By Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday
NEW YORK — NYPD Commissioner William Bratton continued to put his stamp on the department by ordering the reassignment the chiefs of the detective bureau and internal affairs, according to law enforcement and union officials.
Chief Philip Pulaski, who has been in charge of detectives since 2010, and Chief Charles Campisi, head of the internal affairs bureau since 1996, were separately told by Bratton this week that they will be moving out of those jobs, the officials said. No timetable was given for the moves or replacements named but one NYPD source said that orders announcing reassignments could come in about a week.
Both men are 62, one year shy of the mandatory NYPD retirement age. Both could be reassigned to new posts or retire, said one official who asked not to be identified.
“You just can’t fire somebody or say retire . . . you have to give them options,” said the official.
NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis said Bratton “has been undergoing a review of the department since his first week here and among those reviews are program, policies, staff and assignments.”
Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, applauded the news. He said his union planned to “work closely with the new chief of detectives to repair the damage and restore the morale of the famous detective bureau of the NYPD.”
Retired Det. Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, now an instructor in law enforcement, said Pulaski had a reputation as a micromanager whose approach frustrated seasoned detectives. But Pulaski also presided over detectives who solved several highly publicized cases, including Baby Hope and the missing boy Etan Patz. Pulaski didn’t return a request for comment.
Campisi’s internal affairs unit has worked with federal and city prosecutors to make criminal cases against officers, one of the latest being the arrest of scores of former cops in a disability benefits fraud case. Campisi also didn’t return a request for comment.
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