Mayor Adams names Sanitation Chief Jessica Tisch new NYPD police commissioner

NYC Mayor Adams Wednesday named Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch NYPD police commissioner — making her the second woman to serve in that role in the department’s 179-year history.
Tisch, who will become the fourth person to lead the department during Adams’ tenure as mayor, will be replacing Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon.
During a surprise announcement at City Hall on Wednesday, Adams called Tisch a “battle-tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure New Yorkers are safe and feel safe.”
“I am confident that Commissioner Tisch will effectively lead the greatest police department in the world and continue to deliver the safety and peace of mind New Yorkers deserve,” Adams said with Tisch by her side.
Police Benevolent Association President Pat Hendry noted the repeated changes in the NYPD’s leadership, but said that “the challenges confronting police officers remain the same.”
“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,” Hendry said.
“We hope to partner with Commissioner Tisch to make real progress on these issues as quickly as possible. The future of the NYPD and the entire city depends on it.”
Tisch, 43, spent 12 years working with the NYPD where, as the department’s Deputy Commissioner for Information and Technology,  she worked to “propel the NYPD into the next century of technological advancement,” she said after her appointment to commissioner.
After her stint in the NYPD, former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2019 named her commissioner of the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, where she oversaw technology advancements across all city agencies.
When Adams became mayor, he named Tisch Sanitation Commissioner. During her tenure there, she placed 70 percent of trash in New York City under a container mandate and rolled out of weekly universal curbside composting service to all 3.5 million residences in New York City.
The first NYPD woman police commissioner was Keechant Sewell, who Adams appointed at the beginning of his administration. Sewell left after a year and a half and was replaced by her Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban.
Donlon then replaced Caban, who resigned during a sprawling federal investigation that ensnared other NYPD officers and members of Mayor Adams’ inner circle and Caban’s twin brother, who was accused of selling security to city nightclubs.
Neither Caban nor his brother have been charged.