New York City Police Commissioner

Police Commissioner
of the City of New York
New York Police Department Commissioner's shield
Incumbent
Edward Caban
since July 1, 2023
StyleThe Honorable (formal)
Commissioner (informal)
AppointerMayor of New York
Term lengthFive years
Renewable at mayor's pleasure
Constituting instrumentNew York City Charter
Inaugural holderGeorge W. Matsell (as Superintendent)
Formation1845
DeputyFirst Deputy Commissioner
Websitewww.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/administration/commissioners_corner.shtml Edit this at Wikidata

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.

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:

  • 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

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
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
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
Members of the Board of Commissioners

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:

Name Dates in office Mayoral administration
Michael Cotter Murphy February 22, 1901 – January 1, 1902 Robert Van Wyck
John Nelson Partridge January 1, 1902 – January 1, 1903 Seth Low
Francis Vinton Greene January 1, 1903 – January 1, 1904
William McAdoo January 1, 1904 – January 1, 1906 George B. McClellan Jr.
Theodore A. Bingham January 1, 1906 – July 1, 1909
William Frazer Baker July 1, 1909 – October 20, 1910
William Jay Gaynor
James Church Cropsey October 20, 1910 – May 23, 1911
Rhinelander Waldo May 23, 1911 – December 31, 1913
Ardolph Loges Kline
Douglas Imrie McKay December 31, 1913 – April 8, 1914
John Purroy Mitchel
Arthur Hale Woods April 8, 1914 – January 1, 1918
Frederick Hamilton Bugher January 1, 1918 – January 23, 1918 (acting) John Francis Hylan
Richard Edward Enright January 23, 1918 – December 30, 1925
George Vincent McLaughlin January 1, 1926 – April 12, 1927 Jimmy Walker
Joseph A. Warren April 12, 1927 – December 18, 1928
Grover Aloysius Whalen December 18, 1928 – May 21, 1930
Edward Pierce Mulrooney May 21, 1930 – April 11, 1933
Joseph V. McKee
John P. O'Brien
James S. Bolan April 15, 1933 – January 1, 1934
John Francis O'Ryan January 1, 1934 – September 25, 1934 Fiorello H. La Guardia
Lewis Joseph Valentine September 25, 1934 – September 14, 1945
Albert O. Williams September 14, 1945 – September 23, 1945 (acting)
Arthur William Wallander September 23, 1945 – February 28, 1949
William O'Dwyer
William P. O'Brien February 28, 1949 – September 25, 1950
Vincent R. Impellitteri
Thomas Francis Murphy February 21, 1950 – July 6, 1951
George P. Monaghan July 9, 1951 – December 31, 1953
Francis William Holbrooke Adams January 1, 1954 – August 2, 1955 Robert F. Wagner Jr.
Stephen P. Kennedy August 2, 1955 – February 23, 1961
Michael J. Murphy February 23, 1961 – June 7, 1965
Vincent Lyons Broderick June 7, 1965 – February 21, 1966
John Lindsay
Howard R. Leary February 21, 1966 – October 9, 1970
Patrick V. Murphy October 9, 1970 – May 14, 1973
Donald Cawley May 14, 1973 – January 1, 1974
Michael Codd January 1, 1974 – January 1, 1978 Abraham D. Beame
Robert J. McGuire January 1, 1978 – December 30, 1983 Edward I. Koch
William J. Devine December 30, 1983 – January 1, 1984
Benjamin Ward January 1, 1984 – October 23, 1989
Richard J. Condon October 23, 1989 – January 22, 1990
Lee Patrick Brown January 22, 1990 – September 1, 1992 David N. Dinkins
Raymond Walter Kelly September 1, 1992 – October 16, 1992 (acting)
October 16, 1992 – January 10, 1994
William Joseph Bratton January 10, 1994 – April 15, 1996 Rudolph W. Giuliani
Howard Safir April 15, 1996 – August 18, 2000
Bernard Bailey Kerik August 21, 2000 – January 1, 2002
Raymond Walter Kelly January 1, 2002 – January 1, 2014 (second appointment) Michael R. Bloomberg
William Joseph Bratton January 1, 2014 – September 16, 2016 (second appointment) Bill de Blasio
James P. O'Neill September 16, 2016 – November 30, 2019
Dermot F. Shea December 1, 2019 – December 31, 2021
Keechant Sewell January 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 Eric Adams
Edward A. Caban July 1, 2023 – July 17, 2023 (acting)
July 17, 2023 – current

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.

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.

Gallery

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-16 18:06 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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