NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban expected to resign – NBC New York

NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned from his post at the head of the nation's largest police department on Thursday amid a federal investigation into enforcement of nightclub laws, according to an internal memo obtained by News 4.

An announcement is expected later Thursday. Three sources say department leadership is making those plans. If Caban goes as expected, Mayor Eric Adams will have his third police commissioner in less than three years.

Adams is expected to hold a meeting at Gracie Mansion at noon.

The expected development comes days after News 4 reported that the IRS Criminal Investigation Division had joined the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Adams is currently quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. He declined to comment on whether he still has confidence in Caban, whom he appointed as the NYPD's 46th commissioner in July 2023. A 33-year veteran of the department, he was the first Latino to serve as commissioner in the NYPD's 179-year history.

Adams also declined to comment earlier this week on whether Caban had been banned from communicating with federal authorities who work closely with the NYPD.

At least one phone belonging to Caban was among several that the SDNY and IRS seized from several NYPD officers. The phone of his twin brother, who owns a nightclub security company, was also seized as part of the corruption investigation.

Multiple sources told NBC that New York federal investigators are looking to determine whether James Caban profited from his ties to his powerful brother and the NYPD. Specifically, they are looking into whether James Caban was paid by bars and clubs in Midtown and Queens to act as a police liaison, and whether those clubs then received special treatment from local police departments, the sources said.

SDNY and IRS have seized the cell phones of numerous NYPD officers, including at least one phone belonging to Commissioner Edward Caban, News 4's Melissa Russo reports.

Other questions being investigated, according to the sources, include whether officials were asked to take tougher action against clubs that did not have business dealings with the commissioner's brother, or whether officials who were complicit in the potential plot were promoted.

An NYPD spokesman said the department was aware of the investigation and was fully cooperating.

No charges were brought against anyone.

News 4 left several messages for James Caban on his phone and with a family member after the initial report on the investigation. They were not returned.

More questions are being raised around NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban's twin brother, who is allegedly profiting from the use of police department resources. This is one of three investigations underway at NYPD headquarters and City Hall as the FBI and federal prosecutors focus on possible corruption cases involving high-ranking aides to Mayor Eric Adams, NBC New York's Jonathan Dienst reports.