First female police chief in New York

New York will appoint Keechant Sewell as its first-ever woman police chief to head the largest force in the country, US media reported Tuesday, at a time when the city’s trust in law enforcement has been shattered.

Sewell, who will also be only the third Black person in the post, will have to restore community trust in a police department that has faced accusations of harbouring violent, racist and corrupt officers in its ranks.

A former police officer and Democratic mayor-elect Eric Adams, who will be the city’s second Black mayor, announced the key appointment two weeks before formally taking office on January 1, 2022, with security one of the main issues during his campaign.

“Keechant Sewell is a proven crime-fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve,” Adams told The New York Post.

Commanding approximately 36,000 police officers in the largest city in the United States, Sewell, 49, will shoulder the tough task of maintaining security in New York at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by a surge in crime.