New NYPD Commish Bratton Vows To Tackle ‘Stop-And-Frisk’

Change is coming to New York City with the return of a veteran lawman to the top of New York’s Finest:

Bill Bratton took over the reins of the largest municipal police force in America on Thursday, presenting himself in his new role as commissioner of the New York police department as a “change agent” who would tackle his predecessor’s widely denounced stop-and-frisk tactics.

Confirming his reputation as an assertive leader who does not shirk a fight, Bratton, 66, waded straight into the stop-and-frisk controversy as he was unveiled at a ceremony at the NYPD’s headquarters in One Police Plaza. He said the controversial policy that rose steadily under the previous commissioner Ray Kelly and focused on black and other minority communities in the outer boroughs had been “objected to by so many in this city”.

He added that “many in this department felt there was something wrong, it was just not happening the way it should have. I think we can find the right amount where we have a safe city, and communities and police that respect each other.”

Bratton’s outspoken criticism of a centrepiece of policing strategy in New York over the past few years echoed a central campaign pledge of his boss: the newly enshrined mayor of the city, Bill De Blasio.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.