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The head of the NYPD’s troubled Special Victims Division — which handles adult rape and child abuse cases in the city — is out after less than two years on the job, according to police sources and advocates familiar with the move.
Inspector Michael King took over SVD in August 2020 from Deputy Chief Judith Harrison and was touted by police brass for his special qualifications as a forensic nurse to run the unit.
“He was on a call this morning and he said, ‘I’m leaving. I’ve been transferred to the Chief of Detectives’ Office,’” a high-ranking police source said.
King also said “allegations” had been leveled against him but didn’t elaborate, police sources said.
The NYPD didn’t answer questions about why King was transferred but released a statement saying, “All transfers and command assignments are based upon the needs of the Department.”
King was the third head of the division in just under four years.
SVD — which investigates all sexual assault and child abuse cases in the city — is staffed by 255 investigators. That’s less than 1 percent of the uniformed force.
Since he began leading the unit, King increased his detectives’ paperwork despite their low staffing numbers. He has also been accused of moving inexperienced “white shield” detectives into the unit.
Advocates and police sources had previously told The Post that King, who never worked as a detective, lacked the managerial and investigatory skills to reform the long-embattled unit.
Even King’s managers have called him out for his poor managerial skills.
Then-Chief of Department Rodney Harrison dressed him down in a closed-door meeting last year for shoddy paperwork in the unit.
Mary Haviland, former executive director at New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, maintained there has been a “real investigative brain drain since [Chief Michael] Osgood” was forced out in November 2018.
“I think the NYPD has some serious issues going on with Special Victims,” she said. “I don’t think they are rising to the occasion to do what they have to do to get that division straightened out.”
“I think they need to do a national search for that position,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of emphasis on promoting from within [at the NYPD], but I think with this turnover, they should look at it with fresh eye.”
Advocate Jane Manning, director of the Women’s Equal Justice Project, said Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell need to select a person who is qualified to reform the unit.
“We are tired of the NYPD playing games with the special victims unit while rape victims suffer the consequences,” Manning said. “This is a chance for a new mayor and a new police commissioner to get it right.”
She said it doesn’t matter if the new head of SVD is a woman but it matters “that the new chief be a master investigator that is also an outstanding manager.”
Osgood told The Post he was frustrated by the lack of leadership in his former unit.
“It’s been four years of never-ending chaos inside SVD,” he said. “When are they going to fix it?”
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