Jersey City Police Director Tawana Moody was moved to the law department back in January and her prior role will not filled, an official confirmed today.

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By Dan Israel/Hudson County View

Moody became police director in 2018, under former Mayor Steven Fulop, with the idea of putting her on the path to head the entire department.

Three years later, her responsibilities expanded as she became both the first civilian and first Black woman to lead the JCPD following the retirement of Chief Michael Kelly came with some fanfare, as HCV first reported, but the role has since been abolished.

“Tawana Moody is currently assigned to the law department and no longer serves as police director,” said city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.

“Mayor [James] Solomon did not see a need to appoint a civilian police director, as the Jersey City Police Department is led by Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose and Police Chief Robert Kearns.”

Moody’s job requirements previously ranged from contract negotiations to emergency crisis response, to diversity recruitment, to budgets, to facilitating community meetings and public outreach.

In addition, she rebuilt the off-duty jobs program to include more accountability and oversight after a dozen officers were charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for getting paid for work they did not perform.

More recently, she was credited by then-Public Safety Director James Shea as being behind the vision for the $6 million Jersey City Public Safety De-Escalation Training Center completed in 2024.

While current Police Chief Robert Kearns served in an acting role since May of 2023, that title was removed in October 2025 and remains Jersey City’s top cop one year later.

Confirmation of Moody’s silent reassignment comes after Solomon announced a major reorganization of the police department with Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose seeking to bring Jersey City out of the “Stone Age” back in March, as HCV first reported.

While Moody’s was assigned to her new role in the beginning of the year, it comes to light in the wake of four city department heads resigning in the wake of 48 hours last week, with the departure of Corporation Counsel Sarah Levine receiving the most scrutiny thus far.