He began his career patrolling Hub streets in 1970 before climbing the ranks to lead BPD, before going to NY, then the Los Angeles Police Department before ending his career back in the Big Apple.
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Commissioner Bill Bratton will step down as the city’s top cop, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference in City Hall Tuesday afternoon. His duties will be taken over by Chief of Department James O’Neill in September.
Bratton’s tenure was recently littered with controversies – from protests of police brutality Monday, to dubious ethical actions as commissioner.
“As the architect of our neighborhood policing program, Jimmy O’Neill has built a national model for bringing police and the community together to fight crime”.
“He is ready to take this department where it’s never been before”, the mayor continued, “in terms of a truly deep and consistent bond between police and community”.
Bratton’s tenure in Los Angeles was defined by data-driven policing, a significant drop in crime and ongoing efforts to mend the rifts in the community that he inherited.
“I’m leaving because it’s the right time”, Bratton said at a news conference, noting that he had worked with city officials to make sure his transition out of the department was smooth.
O’Neill, like Bratton and de Blasio, is white. Retiring Commissioner Bill Bratton sent a message to the NYPD rank and file, telling them how important their work is.
Sharpton told reporters he heard the news of Bratton’s retirement from the mayor.
The 68-year-old is the only person to head the NY and Los Angeles police – the two largest police departments in the country.
Teneo Holdings, a global CEO advisory firm, said Tuesday that NYPD Commissioner William Bratton will join the company as a senior executive of a new subsidiary that focuses on advising clients on key risk identification, prevention and response. He also served as Commanding Officer of the Office of the Police Commissioner, the 25, 44 and Central Park Precincts, the Vice Enforcement Division, the Narcotics Division, as well as the Fugitive Enforcement Division. “In each and every one of them I’ve gone to, people tell us ‘we want policing that’s something that’s not done to us, but done with us.’ And now this is what’s happening and it seems to be working”.
It’s impossible to say what life would have been like had Bratton not returned to One Police Plaza. Bratton joked once he picked the mayor up off the floor, the pair had a two-hour conversation about the decision and why he felt he needed to accept the private sector position.
“I don’t think he’s gonna do any better”, said Wayne Newton, a 51-year-old barber from the Bronx.
In his first turn as police commissioner, Bratton introduced the CompStat system of real-time crime tracking, which has since been adopted by other police departments.
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Then Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were ambushed and killed by a gunman who had announced online he planned to kill police in retaliation for Garner’s death.
