NYC police commissioner resigns amid probe; former FBI official named interim leader

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced that former FBI official Tom Donlon will become interim police commissioner, replacing Edward Caban, who resigned amid a federal investigation.

In a video statement Adams said, "I'm taking immediate action in appointing Tom Donlon as interim police commissioner."

Donlon ran the FBI's National Threat Assessment Center and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also was New York's director of the Office of Homeland Security.

Caban, appointed by Adams in 2023, resigned Thursday as federal agents probe the Police Department's nightclub enforcement.

"The news around recent developments has created a distraction for our department, and I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD," Caban said in an email to NYPD members.

Caban's phone was seized by federal agents last week as investigators conducted conducted on the homes of top Adams administration officials.

According to statement from Caban lawyers Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski, they have been informed by the government that Caban is not a target of "any investigation being conducted by the Southern District of New York, and he expects to cooperate fully with the government."

Adams' phone and iPad were seized in a federal investigation in November 2023 into his campaign fundraising. The devices were returned. No charges were filed.

Federal investigations are targeting the Adams administration. Federal prosecutors have not publicly revealed exactly what they are investigating.

During a virtual press briefing Thursday, Adams said he was surprised by the federal probes.

"I take them extremely seriously," he said. "I've spent more than 20 years in law enforcement, and so every member of my administration knows my expectations that we must follow the law ."

According to the New York Daily News, FBI agents also searched the homes of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, her partner, Education Department Chancellor David Banks, and Banks' younger brother, Terrence, a consultant with clients who do business with the city.

That investigation is separate from the one that seized Caban's phone and searched his brother's home and those of other NYPD officials.

According to The CIty, at least four investigations are looking into the Adams administration.

They include a campaign fundraising probe; an inquiry into whether the Adams campaign conspired to accept illegal donations from Turkey; a straw political donation scheme that resulted in charges and guilty pleas from former NYPD inspector Dwayne Montgomery; and an indictment of former Adams Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich on bribery charges last year.