Running the NYPD isn't just a job. It's a meat grinder. When you look at the long list of former New York City police commissioners, you aren't just looking at a roster of retired bureaucrats; you’re looking at a history of political survival, massive scandals, and occasional moments of genuine heroism. Honestly, most people think the Mayor runs the city. They're wrong. In the streets of Bed-Stuy or the high-rises of the Upper East Side, the face of power is whoever is sitting in the "PC" office at One Police Plaza.
It’s a brutal gig.
Some lasted years. Others? Barely a few months before the political winds shifted and they were out on their ears. From the legendary Teddy Roosevelt to the controversial figures of the 2020s, the seat of the commissioner has always been a lightning rod for whatever is going wrong in New York at any given moment.
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Why We Still Talk About Teddy Roosevelt
Long before he was charging up San Juan Hill or carved into a mountain in South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt was a police commissioner. 1895. New York was a different beast then—riddled with "Tammany Hall" corruption that would make a modern politician blush. Roosevelt was a reformer, a guy who actually walked the beats at midnight to make sure his officers weren't sleeping in saloons.
He was obsessive.
He basically invented the idea that a commissioner should be a public figure, someone the people could see and trust. Before him, the role was mostly about backroom deals. TR changed the DNA of the NYPD, even if he eventually got frustrated by the slow pace of change and moved on to bigger things. You can still see his influence in the way modern commissioners handle the press; he was the first one to realize that the "bully pulpit" was just as important as the badge.
The Era of "Broken Windows" and William Bratton
You can't discuss former New York City police commissioners without spending a lot of time on Bill Bratton. He didn't just run the department; he fundamentally reshaped how the world thinks about policing. Twice.
His first stint under Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the early 90s was a whirlwind. He introduced CompStat—that data-driven system everyone uses now—and pushed the "Broken Windows" theory. The idea was simple: if you fix the small things, like graffiti and turnstile jumping, the big crimes will drop too. And they did. Murder rates plummeted. But the success came with a cost. The relationship between the police and minority communities started to fray under the pressure of aggressive enforcement.
Bratton was a rockstar. He was on the cover of Time magazine. And Giuliani, who hated sharing the spotlight, basically forced him out because of it.
Decades later, Bill de Blasio brought him back. It was a weird "full circle" moment for the city. Bratton was older, maybe a bit more nuanced, but he was still the guy who believed in the numbers. When he left for the second time in 2016, he left a department that was far more technologically advanced but still grappling with the same social tensions he’d sparked twenty years earlier.
The Fall of Bernard Kerik
If Bratton is the success story, Bernie Kerik is the cautionary tale.
Kerik was the commissioner during 9/11. For a few months, he was a national hero. He stood beside Giuliani in the dust of the Twin Towers. He was tough, charismatic, and seemed like the perfect "cop's cop." George W. Bush even nominated him to head the Department of Homeland Security.
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Then it all came apart.
Financial scandals. Unreported gifts. An apartment used for... well, let's just say non-official business. Kerik went from being the top cop in the world's most famous city to serving time in federal prison. It was a staggering fall that reminded everyone just how much scrutiny comes with the title. In New York, your past doesn't just catch up with you; it hits you with a lead pipe.
The Quiet Power of Raymond Kelly
While Bratton was the showman, Ray Kelly was the marathon runner. He is the only person to serve as commissioner under two different mayors for two separate terms. He held the job for a total of 14 years. That is an insane amount of time to survive in the New York political ecosystem.
Kelly was a Marine. He ran the NYPD like a paramilitary organization. Under Michael Bloomberg, he turned the department into a global counter-terrorism force. The NYPD literally has its own "intelligence division" with officers stationed in cities like London, Paris, and Tel Aviv.
But Kelly’s legacy is complicated by "Stop and Frisk."
During his tenure, the NYPD conducted millions of stops, primarily of young Black and Latino men. Kelly argued it was why the city was so safe. Critics, and eventually a federal judge, argued it was unconstitutional. When Kelly left office in 2013, the city was at its safest point in history, but the police department was facing a massive crisis of legitimacy in many neighborhoods.
Recent Shifts: O'Neill, Shea, and Sewell
After the Kelly era, the revolving door started spinning faster. James O'Neill tried to introduce "Neighborhood Policing," trying to get cops out of their cars and talking to people again. He made the incredibly difficult decision to fire the officer involved in the Eric Garner case, a move that made him a pariah among some of the rank-and-file.
Then came Dermot Shea. He had the unenviable task of leading the NYPD through the 2020 pandemic and the massive George Floyd protests. It was a nightmare. The department felt under siege from both the public and the virus.
Keechant Sewell broke the glass ceiling in 2022. As the first woman to lead the NYPD, she was a historic figure from day one. She was generally liked by the officers, which is rare for a commissioner. However, she resigned after only 18 months. Rumors swirled that she was being micro-managed by City Hall. It was a reminder that even if you have the title, you might not have the actual power.
Edward Caban followed her, marking another first as the first Latino commissioner. His departure in 2024 amid federal investigations into his inner circle served as yet another example of the "curse" of the office. It’s a job that demands perfection in a city that is anything but perfect.
The Reality of the "PC" Role
What do all these former New York City police commissioners have in common? They all eventually realized that the NYPD is a beast that cannot be fully tamed.
You have 36,000 officers. Thousands of civilian employees. A budget bigger than some countries. And every single person in New York City has an opinion on how you're doing. If crime goes up, it’s your fault. If a cop makes a mistake, it’s your fault. If you’re too aggressive, the activists want your head. If you’re too soft, the unions want your head.
It’s a balancing act that almost nobody wins in the long run.
Critical Lessons from the Commissioner's Office
Looking back at the history of these leaders, a few hard truths emerge:
- Data is a double-edged sword. CompStat changed the world, but when you manage purely by the numbers, you lose the human element. Officers start chasing "stats" instead of solving problems.
- Political independence is a myth. A commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Mayor. Period. If you aren't in lockstep with the guy in Gracie Mansion, you won't last a year.
- The "Cop's Cop" vs. "The Reformer." The best commissioners are usually a bit of both, but you can rarely be both at the same time. If the rank-and-file don't trust you, the department grinds to a halt. If the public doesn't trust you, the city burns.
- Corruption is the constant threat. From the 1970s Knapp Commission (think Frank Serpico) to the recent federal probes in the 2020s, the NYPD’s size makes it vulnerable to "pay-to-play" schemes and internal rot.
How to Understand the NYPD Today
If you're trying to make sense of the current state of policing in New York, you have to look at the ghosts of the past. The debates we're having today about surveillance, police conduct, and crime rates aren't new. They are the same debates Kelly, Bratton, and even Roosevelt were having.
The job hasn't changed. The city has just gotten more complicated.
For anyone interested in the future of urban safety, studying the successes and failures of these former commissioners is essential. You see the patterns. You see how a policy that works in 1994 can become a disaster by 2014. You see how fragile the peace in New York really is.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge:
- Read the Mollen Commission Report: To understand why modern commissioners are so obsessed with internal affairs, look at the 1994 report on police corruption. It's eye-opening.
- Follow the City Record: If you want to see who might be the next former commissioner, watch the administrative appointments at One Police Plaza. The "successor" is usually someone already in the building.
- Visit the NYC Police Museum (Online or In-Person): They house the actual artifacts from these eras—the uniforms, the early tech, and the records of those who held the top spot.
- Analyze Crime Statistics via OpenData NYC: Don't just take a politician's word for it. Look at the raw numbers that every commissioner since the 90s has lived and died by.
The story of New York's top cops is really the story of the city itself: loud, messy, sometimes corrupt, but always trying to figure out how to keep eight million people from killing each other. It’s a tall order. Usually, the commissioners leave the job looking ten years older than when they started. That should tell you everything you need to know.