“Mr. O’Neill needs to immediately meet with civil rights leaders, faith leaders, local grassroots groups…patrol groups, anti-violence groups so we will understand exactly what his vision for policing is”, Sharpton said at the Harlme headquarters of his civil rights group National Action Network.
Advertisement
As Bratton was preparing to pass his shield down to his successor inside City Hall Tuesday, activists outside were cheering the resignation – and demanding radical changes to the NYPD. He is not fading into the background because of old age or lack of health.
Lynch also thanked Bratton for his service in what he called “a very challenging period for the NYPD and its members”. But while he is opposed to Bratton’s use of “broken windows” policing, he said that the number of stop and frisks lowered under Bratton’s watch.
Bratton declined to say anything more about his new job, except that it was from a private firm not involved in policing, and that he would be remaining in NY. He gained the moniker “supercop” before leaving the department to work in the private sector.
“This city, this department will have a seamless transition”, Bratton said. They, like Bratton, are heading for the exits – and that’s no fun at all.
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton is leaving the nation’s largest police force, after a tenure in which he received credit for keeping crime down and navigated tension between police and minority communities. Preet Bharara, whose office is leading the investigation, issued a statement praising Bratton’s work.
Bratton’s resume is unmatched in local law enforcement. He led the department for more than two years in the mid-1990s and began serving as de Blasio’s police commissioner in January 2014.
Bratton wasn’t forced out, two city officials told CNN.
If that timetable sounds rather fast, it might be because Bratton made the decision in short order.
The idea resonated at this annual event created to bring police and communities together where families got face-time with officers from the 114th precinct.
Over the course of his decades-long career in law enforcement, Commissioner Bratton has established an worldwide reputation for re-engineering police departments and fighting crime. During his own remarks, the mayor called Bratton an “extraordinary partner”. Deputy commissioner Benjamin Tucker, who is African-American, will remain on the job and O’Neill will be succeeded as chief of department by Cuban-born immigrant Carlos Gomez. O’Neill was the highest-ranked uniformed police officer before accepting this promotion.
O’Neill, like Bratton and de Blasio, is white.
O’Neill, too, was visibly emotional during the press conference. Unable to have time to allow the sudden promotion to sink in, he allowed his emotions to carry him through his brief remarks.
Bratton, who has also led police departments in Los Angeles and Boston, is retiring after retaking the NYPD helm in December 2013.
Advertisement
Night out events took place around the city and in New Jersey where cops and firefighters celebrated the even on the Newark city football field with SWAT, mobile command units, horses, and a rescue boat in tow.
