Keechant L. Sewell (born April 2, 1972) is an American police officer and administrator who is currently serving as the 45th

New York City Police Commissioner The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is respons ...

, the first woman to serve in the position.

Early life

Sewell was raised in the

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

neighborhood of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, including at the

Queensbridge Houses Queensbridge Houses, also known simply as Queensbridge, is a public housing development in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Owned by the New York City Housing Authority, the development contains 29 buildings and 3,1 ...

. She later lived in the Queens neighborhoods of

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

Career

Nassau County Police Department

In October 1997, Sewell became a police officer assigned to

Nassau County Police Department The Nassau County Police Department is the law enforcement agency of Nassau County, New York. History In 1925, concerned about rising crime rates, the County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Nassau County Police Department, replaci ...

's Fifth Precinct. Sewell was eventually promoted through the ranks to become the commanding officer of the 7th Precinct and then, by 2016, commanding officer of the major case squad. In 2008 Sewell had attended the

FBI National Academy The FBI National Academy is a program of the FBI Academy for active U.S. law enforcement personnel and also for international law enforcement personnel who seek to enhance their credentials in their field and to raise law enforcement standards, kno ...

, and other assignments included the Professional Standards Bureau, Internal Affairs, and training with the FBI to be the county's chief hostage negotiator. On September 24, 2020, Sewell was promoted to NCPD's chief of detectives, commanding a staff of approximately 350 officers. Sewell was also member of the New York–New Jersey Joint-Terrorism Task Force.

New York City Police Commissioner

On December 14, 2021, it was announced that Sewell would be appointed as the 45th

New York City police commissioner The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is respons ...

by Mayor-Elect

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...

. She became the first female commissioner of the New York Police Department, and its third black commissioner. She oversees 35,000 uniformed officers and 18,000 civilians. On January 1, 2022, Sewell was officially sworn in as first female commissioner of the New York Police Department since it was founded 176 years beforehand. Sewell was criticized for publicly accepting the appointment in front of a mural of

Assata Shakur Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947; also married name, JoAnne Chesimard) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the first-degree murder ...

, convicted of killing a police officer.

Personal life

At the time of her appointment as New York City Police Commissioner, Sewell was residing in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sewell, Keechant Living people African-American police officers American women police officers People from Queens, New York People from Valley Stream, New York 21st-century African-American women New York City Police Commissioners 1972 births FBI National Academy graduates