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Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s 17 years in public service went out the window about a month and a half into her new gig as the boss of the NYPD.
It was the day after police say a maniac recidivist fatally stabbed 14-year-old Caleb Rios as he walked to school in the Bronx, and Tisch was on the phone with the boy’s mom, consoling her as a commissioner — and a mother.
“It was one of the most painful experiences of my life,” Tisch, 43, who has a son around the same age as Caleb, told The Post Friday in an interview in her 14th-floor office at One Police Plaza.
“It’s a tragedy for his family. It’s a tragedy for the city,” she said of the Jan. 10 horror. “The man who stabbed him should not have been out on our streets. That family is shattered.”
Tisch was already having “recidivist of the day” conversations with her top chiefs during daily meetings to try to figure out how to get repeat offenders off the street, she said.
Walter Mejia, 29, who allegedly stabbed Caleb, was previously arrested at least five times, for arson, burglary, possession of a knife, possession of a loaded 9mm gun, criminal mischief and harassment as recently as November.
Caleb’s murder brought the problem home for her — and strengthened her resolve.
“Something’s got to give in this criminal justice system,” Tisch said.
“Felonies are trending downward, which is wonderful, but we have a problem with surging recidivism. The same people are committing the same crimes in the same neighborhoods.”
Tisch plans to travel to Albany to talk to legislators about changing some of the criminal justice reform laws that have created a revolving-door system in Gotham, she told The Post.
“We’re seeing too many cases die on the vine because of a discovery error or discovery problem that is completely irrelevant to the outcome of the case,” she said.
Discovery laws impose a burden on prosecutors to turn over voluminous amounts of evidence to the defense in just 20-35 days.
The NYPD is also working closely with district attorneys who are declining prosecutions for both felony and misdemeanor arrests and letting suspects right back out onto the street, Tisch said.
“It’s pretty demoralizing for our cops to be out there arresting people for crimes, whether they be felonies or misdemeanors, only to have the prosecutor’s office decline to prosecute,” she said. “We can’t allow violent criminals out to walk the streets.”
Tisch’s first order of business to try to fix the problem is getting more cops on the street to protect New Yorkers, she said.
The NYPD has been having trouble filling Academy classes recently in part because other nearby departments pay about the same or better with easier hours and less commuting for young officers, who are frequently starting families.
As an answer to that, the NYPD is considering lowering its college-credit requirement that candidates have to meet before becoming cops, she said.
That could help the department reach its goal of 1,000 officers in its next class in the spring, she said.
Retirements have also been soaring, but the commish attributed that trend to a large number of cops starting on the job 20 years ago who are now ready to collect their pensions.
She’s already getting more boots on the street by moving hundred cops out of One PP and other offices, she said.
“We transferred several hundred officers out of desk jobs and back to patrol where they are needed most,” she said.
Some of those moves also came after The Post revealed allegations last month of a sex-for-overtime scandal that led to the resignation of Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, the department’s top uniformed cop.
Tisch immediately transferred top detectives out of the Internal Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for rooting out police misconduct, and the chief of department’s Office.
She intends to make sure “there are no opportunities for abuse” and recently released new rules for tracking overtime and vehicle usage.
“This is not my first rodeo dealing with overtime issues,” said Tisch, who previously led the Sanitation Department.
Right now, the NYPD is working on the “logistical nightmare” of getting two cops on every subway train as part of a planned deployment with Gov. Kathy Hochul slated to begin with the first 100 officers Monday, Tisch said. Additional phases will be rolled out over the coming weeks with the expectation that the full operation will be complete by the end of the month.
Tisch, a member of the wealthy family that co-owns the New York Giants, told The Post she took the job as NYPD commissioner because she “deeply believes in the nobility of the police.”
“The cops are out there every day putting themselves in harm’s way to keep everyone safe,” she said. “That’s the height of nobility.”
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