4 Photos
Keechant Sewell and Mayor-elect Eric Adams at a press conference announcing her appointment Commissioner of NYPD.
Keechant Sewell and Mayor -elect Eric Adams
Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki. DANA SHAW
Keechant Sewell Courtesy Nassau County PD
In 2009, when Steven Skrynecki was promoted to chief of detectives, he was part of an historic day for the Nassau County Police Department. That day, Karen O’Callaghan became the highest-ranking woman in the 84-year history of the Nassau County Police Department, when she was appointed chief of department.
It also was the day Keechant Sewell became only the second African American woman in the department to advance to the rank of lieutenant.
In January, Sewell will “graduate” — to commissioner of the New York Police Department.
Following in her mentor’s footsteps, she ascended to the rank of chief of detectives with the Nassau County Police Department before moving to her next prestigious appointment, with the NYPD.
In 2016, Skrynecki took the helm of the Southampton Town Police Department as its chief.
This week, Skrynecki offered recollections about his protege as she prepares to lead the nation’s largest police force and make history again as the first female commissioner in NYPD’s 176-year history.
“In her early career, she stood out as somebody who was exceptional in many, many ways,” the chief said. “She exhibited a tremendous amount of professional attitude, exactly the kind of demeanor we look for in a young police officer.”
Skrynecki described the young Sewell as “always squared away, and very, very bright.” In basic police matters, she handled herself in an exemplary manner and progressed in the department very rapidly, he said. Sewell followed Skrynecki up the ladder, promoted to positions he’d held previously.
“She held some very important posts, including professional standards, which oversaw internal affairs, a post I had held myself. When she inherited these, she didn’t need much guidance, but any experience I could offer her, I certainly did,” he recalled.
Around 2010 to 2012, Skrynecki supported her to succeed him in the role of head of the department’s negotiating team, a challenging position. “It requires somebody who has exceptional sensitivity, somebody who has the ability to handle severe crisis situations calmly, to assess the situations and explore several resolutions and select the right one to bring about a successful conclusion with the least amount of risk,” the chief explained. “They can be very high-risk situations — to police officers, the person in crisis, and the public. Managing those situations requires a very special character.”
Nassau’s crisis negotiating team was just the second created in the country and had, the chief said, “an impeccable record of success.”
When it was time to move up, Skrynecki recalled, “I wanted to find somebody who was qualified to take that over and maintain that great record that we had. I searched for quite some time and labored over that, and Keechant Sewell was my clear choice. She held that team for a number of years, also running it with an impeccable record.
“That’s just one illustration of her multiple talents she has as a leader,” he said. “In my opinion, she is incredibly deserving, and I think she’s going to be very successful. I think the new mayor made an excellent choice.”
Alluding to the recent uptick in violent crime, along with controversial police reform mandates from Albany, and the continued pandemic, he acknowledged, “She faces several big challenges, and I think she is capable of taking on all of them.”
Introducing her at a press conference on December 15, New York City Mayor-Elect Eric Adams described Sewell, 49, as the leader who, “I know is going to bring our city back and create an environment where we’re going to raise healthy children and families.”
Adams described Sewell as a woman who carried a sledgehammer throughout her career and crushed every glass ceiling in her way.
