Philip Banks III (above) is replacing him.
TRUE BLUE: Pals cheer on outgoing Chief Joseph Esposito yesterday. Philip Banks III (inset) is replacing him. (
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The NYPD’s top community- affairs officer was named the new chief of department yesterday — just hours after his retiring predecessor left Police Headquarters to a rousing ovation.
Philip Banks III, 50, will be sworn in today to the top uniformed position and follow in the footsteps of 44-year-veteran Joseph Esposito, who held the chief’s job for 12 years.
Banks, a member of the founding chapter of the philanthropic group 100 Black Men, takes the helm as the NYPD struggles with race relations and its stop-and-frisk policy is on trial in federal court.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly called him “a consummate builder of community relations.”
A high-ranking police official said Banks’ promotion is in part “a political move” by Kelly to improve relations with minority communities.
“Kelly has lost the confidence of the minority neighborhoods,” the official said.
“The momentum was going against the Police Department, and this was a move to help slow that down.”
Banks, a Queens resident, has earned steady promotions since he joined the NYPD in 1986 — becoming a deputy chief in 2006 and an assistant chief in 2009.
He has also commanded the 79th, 81st and Central Park precincts, and was executive officer of patrol borough Brooklyn South and of the 73rd Precinct.
His father served in the NYPD for 26 years, and retired with the rank of lieutenant.
Banks’ promotion was announced at a staff meeting hours after Esposito was “walked out” of 1 Police Plaza in a traditional ceremony for retiring officers.
Hundreds of cheering, high-ranking cops in dress uniforms flanked Esposito’s path as he walked to a waiting SUV. “Espo! Espo!” officers and friends chanted.
“Thank you, everybody. I’m really overwhelmed,” said Esposito, who today turns 63 years old, the mandatory retirement age for police officers.
“I thought it was a magnificent turnout,” said Mike Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association. “It was well-deserved, but nothing could be enough to repay Chief Esposito for the service he gave to the city and the cops.”
Esposito, who joined the NYPD in 1968 as a trainee, was known for showing up at big events, including the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests. He also played a key role in implementing the department’s post-9/11 anti-terror efforts.
He’s sorry he has to retire.
“I wish I could do it for the rest of my life,” he said.
“It’s what I know how to do, and what I love to do.”