Style The Honorable Constituting instrument New York City Charter | Appointer Mayor of New York City Formation 1845 | |
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Term length Five years
Renewable at Mayor's pleasure Inaugural holder George W. Matsell (as Superintendent) | ||
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department. The Commissioner is appointed by the Mayor, and serves at the Mayor's pleasure. The Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the department as well as the appointment of deputies and subordinate officers. Commissioners are civilian administrators, and they and their subordinate deputies are civilians under an oath of office, not uniformed members of the force who are sworn officers of the law. There is a separate position of Chief of Department, the holder of which serves as the senior sworn uniformed member of the force.
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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 Police Chief (previously superintendent) with a single Police Commissioner.
The current Police Commissioner is James P. O'Neill, who was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and took office on September 19, 2016. The longest serving Commissioner was Raymond W. Kelly who served for 13 years in two separate appointments (1992–1994, 2002–2013), under Mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg, respectively.
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:
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 popular TV show Blue Bloods, the fictional New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan is played by Tom Selleck.