FIRST DEPUTY POLICE COMMISSIONER

First Deputy Police Commissioner George A. Grasso was appointed to the New York City Police Department in November 1979, and began his career on patrol assigned to Neighborhood Stabilization Unit 18 in southeast Queens.  He also served in the 63 and 104 Precincts, the Department Advocate’s Office and in a variety of other legal and administrative assignments.  He rose through the ranks steadily achieving the uniform rank of Inspector and in January 1997 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Commissioner, Legal Matters.  On January 25, 2002 he was appointed by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to the position of First Deputy Police Commissioner.

As the First Deputy Police Commissioner, he serves as the Department’s second in command and acts as Police Commissioner during the absence or unavailability of the Police Commissioner.  He advises the Police Commissioner on crucial matters impacting the NYPD and the City of New York.  He exercises oversight of the NYPD’s interactions with the Criminal Justice System, as well as the Department’s labor relations, budget, personnel functions, and the disciplinary system.  In his previous position, as the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, he was the Department’s Chief Legal Counsel and he oversaw the Legal Bureau and the License Division, and monitored and facilitated the relationship between the Department, the Criminal Justice System, and the Corporation Counsel.  On September 11, 2001 and for several months thereafter, Commissioner Grasso was assigned as the Police Commissioner’s primary representative at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Command Post.  In that position, he coordinated the flow of information to the Mayor and the Police Commissioner with respect to the terrorist attacks and related threats to the safety of the City of New York.

Commissioner Grasso earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from York College (CUNY) and a Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University.  He has been licensed to practice law in the State of New York since 1985. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at St. John’s University. He is also a 1994 graduate of the Police Management Institute at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a 1995 graduate of the CORO Leadership New York Program.  In December 1997, Commissioner Grasso became the first and only member of the NYPD to receive the New York City Law Department’s “Agency Counsel Recognition Award.”  In April 2000, he was admitted to practice law in the United States Supreme Court.  From June 2000 – June 2004 Commissioner Grasso was elected and served as President of the Police Management Institute Alumni Association.  In May 2008, he was recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award.

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