NEW YORK — It’s been a whirlwind year for Juanita Holmes, the NYPD’s new chief of patrol.

“I looked at it as, it is the New York way right, things can change in a minute," Holmes said.

Holmes returned to the police department less than a year ago after a brief retirement. She was then appointed head of school safety in January. In September she was named chief of collaborative policing. But as she says, in a New York minute things change.

Last month, Fausto Pichardo, who was chief of patrol, abruptly retired. Holmes was moved into the position, one of the top posts in the department, by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.

“I’m now chief of patrol, it is always something I have aspired to be because patrol is really the path I took throughout my career if you look at my commands and where I have been assigned,” Holmes said.

As a 33-year NYPD veteran she now oversees roughly 20,000 patrol officers as the first female chief of patrol in NYPD history.

“I feel that’s the position where you have a strong impact on leadership in terms of leading your cops in the right direction. Defining a mission for them as well having a community engagement,” Holmes explained.

But, she is already taking some heat for tactics used by cops during protests after the election. As officers arrested people they called violent agitators, peaceful protesters said they were shoved to the ground as well.

“Moving forward we know we can do a better job at communicating to the people who are out there legitimately protesting and I want to see that,” Holmes said.

One of her big goals is to strengthen the relationship between cops and communities of color. After George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers, police departments across the country and their policies were put under a microscope.  

“We took an oath to protect and serve, that should be our sole agenda. Protecting and serving the community and also our community having faith and trust in their police department.”

Holmes comes from a police family. Sixteen of her relatives work for the NYPD. She wants officers to feel good about the job they are doing. But as a Black woman who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, she says she’s pro community as well as pro police.

“I’m not soft on violence. I do believe in discretion. I always say kids do silly things right, cut them a break. A lot of us have been cut a break, right. But, I’m not soft on violence when people are being hurt, when people are being shot," added Holmes. “There’s zero tolerance for that.”

She has her work cut out for her in battling the spike in gun violence. So far this year there has been a 38% increase in murders and a more than 90% increase in shooting incidents compared to last year during the same time period.