by William K. Rashbaum, The New York Times
New York City --- A 24-year police veteran will become the highest-ranking woman officer in Police Department history today when she is promoted to the three-star post of chief of the Housing Bureau.
Assistant Chief Joanne Jaffe will oversee the 1,600 officers who patrol the city’s 376 public-housing developments.
Chief Jaffe is currently commanding officer of the Office of Management Analysis and Planning, which proposes policies, strategies and new programs and monitors the department’s crime reporting system. She joined the department in 1979, working first in the 75th Precinct in East New York.
She went on to serve as commanding officer of the First Precinct in Lower Manhattan, the 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side and the 33rd Precinct in Washington Heights. She earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in forensic psychology from John Jay College.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is scheduled to promote Chief Jaffe at a ceremony today where he will also appoint Chief Douglas Zeigler, the current Housing Bureau chief, to head the Organized Crime Control Bureau. In that job, Chief Zeigler, the highest-ranking black police official, will oversee the Narcotics Division and the units that investigate organized crime and prostitution.