History of the New York Police Department Essay

History of the New York Police Department - Essay Example Departments within the forces that had been incorporated into the NYPD included the New York Police [which formed the bulk of NYPD], Brooklyn Police Department, Brooklyn Bridge Police, Long Island City Police Department, the Park Police [also known as Central Park] and the Telegraph Bureau. The Telegraph Bureau is the forerunner of the present day Communications Division. Over the time, these departments and units expanded and divided as they became more specialized, to the point that presently, NYPD has more than 300 units. In a closely related wavelength, the framers of the Charter punctiliously included language in the document to ensure that no political party could muster control of this police department for its own purpose. John McCullagh served as first commissioner of NYPD. At the time, the NYPD has grown to incorporate several departments and special units such as anti-organized crime unit, Emergency Service Unit, harbor patrol, K-9, bomb disposal unit, air support, counterterrorism, air support, anti-gang, criminal intelligence, anti-narcotics, public housing unit and public transportation unit. The New York City Housing Authority Police Department and the New York City Transit Police were made part of the NYPD in 1995 (Vitale, 290-92). The Demographics That Informs NYPD’s Services According to Weiss, the size of New York bespeaks the size of NYPD’s duties and roles. This is because NYPD does not only serve New York City, but also the larger geopolitical expanse which is New York as a state.