The New York City Police Department (NYPD),officially the City of New York Police Department,is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23,1845,the NYPD is the largest,and one of the oldest,municipal police departments in the United States.
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department as well as the appointment of deputies including the Chief of Department and subordinate officers. Commissioners are civilian administrators,and they and their subordinate deputies are civilians under an oath of office,not sworn members of the force. This is a separate position from the Chief of Department,who is the senior sworn uniformed member of the force. The First Deputy Commissioner is the Commissioner and department's second-in-command. The office of the Police Commissioner is located at the NYPD Headquarters,One Police Plaza. Both the commissioner and first deputy commissioner outrank all uniformed officers,including the chief of department.
Crime rates in New York City have been recorded since at least the 1800s. The highest crime totals were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged,and then declined continuously from around 1990 throughout the 2000s. As of 2023,New York City has significantly lower rates of gun violence than many other large cities. Its 2022 homicide rate of 6.0 per 100,000 residents compares favorably to the rate in the United States as a whole and to rates in much more violent cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans.
The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) is the largest police union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. It represents about 24,000 of the department's 36,000 officers.
Eric Leroy Adams is an American politician and former police officer,currently serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. An ideologically moderate member of the Democratic Party,Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for more than 20 years,retiring at the rank of captain. He served in the New York State Senate from 2006 to 2013,representing the 20th Senate district in Brooklyn. In November 2013,Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President,the first African-American to hold the position,and reelected in November 2017.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is structured into numerous bureaus and units. As a whole,the NYPD is headed by the Police Commissioner,a civilian administrator appointed by the Mayor,with the senior sworn uniformed officer of the service titled "Chief of Department". The Police Commissioner appoints the First Deputy Commissioner as the department's second-in-command and the Chief of Department as the department's highest ranking uniformed officer. The commissioner also appoints a number of deputy and assistant commissioners who do not have operational command and are solely for support and administrative function. The department is divided into twenty bureaus,six of which are enforcement bureaus. Each enforcement bureau is further subdivided into sections,divisions,and units,and into patrol boroughs,precincts,and detective squads. Each bureau is commanded by a bureau chief. There are also a number of specialized units that are not part of any of the bureaus and report to the Chief of the Department.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) originates in the Government of New York City attempts to control rising crime in early- to mid-19th-century New York City. The City's reforms created a full-time professional police force modeled upon London's Metropolitan Police,itself only formed in 1829. Established in 1845,the Municipal Police replaced the inadequate night watch system which had been in place since the 17th century,when the city was founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam.
Throughout the history of the New York City Police Department,numerous instances of corruption,misconduct,and other allegations of such,have occurred. Over 12,000 cases have resulted in lawsuit settlements totaling over $400 million during a five-year period ending in 2014. In 2019,misconduct lawsuits cost the taxpayer $68,688,423,a 76 percent increase over the previous year,including about $10 million paid out to two exonerated individuals who had been falsely convicted and imprisoned.
Philip Banks III is the current Deputy Mayor of New York City for Public Safety and a retired law enforcement officer who served as NYPD chief of department in 2013 and 2014. As chief of department,Banks oversaw all patrol and specialty units. His brother,David C. Banks,has been appointed as New York City Schools Chancellor.
Isabella Goodwin was an American police officer and the first female detective in New York City.
Dermot Francis Shea is a retired American police officer who was the 44th New York City Police Commissioner. He assumed the position on December 1,2019,and was sworn in by Mayor Bill de Blasio in a public ceremony on December 2.
The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2,2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
Oxiris Barbot is an American pediatrician who served as the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2018 to 2020. She was then appointed to public health positions with Columbia University and the JPB Foundation,and in 2022 became president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit United Hospital Fund.
George Floyd protests in New York City took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs,starting on May 28,2020,in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful,while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence,including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue,especially in Manhattan. As a result,and amid the COVID-19 pandemic,the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7,the first curfew in the city since 1943.
Carmen Best is an American former law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Seattle Police Department from 2018 to 2020. She was the first black woman to lead Seattle's police force. She was chief of police during the George Floyd protests. She announced her resignation in August 2020 following budget cuts,and officially left office on September 2,2020. Best currently serves as Director of Global Security Risk Operations at Microsoft.
Juanita N. Holmes is an American police officer and administrator who is the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation. Prior to that role,Holmes was the Chief of the Training Bureau in the NYPD. Before the appointment of Keechant Sewell as New York City Police Commissioner on January 1,2022,Holmes was the highest-ranking female in the NYPD.
Jessica S. Tisch is the current Commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation. She has also served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology of the New York Police Department.
Edward A. Caban is an American police officer who served as the New York City Police Commissioner from 2023 to 2024,having been appointed by Mayor Eric Adams,and resigning amidst federal corruption investigations. He was the first Latino to serve as Commissioner of the NYPD. Caban previously served as First Deputy Police Commissioner under Keechant Sewell.
Tania Kinsella is an American police officer and First Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Police Department appointed in July 2023 by Mayor Eric Adams. Kinsella previously served as executive officer of the Office of the Chief of Patrol,where she was promoted to deputy chief.
On March 25,2024,New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Jonathan Diller was shot while conducting a traffic stop in Far Rockaway,Queens. He was subsequently transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center,where he died due to his injuries.
