Who is Edward Caban? Ethnicity and Nationality of NYPD's incoming first Hispanic police commissioner explored

Edward Caban, the current acting police commissioner of New York City, is all set to become the city’s first-ever police commissioner of Hispanic descent. Mayor Eric Adams will name him as the top cop of the city this week.

Caban became the acting commissioner on July 1, following a surprise resignation by New York City’s last police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, in late June. By becoming the police commissioner of New York City, Edward Caban will be in charge of the nation’s largest police force, the New York Police Department (NYPD).

As per the New York Post, Eric Adams will drop the interim title from Edward Caban on Monday morning at the 40th precinct in The Bronx, where he first started his police career over three decades ago.

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Edward Caban is of Puerto Rican origin

Although Edward Caban was born and raised in The Bronx, New York, his parents are of Puerto Rican ethnicity, with bases in Ponce. His ancestors moved to the USA during the First World War, and he is now a third-generation New Yorker.

Now aged 55, Edward Caban joined the NYPD in 1991 as a patrol officer in South Bronx and quickly rose through the ranks and turned sergeant only three years later and worked with Brooklyn North Patrol. Thereafter, he became a lieutenant in 1999.

In 2005, he turned captain and the executive officer of East Harlem’s 23rd Precinct, before becoming Commanding Officer of the 25th Precinct in 2006. In 2008, Edward Caban became a deputy inspector and served as Adjunct of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North before turning inspector in 2015.

Last year in July, Caban was appointed as the city’s First Deputy Police Commissioner under the leadership of Keechant Sewell (who served for 18 months), and now, with his boss’s sudden resignation, he will become the Police Commissioner.

Earlier this month when he was appointed as the First Deputy Police Commissioner, Caban had told during a press conference:

“I represent every member of this department. But it’s important to also make sure that minorities have a seat at the table when decisions are being made.”

He also added how he intends to lower the number of homicides and shootings that occur around New York City throughout the year. While he believes that, as of 2023, the NYPD has come a long way, he also knows that the department still has a lot to do for the residents of the city.

In his acting new role, he intended to make policy changes, improve personnel management, recruit an in-service training, and boost the overall supervision of the discipline system.

What’s interesting is that Edwards’s father Juan Caban was also associated with the NYPD as a Transit Detective and later founded and led the Transit Police Hispanic Society. His three brothers are also part of the NYPD, proudly following in their father’s footsteps.

At present, nearly 14,000 cops in the NYPD are of Hispanic origin, and now Caban is its highest-ranking officer, creating history. When he appeared for his sergeant exam decades ago, he was accused of cheating. However, later, after a thorough departmental investigation, he was found not guilty in the cheating scandal that he and two dozen other aspiring sergeants were accused of.

In October 2022, the Democrat was awarded NYPD’s “Man of the Year” award. He is a close associate of Mayor Eric Adams. Edward Caban is married to Leidy Caban and has two children, a son, Edward, and a daughter, Ava.