Edwin Raymond, the son of Haitian immigrants and a former NYPD lieutenant, has officially taken the helm of the New York City Sheriff’s Office, becoming the first Haitian New Yorker to lead one of the city’s major law enforcement agencies.
Raymond was sworn in on July 27 at Brooklyn College, marking a significant moment for New York’s Haitian community. The ceremony came on the same day that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 300,000 Haitians in the United States expired, adding a deeper layer of significance to Raymond’s assumption of office.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who appointed Raymond in May, highlighted his Haitian heritage and long record of public service during the ceremony. Mamdani described Raymond as someone who has spent his career trying to bridge the often difficult relationship between law enforcement and the communities it serves.
The Mayor said Raymond’s appointment was particularly meaningful because he grew up in East Flatbush, a Brooklyn neighborhood with a significant Caribbean and Haitian presence. Rather than leaving the community where he was raised, Raymond continued living there and sought to demonstrate that law enforcement and the residents it serves could build relationships based on trust.
“I am proud to say that Sheriff Raymond will be the first Haitian New Yorker to lead a major law enforcement office here in our city,” Mamdani said.
Raymond’s professional journey to the Sheriff’s Office has been shaped by more than two decades of public service. He joined the New York City Police Department at age 22, serving initially as a police officer before rising through the ranks to sergeant and lieutenant. He eventually became commanding officer of Brooklyn North Community Affairs, where he focused on community relations and policing practices.
He retired from the NYPD in 2023 and subsequently joined the New York State Attorney General’s Office, where he served as the nation’s first social justice liaison. His work on law enforcement accountability earned him several honors, including the NAACP’s Courage Under Fire Award.
Raymond has also written publicly about his experiences in law enforcement. In his book, An Inconvenient Cop, he reflected on the challenges of policing, race and institutional accountability. During his swearing-in remarks, Mamdani referenced a central question Raymond carried throughout his career: how to balance the responsibility of maintaining public safety with protecting people’s fundamental rights.
That philosophy is expected to influence Raymond’s approach to his new position. Unlike the NYPD, the Sheriff’s Office operates under the New York City Department of Finance and is primarily responsible for enforcing civil-law matters and court mandates. Its duties include executing orders of protection, carrying out property seizures pursuant to court orders, enforcing certain tax laws and handling real-property actions. The office also has responsibilities related to unlicensed cannabis enforcement and the investigation of deed theft.
Raymond’s appointment has taken on additional significance because of the uncertainty facing Haitian New Yorkers following the expiration of TPS. Mamdani directly addressed the community during the ceremony, acknowledging the fear created by the federal government’s immigration policies.
“To any Haitian New Yorkers feeling afraid right now, I want you to know that City Hall stands with you,” Mamdani said, while pledging that the city would continue urging Congress to find a permanent solution.
The timing has made Raymond’s elevation particularly symbolic. On a day when many Haitian families were confronting uncertainty over their ability to remain in the United States, one of the country’s largest Haitian-American communities was also witnessing one of its own assume a prominent position within New York City government.
For Raymond, however, the appointment represents more than a symbolic milestone. It is the latest chapter in a career centered on public safety, accountability and the relationship between government institutions and the communities they serve.
In his own remarks following his appointment, Raymond said his upbringing as the child of Haitian immigrants exposed him to both the public-safety challenges confronting working-class neighborhoods and the inequalities that can undermine confidence in government.
“Choosing a career in public service was my response to those realities,” Raymond said.
He now takes charge of an agency with responsibilities that touch the everyday lives of New Yorkers, from protecting domestic-violence survivors through court orders to addressing property and deed theft disputes.
His appointment therefore represents a notable moment for Haitian-Americans, Caribbean-Americans and immigrant communities throughout New York City. Raymond’s journey from the son of Haitian immigrants in East Flatbush to the city’s Sheriff places him in a position to bring both personal experience and decades of law-enforcement expertise to an office where trust, accountability and justice are central to its mission.
As New York’s Haitian community confronts a period of considerable uncertainty, Raymond’s swearing-in offers a powerful counterpoint: a Haitian New Yorker is now responsible for leading a major city law-enforcement institution and helping shape how it serves the people of all five boroughs.
