In a surprise move, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton tendered his resignation Tuesday and current Chief of Department Jimmy O’Neill will replace him in September.
During a press conference at City Hall, Mayor Bill de Blasio praised Bratton, 69, for his heart and ability to create a team that has brought New York City’s crime rate to historic lows.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced his resignation from the department at a news conference this week where he and Mayor Bill de Blasio said NYPD Chief of Department Jimmy O’Neill would replace him in the job of top cop.
Bratton said he was leaving to take an opportunity in the private sector, which was later revealed to be the head of the risk management division at Teneo Holdings. He will leave the NYPD in September.
Growing up in Flatbush in the 2000s, I fell in love with the vibrancy of my community. I loved the way we gelled together — different cultures, with different layers of broken English sprouting from mouth to mouth, speaker to speaker.
One of the most vivid images I still hold on to, however, is the way police patrolled parties and community gatherings. They looked more like corrections officers walking down aisles of prison blocks than the agents of community safety they professed to be.
Many believe that the biggest responsibility of the Mayor of New York City is to keep people safe and Bill de Blasio has largely done that, in no small part by letting his lightning-rod police commissioner, Bill Bratton, call the shots on public safety policy. The mayor has focused on pre-kindergarten and affordable housing while Bratton has governed the streets, helping bring crime down to historic lows.
Many believe that the biggest responsibility of the Mayor of New York City is to keep people safe and Bill de Blasio has largely done that, in no small part by letting his lightning-rod police commissioner, Bill Bratton, call the shots on public safety policy. The mayor has focused on pre-kindergarten and affordable housing while Bratton has governed the streets, helping bring crime down to historic lows.
When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio met reporters at City Hall to announce police commissioner Bill Bratton's retirement Tuesday, he stressed the department's shift toward what he called "neighborhood policing," a strategy that encourages officers to engage with people who live in the communities they're patrolling.
"We've tried to redefine our relationship from being the police to being your police," Bratton said.
When NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton eventually leaves 1 Police Plaza, he will be remembered for the innovative CompStat program and its data-driven approach to fighting crime.
But critics said it was time for new ideas — and he was fresh out of them.
“He realizes there have to be changes and many of those changes he’s not comfortable with,” said Marq Claxton, director of the Black Law Enforcement Alliance, who worked for 20 years in the NYPD.