NYPD Chief Thomas Galati and NYPD Chief Isa Abbassi are leaving the NYPD, officials say
Two top chiefs of the NYPD and mainstays of the administration of Commissioner Keechant Sewell will be leaving the department to take high-profile positions — one in network news and the other in law enforcement, officials announced Monday.
Chief Thomas Galati, one of the NYPD’s most experienced commanders in the area of intelligence and counterterrorism, will be taking a job in television news, according to the officials. A 39-year veteran of NYPD, Galati worked for years in the department’s intelligence operation.
Since December, following the retirement of deputy commissioner John Miller, Galati headed the combined intelligence and counterterrorism division that oversees planning of security for major events and assesses any emerging terror threats. Privately, NYPD officials said that Galati was going to do work with a major broadcast news network. The identity of the network couldn’t be confirmed late Monday.
Also leaving is Chief Isa Abbassi, head of the department’s office of Strategic Initiatives. Abbassi, who had a 26-year career with the NYPD, will be taking a job as chief of the Paterson, New Jersey, police department after that state's Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Monday that he personally was taking ultimate authority of the trouble-plagued Paterson department.
Ages for Galati and Abbassi were not given. Policing in Paterson has been under a microscope in recent weeks after the March 3 fatal shooting of an emotionally disturbed 31-year-old man who had locked himself in a bathroom, according to a summary of the event provided by Platkin’s office. Events surrounding the death of Najee Seabrooks are under investigation by Platkin’s staff as required by New Jersey law.
“People throughout Paterson deserve a public safety system that protects and serves all members of its community, just as the members of the Paterson Police Department deserve adequate resources, support, and innovation from their leadership,” Platkin said in a prepared statement. “Chief Abbassi is an experienced, proven leader who has built community trust and achieved excellence through his innovation at the highest levels of law enforcement."
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
