Ben Tucker was first appointed to the NYPD as a police trainee in November 1969. He was sworn in as a patrol officer in 1972, and was promoted to sergeant in 1987. After serving the Department for 22 years, he later served in a public safety capacity in a variety of city, mayoral, and federal posts, including Assistant Director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations, and Deputy Director of the Community Oriented Policing Services at the U.S. Department of Justice during President Clinton’s administration. In 2002, he was appointed Chief Executive of the Office of School Safety and Planning in the New York City Department of Education. In 2010, President Obama nominated him as Deputy Director for State, Local, and Tribal Affairs, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. There, he directed the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HDTA) program and coordinated federal, state, local and tribal law-enforcement agencies in their effort to dismantle and disrupt drug trafficking. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College, a Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Pace University where he is a tenured professorHe returned to the NYPD as Deputy Commissioner of Training in February 2014, and was subsequently appointed by Police Commissioner William Bratton as First Deputy Commissioner in November 2014.