(The Center Square) — There’s a new sheriff in New York City after Mayor Zohran Mamdani fired the county’s previous top cop and replaced him with a former NYPD officer and prominent critic of the department.
Mamdani announced Friday that he has fired New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and appointed former NYPD Lt. Edwin Raymond, a 15-year police veteran who became a whistleblower against the agency’s community policing agencies.
“Edwin Raymond represents the kind of public servant New Yorkers deserve: principled, courageous and deeply committed to justice,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Throughout his career, he has fought to build a public safety system rooted in effectiveness, accountability and public trust.
The mayor didn’t give a reason for firing Miranda, who was appointed in 2022 by then Mayor Eric Adams. He also fired several top members of Miranda’s staff, according to published reports.
Miranda was previously a subject of a probe by the New York City Department of Investigation over his enforcement of unlicensed pot shops and money seized during raids of those operations.
Raymond, a vocal proponent of policing reform, was the lead plaintiff in a 2015 lawsuit accusing the NYPD of racial profiling and using arrest quotas that disproportionately targeted minorities. The case was dismissed by a federal judge, but is currently being appealed. He wrote a book about the experience titled ‘An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America.’
“Growing up in East Flatbush as the son of Haitian immigrants, I experienced both the public safety challenges facing working-class communities and the inequities that too often undermine trust in government,” Raymond said in a statement. “Choosing a career in public service was my response to those realities.
“I look forward to continuing that work as Sheriff by helping build a safer, fairer and more accountable city for all New Yorkers,” he said.
The NYC Deputy Sheriffs Benevolent Association issued a statement praising Mamdani’s move to replace Miranda, calling for “fresh start” in the agency. The union said its workforce “has been marginalized, demonized and retaliated against because of the mismanagement and malfeasance from former Sheriff Anthony Miranda’s unchecked reign over our department.”
“His departure marks a significant turning point that we hope will lead to a more collaborative and supportive relationship between management and our essential workers, who have made many sacrifices in service to our city even as their contract has been expired for well over three years,” the statement said.
