The police commissioner of New York City stepped down on Thursday while facing separate federal corruption inquiries that are targeting Mayor Eric Adams and some of his key aides.

Edward Caban, who was the first Latino to serve as the head of the New York Police Department, reportedly was asked to resign on Monday, according to the New York Times and others.

In his email to the officers he oversaw, Caban stated, “The recent news has caused distractions for our department, and I refuse to let my focus be shifted away from our mission or the safety of the NYPD’s personnel.”

“I have great respect and appreciation for the courageous officers who serve in this department, and the NYPD needs a leader who can dedicate themselves entirely to the city’s safety. Therefore, I have made the tough choice to resign as Police Commissioner for the benefit of this city and the department,” he explained.

Mayor Adams has appointed Tom Donlon, a retired FBI official, to serve as the acting police commissioner. Donlon previously was in charge of New York’s homeland security office and led the FBI’s National Threat Center.

“This is the first resignation of a police commissioner due to a corruption investigation since the 1970s,” remarked Wilbur Chapman, a past deputy police commissioner of New York, to YSL News. “It poses a challenge for police officers to rebuild the trust of the communities they serve.”

On September 5, federal investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan confiscated Caban’s mobile phones as part of an investigation linked to possible corruption involving nightclub enforcement activities, according to local media reports. Devices belonging to lower-ranking police officials were also taken.

Caban is among numerous senior aides and advisers to Adams who had federal search warrants issued for them earlier this month. This group includes Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice Philip Banks III, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, and Schools Chancellor David Banks.

Philip Banks, a former high-ranking police official, has been identified as an uncharged co-conspirator in an earlier bribery case involving the NYPD. Also, David Banks, who serves as the school’s chief, is his brother, and Wright is David Banks’ domestic partner.

Earlier this year, investigators seized Mayor Adams’ electronic devices as part of an ongoing inquiry into possibly illegal funding sources for his 2021 mayoral run.

Caban first took office in July 2023, following the resignation of Keechant Sewell, who left the department after 18 months in the position.