As New York City swearing-in ceremonies go, those for new sheriffs are not typically big affairs.
The sheriff’s office, after all, is not the Police Department, with its roughly 35,000 uniformed officers and detectives. The sheriff of New York City — a position many New Yorkers are unaware of — oversees a more modest force of about 150 uniformed deputies, whose duties range from enforcing civil court mandates to carrying out evictions to seizing property.
The swearing-in of the city’s new sheriff, Edwin Raymond, on Monday was proceeding fairly predictably as Mr. Raymond addressed a lineup of New York City officials that included Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the state’s attorney general, Letitia James.
But when Mr. Raymond delivered some of the most impassioned lines of his acceptance speech, they were directed toward an aging, wispy figure out of New York City’s past.
It was Frank Serpico, who in the early 1970s became New York City’s best-known whistle-blower by speaking up against widespread corruption in the city’s Police Department.
Now 90, Mr. Serpico no longer resembles the full-haired, wild-eyed officer played by Al Pacino in the 1973 film “Serpico.” He was dressed in black and wearing dark glasses inside a packed, darkened auditorium at Brooklyn College.
Mr. Raymond drew hearty applause when he acknowledged Mr. Serpico and said, “Your willingness to stand for rectitude when the cost was extremely high continues to inspire generations of public servants like myself.”
“Your presence at this ceremony is a meaningful reminder that the pursuit of justice requires not only courage in the moment but perseverance across generations,” he said.
Mr. Raymond’s predecessor, Anthony Miranda, an appointee of Mayor Eric Adams, was fired in May. He is now under criminal investigation related to possible corruption.
Mr. Mamdani immediately appointed Mr. Raymond, a former New York City police lieutenant, to replace Mr. Miranda. Mr. Raymond was picked largely for his anti-corruption stance, having played his own role as a whistle-blower in the Police Department before retiring as a lieutenant in 2023.
A decade ago, Mr. Raymond, who grew up in Brooklyn the child of Haitian immigrants, sued the Police Department along with a group of fellow officers, claiming that officials pushed unofficial arrest quotas that Mr. Raymond said were targeting Black and Latino men.
Around this time, Mr. Raymond also met Mr. Serpico, another son of Brooklyn who became known for fighting corrupt police culture.
Since then, Mr. Raymond said in an interview on Monday, Mr. Serpico has become a confidant, one he began speaking to regularly about problems within the Police Department.
As a young patrolman in 1967, Mr. Serpico began complaining to high-ranking police officials about officers who were accepting bribes and payoffs from criminals. His testimony in 1971 before the Knapp Commission hearings on police corruption helped expose pervasive wrongdoing and prompt the biggest shake-up in the department’s history.
“We both spoke internally to deaf ears,” Mr. Raymond said after the ceremony as well-wishers came up to offer congratulations.
Mr. Serpico suffered backlash from superiors and harassment from fellow officers. He became a pariah within the force, and his career ended soon after he was shot in the face in 1971 during a drug arrest in Brooklyn.
He has long maintained that his fellow officers delayed calling for help after he was shot.
Mr. Serpico, who was promoted to detective and received the Police Department’s Medal of Honor, spent a decade in Europe after retiring in 1972.
After accepting Mr. Raymond’s recent invitation to the swearing-in, Mr. Serpico was driven in from his secluded cabin in upstate New York, where he has lived for decades.
Mr. Serpico said he had long felt snubbed by New York City mayors and the police brass. He said that Friday was the first time he had met a mayor of New York City since being visited by John Lindsay in the hospital after being shot.
“I never got to go to any ceremony for making detective or for receiving the Medal of Honor,” Mr. Serpico said. “So today was very emotional for me, especially being called onstage and being recognized like that.”
He added, “It felt like redemption.”
Ms. James invited Mr. Serpico onstage for the swearing-in. Mr. Mamdani gave a hug to Mr. Serpico, as did the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams. Then Mr. Serpico took his place next to the pair as Ms. James swore Mr. Raymond in as sheriff.
After the ceremony, Mr. Serpico got a big hug from Mr. Raymond and then partook of the buffet of Caribbean food. Mr. Serpico happily accommodated the many attendees offering accolades and requesting selfies.
Mr. Raymond also accepted congratulations from well-wishers. He said that since meeting Mr. Serpico a decade ago, he had had regular discussions with him comparing police practices from their respective eras. He said he had invited Mr. Serpico to the swearing-in because of his stance against corruption.
“I just felt that it was important since he’s essentially the godfather of police accountability and just moving law enforcement and police accountability forward,” he said. “And the fact that he is still with us is a blessing.”
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