When William Bratton took over the nation’s largest police force Jan. 2 for the second time, he pledged to keep the city safe, while also reforming community relations, which he said have been strained by the police tactic known as stop and frisk.
“My commitment and the commitment of the NYPD that I am privileged to lead will be to work with you to ensure that at all times policing in this city is done constitutionally, respectfully, and compassionately,” Bratton said.
Bratton was given a sweeping mandate by Mayor Bill de Blasio to ease tensions between the 35,000-officer department and the city’s minorities.
NYPD Under Bratton
Bratton at once pledged increased transparency from the NYPD and signaled he would keep and expand some crime-fighting and counterterror programs. He added that he wasn’t afraid to make changes.
Changes have been made.
Since January, the city has dropped its appeal of a federal judge ruling, accepting unprecedented oversight over the NYPD’s reform of the highly contentious police tactic of stop and frisk, which had increased tensions with the city’s minority communities.
Bratton has indicated his support for stop and frisk, but only in proper doses.
“At a time when police and community should be so much closer together, that there should be a bond of legitimacy and trust between them, it’s not the case in so many communities in this city. It’s unfortunate. But it can be corrected,” said Bratton.
In mid-April, the NYPD confirmed that it has disbanded its broad-reaching Muslim surveillance program that had been tracking the daily lives of people in search of terrorism threats.
Bratton’s review of the police department he took over from former Commissioner Raymond Kelly found that the same information collected by the Muslim surveillance unit could be better collected through direct contact with community groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
