New York Police Commissioner resigns amid nightclub investigation

New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned Thursday amid a federal investigation into the police department’s nightclub oversight, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Caban, the city’s first Latino police commissioner, took over the department in July 2023 after being recruited by Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration is the target of several federal investigations.

“News of recent developments has distracted our department and I am unwilling to focus my attention 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 obtained by NBC News.

“I have tremendous respect and gratitude for the brave officers who serve this department, and the NYPD deserves someone who can focus solely on protecting and serving New York City. That is why – for the good of this city and this department – I have made the difficult decision to resign as Chief of Police,” the email continued.

Adams announced in a speech Thursday that he was appointing Thomas Donlon as interim police chief. Donlon is a national security expert who previously led the FBI’s National Threat Center and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force. He also served as director of the New York State Department of Homeland Security.

Caban’s phone was seized last week, around the same time FBI agents were raiding the homes of high-ranking officials in the Adams administration as part of a separate investigation. Homes raided included First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III.

The phone of Caban’s twin brother James Caban, who owns a nightclub security company, was also seized as part of the NYPD’s corruption investigation.

Federal investigators are looking into whether James Caban profited from his ties to his powerful brother and the NYPD, according to multiple sources. Specifically, they are looking into whether James Caban was paid by bars and clubs in Midtown Manhattan and Queens to act as a police liaison, and whether those clubs then received special treatment from local police departments, the sources said.

Edward Caban’s lawyers described him in a statement as “an experienced public servant who has dedicated his life to the safety of the people of this great city.”

“We have been informed by the government that he is not a target of any investigation by the Southern District of New York and that he expects to fully cooperate with the government,” said attorneys Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski.

Spokespeople for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year, FBI agents raided the homes of several city officials and advisers close to Adams as part of a separate investigation into whether the Adams campaign colluded with the Turkish government to obtain illegal campaign contributions from abroad through fake donors.

A source at City Hall said last week that the latest raid appeared to have nothing to do with the investigation in Turkey.

Adams repeatedly avoided questions about the investigation and stressed that he was not officially accused of wrongdoing.

“I was as surprised as you were to learn of these requests and I take them extremely seriously,” the mayor said on Thursday.

He said he recently accepted Caban’s resignation and concluded that “this is the best decision at this time.”

“I respect his decision and wish him all the best,” Adams added.