New York’s top state cop, Joseph A. D’Amico, has abruptly resigned.
D’Amico, 56, tendered his resignation as superintendent of the New York State Police to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday morning, a source close to the matter said.
The three-decade veteran of law enforcement for the NYPD and in Albany had not been asked to resign, said the source, who declined to give further details.
In January, D’Amico came under fire for helping void a traffic ticket issued by a trooper to an NYPD officer who had struck a marked State Police van in Yonkers.
A State Police spokesman at the time said the top state cop directed staff to review the decision to issue the ticket, and that D’Amico did not communicate with anyone at the NYPD about the ticket.
Before heading to Albany, D’Amico served 27 years with the NYPD, and was a deputy chief in 2007, when he was picked by then-state Attorney General Cuomo as his chief investigator.
While at the AG’s office, D’Amico supervised 300 investigators, and was respected for his successful probes of State Police abuses under two previous governors, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson.
The State Police and Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on D’Amico’s sudden departure.
