The Mayor controls the police department through his appointed Police Commissioner.

The Commissioner hires and fires officers, sets regulations and allocates funds, exercising great direct authority over the department.

At police headquarters are stationed about a dozen Police Inspectors who have 2 functions, first the inspect the precincts for irregularities and proper procedure, secondly, they are assigned to investigate the most important and difficult cases, taking over from precinct detectives.

Each district of the city has a police precinct house, commanded by a Police Captain. The captains handle most day-to-day decisions in the department. City Police Headquarters also serves as the precinct building for Old Gotham.

Each captain usually has 4 lieutenants (one as shift commander for each of 3 shifts, and one as leader of the detective squad).

Each lieutenant has 2 sergeants to act as his deputies.

The remaining police are ranked as either Detectives (plain clothes) or Patrolmen (uniformed) and the number of each varies greatly from precinct to precinct depending on need and political pull of the district.