Police Commissioner of the City of New York | |
---|---|
![]() New York Police Department Commissioner's shield | |
since July 1, 2023 | |
Style | The Honorable (formal) Commissioner (informal) |
Appointer | Mayor of New York |
Term length | Five years Renewable at mayor's pleasure |
Constituting instrument | New York City Charter [1] |
Inaugural holder | George W. Matsell (as Superintendent) |
Formation | 1845 |
Deputy | First Deputy Commissioner |
Website | www |
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. [2] 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.
Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his final acts as Governor of New York before becoming Vice President of the United States in March 1901, continued reforms he began when he was police superintendent by signing legislation that replaced the police commission and office of the police chief (previously the superintendent) with a single police commissioner. [Citation Needed]
The current police commissioner is Edward Caban, who took office on July 17, 2023, after previously filling the position as acting commissioner.
The Commissioner's responsibilities include:
Prior to 1901, the New York City Police Department was run by a board of four to six commissioners. The following is a list of some of the most famous members of the Police Commission:
Name | Dates in office | Mayoral administration |
---|---|---|
John G Bergen Member of the Board of Police Commissioners | May 1860 - July 17, 1867 | Governor Edwin D. Morgan |
James Kelso NYC Police Superintendent, NYC Police Commissioner [3] | 1869-1873 | William M. Tweed |
Henry Smith | 1873–1874 | William Frederick Havemeyer |
Hugh Gardner | 1874 | William Frederick Havemeyer |
George W. Matsell | 1874–1875 | William Frederick Havemeyer |
William F. Smith | 1877–1879 | Smith Ely Jr., Edward Cooper |
Stephen B. French | 1880–1889 | William R. Grace, Franklin Edson, Abram Hewitt |
Charles F. McLean | Hugh J. Grant | |
James J. Martin | 1892–1894 | Hugh J. Grant, Thomas F. Gilroy |
Theodore Roosevelt | 1895–1897 | William L. Strong |
Frank Moss | 1897 | William L. Strong |
Bernard J. York | 1898–1900 | Robert A. Van Wyck |
Since 1901, a single commissioner has been in charge of the New York Police Department. The following is a list of the commissioners:
Name | Dates in office | Mayoral administration |
---|---|---|
Michael Cotter Murphy [9] [11] [12] | February 22, 1901 – January 1, 1902 | Robert Van Wyck |
John Nelson Partridge [13] [14] [15] | January 1, 1902 – January 1, 1903 | Seth Low |
Francis Vinton Greene [16] [17] | January 1, 1903 – January 1, 1904 | |
William McAdoo [18] [19] [20] | January 1, 1904 – January 1, 1906 | George B. McClellan Jr. |
Theodore A. Bingham [21] [22] | January 1, 1906 – July 1, 1909 | |
William Frazer Baker [23] [24] [25] | July 1, 1909 – October 20, 1910 | |
William Jay Gaynor | ||
James Church Cropsey [24] [26] | October 20, 1910 – May 23, 1911 | |
Rhinelander Waldo [27] [28] [29] [30] | May 23, 1911 – December 31, 1913 | |
Ardolph Loges Kline | ||
Douglas Imrie McKay [31] [32] [33] | December 31, 1913 – April 8, 1914 | |
John Purroy Mitchel | ||
Arthur Hale Woods [34] [35] [36] | April 8, 1914 – January 1, 1918 | |
Frederick Hamilton Bugher [37] [38] | January 1, 1918 – January 23, 1918 (acting) | John Francis Hylan |
Richard Edward Enright [39] [40] | January 23, 1918 – December 30, 1925 | |
George Vincent McLaughlin [41] [42] [43] | January 1, 1926 – April 12, 1927 | Jimmy Walker |
Joseph A. Warren [44] [45] [46] | April 12, 1927 – December 18, 1928 | |
Grover Aloysius Whalen [47] [48] [49] | December 18, 1928 – May 21, 1930 | |
Edward Pierce Mulrooney [50] [51] [52] | May 21, 1930 – April 11, 1933 | |
Joseph V. McKee | ||
John P. O'Brien | ||
James S. Bolan [53] [54] | April 15, 1933 – January 1, 1934 | |
John Francis O'Ryan [55] [56] [57] | January 1, 1934 – September 25, 1934 | Fiorello H. La Guardia |
Lewis Joseph Valentine [58] [59] [60] | September 25, 1934 – September 14, 1945 | |
Albert O. Williams [61] | September 14, 1945 – September 23, 1945 (acting) | |
Arthur William Wallander [62] [63] [64] | September 23, 1945 – February 28, 1949 | William O'Dwyer |
William P. O'Brien [65] | February 28, 1949 – September 25, 1950 | |
Thomas Francis Murphy [66] [67] | February 21, 1950 – July 6, 1951 | Vincent R. Impellitteri |
George P. Monaghan [68] [69] [70] | July 9, 1951 – December 31, 1953 | |
Francis William Holbrooke Adams [71] | January 1, 1954 – August 2, 1955 | Robert F. Wagner Jr. |
Stephen P. Kennedy [72] [73] | August 2, 1955 – February 23, 1961 | |
Michael J. Murphy [73] [74] [75] | February 23, 1961 – June 7, 1965 | |
Vincent Lyons Broderick [76] [77] [78] | June 7, 1965 – February 21, 1966 | |
John Lindsay | ||
Howard R. Leary [79] [80] [81] | February 21, 1966 – October 9, 1970 | |
Patrick V. Murphy [82] [83] | October 9, 1970 – May 14, 1973 | |
Donald Cawley [84] [85] | May 14, 1973 – January 1, 1974 | |
Michael Codd [86] [87] [88] | January 1, 1974 – January 1, 1978 | Abraham D. Beame |
Robert J. McGuire [89] [90] [91] [92] | January 1, 1978 – December 30, 1983 | Edward I. Koch |
William J. Devine [91] [92] [93] | December 30, 1983 – January 1, 1984 | |
Benjamin Ward [91] [92] [94] | January 1, 1984 – October 23, 1989 | |
Richard J. Condon [95] | October 23, 1989 – January 22, 1990 | |
Lee Patrick Brown [96] [97] [98] | January 22, 1990 – September 1, 1992 | David N. Dinkins |
Raymond Walter Kelly [99] | September 1, 1992 – October 16, 1992 (acting) October 16, 1992 – January 10, 1994 | |
William Joseph Bratton [100] [101] | January 10, 1994 – April 15, 1996 | Rudolph W. Giuliani |
Howard Safir [102] [103] | April 15, 1996 – August 19, 2000 | |
Bernard Bailey Kerik [104] | August 19, 2000 – January 1, 2002 | |
Raymond Walter Kelly [105] | January 1, 2002 – January 1, 2014 (second appointment) | Michael R. Bloomberg |
William Joseph Bratton [106] [107] | January 1, 2014 – September 16, 2016 (second appointment) | Bill de Blasio |
James P. O'Neill [108] [107] [109] [110] | September 16, 2016 – November 30, 2019 | |
Dermot F. Shea [108] [110] | December 1, 2019 – December 31, 2021 | |
Keechant Sewell [111] | January 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 | Eric Adams |
Edward A. Caban [112] [113] | July 1, 2023 – July 17, 2023 (acting) July 17, 2023 – current |
In the police procedural television show Blue Bloods , the fictional New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan is played by Tom Selleck. His father, Henry Reagan, played by Len Cariou, is a former commissioner.
The public disclosure of salary as of 2020 is approximately $205,180.00 base, which is considered in line with what most large US cities pay their respective chief of police, and a bit lower than that of the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. [114] [115]
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.
A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or sometimes just a chief, while some countries favour other titles such as commissioner or chief constable. A police chief is appointed by and answerable to a state or local government.
Raymond Walter Kelly is an American police officer who was the longest-serving Commissioner in the history of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the first person to hold the post for two non-consecutive tenures. According to its website, Kelly, a lifelong New Yorker, had spent 45 years in the NYPD, serving in 25 different commands and as Police Commissioner from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2002 until 2013. Kelly was the first man to rise from Police Cadet to Police Commissioner, holding all of the department's ranks, except for Three-Star Bureau Chief, Chief of Department and Deputy Commissioner, having been promoted directly from Two-Star Chief to First Deputy Commissioner in 1990. After his handling of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, he was mentioned for the first time as a possible candidate for FBI Director. After Kelly turned down the position, Louis Freeh was appointed.
William Joseph Bratton CBE is an American businessman and former law enforcement officer who served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner. He previously served as the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department (BPD) (1993–1994) and Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) (2002–2009). He is the only person to have led the police departments of the United States' two largest cities – New York and Los Angeles.
Lexow Committee was a major New York State Senate probe into police corruption in New York City. The Lexow Committee inquiry, which took its name from the committee's chairman, State Senator Clarence Lexow, was the widest-ranging of several such commissions empaneled during the 19th century. The testimony collected during its hearings ran to over 10,000 pages and the resultant scandal played a major part in the defeat of Tammany Hall in the elections of 1894 and the election of the reform administration of Mayor William L. Strong. The investigations were initiated by pressure from Charles Henry Parkhurst.
The New York City Fire Commissioner is the civilian administrator of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), and is appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York. Prior to 1865, the New York City Fire Department was staffed by volunteers. On March 30, 1865 the New York State legislature passed a law organizing the Metropolitan Fire Department as a paid firefighting force that took control of all the powers and authority of the volunteer department, as well as all the assets such as the fire trucks, equipment, and buildings. The law also created a commission to oversee the department, and for its administration and functioning. After a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the law was dismissed by the New York Court of Appeals, the started to operate immediately.
The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY is the primary operator of the New York City waste management system.
William Stephen Devery, nicknamed "Big Bill". was the last superintendent of the New York City Police Department police commission and the first police chief in 1898. Devery and Frank J. Farrell later co-owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.
William Frazer Baker was the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1913 through 1930 and New York City Police Commissioner from 1909 to 1910.
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.
George W. McClusky or McCluskey was an American law enforcement officer and police inspector in the New York City Police Department. He was popularly known as "Gentleman" or "Chesty McCluskey", the latter name given to him by NYPD Police Chief William "Big Bill" Devery, and was the longtime head of the NYPD Detective's Bureau at the turn of the 20th century. He was also, at one time, the youngest inspector on the police force.
Patrick Vincent Murphy served as the top law enforcement executive in New York City, Detroit, Washington, DC, and Syracuse, NY. He created the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization of police executives from the nation's largest city, county, and state law enforcement agencies, and led the Police Foundation in a period when it published pivotal reports on issues ranging from the police use of deadly force to the efficient use of patrol resources. Murphy's "long-range impact on American policing nationally probably will be judged by students of police history as significant as that of August Vollmer or J. Edgar Hoover," the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin commented in a 1986 cover story on the Police Foundation.
Michael Cotter Murphy was an American politician from New York, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War. He was the first New York City Police Commissioner.
James Patrick "Jimmy" O'Neill Jr. is an American police officer who served as the 43rd Police Commissioner of New York City from September 2016 until November 2019. Prior to his appointment as Police Commissioner, O'Neill served as NYPD's Chief of Department, the highest uniformed position in the department, in 2014–2016.
The commissioner of health of the City of New York is the head of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The commissioner is appointed by the Mayor of New York City, and also serves on the city's Board of Health with the chairperson of the Department's Mental Hygiene Advisory Board and nine other members appointed by the mayor.
Dermot Francis Shea is an 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.
Keechant L. Sewell is an American former police officer and administrator who served as the 45th New York City Police Commissioner, the first woman and third black person to serve in the position. On June 12, 2023, Sewell announced that she was stepping down as commissioner. No reason was given for her departure. On November 2, 2023, the New York Mets announced that Sewell would become their senior Vice President of security and guest experience.
Michael Joseph Codd was an American law enforcement officer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1974 to 1977.
Stephen Patrick Kennedy was an American law enforcement officer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1955 to 1961.
William P. O'Brien was an American law enforcement officer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1949 to 1950.
George Washington Matsell, ex-President of the Board of Police, and twice Superintendent of Police in the City, died at 7:10 A.M. yesterday, at his residence in East Fifty-eighth-street, after an illness extending over three weeks. At his bedside were his wife, three sons, and his daughter. He was conscious and...