NYPD counterterror official who oversaw security camera initiative set to leave end of April

NYPD counterterror boss who oversaw cameras quits

NEW YORK — The New York Police Department is losing its top counterterrorism official.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed Saturday that Richard Falkenrath plans to leave the nation’s biggest police department at the end of the month.

The 41-year-old Falkenrath had been deputy commissioner of counterterrorism since 2006. He was an architect of the department’s efforts to detect and thwart terror threats. He oversaw an initiative to fortify lower Manhattan with a network of closed-circuit security cameras, checkpoints and license plate readers.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly thanks him for his “outstanding service.”

Before Falkenrath joined the NYPD he was a national security aide for the administration of former President George W. Bush.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says there’s no word on who will replace Falkenrath or where he’ll work after his departure.