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.

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

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.

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.