Albany, NY – Gov. Cuomo continued to shake up the scandal-scarred Division of State Police last week with the unannounced appointment of a career prosecutor, surprisingly not a police officer, as its first deputy superintendent, The Post has learned.
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Called unprecedented by long-timers, the appointment of Kevin Gagan — who was an assistant attorney general under Cuomo — to the agency’s $159,000-a-year, second-highest spot has “angered and infuriated” many senior officers.
“They’re mad. They wanted one of their own,” said a former top State Police official.
Gagan, 46, is a former Manhattan homicide prosecutor and has served as a State Police chief counsel for the past few months.
A Cornell Law School grad and Utica native, Gagan replaces former acting State Police Superintendent John Melville, who had been appointed by Gov. David Paterson and was bounced by Cuomo in January after the new governor questioned his loyalty.
Cuomo named former NYPD Deputy Chief Joseph D’Amico, another veteran of the Attorney General’s Office, as State Police superintendent in January, and until last week, Melville had served as his first deputy.
“This sends a message that the State Police is not a club, that this is about professionalism.”
Steven Cohen, Cuomo’s secretary, said the selection of Gagan “shows a commitment to pure professionalism and to doing what’s right for the State Police and the state of New York.”