New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban abruptly resigned his position on Thursday, days after Mayor Eric Adams called for his resignation amidst a federal corruption probe into the highest levels of the police department and the Adams administration.  

Last week FBI officials seized Caban's phone as part of a broader criminal investigation involving his brother, a retired member of the NYPD. 

“The N.Y.P.D. deserves someone who can solely focus on protecting and serving New York City, which is why — for the good of this city and this department — I have made the difficult decision to resign,” Mr. Caban wrote.

A statement from Commissioner Caban’s lawyers, Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski at the firm Cooley LLP, is expected to say that federal prosecutors have told them that he is not a target of the investigation, and that he intends to fully cooperate with the government.

The two lawyers are former chiefs of the corruption unit at the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District.

Prosecutors from that office, along with agents from the Internal Revenue Service, are examining a nightclub security business owned by the commissioner’s twin brother, James Caban, a former police officer who was fired from the department in 2001. James Caban also had his phone seized last week, according to one of the people.

So far no one has been charged with any crimes in the ongoing investigation, but as the New York Times notes, Caban isn't the only high-profile member of Eric Adams' inner circle to go under the microscope. There are currently four separate investigations underway, including one into the mayor himself. 

The investigation into Caban and his brother revolve around whether or not nightclubs and bars received preferential treatment after paying James Caban to act as a liaison with law enforcement, but this is hardly the first time that NYPD officials have been suspected or accused of abusing their position to corruptly benefit themselves or family members. In 2017 the NYPD was rocked by a scandal in its Licensing Division, where multiple officials were accused of using the city's "may issue" carry laws to pad their pockets with bribes from "gun expediters". As the New York Post reported in early 2018:

David Villanueva, an ex-supervisor in the NYPD’s License Division, said he and other cops — including officers Richard Ochetel and Robert Espinel and Lt. Paul Dean — were on the take for years from so-called gun expeditors.

In exchange, the officers doled out pistol permits like candy — even to people who should not have had them, Villanueva said.

One expeditor, he said, may have had ties to organized crime. Another got help with 100 gun permits over the years — “none” of which should have been approved. 

Villanueva gave the testimony at the Manhattan federal court trial of John Chambers, a self-described gun lawyer to the stars accused of plying Villanueva with lavish gifts, including an $8,500 diamond-studded watch and tickets to Broadway shows, in exchange for gun permits.

Villanueva, who pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the feds, walked the jury through each expeditor.

Frank Soohoo, who pleaded guilty in 2016, plied Villanueva and Ochetel with trips to the Bahamas, Mexico and Hawaii, the ex-police sergeant said. Soohoo also threw lavish parties at his Queens gun store for the officers and occasionally hired hookers to attend, Villanueva said.

In exchange, Soohoo got help getting permits, including advice on how to help a client who was “federally barred” from legally owning a gun, Villanueva said.

One "expediter" gave licensing officials $1,000 for every permit that was approved, and successfully obtained a license at least 100 times between 2012 and 2015, according to Villanueva's testimony. Meanwhile, everyday citizens were routinely denied access to their right to keep and bear arms if they failed to demonstrate a "justifiable need"... or come up with cash and prizes for the licensing officers. 

Caban has not been accused of any wrongdoing regarding gun permits, but that doesn't mean that all of the issues in the Licensing Bureau have been resolved. The NYPD is the subject of multiple lawsuits over the lengthy delays in processing permits, and the NYPD isn't even saying how many carry permits have been issued this year. Caban's replacement may prove to be no better than his predecessor when it comes to the constitutionally untenable policies that are preventing many applicants from accessing their Second Amendment rights, but lord knows there's plenty of room for improvement... even if the licensing authorities are no longer on the take.