Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced today the appointment of Thomas M. Chan as the new Chief of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau. The 31-year veteran of the force and current Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South will be officially installed as the Chief of Community Affairs Bureau in a promotion ceremony tomorrow at Police Headquarters.

“Fluent in three languages and an accomplished police executive, Chief Chan has demonstrated throughout his career the ability to build bridges between the Police Department and New York City’s richly diverse communities. Now, as the Chief of the Community Affairs Bureau, he will continue this important work, in addition to overseeing the NYPD School Safety Division, which alone employees 5,000 school safety agents.” said Police Commissioner Kelly.

“As commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, Chief Chan worked closely with residents and elected leaders there to reduce violent crime, resulting in a 31% decline in murders in his command last year, driven by a 28% reduction in shootings and a 24% decline in shooting victims. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last October, Chief Chan and his officers did remarkable work to keep hard-hit areas of Brooklyn safe. While contending with severe damage to many department facilities, they managed to reduce crime in every category in the weeks after the storm,” Commissioner Kelly said, adding that, “As commanding officer of the School Safety Division, Chief Chan oversaw the security of more than one million students and 80,000 teachers in New York City’s 1600 public schools. He worked closely with school leaders to introduce new changes to manage school safety personnel.”

Chief Chan will also oversee the Juvenile Justice Division, which includes the Youth Services Section and the Juvenile Enforcement Coordination Section, the Community Affairs New Immigrant Outreach Unit, and the Crime Prevention Section.

Chief Chan, 55, joined the New York City Police Department in January 1982, and began his career on patrol in Manhattan’s 26th Precinct. He was promoted to Sergeant in November 1985; Lieutenant in May 1989; Captain in July 1993; Deputy Inspector in August 1995; Inspector in November 2000; Deputy Chief in October 2004; and Assistant Chief in January 2010.

He has served in the 5th, 7th and 26th Precincts, as well as Highway Units 1 and 2; the Traffic Division; the Office of the Chief of Department; Patrol Borough Manhattan South; Patrol Borough Staten Island; Patrol Borough Queens North; Manhattan South Detective Operations and the School Safety Division.

Before being appointed Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South in July 2011, Chief Chan served as Commanding Officer of the School Safety Division and has also commanded the 5th Precinct and Manhattan South Detective Operations. He also served as Executive Officer of Patrol Borough Queens North, Patrol Borough Manhattan South, and the 5th and 7th Precincts. Chief Chan was Adjutant of Patrol Boroughs Manhattan South and Staten Island.

Chief Chan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospital Administration from St. John’s University. Prior to joining the Police Department, he worked as a New York City paramedic. A native New Yorker who resided in the Alfred E. Smith Houses on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during childhood and attended Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, Chief Chan speaks Cantonese and Toisan dialect, and is a former Vice President of the Asian Jade Society fraternal organization for law enforcement. In 2004 he became the highest-ranking Asian in the NYPD with his promotion to Deputy Chief. He was subsequently promoted to Assistant Chief in 2010, the first Asian American to attain the two-star rank.

Chief Chan succeeds Chief Philip Banks III, who was appointed as Chief of Department on March 27.

(YWN Desk – NYC)