NYPD's Rodney Harrison nominated as next Suffolk police commissioner

Suffolk County Executive Bellone says the two top priorities for the next police commissioner are solving the Gilgo Beach serial murder case and implementing the police reform plan.

News 12 Staff

Dec 14, 2021, 5:27 PM

Updated 1,076 days ago

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NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison has been nominated by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone as the county's next police commissioner.
Commissioner Geraldine Hart resigned in May for a job as head of security at Hofstra University. Chief Stuart Cameron has been serving as acting commissioner.
Harrison is the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer and the first person to ever rise from cadet to chief of the NYPD.
Bellone says the two top priorities for the next police commissioner are solving the Gilgo Beach serial murder case and implementing the police reform plan.
Harrison, 52, is a 30-year-veteran and announced his retirement from the NYPD in November.
Harrison served as the department's first African American chief of detectives. He was shot while working undercover investigating drug crimes in the 1990s, held assignments in each of the city's five boroughs and had the distinction of being the official in charge of monitoring wind speeds to decide whether the giant balloons of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade could fly in various years.
He says his top priorities would be public safety and going into communities and building back trust.
"You've got to have that community trust," Harrison says. "Those go hand in hand. Accountability, transparency, also very important to me, as well as officer safety."
If confirmed, Harrison would be the first person of color to lead the department.