Interim NYPD Commissioner Thomas Donlon expected to resign in coming days: reports

Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon is reportedly expected to step down on Friday after just one month on the job.

Politico first reported that Donlon is expected to step down in the coming days. His closest advisers were seen packing up their things to depart police headquarters on Thursday.

However, City Hall chief spokesperson Fabien Levy insisted Thursday that Donlon—who took over after former Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned amid a federal corruption investigation—is still being considered for the permanent position.

“The mayor is considering a number of qualified candidates for the role of police commissioner, including interim Police Commissioner Donlon,” Levy said in a statement.

Levy would not confirm multiple reports that Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch is on the mayor’s shortlist to become the next NYPD commissioner.

Tisch, who previously held several civilian posts in the Police Department but was never a uniformed cop, would only be the second woman to lead the department. As someone who is seen as one of the mayor’s more stable agency heads, Tisch’s appointment would likely support Adams’ effort to replace scandal-ridden aides with those perceived as professional civil servants in the wake of his federal indictment.

Mayor Eric Adams holds up a bag of compost, with DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch at the Unisphere in Queens on Aug. 8.Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The NYPD’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a report from the Daily News, Donlon, a former FBI agent and global security executive, is out of the running after his Department of Investigation background check was held up following a federal raid on his home last month. However, DOI spokesperson Diane Struzzi said the report was “not accurate.”

Donlon was raided just eight days after he was appointed by Adams on Sept. 12, the same day as Caban announced his resignation. According to Donlon, the federal raid on his home was unconnected to the investigations surrounding the NYPD, as the feds seized materials he had acquired two decades ago.

Caban’s departure came a little over a week after his home was raided by federal law enforcement, reportedly in connection with an investigation into the NYPD’s enforcement of nightlife establishments. The feds also seized Caban’s and his brother James Caban’s electronic devices.

Though he denies those reports, Caban was widely reported to have been pushed out by Adams. In an internal letter to the NYPD rank-in-file, Caban said he was resigning because “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.”

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