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NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the resignation of New York City's police commissioner (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
New York City's incoming police commissioner says he views his calling as a "sacred responsibility."
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea spoke at a press conference Monday alongside outgoing commissioner James O'Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
O'Neill, who praised Shea, said he's leaving to take an unspecified opportunity.
He thanked New Yorkers and said they need to know that officers face danger every day.
The announcement was not without criticism.
The attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society says communities of color will "continue to suffer" under a police department that "prioritizes arrests and summonses."
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1:10 p.m.
New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill is stepping down after three years on the job.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Monday that Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea will replace O'Neill.
The Democrat thanked O'Neill for his service and called Shea a "proven change agent."
O'Neill has presided over continuing drops in crime and the department's response to high-profile incidents including a pipe bomb attack in 2016 and a truck attack that killed eight people on a bicycle path in 2017.
In August, O'Neill brought closure to one of the NYPD's lowest moments, firing a police officer for the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner.
O'Neill began his career as a transit officer in 1983.
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12:50 p.m.
Multiple reports say New York City's police commissioner is stepping down after three years leading the nation's largest police department.
The New York Times, Daily News and New York Post were reporting that James O'Neill planned to announce Monday that he is leaving the job.
The newspapers cited people with knowledge of O'Neill's decision who spoke on condition of anonymity.
O'Neill is 61. He spent more than three decades with the NYPD before becoming commissioner in 2016.
O'Neill led efforts to bolster community policing and repair the department's relationship with minority communities that had complained about innocent black and Hispanic men being caught up in aggressive enforcement of minor crimes.
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