Bratton had said last month that he would not remain head of the NYPD past the end of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s first term in 2017.
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Bratton also had to contend with antipathy toward de Blasio from rank-and-file officers angered by the mayor’s comments about police brutality.
Advisory firm Teneo announced that Bratton was joining the company in September as senior managing director and executive chairman of Teneo Risk, a new division focused on advising clients on risk, prevention and response.
He also was in charge of the NYPD during the largest crime reduction in New York City’s history, de Blasio said at the time of Bratton’s return as commissioner in 2013.
For Bratton, who began as a beat cop in Boston in 1970 and rose to the highest perch in NY policing, the announcement most likely marked the close of his career as a police leader.
Bratton said that among his accomplishments during his most recent tenure as NYPD commissioner were bringing down crime, better preparing the force for a potential terrorist attack and improving the safety of officers through the purchase of better equipment. His resignation comes after protesters staged a demonstration outside City Hall Monday night and Tuesday to call for Bratton’s resignation, NBC New York reported.
At the press conference announcing Bratton’s retirement on August 2, 2016, O’Neill said he views the commissioner as a mentor.
Mr de Blasio called Mr Bratton’s contributions to the city “inestimable and extraordinary”, while heralding Mr O’Neill as someone who would “take this department where it’s never been before” by leading a push towards neighbourhood policing.
Within four years, O’Neill began his ascent through the ranks – to sergeant in 1987, and eventually deputy chief, in 2005.
Organizers said they were prepared to stay in the park until Bratton was booted from office. Bratton has said the choice of when to go was his alone. They questioned whether elevating his second-in-command – a decision the mayor made without any public discussion or input – would make a difference. “Someone with a vision of change, reform, and progress”, de Blasio said.
O’Neill is a Brooklyn native O’Neill, who is 58 years old, was born and raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
He went on to work in the narcotics unit and the fugitive enforcement division before being named Chief of Department on November 3, 2014 after Philip Banks unexpectedly resigned.
Bratton has worked in the public sector for 45 years and started his career as a beat cop in Boston and also worked on the Los Angeles and NY forces.
Another demonstrator named Alexis Smallwood, 32, said she was there protesting on behalf of the residents of Far Rockaway, the New York Daily News reports.
Bratton resigned in 1996 after his relationship with Giuliani grew strained over who deserved more credit for the drop in crime. He is a master’s graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
But many activist groups, like Campaign Zero, believe the policy has led to over-policing, and has contributed to a rise in police violence against individuals involved in minor offenses. “Instead, he’s been trying to fend off attacks on the profession”.
That approach, as reflected in the NYPD’s use of the tactic known as stop and frisk, has had a disproportionate impact on blacks and Hispanics.
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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 Mr Garner’s death.
