3
QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019
NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea was named the city’s next Police Commissioner after James O’Neill announces his resignation. Photo by Mark Hallum
Sunnyside native Dermot Shea named
New York City’s next police commissioner
BY BILL PARRY
Calling it “an American
Dream story if there ever
was one,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced that 28-year
veteran Dermot Shea will
be the next Commissioner of
the NYPD starting on Dec.
1 after James O’Neill announced
he would step down
after three years to take a job
in the private sector.
Born and raised in a onebedroom
apartment in Sunnyside
with Irish immigrant
parents and four siblings,
Shea began his service as
a police officer in 1991 — a
year when New York City
faced more than 2,000 murders
— and rose through
the ranks to become Chief of
Detectives.
“This is a tremendous
honor and a tremendous responsibility
and I’m grateful
to the mayor for this privilege
to serve,” Shea said. “Police
Commissioner O’Neill has
been a mentor and a friend
to me, and I am committed
to building on the incredible
success of Neighborhood Policing
and precision policing,
while continuing my life’s
work to eradicate gangs and
guns from our streets.”
Shea said his upbringing
in Sunnyside helped form
the man he became.
“Those years we were
rich in so many ways, but
it had nothing to do with
money,” Shea said. “That’s
where I learned to treat
people with respect.”
In 2014, Shea was appointed
Chief of Crime
Control Strategies and Deputy
Commissioner for Operations
where he oversaw
the CompStat system that
honed a new generation of
precision approaches that
helped drive crime down to
record lows.
“Dermot Shea is a proven
change agent, using precision
policing to fight crime
and build trust between
police and communities,”
de Blasio said. “As Chief of
Crime Control Strategies
and then Chief of Detectives,
Dermot was one of the chief
architects of the approach
that has made New York
City the safest big city in
America. Dermot is uniquely
qualified to serve as our
next Police Commissioner
and drive down crime rates
even further.”
O’Neill was sworn in
following the retirement of
Bill Bratton in September
2016. The 35-year veteran
was charged with moving
the department away from
open-windows policing to
his Neighborhood Policing
philosophy.
“Over the last three years
I’ve had the opportunity to
work with Commissioner
O’Neill in making the way
our city polices fairer and
more equitable,” said City
Councilman Donovan Richards,
the chair of the Committee
on Public Safety. As
a true believer in the benefits
of community policing
and the impact it has on our
neighborhoods, he has served
our city well. Though we still
have a lot of work to do, having
someone like Commissioner
O’Neill made getting
closer to that goal of better
police community relations
easier. While I wish him well
in retirement, I know that he
will be missed by many.”
O’Neill said the pressure
to fire Officer Daniel Pantaleo
in the death of Eric Garner
weighed heavily on his
conscience. As leader of the
nation’s largest police force,
O’Neill was vexed by the rise
of suicide in the ranks, with
10 already this year, seven
since June.
Through it all, O’Neill
presided over the lowest
crime rate in New York City
since the NYPD started
tracking major crime, as
well as the fewest number
of homicides recorded since
the 1950s. O’Neill endorsed
Shea, his friend of 25 years,
as his successor.
“Dermot Shea has exactly
the experience and skill
to continue to drive down
crime, strengthen relationships
with the community
members we serve and make
sure every neighborhood
has the safety they deserve,”
O’Neill said. “We cannot
take the historic crime reductions
in New York City
for granted, and Dermot’s
understanding of the complex
issues that lead to crime
and disorder, as well as the
most effective strategies for
addressing these issues, is
as good as it gets in policing
these days.”