According to several sources, Captain William McSorley, who has been the commanding officer of the 45th Precinct since February 2007, will be transferred shortly to the 48th precinct.
“It appears that Captain McSorley is going to be transferred to the 48th Precinct, as of next week,” confirmed Mike O’Conner, a community affairs officer for the 45th precinct.
O’Conner said that believes one of commanders in the borough retired, opening up a slot for McSorley to move up.
What appears to be a lateral move is actually a promotion of sorts, according to local leaders, who indicate that an assignment to a high-crime precinct with more officers, as the 48th Precinct is, an indication that McSorley is being rewarded for a good job in his current command.
Upon taking his position at the 45th Precinct, McSorley, who spent seven years in the U.S. Navy before joining the NYPD, said that he had a desire of be of service to the people of the Bronx.
“I’ve been a lot of different places and every commanding officer comes with their own experiences,” McSorley commented in 2007. “But all of them want to make their precinct a better place to live and to work.”
McSorley, a Queens native who is married and has two young children, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and traveled across the globe as an aviation electrician and helicopter crew chief. He said he switched careers because “it’s not exactly the place to have a family.”
McSorley is remembered as being very community conscious, maintaining a good relationship with different leaders in the various neighborhoods the precinct serves.
“Their gain is our loss,” Community Board 10 district manager Kenneth Kearns said of McSorley’s departure. “We had a nice relationship with him as a commanding officer. The board had an excellent working relationship with him. He is professional, and he will be missed.”
Kearns said he had nothing but positive things to say about McSorley’s tenure at the 45th precinct.
“We congratulate Captain McSorley on his promotion, and wish him the best,” Kearns noted.
Since taking over the precinct, McSorley was able to maintain the status quo when it came to crime statistics, despite being in charge of a seriously understaffed precinct for much of his time at the command.
According to NYPD comp-stat statistics, overall major crime in the 45th precinct is up just 3.15% over the last year, but down over 9% in the last two years, as of August 2008.
The addition of more police officers on the street should relieve the burden of McSorley’s departure until a replacement is installed, although the precinct has seen a spike recently in robbery recently, worrying many locals.
At McSorley’s new command, a sergeant was taking the change with stride.
“It is not the first time I have gone through a change in commanding officers,” said Sergeant Ermyne Fleming, “and it probably won’t be the last.”
