New York City Police Commissioner
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
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 | 1880–1889 | 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
- 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, 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 Deputy Commissioner 1914
Post-1901
| 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 | Seth Low |
| William McAdoo | January 1, 1904 – January 1, 1906 | George B. McClellan Jr. |
| Theodore A. Bingham | January 1, 1906 – July 1, 1909 | George B. McClellan Jr. |
| William Frazer Baker | July 1, 1909 – October 20, 1910 | George B. McClellan Jr. |
| William Frazer Baker | July 1, 1909 – October 20, 1910 | William Jay Gaynor |
| James Church Cropsey | October 20, 1910 – May 23, 1911 | William Jay Gaynor |
| Rhinelander Waldo | May 23, 1911 – December 31, 1913 | William Jay Gaynor |
| Rhinelander Waldo | May 23, 1911 – December 31, 1913 | Ardolph Loges Kline |
| Douglas Imrie McKay | December 31, 1913 – April 8, 1914 | Ardolph Loges Kline |
| Douglas Imrie McKay | December 31, 1913 – April 8, 1914 | John Purroy Mitchel |
| Arthur Hale Woods | April 8, 1914 – January 1, 1918 | John Purroy Mitchel |
| Frederick Hamilton Bugher | January 1, 1918 – January 23, 1918 | John Francis Hylan |
| Richard Edward Enright | January 23, 1918 – December 30, 1925 | John Francis Hylan |
| George Vincent McLaughlin | January 1, 1926 – April 12, 1927 | Jimmy Walker |
| Joseph A. Warren | April 12, 1927 – December 18, 1928 | Jimmy Walker |
| Grover Aloysius Whalen | December 18, 1928 – May 21, 1930 | Jimmy Walker |
| Edward Pierce Mulrooney | May 21, 1930 – April 11, 1933 | Jimmy Walker |
| Edward Pierce Mulrooney | May 21, 1930 – April 11, 1933 | Joseph V. McKee |
| Edward Pierce Mulrooney | May 21, 1930 – April 11, 1933 | John P. O'Brien |
| James S. Bolan | April 15, 1933 – January 1, 1934 | John P. O'Brien |
| John Francis O'Ryan | January 1, 1934 – September 25, 1934 | Fiorello H. La Guardia |
| Lewis Joseph Valentine | September 25, 1934 – September 14, 1945 | Fiorello H. La Guardia |
| Albert O. Williams | September 14, 1945 – September 23, 1945 | Fiorello H. La Guardia |
| Arthur William Wallander | September 23, 1945 – February 28, 1949 | William O'Dwyer |
| William P. O'Brien | February 28, 1949 – September 25, 1950 | William O'Dwyer |
| Thomas Francis Murphy | February 21, 1950 – July 6, 1951 | Vincent R. Impellitteri |
| George P. Monaghan | July 9, 1951 – December 31, 1953 | Vincent R. Impellitteri |
| Francis William Holbrooke Adams | January 1, 1954 – August 2, 1955 | Robert F. Wagner Jr. |
| Stephen P. Kennedy | August 2, 1955 – February 23, 1961 | Robert F. Wagner Jr. |
| Michael J. Murphy | February 23, 1961 – June 7, 1965 | Robert F. Wagner Jr. |
| Vincent Lyons Broderick | June 7, 1965 – February 21, 1966 | Robert F. Wagner Jr. |
| Vincent Lyons Broderick | June 7, 1965 – February 21, 1966 | John Lindsay |
| Howard R. Leary | February 21, 1966 – October 9, 1970 | John Lindsay |
| Patrick V. Murphy | October 9, 1970 – May 14, 1973 | John Lindsay |
| Donald Cawley | May 14, 1973 – January 1, 1974 | John Lindsay |
| 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 | Edward I. Koch |
| Benjamin Ward | January 1, 1984 – October 23, 1989 | Edward I. Koch |
| Richard J. Condon | October 23, 1989 – January 22, 1990 | Edward I. Koch |
| Lee Patrick Brown | January 22, 1990 – September 1, 1992 | David N. Dinkins |
| Raymond Walter Kelly | September 1, 1992 – October 16, 1992 October 16, 1992 – January 10, 1994 | David N. Dinkins |
| William Joseph Bratton | January 10, 1994 – April 15, 1996 | Rudolph W. Giuliani |
| Howard Safir | April 15, 1996 – August 19, 2000 | Rudolph W. Giuliani |
| Bernard Bailey Kerik | August 19, 2000 – January 1, 2002 | Rudolph W. Giuliani |
| Raymond Walter Kelly | January 1, 2002 – January 1, 2014 | Michael R. Bloomberg |
| William Joseph Bratton | January 1, 2014 – September 16, 2016 | Bill de Blasio |
| James P. O'Neill | September 16, 2016 – November 30, 2019 | Bill de Blasio |
| Dermot F. Shea | December 1, 2019 – December 31, 2021 | Bill de Blasio |
| Keechant Sewell | January 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 | Eric Adams |
| Edward A. Caban | July 1, 2023 – July 17, 2023 July 17, 2023 – September 13, 2024 | Eric Adams |
| Thomas G. Donlon | September 13, 2024 – November 25, 2024 | Eric Adams |
| Jessica Tisch | November 25, 2024 – current | Zohran Mamdani |