NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell has tapped Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey to replace the agency’s recently retired chief of department. 

Maddrey, a 31-year NYPD veteran, will step into the role former Chief of Department Kenneth Corey vacated when he retired earlier this week, Sewell said in a press release Friday. 

The chief of department is the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed service member.

News of Maddrey’s appointment followed a spate of retirements among NYPD leadership. On Thursday, Sewell announced four department leaders — Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox, Chief of Housing Kathleen O’Reilly, Chief of Special Operations Harry Wedin and Deputy Commissioner of Support Services Robert Martinez — would be retiring. In addition, NYPD Chief of Internal Affairs David Barrere retired on Wednesday. 

On Friday, Sewell said Deputy Chief John Chell, executive officer in the Patrol Services Bureau, would replace Maddrey as the NYPD’s chief of patrol. 

Assistant Chief Martine Materasso, who served as chief of counterterrorism, will become acting chief of housing; Assistant Chief Michael Kemper, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, will become the NYPD’s acting chief of transit; and Assistant Chief Wilson Aramboles, the head of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit, will take on the acting chief of special operations role, the commissioner said. 

Sewell also tapped Chief of the Intelligence Bureau Thomas Galati to serve as the NYPD’s new chief of intelligence and counterterrorism, with Assistant Chief Miguel Iglesias set to serve as the new chief of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

“This strong team of law enforcement leaders will propel us forward in our everlasting work to keep our communities safe and never waver in our fight against crime,” Sewell said in a statement. 

Maddrey, for his part, launched his career at the 110th Precinct in Queens in 1991, Sewell said in her release. 

His three-plus decades with the department have not been without controversy. In 2016, a former subordinate filed a civil case accusing him of sexual harassment and assault, leading to internal discipline by the NYPD, the New York Times reported.

A federal court judge dismissed the allegations — which Maddrey denied — in 2019, the outlet reported. Maddrey is now seeking to dismiss the case in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to the Times.

The new chief of department also reportedly came under fire for ordering the release of a retired NYPD officer accused of chasing three teenage boys down a Brooklyn street with a gun in his hand last year. According to a report in The City, NYPD officials said video along the route where the retired officer pursued the boys showed he wasn’t carrying a gun in his hand.

In an interview with NY1 on Monday, Sewell — joined by Corey — said her pick to replace the outgoing chief of department would have to exhibit “professionalism” and “competence,” as well as an ability to “get crime down.”

The chief of department “oversees a significant number of resources, and the police department has to have that knowledge to be able to deploy them effectively and efficiently,” she said. 

Asked to explain how the commissioner and chief of department roles differed, Corey said the head of the NYPD “has the vision, right, so she lays out what she’d like the department to do, which direction we’re going to go.”

“And it’s [the chief of department’s] job then to turn that into reality, to figure out how to operationalize that, get that down to the officers on the street, the detectives in the detective squads, and start making that a reality,” Corey added.