Mayor de Blasio is set to appoint Former NYPD Chief Of Department Joseph Esposito – who retired in 2013 – to head the city’s Office of Emergency Management, sources told YWN.

Esposito ended his 44-year career with the NYPD last March at 63, the mandatory retirement age for uniformed police officers.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) was originally formed in 1996 as part of the Mayor’s Office under Rudolph W. Giuliani. By a vote of city residents in 2001 it became an independent agency, headed by a Commissioner who reports to the Mayor. In 2006 the office was reorganized under the Deputy Mayor for Administration by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The agency is responsible for oversight and development of the City’s emergency management plans.

OEM regularly tests plans by conducting drills and exercises, and responds to emergencies to ensure that other agencies not only follow these plans, but to foster communication amongst the responding agencies.

OEM also operates the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where city, state and federal agencies join representatives from the private and nonprofit sectors to coordinate complex responses to emergencies and disasters.

The agency also developed and runs the Notify NYC emergency alert program, by which citizens can sign up to receive phone and email alerts about emergencies and events happening in their neighborhoods.

Esposito entered the NYPD in August 1968 at 18 years old as a Police Trainee. In April 1971, he was appointed a Patrolman, and began his career on patrol in the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn. He was promoted to Detective in May 1983, Sergeant in September 1983, Lieutenant in February 1986, Captain in June 1989, Deputy Inspector in August 1993, Inspector in August 1994, Deputy Chief in September 1996, and Assistant Chief in December 1997.

On August 25, 2000, he was promoted to the position of Chief of Department, making him the highest ranking uniformed member of the department. In his career, Esposito has served in numerous commands of the department, including the 77th, 10th, 83rd, 109th, 34th, 66th, and 83rd Precincts, and in the Narcotics Division and the Detective Bureau. In his last assignment before becoming Chief of Department, Esposito was the Commanding Officer of the Strategic and Tactical Command (S.A.T.COM) Brooklyn North.

He has earned some of the department’s most honored and prestigious awards, including the Combat Cross, the Medal for Valor, and the Exceptional Merit award.

(Chaim Shapiro – YWN)