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Dermot Shea: What We Know About the N.Y.P.D.’s Next Commissioner N.Y.P.D’s Next Police Commissioner: What to Know About Dermot Shea
(about 4 hours later)
Dermot F. Shea, the Police Department’s chief of detectives, was named New York’s next commissioner on Monday, succeeding James P. O’Neill as the leader of the largest police force in the United States. Dermot F. Shea, the Police Department’s chief of detectives and next commissioner, began his career with America’s largest police force in an era when New York was much more violent than it is today.
In announcing the change, Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed Chief Shea, who spent four years overseeing the department’s data-driven CompStat program, describing him as “a proven change agent, using precision policing to fight crime and build trust between police and communities.” In 1991, the year Chief Shea joined the department as an officer in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, the city recorded more than 2,000 murders. Last year, there were 289.
The mayor added that the chief’s background made him “uniquely qualified” to push the city’s already historically low crime rate down even further. The sharp drop in murders, and in crime generally, in those 28 years has coincided with the department’s use of the data-driven, anti-crime Compstat management program.
In a statement, Chief Shea, who will take over on Dec. 1, said he planned to build on Commissioner O’Neill’s legacy, “while continuing my life’s work to eradicate gangs and guns from our streets.” Chief Shea’s career is in some ways closely linked to Compstat. The system was introduced roughly around the time he began patrolling a beat. He was a protégé of its original champion, Commissioner William J. Bratton. And he oversaw the program in the job he held for four years before he was named chief of detectives in April 2018.
Despite his high rank, Chief Shea, 50, is not a prominent public figure. Here is what we know about New York’s next police commissioner: In announcing the new commissioner, Mayor Bill de Blasio cited the breadth of Chief Shea’s experience as the reason he was “uniquely qualified” to push New York’s already historically low crime rate down even further.
He is a 28-year veteran of the Police Department. [Read more about the legacy of the outgoing commissioner, James P. O’Neill.]
He began his career as a beat officer in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx in 1991. There were more than 2,000 murders in New York that year. By comparison, there were 289 in 2018. Chief Shea, the mayor said, was “a proven change agent, using precision policing to fight crime and build trust between police and communities.”
He was commander of the 44th and 50th precincts in the Bronx. In addition to his time on patrol in the Bronx, Chief Shea, 50, commanded two precincts in the borough and did tours in Manhattan and Queens, working at various times in narcotics, investigations and plainclothes units.
He also did tours in Manhattan and Queens, working at various times in narcotics, investigations and plainclothes units. He took on responsibility for Compstat in 2014 when he was named chief of crime-control strategies and deputy commissioner for operations. He was then installed in his current job, overseeing all criminal investigations.
In 2014, he was appointed chief of crime control strategies and deputy commissioner for operations, where he oversaw the CompStat program. At a news conference on Monday, Chief Shea, a son of working-class Irish immigrants who grew up in a cramped apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, recalled his early days as an officer in the 46th Precinct fondly. He had joined the department along with his brother and cousin.
The Daily News reported in a 2017 profile that he slept on a cot in his office every Wednesday while preparing for the CompStat meeting the next day. “There was nothing better than walking out and just talking to people as you would interact with them day in and day out,” he said.
He was appointed to his current position in April 2018. As chief of detectives, he oversees all of the department’s criminal investigations. Chief Shea pledged to build on the work of his predecessor, Commissioner James P. O’Neill, when he takes over the top job on Dec. 1. He also said he would prioritize taking down gangs and getting guns off the streets.
He grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, a son of Irish immigrants. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, a union, welcomed Chief Shea’s appointment, describing it as a hopeful sign for rank-and-file officers, who Mr. Lynch says are in need of support from the top.
Michael Gold contributed reporting. “We look forward to working with Commissioner Shea to combat the current anti-police atmosphere and make positive changes that will improve the lives of our police officers and every New Yorker we protect,” Mr. Lynch said.
Critics of the department were less enthusiastic.
Councilman Donovan Richards, a Queens Democrat who leads the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, described the incoming commissioner as a “personable individual whose heart is in the right place.”
But Mr. Richards said that Chief Shea’s appointment was a “missed opportunity to really diversify the top office” of the Police Department.
Mr. Richards also said that Chief Shea had seemed unwilling to seriously consider complaints about contentious issues like the department’s gang database, where, critics say, names can land too easily and stay for too long.
“At this moment, I’m not convinced he’s going to be more aggressive in pushing reforms,” Mr. Richards said.
Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the criminal defense practice at the Legal Aid Society, also cited what she called the “rogue” gang database as a reason she was skeptical about Chief Shea’s appetite for change.
“This will be more of the same, and our clients — New Yorkers from communities of color — will continue to suffer more of the same from a police department that prioritizes arrests and summonses above all else,” she said.
Darius Charney, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the litigation that curbed the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, offered Chief Shea a three-item to-do list.
To gain the trust of those pushing for police reforms, Mr. Charney said, the new commissioner would need to act on the recommendations of an independent panel that reviewed the department’s approach to disciplining officers; address officers’ underreporting of street stops and searches; and uphold a vow to release body camera footage from major incidents like police shootings.
“We hope that he will really show us in deed and word a commitment to these issues,” Mr. Charney said.
Chief Shea also faces continuing criticism over the department’s handling of sex crimes.
As chief of detectives, he oversaw a revamping of the Special Victims Division after a city report said neglect by top officials had created systemic problems in the unit.
But several rape victims and their advocates said the Police Department had failed to sufficiently address persistent problems like inadequate staffing that prevented cases from being properly investigated.
Some critics have called for an independent monitor to take control of the division. Chief Shea defended his work to change the division and said he planned to meet with victims’ advocates next week.
Michael Gold and Ashley Southall contributed reporting.