Quantcast

Queens NYPD assistant chief to head Manhattan North command

SECRETO
Photo courtesy the Queens Borough President’s Office

One head honcho Queens cop is moving out of the borough and heading up.

Assistant Chief James Secreto finished his three-and-a-half year post as commander of Patrol Borough Queens South on Wednesday. He now heads the Manhattan North command.

“I really love Queens,” Secreto said. “I had a good team. It’s bittersweet.”

Secreto, a former resident of Queens Village, took command of Patrol Borough Queens South in January 2010. He has previously headed the Queens narcotics unit and the NYPD’s School Safety Division.

Manhattan North is Secreto’s 18th command in his 34-year career in the police department, he said. He has come full circle, returning to the department he started in as a rookie.

“I’m coming back to where I started,” he said. “Manhattan is the mecca of the world. The police commissioner having confidence to put me here means a lot.”

Secreto said the high-profile post will come with a lot of responsibility. His command oversees Washington Heights, Harlem, East Harlem, Central Park, the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side.

“There [are] some great communities up there and some great people,” he said. “The commander I replaced was telling me this is a special place. I think I’ll see that in time.”

Staten Island’s former command leader, Assistant Chief Kevin Ward, will take Secreto’s Queens post.

 

RECOMMENDED STORIES