Eric Adams’s Police Record Is Fueling His Political Rise—And Is Still a Mystery

Timing is always crucial in city elections. David Dinkins won as a racial conciliator in 1989 shortly after Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager, was killed by a group of white men in Bensonhurst. Four years later crime was up, andwon as a hard-ass ex-prosecutor. Eight years later the World Trade Center was attacked, and the city thought it needed to elect a billionaire businessman,was the supposed antidote to the autocrat.

Now COVID cases are way down; shootings are way up. Adams, a Black former cop, is selling himself as the perfect mix of police reformer and public-safety expert. “Adams is saying, ‘I have the support ofI have the support of Sean Bell’s father. But I also think we need to have a strategy to get guns off the street,’” saysa Democratic strategist who is not working with any of the contenders. “There’s a clear majority of New Yorkers who want significant criminal justice reform.

As campaign messaging, it is indeed working well for Adams. More dubious is whether Adams has the skills and experience to deliver what he’s promising. True, his 22 years in the NYPD could give him a level of credibility with the department that de Blasio has sorely lacked. And Adams has sometimes been prescient in his criticism of the department on racial issues, even while still in uniform. What Adams actually did as a cop, though, is largely a mystery.

Adams’s signature initiative—Operation Take Back Our Community, which has provided teenagers of color with guidance on how to react when stopped by police—was launched in his role as cofounder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Adams rose to captain before retiring in 2006 to run, successfully, for a seat in the New York State Senate. “Eric made captain—not inspector,” an NYPD expert says. “Captain is the last civil service rank.

De Blasio, who remains popular with many Black voters, has been tacitly supportive of Adams. “He can’t be forbecause they bolted on him and he considers them disloyal,” a former de Blasio adviser says. “He hates? Just not in the cards. With Adams, he figures he would at least have something of an ally.” A former press secretary for the current mayor recently wrotepromoting Adams as the right man for the moment.

FNC ADAM MVP

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