I always thought it an amazing coincidence that Pat HIngle, who played the police commsioner in this film, went on to play Commsioner Gordon in Tim Burton's Batman !
shareActually, Pat Hingle played the Chief of Police. In just about any city, the Chief of Police wears four stars on his coat or his shirt, as did Hingle in this movie. Further proof: Hingle wore a police uniform, which a police chief (almost) always does, whereas a police commissioner never does so.
Pat Hingle's character is listed as Inspector Novick. Correct insignia for this rank would have been an eagle (like a colonel in the Army). 4 stars on an NYPD uniform would have indicated the Chief of Department, not Chief of Police. NYPD is headed by the Police Commissioner, a civilian, who has a rank of 5 stars, and contrary to the statement by tsalagicelt, the Police Commissioner does have a uniform, although he rarely is seen in it. The other person who could be called "Inspector" in the NYPD with a rank of 4 stars is the Chief Inspector, who is normally called "Chief Inspector", not just "Inspector". A civilian might make this mistake, but not a member of the force.
shareJust a about a week ago I happened to read all about the police ranks in America (on Wikipedia). They had complete information on the rankings of the NYPD. I noticed then that my assumption of homogeneity of rankings in all municipal police departments in the U.S. of A. was wrong, particularly with the NYPD. You are right, and I stand corrected about all of it. Four stars on a police uniform does not indicate that he is the Chief of the entire police department in NYC. I thank you for the correction.