This is a separate position from the chief of department, who is the senior sworn uniformed member of the force.

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 following is a list of the commissioners: In the police procedural television show Blue Bloods, the fictional New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan is played by Tom Selleck.

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.