A Glimmer of Hope: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch To Remain as Top Cop

By FrumNews.com

Williamsburg — In a glimmer of hope, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that she’s staying at the helm of the city’s police department in the administration of incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

Tisch, who was appointed commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams in November 2024, is maintaining the role despite differing on many policies with the Mayor-elect. 

“I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner,” Tisch said in a statement. “That’s because he and I share many of the same public safety goals for New York City: lowering crime, making communities safer, rooting out corruption, and giving our officers the tools, support, and resources they need to carry out their noble work.”

“I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner,” she said in a statement. “That’s because he and I share many of the same public safety goals for New York City: lowering crime, making communities safer, rooting out corruption, and giving our officers the tools, support, and resources they need to carry out their noble work.”

Tisch insisted she was confident she could still lead the department “honorably going forward” based on a spate of recent meetings she had with the mayor-elect before agreeing to stay on.

What’s the Deal?

Tisch remaining on as top cop raises questions for the city about what will stay the same and what will change. Will Tisch be able to hire new cops? Or will the NYPD’s gang database disappear?

Of concern for the Jewish community is whether the NYPD under Tisch would attempt to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—which Mandani is adamant to do—and, no less important, active IDF soldiers if they step forward into New York City, which the DSA is demanding the new administration to do.   

In an Editorial, the New York Post notes where Tisch and Mamdani differ:

• “Tisch opposes recent criminal-justice “reforms,” like cashless bail and Raise the Age, which have fueled crime and hampered cops’ ability to do their jobs; Mamdani thinks those “fixes” don’t go far enough.
• “She appreciates the enormous value of the NYPD’s gang database; Mamdani has sought to abolish it.
• “Nor could she be eager to lose her power to determine discipline measures, if any, for an officer accused in a complaint, a move that would undermine the department’s chain of command; the mayor-elect has talked up shifting that power to the notoriously anti-cop Civilian Complaint Review Board.
• “Tisch backs Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to add 5,000 officers; Mamdani refuses to boost the number by a single cop, and indeed seems poised to let the force shrink more.”

Here We Go Again

The City notes that reappointing Adams’ last police commissioner mirrors the approach de Blasio took to policing in 2014, when he appointed Bill Bratton — a former commissioner under Mayor Rudy Giuliani — to head the NYPD.

However, this plan didn’t shield de Blasio from criticism from within and without the department. In December of his first year as mayor, NYPD officers turned their backs on him at funerals for officers killed in a targeted shooting, claiming his critical rhetoric on policing had contributed to an atmosphere that was hostile to police in the wake of the NYPD killing of Eric Garner earlier that year. 

Over the primary and general elections, Mamdani was criticized by police for his lackluster plans for the NYPD, which included disbanding a unit responsible for policing protests, sending social workers to crime scenes as they unfolded, and other policies. 

In the end, whether Tisch was appointed or not, if the rank and file officers of the NYPD believe their job is being directly controlled by City Hall, they will either turn their backs on Mamdani or quit en masse.