broken windows policing," which says that civil disorder and damaged buildings need to be attended to immediately, otherwise residents absorb a sense of permissiveness and are encouraged to commit more crimes and create more chaos.

Sewell also said that she supports the anti-crime unit, a controversial NYPD plainclothes unit that Mayor de Blasio disbanded in the summer of 2020, after the unit was criticized for using overly aggressive tactics.

Adams has said many times that he wants to bring back the anti-crime unit as an "anti-gun unit" to go after perpetrators of violent crimes.

“Chief Sewell will wake up every day laser-focused on keeping New Yorkers safe and improving our city, and I am thrilled to have her at the helm of the NYPD,” Mayor-elect Adams said.

For her part, Sewell said she wanted New Yorkers to know that she would be absolutely focused on reducing crime.

“Violent crime is the No. 1 priority,” said Sewell, who now lives in Queens.

Adams, who long said he wanted to hire a police commissioner who was also a woman, was said to consider dozens of well-qualified and high-ranking female officers from inside and outside of New York City.

Adams, a former police captain with 22 years of experience wearing the NYPD uniform, has said he was looking for more than just policing experience.

"It's not just academics,” Adams said. “It's about emotional intelligence and compassion, and we're going to look at the best talent."

He also was looking for a great communicator, who would be able to effectively interact with her 52,000 member police force and reporters at the press conferences at which she will be asked many questions.

Her interview process even included a press conference-like scenario in which her performance was carefully assessed: a test that Sewell passed with flying colors.

Chief Sewell projected a calm confidence and an ability to connect with the community, an Adams source told The Post.

“I’m very humbled to even be considered for this, and it’s an extraordinary opportunity," said Sewell. “I take it very seriously: the historic nature of this.

“I’m here to meet the moment.”

“I’m hoping to kind of hit the ground running beginning Jan. 1.”