New York’s top transit cop retires amid a string of subway robberies, stabbings, and shootings
New York City’s transit chief and three other senior police officers announced their resignations Thursday, generating revenue among the department’s top echelons while Mayor Eric Adams seeks to focus the department on subway crime and people with mental health problems to remove from the streets of the city.
The departures come amid a push Adams announced this week to involuntarily hospitalize people deemed too mentally ill to fend for themselves.
Adams has sought to make the subway system safer for riders in a system that has only recovered 65% of its pre-pandemic ridership. He has announced plans to staff train stations with 1,000 more police officers and aggressively prosecute low-level crime.
Among the New York City Police Department officers who are leaving is Transit Superintendent Jason Wilcox, a 35-year veteran who oversaw policing of the city’s subway, which has been battling a string of high-profile incidents this year.
Also on December 30, NYPD Chief of Housing Kathleen O’Reilly, Chief of Special Operations Harry Wedin, and Deputy Commissioner for Support Services Robert Martinez will retire.
Wilcox and O’Reilly were cast in their roles this year.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the four are dedicated officers with nearly 150 years of combined experience. “It has been a privilege to minister with each of them and I wish them well in their future endeavors,” she said.
The city’s top uniformed police officer, department head Kenneth Corey, also left the NYPD this week after more than 30 years. In October he announced his resignation.
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