CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch speak at the CNBC Changemakers Summit in New York City on April 16, 2026.
CNBC
Jessica Tisch didn’t have grand plans to become chief of the New York City Police Department, America’s largest police force. By her own account, her rise to public office was almost by chance.
“I wish I could have told an honest story about my calling that required me to work in public service, but it wasn’t,” she said at the CNBC Changemakers Summit in New York City on April 16.The summer after Tisch, 45, graduated from Harvard University in 2008 with both a law degree and an MBA, she happened to meet someone who worked in counterterrorism for the NYPD. “He said, ‘Would you like to work for me?’ And I did, and it became one of the greatest joys and blessings of my life,” Tisch said.
But what happened next was no coincidence. Ms. Tisch has built a career defined by rigorous business operations, technological modernization, and a leadership style that offers valuable lessons for everyone, especially women, as they navigate intense scrutiny, suspicion, and constant change. In 2019, under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, Tisch was appointed commissioner of the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, leading the city’s IT response during the height of the pandemic. In 2022, she was appointed commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation, the largest in the world.
Her trajectory in New York City government under four different mayors underscores an important point often overlooked in business schools: Influential leadership doesn’t always begin with a perfectly choreographed career path. Rather, as Tisch demonstrates, it often comes from a willingness to seize an unexpected opportunity and commit deeply to it once it’s reached.
Just two weeks after taking over as NYPD commissioner, Tisch faced the high-profile shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel, followed by a manhunt for his killer. This moment tested not only her preparation to lead the massive NYPD, but also her leadership style. Rather than centralize management, Tisch said he is relying on a team of experienced police chiefs to closely monitor key decisions.
“My style is that I want to know what’s going on. I like to understand the details, but I also like to allow talented people to do their work,” she said. When it came time to decide whether to release photos of suspects or bring in intelligence analysts to identify the people they were looking for, Tisch described his approach with police leadership as collaborative.
Modernization as a duty
When Tisch first started working for the NYPD, basic technology infrastructure was severely lacking. In 2010, many police officers did not have cell phones or email addresses. “It was the Stone Age,” she says.
It laid out what Tisch wanted to bring to the agencies he had led. “In city government, I’m known as a modernizer,” she said.
“If the status quo isn’t what’s best for New Yorkers, I’m going to change it,” she said. “In government, there is often a tendency to rely on what you know, even if what you know is not what you need. I think this problem is worse in government because there is less competition.”
But Tisch also emphasized that modernization does not come at the expense of trust. Before the first surveillance cameras were installed in the city, a policy was put in place outlining a schedule for automatic data deletion, she said. “Privacy can’t be an afterthought,” Tisch said. “It has to be built into the system from the beginning.”
Tisch attributes much of her success to her ability to identify and develop talent. “I like to joke with my chief of staff that when I quit my government job, I’m going to open a talent agency because I have an eye for talent,” she said.
Focusing on talent also helped overcome potential credibility gaps. As a relatively young leader often managing police executives with decades of experience, she valued preparedness and transparency.
“I have dedicated my professional life to New York City,” Tisch said. “And I work in the weeds because I’ve been doing this work for a long time at different agencies. When I speak publicly, I know what I’m talking about, and it’s drawn from confidence and experience.”
Asked if it’s difficult for her to make many decisions that can be deeply unpopular, such as changing police overtime rules, Tisch asked her own question: “Do I want people to like me? Absolutely. But it’s much more important that people trust that the words that come out of my mouth are honest and direct.”
She frames her role around one guiding question: how to best serve New York City’s 8.5 million people. This approach is yielding tangible results. Under Tisch’s leadership, the NYPD has achieved significant reductions in key areas such as subway crime, shootings and retail theft, with the latter reduced by 14% last year and more than 20% by 2026.
“I’m not really worried about politics or publicity,” Tisch said. “I want to do right by the people I serve.”
