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The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
agency within the
City of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the largest and one of the oldest in the United States. The NYPD headquarters is at 1 Police Plaza, located on Park Row in
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
near
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
. The NYPD's regulations are compiled in title 38 of the ''
New York City Rules The ''Rules of the City of New York'' (RCNY) contains the compiled rules and regulations (delegated legislation) of New York City government agencies. It contains approximately 6,000 rules and regulations in 71 titles, each covering a different cit ...
''. The NYC Transit Police and NYC Housing Authority Police Department were fully integrated into the NYPD in 1995. Dedicated units of the NYPD include the
Emergency Service Unit In American law enforcement (municipal, county, or state), the Emergency Service Unit, or ESU, is a multi-faceted element within a law enforcement agency’s Special Operations Command. Structure The NYPD is credited with establishing the conce ...
, K9, harbor patrol,
highway patrol A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is prima ...
,
air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...
,
bomb squad Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
,
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
,
criminal intelligence Criminal intelligence is information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity. The United States Army Military Police Corps defines criminal intelligence as information gathered or c ...
, anti-
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
,
narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
s, mounted patrol,
public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
, and
public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
units. The NYPD employs over 50,000 people, including more than 35,000 uniformed officers. According to the official
CompStat CompStat—or COMPSTAT, short for COMPuter STATistics, is a computerization and quantification program used by police departments. It was originally set up by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s. Variations of the program have since b ...
database, the NYPD responded to nearly 500,000 reports of crime and made over 200,000 arrests during 2019. In 2020, it had a budget of . However, the NYPD's actual spending often exceeds its budget. Due to its high-profile location in the
largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
and media center in the United States, fictionalized versions of the NYPD and its officers have frequently been portrayed in novels, radio, television, motion pictures, and video games. The NYPD has a history of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct, which critics argue persists to the present.


History

The Municipal Police were established in 1845, replacing an old night watch system. Mayor
William Havemeyer William Frederick Havemeyer (February 12, 1804 – November 30, 1874) was a German American businessman and politician who served three times as Mayor of New York City during the 19th century. Early years Havemeyer was born in Staten Island, ...
shepherded the NYPD together. In 1857, it was replaced by a metropolitan force. The NYPD appointed its first black officer in 1911 and the first female officers in 1918. In 1961, highly decorated NYPD officer
Mario Biaggi Mario Biaggi (October 26, 1917 – June 24, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, and police officer. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York from 1969 to 1988. Prior to his political career, Biagg ...
, later a US Congressman, became the first police officer in
New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
to be made a member of the National Police Officers Hall of Fame. In the mid-1980s, NYPD began to police street-level drug markets much more intensively, leading to a sharp increase in incarceration. In 1992, Mayor David Dinkins created an independent Civilian Complaint Review Board for the NYPD. In response to this, some NYPD officers violently protested and rioted. They blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, demonstrated at City Hall and shouted racial epithets. The protests were sponsored by the NYPD union. In 1994 the NYPD developed the
CompStat CompStat—or COMPSTAT, short for COMPuter STATistics, is a computerization and quantification program used by police departments. It was originally set up by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s. Variations of the program have since b ...
computer system for tracking crime geographically, which is now in use by other police departments in the US and Canada. Research is mixed on whether CompStat had an impact on crime rates. The
New York City Transit Police The New York City Transit Police Department was a law enforcement agency in New York City that existed from 1953 (with the creation of the New York City Transit Authority) to 1995, and is currently part of the NYPD. The roots of this organizat ...
and the
New York City Housing Authority Police Department The New York City Housing Authority Police Department was a law enforcement agency in New York City that existed from 1952 to 1995, which was then merged into the NYPD. The roots of this organization go back to 1934 and the creation of the New ...
were merged into the NYPD in 1995. In 2021, the NYPD ceased enforcement of
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
crimes other than
driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
.


Organization and structure

The department is administered and governed by the police commissioner, who is appointed by the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. Technically, the Commissioner serves a five-year term; as a practical matter, they serve at the mayor's pleasure. The commissioner in turn appoints he first deputy commissioner and numerous deputy commissioners. By default, the commissioner and their subordinate deputies are civilians under an oath of office and are not sworn officers. However, a commissioner who comes up from the sworn ranks retains the status and statutory powers of a police officer while serving as commissioner. This affects their police pensions, and their ability to carry a firearm without a pistol permit. Some police commissioners carry a personal firearm, but they also have a full-time security detail. Commissioners and deputy commissioners are administrators who specialize in areas of great importance to the Department, such as counterterrorism, support services, public information, legal matters, intelligence, and information technology. However, as civilian administrators, deputy commissioners are prohibited from taking operational control of a police situation (the commissioner and the first deputy commissioner may take control of these situations, however). Within the rank structure, there are also designations, known as "grades", that connote differences in duties, experience, and pay. However, supervisory functions are generally reserved for the rank of sergeant and above.


Office of the Chief of Department

The Chief of Department serves as the senior sworn member of the NYPD. Kenneth Corey, a longtime NYPD veteran, is the 42nd individual to hold the post. which prior to 1987 was known as the chief of operations and before that as chief inspector.


Bureaus

The department is divided into 20 bureaus, which are typically commanded by a uniformed bureau chief (such as the chief of patrol and the chief of housing) or a civilian deputy commissioner (such as the Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology). The bureaus fit under four umbrellas: Patrol, Transit & Housing, Investigative, and Administrative. Bureaus are often subdivided into smaller divisions and units. All deputy commissioners report directly to the Commissioner and bureau chiefs report to the Commissioner through the Chief of Department. File:New York Police Department officers.jpg, Officers from the Emergency Service Unit File:NYPD police boat, Brooklyn Bridge and Downtown Brooklyn at sunset.JPG, Police boat patrolling the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
File:NYPD police motorcycle.png, Motorcycle police officer speaks with a passerby File:NYPD One Police Plaza.JPG, 1 Police Plaza, NYPD headquarters File:NYPD Critical Response Command at Trump Tower.jpg, NYPD's Critical Response Command protects high profile terrorist targets including the NYC residence of former President Donald Trump.


Rank structure

Officers graduate from the Police Academy after five and a half to six months (or sometimes more) of training in various academic, physical, and tactical fields. For the first 18 months of their careers, they are designated as "Probationary Police Officers", or more informally, "rookies". There are three career "tracks" in the NYPD: supervisory, investigative, and specialist. The supervisory track consists of nine ranks; promotion to the ranks of
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
,
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
, and
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
are made via competitive
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
examinations. After reaching the rank of captain, promotion to the ranks of deputy inspector, inspector, deputy chief, assistant chief, (bureau) chief and chief of department is at the discretion of the police commissioner. Promotion from the rank of police officer to
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
is discretionary by the police commissioner or required by law when the officer has performed eighteen months or more of investigative duty.


Badges

Badges in the New York City Police Department are referred to as "shields" (the traditional term), though not all badge designs are strictly shield-shaped. Some officers have used "Pottsy" badges, "dupes," or duplicate badges, as officers are punished for losing their shield by also losing up to ten days' pay. Every rank has a different badge design (with the exception of "police officer" and "probationary police officer") and, upon change in rank, officers receive a new badge. Lower-ranked police officers are identified by their shield numbers, and tax registry number. Lieutenants and above do not have shield numbers and are identified by tax registry number. All sworn members of the NYPD have their ID card photos taken against a red background. Civilian employees of the NYPD have their ID card photos taken against a blue background, signifying that they are not commissioned to carry a firearm. All ID cards have an expiration date. Although the First Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Department share the same insignia, the First Deputy Commissioner outranks the Chief of Department.


Department composition

As of July 2020, the NYPD's current authorized uniformed strength is 35,783. There are also 19,454 civilian employees, including approximately 4,500 auxiliary police officers, 5,500 school safety agents, and 3,500 traffic enforcement agents currently employed by the department. The
Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) is the largest police union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. It represents about 24,000 of the department's 36,000 officers. The PBA was origin ...
(NYC PBA), the largest municipal
police union A police union is a trade union for police officers. Police unions formed later than most other occupations, reflecting both a conservative tendency and relatively superior working conditions. The first police unions formed in the United States. Sh ...
in the United States, represents over 50,000 active and retired NYC police officers. Of the entire 35,783-member police force in 2020: 47% are white and 53% are members of minority groups. Of 23,464 officers on patrol: *43% (10,162) are non-Hispanic white *57% (13,302) are black, Latino (of any race), or Asian or Asian-American. Of 5,289
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
s: *52% (2,771) are non-Hispanic white *48% (2,518) are black, Latino (of any race), or Asian or Asian-American. Of 4,550
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
s: *52% (2,379) are non-Hispanic white *48% (2,171) are black, Latino (of any race), or Asian or Asian-American. Of 1,706
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
s: *59% (1,014) are non-Hispanic white *41% (692) are black, Latino (of any race), or Asian or Asian-American. Of 355
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
s: *62% (219) are non-Hispanic white *38% (136) are black, Latino (of any race), or Asian or Asian-American. Of 14
police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
s: *57% (8) are non-Hispanic white and *43% (6) are non-white.


Women in the NYPD

On January 1, 2022,
Keechant Sewell Keechant L. Sewell (born April 2, 1972) is an American police officer and administrator who is currently serving as the 45th New York City Police Commissioner, the first woman to serve in the position. Early life Sewell was raised in the Long I ...
became the first woman to serve as
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
of the NYPD. Juanita N. Holmes, appointed Chief of the Patrol Bureau in 2020, was the first black woman to hold this command and at the time of her appointment, was the highest-ranked uniformed woman in the NYPD.


Place of residence

As a rule, NYPD officers can reside in New York City as well as Westchester, Rockland,
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, Putnam,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
and
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
counties and approximately half of them live outside the city (51% in 2020, up from 42% in 2016.) Legislation has been introduced to require newly hired officers to reside in New York City.


Fallen officers

The NYPD has lost 932 officers in the line of duty since 1849. This figure includes officers from agencies that were later absorbed by or became a part of the modern NYPD, in addition to the NYPD itself. This number also includes 28 officers killed on and off duty by gunfire of other officers on duty. 286 officers have been shot and killed by a criminal. The NYPD lost 23 officers in the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, not including another 247 who later died of 9/11-related illnesses. The NYPD has more line-of-duty deaths than any other American law enforcement agency.


Services

The NYPD has a broad array of specialized services, including the
Emergency Service Unit In American law enforcement (municipal, county, or state), the Emergency Service Unit, or ESU, is a multi-faceted element within a law enforcement agency’s Special Operations Command. Structure The NYPD is credited with establishing the conce ...
, K9, harbor patrol,
air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...
,
bomb squad Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
,
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
,
criminal intelligence Criminal intelligence is information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity. The United States Army Military Police Corps defines criminal intelligence as information gathered or c ...
, anti-
gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
, anti-
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
,
narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
s,
public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
, and
public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
units. The NYPD Intelligence Division & Counter-Terrorism Bureau has officers stationed in eleven cities internationally. In 2019 the NYPD responded to 482,337 reports of crime, and made 214,617 arrests. There were 95,606 major
felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
reported in 2019, compared to over half a million per year when
crime in New York City Crime rates in New York City have been recorded since at least the 1800s. They have spiked ever since the post-war period. The highest crime totals were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged, and then declined c ...
peaked during the
crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Ameri ...
of the 1980s and 1990s.


Public opinion

The
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute The Quinnipiac University Poll is a public opinion polling center based at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. It surveys public opinion in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, ...
has been regularly measuring public opinion of the NYPD since 1997, when just under 50% of the public approved of the job the NYPD were doing. Approval peaked at 78% in 2002 following the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
attacks in September 2001, and has ranged between 52 and 72% since. Approval varies by race/ethnicity, with black and Hispanic respondents consistently less likely to say they approve of the job the NYPD are doing than whites. In 2017, the Quinnipiac poll found that New York City voters approve of the way NYPD, in general, does its job by a margin of 67-25%. Approval was 79-15 percent among white voters, 52-37 percent among black voters, and 73-24 percent among Hispanic voters. 86% of voters said crime is a serious problem, 71% said police brutality is a serious problem and 61% said police corruption is a serious problem. A 2020 poll commissioned by
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Anto ...
reported that the public approve of the NYPD 53% to 40% against, again with strong racial differences: 59% of whites and Asians approved, as did 51% of Hispanics, whereas 51% of black residents disapproved.


Corruption and misconduct

The NYPD has a history of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
,
misconduct Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misc ...
, and
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, as well as discrimination on the basis of race, religion and sexuality. Critics, including from within the NYPD, have accused the NYPD of manipulating crime statistics. In 2009, NYPD officer
Adrian Schoolcraft Adrian Schoolcraft (born 1976) is a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who secretly recorded police conversations from 2008 to 2009. He brought these tapes to NYPD investigators in October 2009 as evidence of corruption and w ...
was arrested, abducted by his fellow officers and involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital after he provided evidence of manipulation of crime statistics (intentional under reporting of crimes) and intentional wrongful arrests (to meet arrest quotas). He filed a federal suit against the department, which the city settled before trial in 2015, also giving him back pay for the period when he was suspended. The
Knapp Commission The Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (known informally as the Knapp Commission, after its chairman Whitman Knapp) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption wit ...
found in 1970 that the NYPD had systematic corruption problems. The
Civilian Complaint Review Board The NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) is the oversight agency of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the largest police force in the United States. A board of the Government of New York City, the CCRB is tasked with investigatin ...
is an all-civilian, 13-member panel tasked with investigating misconduct or lesser abuse accusations against NYPD officers, including use of excessive force, abuse of authority, discourtesy and offensive language. Complaints against officers may be filed online, by mail, by phone or in person at any NYPD station. On June 8, 2020, both houses of the New York state assembly passed the
Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the inciden ...
Anti-Chokehold Act, which provides that any police officer in the state of New York who injures or kills somebody through the use of "a chokehold or similar restraint" can be charged with a class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
signed the police reforms into law on June 12, 2020, which he described as "long overdue." During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, many NYPD officers refused to wear face masks while policing protests related to racial injustice, contrary to the recommendations of health experts and authorities. During the
George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
protests, ''The New York Times'' reported that more than 60 videos showed NYPD police attacking protesters, many of whom were attacked without cause. Included in these attacks were the '
kettling Kettling (also known as containment or corralling) is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a li ...
' of protesters, an officer removing the mask of a protester and pepper spraying him, and an incident where police vehicles were driven into a crowd. An investigation by New York City’s Department of Investigation concluded that the NYPD had exercised excessive force during the George Floyd protests. The NYPD has been persistently criticized by safe streets advocates for endangering cyclists by parking their vehicles in bike lanes, and for misapplying the law when ticketing cyclists riding outside blocked bike lanes. According to a 2021 ''
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
'' analysis, New York City spent at least an average of $170 million USD annually in settlements related to police misconduct over a ten-year period.


Technology

In the 1990s the department developed a ''
CompStat CompStat—or COMPSTAT, short for COMPuter STATistics, is a computerization and quantification program used by police departments. It was originally set up by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s. Variations of the program have since b ...
'' system of management which has also since been established in other cities. The NYPD has extensive
crime scene A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement ...
investigation and laboratory resources, as well as units that assist with
computer crime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing th ...
investigations. In 2005, the NYPD established a "Real Time Crime Center" to assist in investigations;Michael S. Schmidt
Have a Tattoo or Walk With a Limp? The Police May Know
''New York Times'' (February 18, 2010).
this is essentially a searchable database the pulls information from departmental records, including traffic tickets, court summonses, and previous complaints to reports, as well as arrest reports. The database contains files to identify individuals based on tattoos, body marks, teeth, and skin conditions, based on police records. NYPD also maintains the
Domain Awareness System The Domain Awareness System is the largest digital surveillance system in the world as part of the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative in partnership between the New York Police Department and Microsoft to monitor New York City. It allows the NYPD t ...
, a network that provides information and analytics to police, drawn from a variety of sources, including a network of 9,000 publicly and privately owned
surveillance cameras Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly tr ...
, license plate readers,
ShotSpotter ShotSpotter Inc. is a publicly traded, Fremont, California-based company known for its controversial gunfire locator service. ShotSpotter claims it can identify whether or not a gunshot was fired in an area in order to dispatch law enforcement, t ...
data, NYPD databases and radiation and chemical sensors. The Domain Awareness System of surveillance was developed as part of
Lower Manhattan Security Initiative The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative (LMSI) is a New York City Police Department initiative overseen by the Counterterrorism Bureau to increase surveillance efforts in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It is housed in t ...
in a partnership between the NYPD and
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
. It allows the NYPD to track surveillance targets and gain detailed information about them. It also has access to data from at least 2 billion license plate readings, 100 million summonses, 54 million 911 calls, 15 million complaints, 12 million detective reports, 11 million arrests and 2 million warrants. The data from the 9,000 CCTV cameras is kept for 30 days. Text records are searchable. The system is connected to 9,000 video cameras around New York City. In 2020, the NYPD deployed a robotic dog, known as Digidog, manufactured by
Boston Dynamics Boston Dynamics is an American engineering and robotics design company founded in 1992 as a Research spin-off, spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, Boston Dynamics has been owned by th ...
. The robotic dog has cameras which send back real-time footage along with lights and two-way communication, and it is able to navigate on its own using artificial intelligence. Reaction by locals to Digidog was mixed. Deployment of Digidog led to condemnation from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
due to privacy concerns. In response to its deployment, a city councilmember has proposed a law banning armed robots; this would not apply to Digidog as Digidog is not armed and Boston Dynamics prohibits arming of its robots. On April 24, 2021, U.S. Representative
Ritchie Torres Ritchie John Torres (born March 12, 1988) is an American politician from New York. A member of the Democratic Party, Torres is the U.S. representative for New York's 15th congressional district. The district covers most of the South Bronx. It ...
proposed new federal legislation requiring police departments receiving federal funds to report use of surveillance technology to the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
and Congress. The NYPD states that the robot is meant for hostage, terrorism, bomb threat, and hazardous material situations, and that it was properly disclosed to the public under current law. Following continued push back against Digidog, including opposition to the system's $94,000 price tag, the NYPD announced on April 28, 2021 that its lease would be terminated.


Vehicles


Firearms


On duty

New NYPD officers are allowed to choose from one of two 9mm
service pistol A service pistol, also known as a personal weapon or an ordnance weapon, is any handgun issued to regular military personnel or law enforcement officers. Typically, service pistols are revolvers or semi-automatic pistols issued to Officer (armed ...
s: the Glock 17 Gen4 and Glock 19 Gen4. All duty handguns were previously modified to a 12- pound (53 N) NY-2 trigger pull, though new recruits were being issued handguns with a lighter trigger pull as of 2021. The Smith & Wesson 5946 was issued to new recruits in the past; however, the pistol has been discontinued. While it is no longer an option for new hires, officers who were issued the weapon may continue to use it. Shotgun-certified officers were authorized to carry
Ithaca 37 The Ithaca 37 (or Model 37) is a pump-action shotgun made in large numbers for the civilian, law enforcement and military markets. Based on a 1915 patent by firearms designer John Browning for a shotgun initially marketed as the Remington Model ...
shotguns, which are being phased out in favor of the newer
Mossberg 590 The Mossberg 500 (M500) is a series of pump action shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore ...
. Officers and detectives belonging to the NYPD's
Emergency Service Unit In American law enforcement (municipal, county, or state), the Emergency Service Unit, or ESU, is a multi-faceted element within a law enforcement agency’s Special Operations Command. Structure The NYPD is credited with establishing the conce ...
, Counter-terrorism Bureau and
Strategic Response Group The Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a rapid reaction force of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) tasked with immediate intervention duties during periods of civil unrest, terrorist incidents, or other citywide emergencies. It was estab ...
are armed with a range of select-fire weapons and long guns, such as the Colt
M4A1 The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...
carbine and similar-pattern Colt
AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...
rifles,
Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...
submachine gun, and the
Remington Model 700 The Remington Model 700 is a series of bolt-action centerfire rifles manufactured by Remington Arms since 1962. It is a development of the Remington 721 and 722 series of rifles, which were introduced in 1948. The M24 and M40 military sniper ...
bolt-action rifle.


Discontinued from service

From 1926 until 1986 the standard weapons of the department were the
Smith & Wesson Model 10 The Smith & Wesson Model 10, previously known as the Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector Model of 1899, the Smith & Wesson Military & Police or the Smith & Wesson Victory Model, is a K-frame revolver of worldwide popularity. In production since 1899 ...
and the
Colt Official Police The Colt Official Police is a medium frame, double-action revolver with a six-round cylinder, primarily chambered for the .38 Special cartridge, and manufactured by the Colt's Manufacturing Company. Released in 1908 as the Colt Army Special, t ...
.38 Special revolvers with four-inch barrels. Woman officers had the option to choose to carry a three-inch barrel revolver instead of the normal four-inch model due to its lighter weight. Prior to 1994, the standard weapon of the NYPD was the Smith & Wesson Model 64 DAO a .38 Special revolver with a three- or four-inch barrel and the Ruger Police Service Six with a four-inch barrel. This type of revolver was called the Model NY-1 by the department. After the switch in 1994 to semiautomatic pistols, officers who privately purchased
revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
s before January 1, 1994, were allowed to use them for duty use until August 31, 2018. They were
grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
in as approved off-duty guns. Prior to the issuing of the 9mm semi-automatic pistol NYPD detectives and plainclothes officers often carried the
Colt Detective Special The Colt Detective Special is a six-shot, carbon steel framed, 2" or 3" barreled, double-action revolver, and the first example of a class of firearms known as "snubnose revolvers". Made by Colt's Manufacturing Company, this model revolver, as th ...
and/or the
Smith & Wesson Model 36 The Smith & Wesson Model 36 (also known as the Chief's Special) is a revolver chambered for .38 Special. It is one of several models of J-frame revolvers. It was introduced in 1950, and is still in production in the classic blued Model 36 and the ...
"Chief's Special" .38 Special caliber snub-nosed (two-inch) barrel revolvers for their ease of concealment while dressed in civilian clothes. The
Kahr K9 The Kahr K series is a series of semi-automatic pistols manufactured by Kahr Arms. The original weapon in the series, the K9, was introduced in 1995 and features a double action only (DAO) trigger mechanism with a Locked breech recoil operated ...
9 mm pistol was an approved off-duty/backup weapon from 1998 to 2011. It was pulled from service because it could not be modified to a 12-pound trigger pull.


Affiliations

The NYPD is affiliated with the
New York City Police Foundation The New York City Police Foundation was established in 1971 by business and civic leaders as a nonprofit tax-exempt charity that could raise money to spend on projects supporting NYPD reform and modernization efforts as well as helping improve its ...
and the
New York City Police Museum The New York City Police Museum (NYCPM) is a museum that has featured the history and contributions of the New York City Police Department since its establishment in 1845. The museum was located in Lower Manhattan in New York City, near Wall Stre ...
. It also runs a Youth Police academy to provide a positive interaction with police officers and to educate young people about the challenges and responsibility of police work. The NYPD additionally sponsors a Law Enforcement Explorer Program through the Scouting Program (formerly the Boy Scouts of America). The department also operates the Citizens Police Academy, which educates the public on basic law and policing procedures.


See also

*
Detectives' Endowment Association The Detectives Endowment Association of the City of New York is one of three major police unions representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. The other two being the Police Benevolent Association and Sergeants Benevolent As ...
*
Law enforcement in New York City Law enforcement in New York City is carried out by numerous Federal, State, City and Private agencies. New York City has the highest concentration of Law Enforcement in the United States. Federal government agencies * Bureau of Alcohol, Toba ...
*
New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings The New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) is an administrative office of the New York City government. It is a non-mayoral executive agency and is not part of the state Unified Court System. Administrative trials nei ...
*
Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) is the largest police union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. It represents about 24,000 of the department's 36,000 officers. The PBA was origin ...
*
Police surveillance in New York City The New York City Police Department (NYPD) actively monitors public activity in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States. Historically, surveillance has been used by the NYPD for a range of purposes, including against crime, counte ...
*
Sergeants Benevolent Association The Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) is an American police union that represents the sergeants of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), while the department's nonsupervisory patrol officers are represented by the larger Police Bene ...


References


Further reading

* Darien, Andrew T. ''Becoming New York's Finest: Race, Gender, and the Integration of the NYPD, 1935–1980''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. * * Miller, Wilbur R. ''Cops and bobbies: Police authority in New York and London, 1830–1870'' (The Ohio State University Press, 1999) * Monkkonen, Eric H. ''Police in Urban America, 1860–1920'' (2004) * Richardson, James F. ''The New York Police, Colonial Times to 1901'' (Oxford University Press, 1970) * Richardson, James F. "To Control the City: The New York Police in Historical Perspective". In ''Cities in American History'', eds. Kenneth T. Jackson and Stanley K. Schultz (1972) pp. 3–13. * Thale, Christopher
"The Informal World of Police Patrol: New York City in the Early Twentieth Century"
''Journal of Urban History'' (2007) 33#2 pp. 183–216. .


External links

*
Police Department
in the
Rules of the City of New York The ''Rules of the City of New York'' (RCNY) contains the compiled rules and regulations (delegated legislation) of New York City government agencies. It contains approximately 6,000 rules and regulations in 71 titles, each covering a different cit ...
* *
"With the Sky Police"
''
Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...
'', January 1932 article about the NY City Police Air Force and the Keystone-Loening Commuter in service at that time, photos pp. 26–30
NYPD Annual Reports 1912–1923 (digitized books)
from the
Lloyd Sealy Library The Lloyd George Sealy Library is the campus library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (CUNY). Located in Haaren Hall, the library specializes in criminal justice-related materials. Overview The Lloyd Sealy Li ...
on the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Historical images from the NYPD Annual Reports, 1923–23
from the
Lloyd Sealy Library The Lloyd George Sealy Library is the campus library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (CUNY). Located in Haaren Hall, the library specializes in criminal justice-related materials. Overview The Lloyd Sealy Li ...
Digital Collections {{Authority control 1845 establishments in New York (state) Law enforcement in the New York metropolitan area Municipal police departments of New York (state) Government agencies established in 1845