NYPD boss takes taxpayer-funded trip to island political conference as city crime wave rolls on

While the city streets and subways are racked with crime, New York’s top cop is taking time for a tropical getaway.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell — who has notably made few public appearances compared to her predecessors — has traveled to the El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico to attend this week’s annual SOMOS political conference, according to sources and officials.

The five-day beachfront junket, which is held by the prominent nonprofit each November in San Juan, is seen as one of the main political networking and fundraising events for a who’s who of New York State Democrats.

At least one observer who saw the commish at the event wondered why she was spending time rubbing elbows with pols in Puerto Rico instead of focusing on police business in the city.

“How the F is the police commissioner, when the city is rampant with crime, going to SOMOS?” said a political consultant who spotted the commish with an entourage of just under a half-dozen at the hotel Wednesday.

“That was her mandate, yet you’re sending the police commissioner to suck Pina Coladas. What’s she going to do on SOMOS?” source added.

“Is she going to catch a seagull on the beach?”

It was unclear exactly what the once-obscure law enforcement official, who was plucked from Nassau County by Mayor Adams last year for one of the nation’s top policing positions, would do at the conference. Though a police spokesperson said the commissioner will be given an award at the event.

A review of the agenda found only a single workshop at the event even remotely related to city law enforcement — one on legal weed in Puerto Rico and “a preview of what it should look like when it rolls out in New York.”

A high-ranking source said it was taxpayer funded.

A police spokesperson told The Post after publication that the commissioner “was invited to attend the SOMOS conference where she will be presented with the Bridge Builder Award among other honorees.

“She will meet with elected leaders representing the constituencies we all serve to further the NYPD’s public safety mission,” the unnamed spokesperson added.

It’s rare, but not unheard of for the NYPD commissioner to attend the beachside escape. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea visited the conference after being sworn in in 2019.

But unlike Shea, Sewell is taking the city-funded tropical trip during a significant uptick in major crime.

Overall, felonies are up in the Big Apple by nearly 30% as of Sunday from the same time last year and more than 30% from 2017, NYPD data shows.

While the commissioner has seen a dip of almost 15% in shootings, every other felony crime category is up, except for murders.

The city subways, however, have also seen a historic increase in violence, with homicides hitting a total of nine, the highest levels since the mid-1990s.

It was unclear what was on the top cop’s itinerary or how much the warm-weather jaunt for the commissioner and police detail would cost the taxpayers.

The NYPD refused to provide her schedule or say how long she was staying.

The price tag for flights and four nights at the hotel for the group should come in at at least $7,500, The Post estimated with rooms at the resort averaging $525 per night after taxes and flights down to Puerto Rico running between $500 and $600.

That dollar amount was also before any other expenses, such as transportation, food and drinks.