Bill Bratton | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council | |
| Assumed office August 18, 2020 Serving with Jamie Gorelick | |
| President | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | William H. Webster |
| Vice Chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council | |
| In office February 8, 2011 – August 18, 2020 | |
| President | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Gary Hart |
| Succeeded by | Karen Tandy |
| 38th and 42nd New York City Police Commissioner | |
| In office January 1, 2014 – September 16, 2016 | |
| Mayor | Bill de Blasio |
| Preceded by | Raymond Kelly |
| Succeeded by | James P. O'Neill |
| In office January 1, 1994 – April 15, 1996 | |
| Mayor | Rudy Giuliani |
| Preceded by | Raymond Kelly |
| Succeeded by | Howard Safir |
| Chief of Police of Los Angeles | |
| In office October 27, 2002 – October 31, 2009 | |
| Appointed by | James Hahn |
| Preceded by | Martin H. Pomeroy (interim) |
| Succeeded by | Michael P. Downing (interim) |
| Commissioner of the Boston Police Department | |
| In office June 30, 1993 – January 1, 1994 | |
| Appointed by | Raymond Flynn |
| Preceded by | Francis Roache |
| Succeeded by | Paul F. Evans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Joseph Bratton October 6, 1947 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Bratton (divorced)[1] Linda Bratton (divorced) [2] Cheryl Fiandaca (1988–1998, divorced) Rikki Klieman (1999–present) |
| Education | University of Massachusetts Boston (BS) |
| Awards | Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire[3] |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1965–1970 |
| Unit |  Military Police Corps |
| Police career | |
| Service years |  Boston PD (1970–1983, 1992–1994) Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police (1983–1986) Boston Metropolitan District Commission Police (1986–1990) NYC Transit PD (1990–1992) NYPD (1994–1996, 2014–2016) LAPD (2002–2009) |
| Rank |  Commissioner of the NYPDJanuary 1, 2014 – September 2016  Chief of the Los Angeles P.D.October 27, 2002 – October 31, 2009 Commissioner of the NYPDJanuary 1, 1994 – April 15, 1996  Commissioner of the Boston Police DepartmentJune 30, 1993 – January 1, 1994 Superintendent-in-Chief, Boston Police DepartmentJanuary 1992  Chief of the New York City Transit PoliceApril 1990 Superintendent of the Metropolitan District Commission PoliceJune 1986 Chief of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority PoliceMay 1983 Superintendent, Labor RelationsSeptember 1982 Superintendent, Inspector of BureausMay 1982 Executive SuperintendentOctober 1980  LieutenantMarch 1978 .svg){kind=icon} SergeantJuly 1975 Patrol officer, Boston Police Department October 1970 |
William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American businessman and former law enforcement officer who served two non-consecutive tenures as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016) and currently one of only two NYPD commissioners to do so (the other is Raymond Kelly). He previously served as the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department (BPD) (1993–1994) and Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) (2002–2009). He is the only person to have led the police departments of the United States' two largest cities – New York and Los Angeles.
Bratton began his police career at the BPD before becoming police commissioner in New York, where his quality-of-life policy has been credited with reducing petty and violent crime. He was recruited to lead the LAPD in 2002, following a period when the LAPD was struggling to rebuild public trust after a series of controversies in the 1990s. Bratton presided over an era of reform and crime reduction.[4] In January 2014, Bratton returned to the post of police commissioner in New York,[5] and served until September 2016.[6]
Bratton has served as an advisor on policing in several roles, including advising the British government[7] and is currently the chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council for the U.S. government.[8]
Bratton's policing style is influenced by the broken windows theory, a criminological theory of the norm-setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. He advocates having an ethnically diverse police force representative of the population,[9] being tough on gangs and maintaining a strict zero tolerance policy toward anti-social behavior.[10]
- ^ Mancusi, Peter (September 19, 1980). "Bratton's confident: Boston's new police superintendent says, 'I'll have my detractors, but I know I can handle this job. I have no doubt about it.'". The Boston Globe.
- ^ Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic.
- ^ [1] Archived June 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Carlos Granda (August 12, 2011). "LAPD reforms provide example for other cities". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ Goodman, J. David (December 5, 2013). "De Blasio to Name Bratton as New York Police Commissioner". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ^ Goodman, J. David (August 2, 2016). "William Bratton, New York Police Commissioner, Will Step Down Next Month". The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ "US 'supercop' Bill Bratton says riot arrests not only answer". BBC News. August 13, 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Batty, David (August 13, 2011). "UK riots: police should tackle racial tension, says 'supercop' Bill Bratton". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Swaine, Jon (August 13, 2011). "UK riots: supercop's battle order for tackling Britain's street gangs". The Daily Telegraph. London.
But in keeping with his desire to nip problems in the bud, he is clear that the repercussions for those who step out of line must be severe, especially among younger offenders. 'Very early on in people's lives you have to have them understand that abhorrent behaviour, anti-social behaviour, will not be tolerated,' he said.