De Blasio appoints Joseph Esposito as head of OEM
44-year NYPD Veteran and former chief of department Joseph Esposito to lead city’s emergency response efforts
Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the appointment of Joseph Esposito to serve as New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Commissioner. As Commissioner of OEM, Esposito will be responsible for ensuring that New York City is fully prepared to respond to natural and man-made emergencies, coordinating disaster response among all city agencies, and properly educating city residents on disaster preparedness.
Esposito brings decades of hands-on crisis response experience, interagency coordination and citywide operational knowledge to the department. A lifelong New Yorker, Esposito has served in nearly every uniformed position of the NYPD, and during his 12 ½ year tenure as Chief of Department, he led the NYPD’s planning efforts for every major event, and oversaw the NYPD’s response to every major emergency in the past decade, including the September 11th attacks and Hurricane Sandy. As NYPD’s Chief of Department, he directed and controlled the daily operations of the five major enforcement bureaus, and was instrumental in the NYPD’s evolution from a traditional crime-fighting organization to one with a counter-terrorism mission at its center, following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.