New York City's new top cop: Jessica Tisch sworn in as NYPD commissioner
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NYPD has a new boss who will lead the nation's largest police force while aiming to drive down crime.
Jessica Tisch, 43, was sworn in as the new police commissioner on Monday -- and she is the fourth under the Adams administration.
Tisch took the oath, administered by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, with her children at her side and with her right hand placed on her grandmother's Bible.
She delivered remarks immediately after becoming the 48th leader of the NYPD, and the second woman in the department's history to lead the force.
"My great hope is that together we will return this noble undertaking, this job of high moral purpose, to a time and a place where you want your grandchildren, your nieces, your nephews to follow in your footsteps and become police officers," she said to the audience of law enforcement and other city officials gathered at 1 Police Plaza for the ceremony.
Tisch did not specify any policy direction for her tenure, but it is widely expected that she will continue to introduce innovative technology in crime fighting.
"The police exist to eliminate fear and disorder, your cops, like generations before them, nobly put their lives on the line each and every time they put on that uniform to protect you and your families and they do a damn good job of it," she said. "We will continue to do that most important foundational work to make you are safe, to make you feel safe and to improve your quality of life across the city."
Tisch is a longtime public servant and no stranger to city government. She most recently led the New York City Department of Sanitation.
Tisch is the Harvard-educated scion of a wealthy New York family, has worked for the city for 16 years, holding leadership roles in several agencies. As sanitation commissioner, she became TikTok famous when she declared in 2022, "The rats don't run the city, we do."
Her first job in city government was in the NYPD's counterterrorism bureau. As planning and policy director, she helped shape post-9/11 security infrastructure, deploying mobile radiation detectors and helping develop a digital information-sharing tool with instant access to surveillance cameras and license-plate readers.
As deputy commissioner for information technology, she spearheaded use of body-worn cameras and smartphones, transformed 911 dispatching, introduced a gunshot-detection system, worked with the city's transit agency to make police radios work in the subway and also helped build the high-tech joint operations center where police were on alert Monday as President Joe Biden landed at JFK Airport.
Tisch will now be at the helm to tackle law enforcement issues that the city faces.
In a one-on-one with Eyewitness News, Tisch was asked about the issue of repeat offenders released back on the streets committing crimes.
"Yes. There are problems in the criminal justice system, and as a trained lawyer, I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting in there and working on them with the policy makers, but every day, New Yorkers should know that the men and women of the police department are out there reducing crime, creating safety - making people feel safe," Tisch said.
She becomes the second woman to lead the NYPD. Keechant Sewell left in 2022 and was reportedly frustrated that Adams wasn't letting her call the shots.
Edward Caban resigned this year and is under federal investigation and Tom Donlon has been at the helm on an interim basis.
Tisch addressed the turnover in the department and how she sees herself as a stabilizing force for the NYPD.
"I've been in government a long time. I think this is my 17th year in government. I spent 12 years at the NYPD, and I've run two agencies," Tisch said in her one-on-one with Eyewitness News. "This is the third agency I will be running. I know how to run an agency, and I understand that we are on our fourth commissioner. I'm here to settle it down and provide stability and consistency. That's a big part of the job."
After attending her first roll call as commissioner on Monday, she told Eyewitness News her experience is even more valuable in understanding the tens of thousands of men and women she swore an oath to lead.
"The message to 35,000 cops is keep doing the work you're doing," Tisch said. "In me, you have a commissioner who's going to support you, who's going to get you the resources you need to do your important work. And the message to New Yorkers is our cops are out there to make you safe, to make you feel safe, to improve your quality of life. Fear has no place on our streets."
Former Commissioner William Bratton says Tisch will succeed if there is a clear pathway for her to do so.
"I think she's going to do a great, if the mayor lets her," Bratton said. "I think it's quite important that the mayor make it quite clear what he wants and gets out of the way and lets her do it. I think that was the issue with his previous three commissioners... and that's why he had three previous commissioners."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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