Batman is known as the protector of Gotham City but he couldn't do his job nearly as efficiently without the help of Commissioner Gordon. Over the years, Gordon has proven to be one of Batman's best partners, even being braver than Batman at times. When Gordon joined the GCPD, the department was massively corrupt, but Gordon worked hard to clean it up, transforming it into something better than it was.
Gordon even took over as Batman one of the times Bruce Wayne stepped down, showing his dedication to Gotham. However, Gordon isn't the super cop he seems to be and an argument can be made that he's actually really bad at his job.
10 He Only Mostly Cleaned Up The GCPD
Police work isn't easy work and while the police force often brings in people who want to help others, it also brings in folks who are more interested in the power of the badge than anything else. There's also a lot of money being thrown at cops, and on their salary a little kickback goes a long way. Gordon did his best to clean up the force but he never succeeded completely.
While it's hard to get rid of all of the bad apples, the sheer percentage of bad apples the GCPD still has shows that Gordon wasn't as good at his job as he thought he was. He's also not very good at controlling them as some have tried to use the force of the law against Batman without his approval.
9 His Detective Corps Is Pretty Sorry
Gotham City is known as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the US, full of gangs, costumed criminals, and multiple mafias, from the Sicilian to the Russian to the Triads. There are a whole lot of cases that demand attention and a city with that much crime needs a really good detective corps. Now, technically, Gotham City has the best detectives around in the Bat-Family, but they aren't a part of the police force.
The detectives of the GCPD know that the really hard cases will be solved by Batman and company, so they kind of just coast. This is pretty terrible and Gordon should have done something about it, but never has.
8 He Just Lets Batman Do Whatever He Wants
It goes without saying that Batman gets results, yet he also makes things worse a lot of the time. He can be rather excessive in the violence department and a lot of the worst criminals in Gotham step up their game so they can take him out easier. He also has a casual disdain for police procedure and runs roughshod over everyone.
Gordon pretty much just lets all of this slide because Batman gets results but that's a terrible way to both run an organization and have a working relationship. Just because someone is getting results doesn't mean the rules don't apply to them.
7 His Condoning Of Batman Affects The Way The Police Do Their Job
If the cops in Gotham have learned one lesson from Batman it's that if they just sit back, Batman and his army of sidekicks will take care of everything. There have been a number of times when the cops have just stopped doing their jobs because Batman was about to do it for them. While Batman's efficiency can't be argued with, this is no way to do a job.
Gordon allowing Batman to pretty much do anything he wants and take care of everything has affected the way the police force does its job, further endangering Gotham's citizens, giving Batman even more responsibility, and making the cops even worse at their jobs.
6 Letting Batman Do All The Work Messes Up The Court Process
It's weird that all of Batman's foes mostly end up in an asylum instead of prisons or on death row. Gotham has some of the most dangerous villains around committing terrible crimes, and while some of them are too insane to stand trial, most of them know exactly what they're doing and should have been put away forever years ago.
Why haven't they? Because Batman's detective work isn't technically admissible in court. Gordon allowing Batman to do everything means that a lot of evidence can't be entered into a court of law because Batman isn't a licensed detective. The revolving door that is Arkham Asylum is full because the lawyers can argue mental illness and the cops have no credible evidence they can use in court.
5 Never Figured Out His Daughter Was Batgirl
Jim Gordon began his career at the GCPD as a detective and worked his way up, eventually becoming commissioner. He forged a good working relationship with Batman but he wasn't the only Gordon to do so; his daughter Barbara would also work well with Batman as Batgirl, one of the Batman's earliest sidekicks.
Gordon, for someone who was supposedly such a good detective, never figured out the truth about Batgirl. For a cop to live under the same roof as someone and never figure out his daughter was a costumed vigilante says a lot about their skill as a cop.
4 The City's Leaders Don't Really Respect Him
The leaders of Gotham City are a special lot. Alternating between corrupt, idealistic, and incompetent, they all have one thing in common: their level of respect for Commissioner Gordon is pretty low. There are a lot of reasons for this; the corrupt don't like him because he's incorruptible, the idealistic don't like him because he's a bit of a curmudgeon, and the incompetent don't like anyone who makes them look bad.
His reliance on Batman is a factor that they can all agree on, though — letting someone from outside the police force do all the work is a very bad look and it makes him seem like he can't do anything without the help of Batman.
3 Allowing Batman To Deal With All The Big Stuff Cuts Down On Cops Getting Better
Gordon lets Batman deal with the most difficult cases for a lot of reasons — he's the best and can handle the dangerous stuff that comes with dealing with the kind of criminals Gotham hosts. While this saves lives a lot of the time, it also means that a lot of cops don't get much better at their jobs.
Letting Batman deal with the hard cases means that no one gets experience in those kinds of cases. The detectives deal with easy stuff and can get intellectually lazy and complacent, while the patrolling police know that Batman will take care of things. No one gets any better at their jobs and the GCPD suffers.
2 He's Lost His Job Several Times
Gordon did a lot for the GCPD but he's also made a lot of mistakes. While he always gets the job back, the fact that he lost it shows just how bad he can be at his job at times.
On top of that, the GCPD has been taken over by outside forces more than once and Gordon was powerless to stop it. Even with mitigating circumstances, the GCPD should be able to fight just about anyone off if they have a competent hand in charge and Gordon isn't always that, apparently.
1 Without Batman, Everything Falls Apart
The GCPD depends on Batman entirely too much because of Gordon's relationship with the Dark Knight. Whenever he's not around, everything just falls apart. Criminals have literally taken over the city at times when Batman is there or has quit being Batman for whatever reason. This is a terrible look for the police and Gordon, by extension.
Gordon's dependence on Batman renders the police ineffective and makes him seem like a bad leader that doesn't trust his subordinates. The cops don't do their jobs because Batman and his friends do it for them and when the heroes are gone, the center cannot hold and Gotham falls into chaos.
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