Eric Adams, the freshly sworn-in mayor of New York City, has made the controversial decision to select his own brother to be a deputy police commissioner for the New York Police Department, multiple outlets reported Friday.
Bernard Adams is now expected to join more than a dozen deputy commissioners, who are assigned various areas of expertise and report directly to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman ― and first Black woman ― to lead the department.
Bernard Adams retired as an NYPD sergeant in 2006, The New York Times reported. His LinkedIn profile states that he has managed parking and transportation at Virginia Commonwealth University since 2008.
As the nation’s largest police force, funding for the NYPD outstrips that of any other major city by billions of dollars. The mayor’s brother’s salary is not yet known, but other deputy commissioners are paid well over $200,000 per year.
As a candidate, Eric Adams rose to prominence in large part on his law enforcement credentials, having retired as a captain in the force the same year as his younger brother before moving on to a career in politics.
His first week in office has been both colorful and controversial. Surrounded by journalists while riding the New York City subway to his office, Adams called 911 to report an assault the first day on the job, Gothamist reported.
Adams attracted criticism Tuesday with comments on “low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees” that seemed to belittle their economic and social contributions. (They “don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office,” Adams said.) New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) slammed the new mayor, saying the idea “that any job is ‘low skill’ is a myth perpetuated by wealthy interests to justify inhumane working conditions, little/no healthcare, and low wages.”
He made another controversial appointment this week; it emerged on Friday that former NYPD department chief Philip Banks III would be deputy mayor for public safety, despite his 2014 resignation under a cloud of corruption allegations.