Joseph J. Esposito (born March 28, 1950) is a former law enforcement officer and civil servant. He is currently the Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement for the

New York City Department of Buildings The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction tra ...

and formerly the Commissioner of

New York City Emergency Management New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) (formerly the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM)) was originally formed in 1996 as part of the Mayor's Office under Rudolph W. Giuliani. By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an ...

from June 27, 2014, until his controversial ousting in November 2018. Prior to that role he was the Chief of Department of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD) from 2000 until his retirement from the NYPD in 2013.

Education

Esposito holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

from the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

Career

Esposito entered the NYPD in August 1968 at 18 years old as a Police Trainee. In April 1971, he was appointed a Patrolman, and began his career on patrol in the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn. He was promoted to Detective in May 1983, Sergeant in September 1983, Lieutenant in February 1986, Captain in June 1989, Deputy Inspector in August 1993, Inspector in August 1994, Deputy Chief in September 1996, and Assistant Chief in December 1997. On August 25, 2000, he was promoted to the position of Chief of Department, making him the highest ranking uniformed member of the department. In his career, Esposito has served in numerous commands of the department, including the 77th, 10th, 83rd, 109th, 34th, 66th, and 83rd Precincts, and in the Narcotics Division and the Detective Bureau. In his last assignment before becoming Chief of Department, Esposito was the Commanding Officer of the Strategic and Tactical Command (S.A.T.COM) Brooklyn North. As Chief of Department, Esposito directed and controlled the daily operations of the five major enforcement Bureaus (Patrol Services, Detectives, Transit, Housing, and Organized Crime Control) within the NYPD. He also coordinated the crime control strategy meetings at which commanders share tactical information and recommend plans of action for realizing crime reduction goals. During his career, he earned some of the department's most honored and prestigious awards, including the Combat Cross, the

Medal for Valor This list of medals for bravery is an index to articles about notable medals awarded for bravery or valor. These medals, usually associated with military forces, police forces, or other public safety entities, are given to personnel who have serv ...

, and the Exceptional Merit award. Esposito led the NYPD response to the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. Years later in an interview with

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

, he described the attacks as the most haunting moment of his career. During President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

’s famous visit to Ground Zero days after the attacks, Esposito could be seen amongst the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

and

FDNY The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

members surrounding the president.

Controversies

In April 2006, New York State Senator

Simcha Felder Simcha Felder (born December 30, 1958) is an American politician from Borough Park, Brooklyn. He represents the 17th district of the New York State Senate. Felder has been elected to multiple offices as a Democrat, but is known for having caucus ...

accused Esposito of using inappropriate language when Esposito attempted to quell individuals who entered a

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

house during a riot in Borough Park. Felder indicated that he personally heard the chief say, ''"Get the fucking

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

out of here."''Topic Galleries
However, the

Civilian Complaint Review Board The NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) is the oversight agency of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the largest police force in the United States. A board of the Government of New York City, the CCRB is tasked with investigatin ...

, which investigates police misconduct, later found the accusation against Esposito unsubstantiated, but did reprimand Chief Esposito for using profanity. When subsequently asked to comment on the Review Board's finding, Felder's office stated that Felder had "no comment" about the incident and that he "wants to put the matter behind him". In 2011, Esposito directed the arrests of hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters during a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. In the civil litigation that followed, Esposito tried to avoid being deposed in one of the related cases. In a video taken on St. Patrick's Day in 2012 and later obtained by the '' Daily News'', Esposito was seen shoving protesters and, at least once, using a nightstick to strike a protester. In September 2012, Esposito was photographed while restraining a slim-build female Occupy Wall Street activist. The photograph was noted in the Letters to the Editor section of the '' Daily News'', since it appeared that Esposito had placed the activist into a "chokehold." In 2015, the NYPD was accused of destroying evidence related to a federal class action lawsuit regarding the department's alleged practice of issuing "850,000 bogus summonses" according to a quota system. Amongst the e-mails that the department was accused of refusing to deliver to plaintiffs in the lawsuit were communications sent by Esposito regarding the summons' program.