Board of Commissioners
In the early years of the N.Y.P.D., the governance of
the department was controlled by a Board of Police Commissioners
headed by a president. The most notable President of the
Board of Commissioners was Theodore Roosevelt (1895-1897)
who later became the President of the United States. Under
the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, police recruits
were hired on the basis of mental and physical qualifications,
not political affiliations, the School of Pistol Practice
was founded and the .32 caliber revolver became the standard
service revolver carried by officers, the utilization
of the Bertillon System for systematically identifying
criminals became standard policy, and the first Bicycle
Squad was created in 1895.
The Board system of control was at times inefficient.
Votes were often split along party lines or were deadlocked.
For years reformers had called for a single chief executive
to lead the department. In 1901 The Board of Commissioners
was dissolved and the Police Department was headed by
its first Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy.
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Teddy Roosevelt
President of Board of
Police Commissioners
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Uniformed Leaders
George Matsell
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In 1845 George Matsell was appointed first Chief of
the police department. Later the highest ranking uniformed
member of the Police Department was the Superintendent.
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The Superintendant title was changed to Chief of Police
in 1898. The Police Department’s last Chief of Police
was William S. Devery, who later gained fame when he and
his business partner Frank Farrell, bought the Baltimore,
Maryland baseball team and moved them to New York City.
The Highlanders, as they were first called later became
known as the NY Yankees, adopting their NY insignia from
the NYPD’s Medal for Valor.
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William Devery |
By 1901 the title of Chief of Police was abolished to
become Chief Inspector. In 1973 the title of Chief Inspector
was dropped and changed to Chief of Operations. The title
was changed one last time on September 13, 1985 to Chief
of Department.
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