Jessica Tisch, Sanitation Chief, Becomes 2nd Woman to Lead the N.Y.P.D.
The New York Times
Ms. Tisch, a member of a prominent New York family who has held several positions in city government, will take over the nation’s largest police department.
Jessica S. Tisch, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation and a member of a prominent New York family, will be the new head of the Police Department, the fourth of Mayor Eric Adams’s tenure.
Mr. Adams on Wednesday announced Ms. Tisch’s appointment at a news conference about the budget. His decision follows the resignation of Edward A. Caban on Sept. 12 and the subsequent appointment of Thomas Donlon on an interim basis.
The announcement came as a surprise after weeks of speculation over who would lead the Police Department permanently. Mr. Adams said that Ms. Tisch would start on Monday, and noted that she would be the second woman commissioner.
“I need someone who can take the Police Department into the next century,” Mr. Adams said at City Hall. “I need a visionary.”
Ms. Tisch, 43, has run the Sanitation Department since April 2022, pushing for clean streets as the city emerged from the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic and becoming internet famous as a scourge of rats. Before that, she held positions throughout city government — including at the Police Department, where she was deputy commissioner for information technology.
Ms. Tisch said at Wednesday’s news conference that she was proud of what the Sanitation Department had achieved during her tenure. She also praised the police officers she would soon be supervising.
