Ex-NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea’s rookie son has been promoted to detective

The rookie son of former NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea landed a promotion after just 18 months as a police officer – in a surprise move that has some in the department crying.

Richard Shea, 23, will be transferred from the patrol officer to a detective unit in the NYPD’s 23rd Precinct in East Harlem, effective Monday, according to an internal NYPD memo obtained by the Post.

Shea joined the department in November 2020 and completed his six months at the police academy last May, according to his NYPD officer profile.

Since starting his job as a patrolman, he’s amassed 32 arrests. He also did not receive any awards and additional education.

Accelerated promotion of a novice fresh out of the police academy to an investigative unit is virtually unheard of, sources said.

“No one gets it that quick unless there are exceptional circumstances,” a police source told The Post. “You get into a shootout and your partner gets killed and you kill the bad guy. Then they would probably push you to the detective. But he’s just out of academy. What could he know? It’s bullsh–t. You can’t do that in a year and a half.”

Another police source described the promotion as “nepotism.”

“With so little time to get into an investigative unit, there’s clearly only two options: either you know someone who has attracted you, or you get into high-profile filming, or you do something newsworthy and did a great job. Nobody has any problems with the latter.

“I’ll bet you there are guys in their 23s that I’ve waited years to make the roster,” the source continued. “Not to mention that this kid couldn’t possibly know enough about patrols to even understand how to do detective work.”

The Post has reached out to the NYPD for comment.

John Macari Jr., a former NYPD lieutenant and trustee of the National Coalition of Front Line Workers, condemned the move in a social media post as a clear case of nepotism and said it represented “a failure of leadership.”

“I’m not hitting the kid. I hope he has a safe and prosperous career, but his father and the leadership of this department have failed him and the men and women of the NYPD. It lowers morale for everyone. I’m not saying don’t match up your kid, I’m saying just make it look good,” Macari tweeted.

Dermot Shea was appointed NYPD commissioner by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2019 to replace outgoing top cop James O’Neill. Like his predecessor, Shea was considered a protégé of Bill Bratton.

Shea, 53, retired from office in December 2021 after new mayor Eric Adams named Keechant Sewell as the new commissioner.

James Shea, the commissioner’s brother, seven years his senior, now serves as Jersey City’s Director of Public Safety after more than 20 years in the NYPD.