26 NOVEMBER 7, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Sunnyside native Shea named
city’s next police commissioner
NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea has been named the city’s next Police Commissioner after James O’Neill announced his retirement.
Photo by Mark Hallum
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
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 aft er James O’Neill
announced he would step down aft er
three years to take a job in the private
sector.
Born and raised in a one-bedroom
apartment in Sunnyside with Irish
immigrant parents and four siblings,
Shea began his service as a police offi
cer 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 fi ght
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 qualifi ed 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 benefi ts 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 fi re
Offi cer 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 eff ective strategies
for addressing these issues, is as good
as it gets in policing these days.”
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