NYPD Blues

In the popular ‘60s TV show “Batman,” Gotham City, which is the fictional name for New York City, had a police commissioner named James Gordon who had the difficult task of maintaining law and order and keeping the peace. Gordon relied on Batman and Robin, who were his duly deputized agents of the law. He had a hotline to immediately contact the dynamic duo. The mayor of Gotham City wasn’t mentioned. The police commissioner ran the department. That, however, is not real life for today’s big city police executives.

Once upon a time there was a clear line of separation between the political class and the police. The thinking was to keep politics from seeping into law enforcement. Political decisions in policing can lead to a mistrust of law enforcement agencies. With political interference, people begin to wonder if certain decisions on things like enforcement strategies are politically motivated. That day is over, however, as more mayors and city councils are exerting their influence over their police departments. In most cities, the mayor has the final say over the selection of a chief, superintendent or commissioner. That makes it very clear that the person chosen will be accountable to the mayor. In and of itself that is understandable, as a mayor is responsible for things going on in municipalities. Their political survival can rise or fall based on public safety. But how much kibitzing is too much? That is the dilemma for today’s police executive and city mayors.

Recently this reared its ugly head in Gotham City. NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell recently resigned after a year and a half in the position. She didn’t provide a reason for her departure, but according to one newspaper story, an unnamed source said that, “She was fed up and she was tired of being their puppet.” This was a reference to Mayor Adams interfering in day-to-day operations. The story indicated that Sewell’s relationship with City Hall deteriorated in recent months, and she felt constrained when making important department decisions even in the area of promotions where she, according to a source, had to run these moves past Adams. A follow-up news story said that a source told them that a third-grade detective was really running the department and that he had a direct line to Mayor Adams. Personnel decisions should be up to Sewell. That is untenable. I would talk to the mayor about it first and demand that it stop. Then I would move the shadow detective to a desk assignment. Then I would remind Adams that I was hired to run the NYPD and if he didn’t like that directness then dare him to fire me. With all the other problems New York City is facing, Adams doesn’t need this public relations disaster with the NYPD.

Personnel decisions are policy. It makes it clear what she wants done and how she wants it done. If the mayor makes the choice, then that person’s loyalty will not be to Sewell but to Adams. Another source said that her abrupt resignation caught the mayor off-guard. Really?

Let me make a few observations here. First of all, when she took the position, she had to know that she would be serving at the pleasure of the mayor. She should have known that she would not have complete autonomy. Adams, being a former NYPD commander, for sure wants to run the largest police agency in practically the entire world with a reported 55,000 members. It has been his dream. After becoming mayor, he created several new positions to oversee the NYPD. That in and of itself made it difficult for Sewell to run the agency without the sense that someone was looking over her shoulder.

Every New York mayor wants to run the NYPD, some less so and some more so. In fact, even former Commissioner William Bratton ran into personality clashes with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani after awhile and the increasing friction led to his departure even with all the success they had driving down crime, violence and disorder. Personality clashes got in the way. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was less hands-on while former Mayor Bill DeBlasio was very hands-on. To be honest, it’s my thought that Adams wasn’t caught off-guard. He wanted her resignation. It’s better politically if she resigns rather than him firing the first female police commissioner of the NYPD. Also, in a city with the media coverage of New York, this continuing head-butting would eventually have their toxic and deteriorating relationship make its way into tabloid media sites. Nobody benefits from that, especially internally with the rank and file who become confused as to who is in charge and who they should show allegiance to. Some will even exploit it to get ahead. I give Sewell credit for resigning rather than waiting to be fired and claiming victim status.

Adams was asked at one news conference about his micro-managing, heavy-handed style to which he replied, “Let me be clear because this is important. The people of the city of New York elected one mayor, Eric Adams. That’s who they elected.” That tells you all you need to know about Adams’ personality. It is all about him. The people of the city of New York elected him to run the city in general, and in defense of Adams I must say that he is responsible for all city departments. A better style of leadership, however, is to appoint competent people to run specific agencies and then have the wherewithal to stay out of the way and let them do what they know how to do. Periodic staff meetings with department heads can keep Adams in the loop. Inevitably the mayor is responsible, and holding his appointees accountable is fine. Finding that sweet spot of trusting your staff is the challenge of effective leadership. Adams, it seems, has a long way to go in that area.

How does the saga for NYPD end? The “Batman” TV series episodes would always sign off by telling viewers to stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat station.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of America’s Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com