NEW YORK CITY—Mayor Adams swore in Jessica Tisch as the administration’s third police commissioner at a ceremony on Nov. 25.
Jessica Tisch, 43, is a Harvard graduate and mother, and has served NYC for 16 years as an anti-terrorism analyst, deputy commissioner for information technology, and commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation.
At the ceremony she expressed her dedication to her new position and willingness to serve New Yorkers. “I can say without reservation that I have done my best, I have tried my hardest, and I have asked others to do the same on behalf of the people of this city. Sometimes it’s good enough. Sometimes there are even moments of greatness. Other times you miss, but when you miss, you wake up the next day and you go after it even harder”
Adams’s speech at the ceremony was full of praise for the new commissioner, saying that she’s “someone who understands what it is to lead,” and defended her lack of experience as a cop with, “A good manager can manage anywhere.”
In the Department of Sanitation, Tisch led the War on Rats and Trash Revolution initiatives. The program made trash bins mandatory, making trash less accessible to rats. With the decrease in food, the population would likely decrease as well.
Under Tisch’s leadership, the city was able to containerize 70 percent of its 14 billion pounds of trash in two years and significantly lower the amount of reported rat sightings.
Adams celebrated that Tisch is the second female police commissioner of NYC. The first was Keechant Sewell, also under Adams. She resigned in 2022, saying she believed that City Hall was interfering too much with decision making.
Tisch assured that Adams had given her independence and trusted her judgment while she was working for the Department of Sanitation, and she was looking forward to working with him.
During her time as deputy commissioner for information technology, she helped establish police use of bodycams, shot-detection systems, and radios that can be used in the subways. It’s anticipated that she will continue introducing new crime fighting technology to the NYPD.
Tisch’s appointment comes as former Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned in early September after it was announced that he was under federal investigation, citing that the investigation had “created a distraction for our department.”
Caban was one of several high profile resignations that plagued the Adams administrations after investigations were launched against him.
