(NEW YORK) — New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban is stepping down, multiple sources told ABC News.
Word of the resignation came in a letter from Caban’s attorney to City Hall. The resignation is effective Friday.
His resignation comes amid a federal investigation into possible corruption in New York City government that last week saw authorities seize cellphones belonging to Caban and other NYPD officials, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Federal agents last week also searched the homes of Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Schools Chancellor David Banks, according to sources. The FBI seized evidence, including electronics, as part of the searches, according to sources. No charges have been filed.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have declined to disclose details about what they are investigating, but sources said one focus involves city contracts and a second involves the enforcement of regulations governing bars and clubs.
When asked by a reporter during an unrelated press conference on Monday on whether Caban will resign due to the investigation, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that “rumors are always out there.”
“I don’t think anything in life is guaranteed,” the mayor said. “I would say this: When I chose Eddie, I chose him for his experience and what he brought after 30-something years of service.”
The mayor’s chief counsel said last week that investigators had not indicated to them that the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation.
Adams also insisted last week that he was aware of no “misdoings” by anyone in his administration and pledged cooperation with the ongoing investigation.
“I say over and over again, as a former member of law enforcement, I’m very clear. We follow the rules. We make sure that we cooperate and turn over any information that is needed and it just really would be inappropriate to get in the way of the review while it’s taking place,” Adams said in an interview with CBS New York on Sept. 5. “I am not aware of any misdoings and I’m going to, again, follow the rules and I will continue to tell the team to do that. And that’s what they have been doing, to my knowledge.”
Several high-ranking NYPD officials, including Caban, received subpoenas for their cellphones on Sept. 5, according to sources. The following day, investigators sought the phones of additional police officials, including precinct commanders in Manhattan, and interviewed police officials at a building next to police headquarters, sources said.
“The Department is aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York involving members of service. The Department is fully cooperating in the investigation,” an NYPD spokesman said on Sept. 5, referring additional questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined to comment.
Caban’s family has connections to nightlife. Richard Caban, the brother of Edward Caban and a former NYPD lieutenant, owned a now-shuttered Bronx restaurant, Con Sofrito. Edward Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, a former NYPD sergeant, owned a Bronx apartment building that once had a bar on the first floor named Twins.
Caban began his NYPD career in 1991, as a police officer in the Bronx. He rose through the ranks, becoming the NYPD’s first deputy commissioner in 2022.
Adams appointed him as commissioner in July 2023 after Keechant Sewell, the city’s first female commissioner, stepped down.
Following news of the subpoena, City Councilman Robert Holden called on 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 said on CBS’ “The Point with Marcia Kramer” on Sunday.
“We have to have confidence that he’s staying within the law. He sets an example for the whole department,” Holden said.
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