De Blasio Passes Over Black Man for NYPD Commish Again

Benjamin Tucker, the top black police official in New York City who was passed over for the job of New York police commissioner for a white man, Dermot Shea, on Wednesday said he was "disappointed" over Mayor Bill de Blasio's selection, Politico reported.

"Yeah, of course you're disappointed," Tucker said at a press conference, where he sat alongside de Blasio, former police commissioner James P. O'Neill, and Shea. "At the same time, it's the mayor's call."

Tucker has been passed over once before. De Blasio picked a white Irish-American police leader for the third time in a row, per The New York Times. Tucker did not attend the announcement.

Elected officials questioned de Blasio's choice.

But the mayor defended it during an interview on NY1 Monday night.

"Everyone has to understand that this particular job, when it comes down to it, we're asking one human being to do an extraordinary set of things and that’s a special calling," he said.

Seventy-nine percent of the NYPD members at ranks above captain are white, according an analysis by the publication The City.

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