Police officers in New York are very fond of posing for photographs with tourists. This is one of its originalities compared to the usual discretion of law enforcement officers.

This is a big setting, so whether it’s in Times Square, on the Brooklyn Bridge or at the 9/11 memorial there is always someone in uniform from the NYPD (New York Police Department) willing to put a smile on their usually stony faces. If he wore a tricorne like the Civil Guard used to, that three-cornered hat would be a trending topic on social networks.

This is the friendly face of the body – there is also a very dark side -, at whose command a Hispanic has just arrived after 177 years of existence of the institution. Edward Caban, 55, married and the father of two teenagers, was sworn in in the 40th precinct of the South Bronx, the barracks where he began his career in 1991, a neighborhood in which he grew up, when it was still burning, as the son of a Puerto Rican who served as an agent and detective in the city’s traffic department.

“Police officer Eddie Caban couldn’t walk into the 40th precinct, look at the leadership photos on the wall, and imagine the future if it wasn’t for his father’s push to rise through the ranks,” he said. Juan, his father, was next to him. And he recalled: “He told me to take the exam, ‘promotions will get you a seat at the table,'” he added in flattering evocation of his father figure.

He is the one chosen by the mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, to continue making history. When he won the leadership post, the first person he entrusted this position to was a woman, already somewhat of a pioneer, and even more African-American. But Keechant Sewell abruptly resigned from her last June. They say that Sewell was disappointed by the frustration generated by the interference of the mayor, who many times seems that he still has not taken off his uniform.

Caban, the 46th commissioner of the NYPD, will have to deal with such interference to manage a force of 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees, the largest police force in the United States. “The commissioner should not be indebted to a mayor who makes his outsized role in the department a political calling card,” stressed a retired Hispanic agent.

Adams and Caban maintain a close relationship and it should not be forgotten that Adams needs the support of Latinos for his re-election in 2025. Hispanics are the second largest demographic in the Big Apple, with 2.5 million residents, 28% of the population, behind only non-Hispanic whites. The most numerous group is that of Dominican origin, ahead of Puerto Ricans, who are recognized as United States citizens. Then, according to the 2021 census, come the Mexicans, Ecuadorians and Colombians.

This demographic factor has also been reflected in the composition of the police force. In 1957 there were only 40 Hispanic officers in the NYPD. Recruitment accelerated, parallel to the increase in the demographic sector, and today they are the second largest group after the white uniformed men.

Despite the increase in racial diversity, do not forget that the friendly face of tourist photos has a reverse, that of a body that is much less accommodating with citizens, especially those who are singled out for the color of their skin or facial features. Caban lived through the stop and frisk period as an agent, which was established by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and continued by Michael Bloomberg, until it was declared unconstitutional. The arrests had one thing in common, more than 95% were black or Hispanic. In fact Caban has two stains, one for refusing in 1997 to give the name of two policemen who insulted a woman and another in 2006, when the disciplinary board determined that he abused his power as captain by detaining a man who refused to identify himself.

The arrival of Adams, in full psychosis due to the increase in crimes in the post-pandemic, led to criticism once again arising from the disproportionate arrests of the usual suspects: blacks and Latinos. Activists have already called on Caban not to treat the homeless as criminals.