NYC Police Commissioner Tisch Brings Abrasive Style To The Job

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, 44, is five months into a job running the nation’s largest police department, with nearly 50,000 civilian and uniformed employees. Taking command of an agency rocked by scandals and the departure of three commissioners over two years, she has shaken up the staff and managed the hunt for a man charged with assassinating a United Healthcare executive. The New York Times says the

question is whether a woman with three Harvard degrees, a $12 million duplex and no experience as a uniformed officer can succeed in one of the city’s toughest jobs. Her success will be defined in large part by how well she cleans up the battered department and how much she brings down the crime rate.

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Her task is complicated because she reports to Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who until recently was under federal indictment. The mayor is the beneficiary of the Trump Justice Department, which successfully urged a judge to drop corruption charges against him. Tisch is under pressure from a White House that wants local law enforcement officials to help with roundups of undocumented immigrants, a job she says does not belong to her department. “We will not engage in civil immigration enforcement, period,” she said. The police department faces recruitment problems, excessive overtime, complaints about increased surveillance and a rise in rapes, even though most reported crime is down. Tisch's family fortune is valued at $10 billion. Tisch brings a reputation as a sometimes abrasive boss. She has belittled people publicly and shouted and even swore at workers who questioned her. Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, said he liked her directness. “When Police Commissioner Tisch asks you a question and you give an answer, you’d better be prepared for two more questions,” he said.