History of the New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department

NYPD Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, in 1895
Founded by	Mayor William Havemeyer
Founding location	New York City
Years active	1845-present
Territory	New York City (Boroughs - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island)

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) was created in 1845, with the establishment of the Municipal Police, replacing an old night watch system. In 1857, they were tumultuously replaced by a Metropolitan Police, which consolidated other local police departments. Late 19th and early 20th century trends included professionalization and struggles against corruption.

Prior to the establishment of the NYPD, New York City's population of about 320,000 was served by a force consisting of one night watch, one hundred city marshals, thirty-one constables, and 51 municipal police officers. On May 7, 1844, the New York State passed the Municipal Police Act, a law which authorized creation of a police force and abolished the night watch system. At the request of the New York City Common Council, Peter Cooper drew up a proposal to create a police force of 1,200 officers. John Watts de Peyster was an early advocate of implementing military style discipline and organization to the force.

However, because of a lengthy dispute between the Common Council and the Mayor of New York City regarding who would appoint the officers, the law was not put into effect until the following year. Under Mayor William Havemeyer, the city finally repealed their watch system and adopted the Municipal Police Act as an ordinance on May 23, 1845, creating the New York Police Department in fact rather than merely in legislative theory.

For the purposes of policing, the city was divided into three districts, with courts, magistrates, and clerks, and station houses. The NYPD was closely modeled after the Metropolitan Police Service in London, England which used a military-like organizational structure, with rank and order. A navy blue uniform was introduced after long debate in 1853.