Former FBI official Tom Donlon must now lead the NYPD — what challenges await?

“I don’t think he’s going to give orders immediately,” said Jill Snider, a former NYPD officer and current adjunct lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“An interim could mean interim for a week, a month, a few months,” she added. “He doesn’t know any of the top brass, which is really good because he can be unbiased…”

Mayors have rarely appointed police commissioners from outside the NYPD, and former law enforcement officials say Adams’ decision to do so is a blow to morale, alongside the sprawling investigation into his inner circle. When former Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell stepped down last year, Caban – her first deputy commissioner and an obvious choice for successor – took the reins.

“To come in and immediately shake things up is not going to fare well with the rank-and-file,” Snider said.