Mayor Eric Adams has appointed Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch the next leader of the NYPD.

Tisch will become the second woman police commissioner in the NYPD’s 179-year history when she officially steps into the role on Monday. 

Thomas Donlon has been serving as interim NYPD commissioner since his predecessor, Edward Caban, resigned in September. Tisch is the fourth person to lead the department for Adams since he took office less than three years ago.

“Commissioner Tisch is a 12-year veteran of the NYPD, and a 17-year veteran of city government who has dedicated her professional life to serving the people of New York City,” Adams said at a news conference Wednesday. 

“I need someone that’s going to take the police department into the next century,” he added. “I need a visionary. I need a person that can look at how we do everyday operations, and do what she has done over at the Department of Sanitation and the other fields that she has provided the city government.” 

Tisch started her career at the NYPD as a counterterrorism analyst before rising to the rank of deputy commissioner of information technology, overseeing the agency’s 911 operations, Adams said. 

“She spearheaded efforts to use technology to transform the NYPD’s fundamental business processes, manage the implementation of the NYPD’s body-worn cameras, and drove additional efforts to improve transparency and public access to the NYPD by modernizing CompStat,” he said. “Much of the technology you see now in the New York City Police Department started under Commissioner Tisch, and we want to continue to see that grow.”

Before Adams named her sanitation commissioner in April 2022, Tisch served as commissioner of the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, now known as the Office of Technology and Innovation. 

Over the last two years, Tisch has cleaned up the streets of all five boroughs, spearheading an effort to move trash off sidewalks and into garbage cans. She has also worked collaboratively with council members.

“As the chair of the sanitation committee, she has done an exception job through oversight. [She] always gave us the questions and answers we needed,” Democrat Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who represents parts of Manhattan, said.

The Department of Sanitation’s current first deputy commissioner, Javier Lojan, will become acting sanitation commissioner effective Monday, the agency said.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Tisch thanked Adams for appointing her before directing remarks toward members of the NYPD. 

“I want you to know that I believe very deeply in the nobility of the police and the profession of policing,” she said. 

“In my dozen years at the department, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most extraordinary public servants, people who run toward the danger when everyone else runs away,” she added. “It is now my privilege to lead you, and I’m looking forward to coming home.” 

In a statement released after Adams’ announcement, Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry, whose union represents thousands of active and retired NYPD officers, said he hoped to work with Tisch to address “challenges” faced by members of the agency. 

“Through the numerous recent changes in the NYPD's leadership, the challenges confronting police officers on the street have remained 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."

In his own statement, Detectives’ Endowment Association president Scott Munro said members of his union, which serves around 20,000 active and retired NYPD detectives, were “elated by this choice.” 

“We know we will work well with her,” Munro said. “She understands the NYPD. We can count on her.” 

The head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, which represents around 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants, also responded to the news Wednesday. 

"The SBA congratulates Commissioner Tisch on her appointment and we look forward to working with her on many important critical issues impacting NYPD Sergeants and in particular, finally fixing the ongoing wage disparity within our rank that has left over 1,200 of our Sergeants earning far less than the police officers they supervise,” SBA president Vincent Vallelong said.

Several council members told NY1 they’re optimistic about the new commissioner’s leadership.

“There’s only one priority for the NYPD. It’s keeping the public safe. I mean, everything else is just noise,” Republican Councilmember Joe Borelli, who represents parts of Staten Island, said. “So, as long as the department stays focused on that mission and that mission alone, I think the new commissioner will be very successful.”

“She is brilliant and what she does is look at the problem and find a solution,” Democrat Councilmember Gale Brewer, who represents parts of Manhattan, said.