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.
Governor Benjamin Odel, on Friday, February 22, 1901 signed a bill abolishing the bipartisan board of four police commissioners and the office of chief of police, substituting them for a single commissioner to be in charge of the force. Michael Cotter Murphy, the NYPD's first police commissioner, would be sworn in shortly thereafter.
The commissioner's responsibilities include:
To ensure the effective day-to-day operation of the department
To appoint the board of commissioners, the chief of the Department and all subordinate officers
To ensure the safety and protection of New York City and its population
To ensure the department enforces city, state and federal law
Contents
List of superintendents, chiefs, and commissioners
Pre-1901
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:
Presidents of the Board of Commissioners
Members of the Board of Commissioners
George Washington Matsell, 1845–1857, Superintendent
John Alexander Kennedy, 1860–1863, Superintendent
Abram Duryée, 1873–1874, Commissioner
George Washington Walling, 1874–1885, Superintendent
William Farrar Smith, 1875–1881, President of the Board of Commissioners
Fitz John Porter, 1884–1888, Commissioner
Frederick Dent Grant, 1894–1898, Commissioner
Theodore Roosevelt, 1895–1897, President of the Board of Commissioners
John McCullagh, 1897–1898, Superintendent
John B. Sexton, 1898–1901, Commissioner
William Stephen Devery, May 21, 1898 – June 30, 1898 (acting), June 30, 1898 – February 22, 1901. The superintendent title was changed to Chief of Police in 1898. Devery was the Police Department's last superintendent, and first chief.
John McClintock (police commissioner) Deputy Commissioner 1914
Post-1901
Since 1901, a single commissioner has been in charge of the New York Police Department. The following is a list of the commissioners:
In popular culture
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.[1]
The historical documentary miniseries Theodore Roosevelt depicts the life and political career of President Theodore Roosevelt, which includes Roosevelt’s time as the New York City Police Commissioner in which he worked to rid the NYPD of corruption and the frequent abuse of power by officers.
Salary
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.