Tucker left the NYPD in the 1980s to work for the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board and several other director positions with the Ed Koch administration.

In September 1995, Mr. Tucker was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton and served as deputy director for Operations in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was responsible for funding decisions and recommendations resulting in the awarding and oversight of grants to state and local law enforcement agencies in excess of five billion dollars.

He has also worked as a consultant to the Urban Institute and as Director of Field Operations and Senior Research Associate at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

[7][8] On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tucker's nomination as deputy director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

[8] "He has an intimate understanding of crime, drug abuse, youth and the law," said Commissioner Bratton at a police headquarters news conference.