A high-ranking New York City police chief who sparred with reporters and liberal politicians and is close to Mayor Eric Adams has retired after more than 30 years on the force, the police said on Wednesday.
The official, John Chell, 56, most recently held the title of chief of department, making him the top uniformed officer, in charge of crime-fighting strategies and operational planning. His last day was Wednesday. Commissioner Jessica Tisch appointed Michael LiPetri, the chief of crime control strategies, to serve as interim chief of department.
“Chief LiPetri is a true crime fighter, and under his leadership, the N.Y.P.D. has delivered record low shootings across the city and the safest quarter ever on the subways,” she said in a statement. “I would like to thank Chief John Chell for his more than 30 years of service to this department and New York City.”
Over his decades in the department, Chief Chell worked in seven precincts and in units that investigated narcotics and auto larceny, and held major leadership roles, including commanding officer of detectives and of patrol boroughs throughout Brooklyn. As chief of patrol and then as chief of department, he oversaw declines in most major crimes in the city, including homicides and shootings.
But he was also known for being part of Mr. Adams’s inner circle, a group of loyalists who retired chiefs said had fostered a culture of cronyism and whom civil libertarians accused of using aggression to bring down crime.
Chief Chell was included in a lawsuit by four former high-ranking police officers who have sued Mr. Adams, accusing the mayor of enabling corruption in the Police Department and fostering an environment in which anyone who spoke out faced retaliation and humiliation.
On Wednesday, Mr. Adams said in a statement that Chief Chell had led the department through “seven straight quarters of continuing crime declines.”
“Our city owes him a debt of gratitude,” he said.
Commissioner Tisch overhauled the executive staff after she took over the department in November 2024, replacing nearly a dozen chiefs and deputy commissioners, including the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau and the head of communications.
But she kept Chief Chell to run patrol operations, and then promoted him to chief of department in January. He replaced Jeffrey Maddrey, another Adams ally, who had resigned after accusations that he had coerced a lieutenant into sex in exchange for overtime opportunities.
It was an appointment that unnerved watchdogs of the Police Department, who noted that Chief Chell had been consistently promoted even after he shot and killed a man in 2008, when he was a lieutenant and commander of an anti-theft unit.
At the time, he defended the shooting, saying the man had backed a stolen car into him, causing his gun to fire accidentally. But jurors in a 2017 civil trial found that the shooting was intentional. The jurors awarded the victim’s family $2.5 million.
Commissioner Tisch defended her decision to promote Chief Chell, calling him a “proven crime fighter” whose strategies were part of the reason crime had declined.
Tall and barrel-chested, Chief Chell could be combative on social media, drawing scrutiny for appearing on a conservative news channel in uniform and posing for photos with President Trump at the president’s golf course in Bedminster, N.J. The chief’s posts on social media became part of an inquiry by the city’s Department of Investigation, which deemed his behavior “unprofessional.”
Chief Chell, whose salary in 2024 was more than $276,000, had told many people in the department that he would leave when Mr. Adams’s term ended.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, who continues to hold a huge lead in the race, has ambitious plans to remake the city’s approach to public safety. He has said several times during the campaign that he is interested in keeping Commissioner Tisch, but his past criticism of the police has unsettled department leaders and many in the rank and file.
Chief Chell’s departure makes sense given the uncertainty hanging over the future of the department’s top brass, said Jillian Snider, a retired police officer who lectures at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.