Benjamin B. Tucker

First Deputy Commissioner, New York Police Department (Retired)

Benjamin B. Tucker began his career with the New York City Police Department in 1969 when he was sworn in as a police trainee. Tucker became a police officer in 1972 and was promoted to sergeant in 1987. During his 22 years with the NYPD, Tucker performed a wide range of assignments, including police officer, law instructor, legal advisor, and assistant director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Under Mayor Edward I. Koch, Tucker served as the deputy assistant director for law enforcement services and executive director of the Commission on Human Rights. Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Her served as chief of operations in the office of the Manhattan borough president and chief executive for school safety and planning at the Department of Education.

In 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Tucker deputy director for operations in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the United States Department of Justice. In 2009, Tucker was nominated by President Barack H. Obama, and confirmed by the United States Senate, as the deputy director for state, local, and tribal affairs within the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Tucker returned to the NYPD in 2014 as deputy commissioner of training under Police Commissioner William J. Bratton. In November 2014, Tucker was sworn in as the 43rd first deputy commissioner, a role he served in until retiring in 2021.

He is a trustee on the Northwell Health Board of Trustees. He was elected to the Council on Criminal Justice and is a member of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions.

Tucker holds a B.S. degree in criminal justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York; a J.D. degree from the Fordham University School of Law; and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University, Elisabeth Haub School of Law.