During his brief tenure as commissioner, Caban watered down the NYPD's misconduct rules for officers, reducing penalties for officers who commit various offenses. He also vetoed more disciplinary penalties in plea deals between the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and police officers accused of misconduct than all New York City commissioners had in the previous 10 years combined.[4][5]
Caban was born and raised in the Bronx to a family of Puerto Rican descent. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in 1985,[8] and attended St. John’s University and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. He joined the NYPD in 1991[3] and rose through the ranks to Sergeant three years later.[9] He made his way up to Inspector and has worked in a variety of precincts, most recently as the adjutant in Brooklyn North patrol.[10] His father, Juan, was a New York City Transit Police Detective who also served as the President of the Transit Police Hispanic Society.[11] His twin, James Caban also served in the NYPD.[12]
Career
During his 30 years at the NYPD, Caban was found by the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board to have engaged in misconduct twice. In one of the cases, he arrested a civilian for not providing identification and was ordered to complete more training. In the second case, he refused to provide names of officers to a civilian when she claimed they had mistreated her; as a result, an admonition was added to his personnel file.[13] In 2010, he was disciplined for "unauthorized personal use of a department vehicle" and for "transporting an unauthorized person in that vehicle." He was docked 20 vacation days and paid $428 in restitution.[14]
New York City Police Commissioner
On June 12, 2023, it was announced that Caban would fill in as acting NYPD commissioner after Keechant Sewell departed.[15] On July 17, he was formally appointed as NYPD commissioner.[16]
Overseeing discipline for officers
In his nine months in office, Caban eliminated more disciplinary penalties in plea deals between the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and police officers accused of misconduct than all New York City commissioners had in the previous 10 years combined.[4]
In June 2024, ProPublica revealed that, during his first year in office, Caban had used his authority of retention to "retain," or prevent from going to trial, the disciplinary cases of 54 officers before the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, including exercising this authority in more than 30 cases where department lawyers and the officers involved had already agreed to disciplinary action.[17]
In September 2024, Caban reduced the suggested punishments for officer misconduct in the NYPD's disciplinary guidelines. In some of these cases, the suggested punishment went from the "loss of five vacation days or a five-day suspension to merely 'additional training.'"[18] The New York Civil Liberties Union claims that this reduction in suggested punishments for misconduct is "reinforcing the NYPD’s culture of impunity."[18]
That same month, Caban signed off on the proposed discipline for an NYPD officer Brendan Sullivan who had "engaged in sexual misconduct," "abused his authority," and was "untruthful with investigators." The officer had left a series of harassing messages on a civilian's phone in retaliation for that civilian reporting police to New York City's 311 compliant line. Caban approved of a small fine and the loss of 60 days of leave for the officer.[19]
In September 2024, the FBI raided Caban's home and seized his electronic devices in a federal corruption investigation.[20][21][22] Caban's twin brother James also had his phone seized.[23][21] The investigation into James Caban is focused on his involvement in the nightclub industry and potential monetary benefit he received from his brother's position at the NYPD.[20][23][24] James Caban was fired from the NYPD in 2001 after wrongfully detaining and threatening a suspect.[25][26][27]
After the raids, several area bars have claimed that Caban's twin brother told them he could resolve "problems with NYPD" over noise complaints if they paid him a $2,500 fee.[28][29]
A week after the raids, Caban resigned, in the midst of the investigations into the Eric Adams administration, stating, "for the good of this city and this department—I have made the difficult decision to resign as Police Commissioner."[33][34] Caban's lawyer issued a statement that claimed, "he is not a target of the investigation according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan."[24] Former New York Homeland Security Director Tom Donlon was named as Caban's interim replacement.[35]
