Ex-NYPD Chief To Oversee NYC Medical Equipment During Coronavirus

NEW YORK, NY — Former NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill is returning to city government as a special advisor to oversee medical supplies and personal protective equipment for front line healthcare workers as the city grapples with the outbreak of coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.

O'Neill, who will assume the new role as a volunteer, will create a supply inspection protocol to ensure that city hospitals are getting the equipment they need to treat coronavirus patients, city officials said. The former police chief's new duties will also include verifying that hospital administrators are properly distributing protective equipment to medical staff.

"I've asked Jimmy O'Neill to develop a system for ensuring that we'll have personnel in every hospital where they're needed, to help make sure that this supply chain is seamless and constant and focused, that the supply usage is just the way it should be and any hospital that needs additional help will be able to get it to them quickly," de Blasio said during a Wednesday press conference.

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De Blasio said that he chose O'Neill for the role because his experience working with the city government and leading a large department such as the NYPD. Of O'Neill's tenure with the NYPD, de Blasio said: "He did an outstanding job in those years serving us, leading an organization of over 50,000 extraordinary people and keeping this city safe."

O'Neill will assemble a team to monitor the medical supply chain by embedding staffers from City Hall and other city departments in city hospitals to quickly report when facilities are running low on both supplies and personnel.

"It's important that we all come together as New Yorkers. It’s one thing I saw in my time as a cop, you know, this is a resilient city. Everybody's supportive. Lately, I've just been seeing, reading, hearing about all the great work that's going on in New York City right now. And I just felt compelled to come back and offer to help and do whatever I could," O'Neill said Wednesday.

O'Neill served as NYPD Commissioner for more than three years, capping off a three-decade career in the police department. The former police chief resigned in late 2019 after accepting an offer to serve as senior vice president and global head of physical security for the credit card company Visa.

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