Bratton expressed that his resignation is not a benevolent replacement for a firing. New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton is leaving the nation’s largest police force, after a tenure.
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But when asked if the timing of Bratton’s resignation was related to the ongoing corruption probe or the renewed protest, Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “One hundred and ten percent, has nothing to do with this”.
Bratton, who led the department in the 1990s before returning in 2014, noted that he was leaving at “a challenging time for police in America and NY, even though all indicators are pointing in the right direction”.
“When people know the name of their officer they feel that their immediate neighborhood”, the mayor said.
Bratton served as New York’s police commissioner from 1994 to 1996 and as Los Angeles chief of police from 2002 to 2009.
“We will have a seamless transition, the most seamless in the history of this department”, Bratton said. James O’Neill, the department’s top chief, will become commissioner. He began his NYPD career 33 years ago as a transit officer.
In his office he likes to play Irish music, and while driving on the job he’s a big fan of books on tape – mostly biographies about powerful people, sources said. This type of policing evaluates officers on how they handle themselves, rather than how many arrests they make. As part of the outreach, specialized “neighborhood coordinating officers” even pass out their cellphone numbers. He did say the position was from a private firm that had nothing to do with policing and that Bratton and his wife would be staying in NY.
NY has tried various iterations of that idea over the decades. O’Neill has been with the department since the 1980s and was described by the mayor as the “architect” of the department’s community policing program.
He returned as commissioner when appointed by De Blasio in 2014 with the challenge of improving police relations with minority communities.
Some civil liberties activists and others cautioned on Tuesday that the new emphasis on neighborhood policing is little more than repackaging a limited concept. “Someone with a vision of change, reform, and progress”, de Blasio said.
And in a tough world, friendliness only goes so far.
In Harlem on Tuesday, black residents said they liked the idea, but expressed skepticism. “I’ve worked with the mayor now for the last two-and-a-half years, and – not always in total lockstep, but I think that’s what I do well and I know that’s what the mayor does well, and that’s – to come up with some, sort of, decision that’s good for the city and good for the future of this place”.
Bratton is credited with pioneering the NYPD’s CompStat, a command and accountability system that employed real-time intelligence, rapid deployment of resources and accountability systems in police work.
“They could be nicer”, he said. His career has largely been defined by an aggressive approach to fighting crime in NY in the 1990s. “He wanted to re-educate the police department”.
He called Bratton’s achievements during the past 31 months during his second stint as commissioner, “literally inestimable and extraordinary”.
“I wish I had more time chronologically to stay around – three, four years to work on the issues that are going to take that long to straighten out – but I don’t have that kind of time”.
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By comparison, O’Neill is admired within the department, but unknown on the national stage.
