Thomas Donlon, a Bronx native who has an extensive background in federal law enforcement, will become New York City’s interim police commissioner following the resignation of Edward A. Caban on Thursday.
Most recently, Mr. Donlon ran his own private security and consulting company called Global Security Resolutions, which he founded in 2020.
Mayor Eric Adams, in announcing his appointment at a news conference, called Mr. Donlon “an experienced law enforcement professional who has worked at the local, state, federal and international levels.”
Among his many positions, Mr. Donlon was the director of the state homeland security office in New York, has worked for the F.B.I. and served in counterterrorism roles domestically and abroad and in security for Wall Street firms.
Here is what to know about Mr. Donlon and his background:
Adams oversaw a key confirmation
Mr. Adams and Mr. Donlon have known of one another since at least early 2009, when Mr. Adams, then a state senator, became the chair of the Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee.
In February 2009, according to a news release that Mr. Adams’s office issued at the time, that committee confirmed Mr. Donlon’s nomination to head New York’s Office of Homeland Security.
Educated at Iona
Mr. Donlon graduated from Iona University, a private Catholic school with a main campus in New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1976, according to his LinkedIn profile, which has now been taken down.
Agent Donlon’s career
The F.B.I., which does not verify the employment status of agents, would not comment on Mr. Donlon’s history with the bureau.
According to the 2009 news release, Mr. Donlon began his career with the F.B.I. in 1974.
Mr. Donlon worked in several roles in the agency, serving as the chief of its National Threat Center Section before his retirement, according to a biography released by the mayor’s office on Thursday.
Three decades ago, Mr. Donlon worked for the Bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in the New York City field office, where he was a “co-case agent” on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing investigation.
The task force, a partnership between the F.B.I.’s New York field office and the New York Police Department, was formed in 1980 and was the first of its kind, according to the bureau. The investigation into the 1993 bombing was led by the task force and pulled in about 700 agents across the world, the agency said.
From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Donlon was a supervisory special agent in the agency’s headquarters in Washington, according to the 2009 State Senate news release.
While with the F.B.I., Mr. Donlon also worked on cases abroad, like the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa and the Qaeda bombing of the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole in 2000, among others, according to his biography from the mayor’s office. Mr. Donlon also worked on the investigation into Sept. 11, it said.
From 2002 to 2003, Mr. Donlon was in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York Counterterrorism Center, according to the Senate news release.
“In this role, he oversaw the Joint Terrorism Task Force and directed domestic and international terrorism investigations,” the release said.
Short stay in a state job, then the private sector
After a stint as director of security for Credit Suisse, Mr. Donlon was appointed to head the New York Office of Homeland Security in February 2009 by David Paterson, then the governor. He served a little more than a year at the agency, which no longer exists, according to a spokesperson for the state’s current Homeland Security and Emergency Services division.
Mr. Donlon acted as the state’s “primary contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” according to the biography released Thursday.
“He was responsible for directing and coordinating a comprehensive statewide counterterrorism strategy for the prevention, preparedness and response to terrorism or related matters,” the mayor’s office said, “ensuring the security and safety of New York State residents.”
Mr. Donlon left to become the worldwide security chief at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. He also served as director of security for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the commercial real estate company, the biography from the mayor’s office said.
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