D’Adamo at his desk at the 52nd Precinct in early 2010.

New York City precinct commanders, by rule, don’t stay in their jobs long – two, maybe three years, tops. Then, they move on. It’s an unofficial policy the NYPD employs to avoid stagnation or possible corruption.

On Monday, however, the commanding officer of the 52n Precinct, Deputy Inspector John D’Adamo was replaced less than 17 months after taking over the job and less than a month after his wife was caught lying to Clarkstown police about being attacked, a story that made headlines in the city and upstate.

The 40-year-old D’Adamo – a rising star in the NYPD who took on his first commanding role as head of the 50th Precinct in 2008 at the age of 37 – will be replaced by Deputy Inspector Joseph Dowling, formerly the commanding officer of Manhattan’s 33rd Precinct, which covers Washington Heights. On Tuesday night, Dowling introduced himself at Community Board 7’s general board meeting at Scott Towers in Bedford Park. Dowling said he spent more than five years at his last post.

It happened so quickly, the NYPD has yet to change the information on its website. That isn’t surprising, but D’Adamo’s tenure in the Five-Two does appear to have come to an abrupt end.