Mayor Adams said Saturday he supports a “good healthy review” of Police Commissioner Edward Caban, after declaring he has full confidence in the top cop amid a federal probe involving him and other key administration advisers.
Several local elected officials have called for Caban’s resignation since the feds searched his home Thursday, seizing his cell phone and other electronics, but Adams said he stands by his side.
“I support a good healthy review, and all members of my administration — they know my rules,” Adams told reporters near 44th St. and Fifth Ave. in Manhattan as the 2024 Labor Day Parade kicked off.
“Everyone must follow the rules and that is what I believe we must be focused on. I support due process and a complete review,” he said.
One of Caban’s critics, Queens Councilman Bob Holden, a conservative, pro-police Democrat, said the appearance of wide-ranging corruption in the NYPD means he should should step down.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban.
“Even the appearance of impropriety casts a dark shadow over the integrity of our police department,” Holden said in a statement. “The magnitude of this issue is too significant, causing far too many distractions, and for the good of both the department and the city, the police commissioner should resign.”
Asked during a Friday evening appearance on PIX11 if he had full confidence in Caban, the mayor replied: “Yes, I do.”
The mayor noted Caban’s accomplishments and said he “could continue to do his job.”
“Being the commissioner or the mayor or the chancellor of this city, you better be prepared for all the incomings that could happen. It is part of the job,” the mayor said.
Lincoln Restler, a progressive Council member representing north Brooklyn, also said Caban should be removed from his position.
“Police Commissioner Edward Caban must go,” Restler said on social media. “The NYPD partners with FBI all day to keep New Yorkers safe and their leader cannot do his job if he’s an FBI target.”
The flurry of FBI activity began early Wednesday, when agents searched the homes of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, her partner, Education Department Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, their younger brother Terence Banks and City Hall adviser Tim Pearson, seizing their electronic devices.
Sources told the Daily News that Caban’s twin brother James Caban also had his home searched and electronics confiscated by the feds during the same time span as the top administration officials.
A former NYPD officer, James Caban works as a consultant providing security for nightlife venues in the city.
His professional role is under scrutiny as part of the federal probe, and investigators are specifically looking at whether he “sold” police protection to nightlife establishments, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The feds also seized devices belonging to Caban’s chief of staff and some precinct commanders in Manhattan.
No one targeted by the searches and seizures has been accused of wrongdoing.
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