New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will step down in September, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced during a Tuesday news conference.
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The man chosen to replace Police Commissioner Bill Bratton when he steps down in September said his philosophy of policing was first shaped when he worked as an overnight transit officer in gritty, early ’80s NY.
The 68-year-old is the only person to head the NY and Los Angeles police – the two largest police departments in the country.
He was reappointed NY police chief in 2013 by Mayor Bill de Blasio and steps down as the United States is roiled by controversy over deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and high-profile killings of officers.
“I both very strongly disagree and agree with Mr. Bratton”, Sharpton said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in New York’s City Hall.
Bratton will serve as senior managing director and executive chairman of Teneo Risk, following his retirement from the NYPD in September, Teneo said in a statement. He credits “broken windows” for sharp reductions in crime in those two cities during those periods-violent crime fell by 54 percent when he was chief in Los Angeles and was also greatly reduced during his first tenure in NY.
The end of his tenure comes at a time of significant pressure on police forces in the USA following a number of scandals and NY is no exception.
William Bratton made it clear that he was not leaving due to retirement.
“I leave with some reluctance, but it’s time”, Bratton said. Around that time, De Blasio was asked if Bratton was going to resign, but the mayor pooh-poohed the allegations because “when it’s other people’s lives” he wanted to keep their personal details secure.
Last week, Bratton announced he would not return as commissioner past de Blasio’s first term, which ends next year, and he recently endorsed O’Neill as his successor.
He also served as police commissioner in his native Boston for six months from 1993 to 1994 and Chief of Police in Los Angeles from 2002 to 2009. Garner, who was black, was unarmed; Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put his arm around Garner’s neck, is white. In an extraordinary display of scorn, officers turned their back on the mayor at a hospital on the night of the December 2014 killings and again at the officers’ funerals.
Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said the business world valued Bratton’s “straightforward approach” to safety, keeping the city “on an even keel during a period of national tension between law enforcement and communities of color”.
Bratton found himself in the middle, calling the officers’ gesture inappropriate but at the same time noting that it reflected their feelings about “many issues”.
“As the top-ranking uniformed member of the NYPD, Jimmy has spent each day ensuring that New York City remains the safest big city in America”, said de Blasio.
Meanwhile, two high-ranking officers and a businessman have been arrested in an ongoing corruption probe.
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Mr O’Neill, like Mr Bratton and Mr de Blasio, is white. O’Neill says the department needs to evolve and adapt to changing trends in order to proactively address crime.
