James O’Neill, leader of New York City’s police force, is expected to announce Monday that he’s stepping down as commissioner, law enforcement sources told NBC New York.
O’Neill has been head of the nation’s largest municipal police force since September 2016, succeeding Bill Bratton.
The announcement is expected to be made during a City Hall press conference at 2 p.m. ET.
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The commissioner recently drew harsh criticism from the union representing officers after he fired Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City Police Department officer accused of using a banned chokehold that led to Eric Garner’s death in 2014.
Patrick J. Lynch, president of the city’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said O’Neill lost the confidence of officers on the beat by firing Pantaleo, who is suing to get his job back.
“The NYPD will remain rudderless and frozen, and Commissioner O’Neill will never be able to bring it back,” Lynch said in a statement.
O’Neill, a native of Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, is the NYPD’s 43rd commissioner. Prior to leading the department of 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees, O’Neill served as chief of department, the highest uniformed rank.
O’Neill’s law enforcement career began in 1983 when he joined the New York City Transit Police, which at the time was a separate agency from the NYPD. The transit force and NYPD merged in 1995 and O’Neill steadily moved up the ranks, eventually being promoted to executive officer in the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx.
He also served as commanding officer of the Central Park Precinct and the 44th Precinct in the western Bronx. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, O’Neill was commanding officer of the 25th Precinct in East Harlem.
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