New York Police commissioner makes second trip to Middle East in 7 months

NEW YORK — The city’s police commissioner has slipped off to the Middle East again, marking at least his fourth trip abroad since assuming the prestigious post in July.

Earlier this week, Police Commissioner Edward Caban attended the United Arab Emirates’ World Governments Summit in Dubai alongside a top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The trip comes days after members of the NYPD reportedly traveled to the Middle Eastern country to participate in a training competition alongside a Chechen military group fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia — a move that alarmed security experts.

On Monday, Caban and Joel Eisdorfer, a senior adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, were pictured presenting H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of the interior, with a plaque during a closed-door meeting alongside other UAE government officials, according to a dispatch from the Emirates News Agency.

The group discussed existing relations between the UAE and the U.S. and ways to enhance cooperation in security and law enforcement, the news agency reported. Neither the NYPD nor the UAE’s Ministry of the Interior responded to requests for additional details on the meeting.

A City Hall spokesperson said no taxpayer dollars are being spent on the excursion but provided little insight as to why a top mayoral aide was out of the country and the timeline of the trip. The spokesperson also declined to say who paid for Caban's and Eisdorfer's airfare and lodging.

“As our administration strives to foster peace during a time of tension in our city and across the world, Joel Eisdorfer works hard every day to cultivate relationships and build ties among cultural groups in all five boroughs,” spokesperson Charles Lutvak said in a statement.

The outing marks at least the fourth time Caban has left the country as commissioner, though the NYPD declined to divulge whether he has taken additional jaunts abroad.

In October, he quietly visited Qatar for a security conference, while back home, the police department was on high alert for global violence stemming from the war in Gaza.

Then in January, Caban flew down to the Dominican Republic to sign an agreement stipulating the NYPD would protect polling stations in New York City where expats would be voting in Dominican elections.

Earlier this month, Caban was in Jamaica, where he met with the prime minister.

The UAE, however, is of particular importance for the NYPD.

The city’s police department maintains a network of officers posted around the world — including in the UAE and in Qatar — as part of a liaison program funded by the New York City Police Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the department.

“Today’s increasingly complex, interconnected and contested world requires the NYPD to maintain a global presence more than ever before,” Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner, who oversees the liaison program, said at a Jan. 31 NYPD breakfast.

A person with knowledge of the NYPD’s relationship with the UAE, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive policing matters, said the department is invited to a policing summit each year that occurs shortly after the World Governments Summit, and that various members of the force have attended in the past. However, trips abroad are typically split up between various members of police brass, the person noted, while Caban’s travel during his short stint has been raising eyebrows.

Caban’s visit to Dubai follows another group of NYPD officers who were in the country to participate in the Swat Challenge games, according to a report in The Guardian.

On Feb. 9, members of the NYPD’s emergency service unit competed in the games against nearly 90 other law enforcement teams including the Akhmat special police regiment, a Chechen military group that has been fighting in Ukraine, according to the Guardian, which cited security and human rights experts who wondered why police units from the United States and Canada would legitimize a regiment affiliated with Russia.

A spokesperson from City Hall did not respond to questions about the city’s participation.