The
Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (known informally as the
Knapp Commission, after its chairman
Whitman Knapp) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by
Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate
corruption within the New York City Police Department. The creation of the commission was largely a result of the publicity generated by the public revelations of police corruption made by
Patrolman Frank Serpico and Sergeant David Durk. The commission confirmed the existence of widespread corruption and made a number of recommendations.