Tisch Tapped as New Top Cop by Adams at Perilous Time for NYPD
Tisch, although never a uniformed officer, has worked as a high level civilian appointee in the NYPD for 12 years in anti-terrorism and tech roles. She was most recently the Sanitation Commissioner since 2022 and is one of the longest serving aides left in the Adams administration.
| 21 Nov 2024 | 05:50
Jessica Tisch, who was the Department of Sanitation Commissioner, is returning to the NYPD as Commissioner, making her the fourth top cop in the department since Adams came to power in 2022. (
)
Mayor Eric Adams in a surprise announcement at City Hall introduces Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch as his new NYPD Commissioner, the fourth person to hold the job since Adams became mayor in Jan. 2022. (
)
Weeks of speculation ended on Nov. 20 when Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch was named by Mayor Eric Adams to be the new police commissioner.
Tisch is a member of prominent Big Apple business family that co-owns 50 percent of the NY Giants and the Loew’s Corp. chain of movie theaters. She counts a dozen years at the NYPD in counterterrorism and technology positions, serving as deputy mayor commissioner of information and technology, although she was never a uniformed officer.
Adams called her a “battle tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure that New Yorkers are safe and feel safe.”
It comes as overall crime incidents are down 1.89 percent compared to a year ago, through November 17. While murders are down 4.6 percent to 334 year-to-date, two other violent crime categories are up. There were 1,535 rape incidents, a 19 percent surge, and 26,163 felony assaults, up 5.3 percent compared to a year ago.
“I need someone who can take the Police Department into the next century,” Adams said. “I need a visionary.” During her 12 years working with the NYPD, she was heavily involved in tech issues, and was responsible for equipping all cops with NYPD issued iPhones.
She was a big supporter and advocate of the rat-hating mayor’s efforts to clean up city streets, containerize the city’s trash, and introducing mandatory composting programs across all five boroughs.
Tisch, 43, is also one of the longest serving top aides in the Adams administration and becomes only the second woman to lead the department in its 179-year history. She’s also the fourth top cop since Adams became mayor in 2022, in an administration that has had a dizzying number of top level aide resignations over the past several months. She replaces the acting NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon, who only stepped into the job in September when former NYPD top cop Edward Caban resigned under pressure on Sept. 12. Caban had his home raided in September as part of an ongoing federal corruption probe into Adams which resulted in a four count corruption indictment against the mayor in late September. Adams has denied the bribery and corruption charges and has vowed to fight them as he prepares for what promises to be a bruising Democratic primary in June. His corruption trial is scheduled to start next April.
Caban, an NYPD careerist rose through the ranks before taking over the commissioner’s job, succeeding Keechant Sewell, the first woman to hold the job. She resigned in June, 2023, reportedly after clashing with Adams and his hands on management of the NYPD and its top brass.
Donlon, who will stay with the department in an advisory role, got into a very public clash during a photo op at the NYC Marathon with Tarik Sheppard, who is the deputy mayor of communications and who was foisted on Donlon as his chief of staff. Donlon reportedly wanted to get the interim removed from his title and become the permanent top cop. Aside from the clash with Sheppard, Donlon had his home raided by federal agents only eight days after he became the acting top cop. He said at the time that the material sought was connected to his time at the FBI years earlier and did not involve work for the NYPD. In his new role, Donlon appears to be filling the spot previously held by Timothy Pearson, who was targeted in the federal corruption probe, and will be a senior advisor to the newly appoint deputy mayor of public safety Chauncey Parker. Donlon, who had a long career with the FBI and the joint terrorism task force, will serve as a liaison to other federal and state agencies.
She takes over a department that has sagging morale, high turnover and has had the usual high level clashes between top brass and working journalists including the city’s three major daily papers, the New York Times, the New York Post and the Daily News.
Patrick Hendry, the head of the influential Policemen's Benevolent Association (PBA) said the department is losing on average about 200 cops per month and 25 percent of cops in one recent PBA survey said are looking to leave the department.
“Through the numerous recent changes in the NYPD’s leadership, the challenges confronting police officers on the street have remained the same,” Hendry said following the announcement. “We are critically understaffed, massively overworked and completely unsupported by a justice system and an oversight regime that care more about punishing cops than helping us get dangerous criminals off the streets.
“We hope to partner with Commissioner Tisch to make real progress on these issues as quickly as possible,” Hendry said. “The future of the NYPD and the entire city depends on it.”
In making the Tisch announcement, Adams also said he was restoring two more police academy classes, bringing the total to seven next year. The budget crunch last year had forced him to cut two of the seven academy classes for recruits.