The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that Owen J. Monaghan has been appointed as the new Chief of Police of the MTA Police Department.

Chief Monaghan succeeds Chief Michael R. Coan, who led the MTA Police Department for eight and a half years, the longest serving police chief in department history.

Chief Monaghan joined the MTA in March of 2015 as Vice President of Security for MTA-New York City Transit. His appointment was effective January 7. Prior to that he had a distinguished career spanning over three decades at the NYPD, holding several senior leadership roles there rising to the rank of Assistant Chief. He commanded the 13th precinct of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South before becoming Executive Officer of the Transit Bureau and held Commanding Officer positions at the 109th Precinct, Transit District’s 1 & 34.

Chief Monaghan, 57, has a Master of Public Administration from Marist College and is a graduate of Columbia University’s Police Management Institute. Originally from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, he now resides in Suffolk County.

The MTA Police Department is responsible for patrolling the stations, tracks, trains, railroad crossings, shops, and yards of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and Staten Island Railway. Its jurisdiction spans a 5,000 square-mile territory across 14 counties in New York and Connecticut.