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NYPD Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes, Head of Queens North, Retires After 32 Years

NYPD Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes (right), commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens North. Her successor, Assistant Chief Martin Morales, assumed the Queens North post earlier this week after Holmes announced her retirement this month. (via NYPD Queens North/Twitter)

Dec. 31, 2018 By Meghan Sackman

NYPD Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes, head of Patrol Borough Queens North since 2016 and one of the highest ranking African-American women in the agency, has retired.

Holmes, 54, is leaving the NYPD after more than three decades of service, and has taken a position within the private sector, according to reports published earlier this month.

Holmes joined the NYPD in 1987, and rose through the ranks over her 32 years in the department. She was assigned to the 113th and 111 precincts in Queens and commanded over the 81st Precinct in Bed-Stuy, among other positions, before becoming commanding officer of the agency’s Domestic Violence Unit in 2014.

Holmes was then promoted to assistant chief in September 2016, and assigned to be commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens North, which covers precincts in the northern half of the borough from Astoria and Long Island City to Flushing.

This last step in Holmes’ career proved historic, as she became the first African-American woman to ever to have a borough command in the NYPD.

Her promotion also made her the third female African-American assistant chief in the department’s history.

“Passing of the torch is a bittersweet moment for me but I can rest assure that PBQN [Patrol Borough Queens North]…and community are in good hands,” Holmes said via the NYPD Queens North twitter account.

Holmes’ replacement, Assistant Chief Martin Morales, assumed the role last week, and will oversee the 108, 114, 112, 115, 104, 110, 111 and 109 precincts.

Morales, until his recent promotion to Queens North, was the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Domestic Violence Unit–like Holmes– a role that included working with the District Attorneys of each borough to “build stronger evidence-based cases to hold offenders accountable,” Morales said.

“To all officers and residents of all neighborhoods of Queens North, I’m looking forward to meeting and working with all of you,” he tweeted.