De Blasio Looks at Bratton for NYPD as Homicides Fall to Low

By Henry Goldman and Esmé E. Deprez - Oct 18, 2013

New York City, which had 43 homicides a week in 1990, has been averaging six so far this year. One of the biggest challenges for the next mayor will be to keep it that way.

The first major personnel decision for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s successor will be to choose who will run the 34,000-member police department. With less than three weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Democrat Bill de Blasio leads Republican Joseph Lhota in polls by as much as 50 percentage points.

Lhota, who’s running a television ad warning that de Blasio will usher in a return to the crime-ridden 1980s, says he wants to keep Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who’s overseen a 31 percent drop in felonies since 2001. De Blasio wants a new leader who would refine Kelly’s stop-and-frisk policy, which he says has destroyed trust between police and communities. He’s considering former NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, who’s also run departments in Boston and Los Angeles, and Philip Banks III, New York’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.

“Who the next mayor picks as police commissioner will send a message about where he stands,” said Ed Mullins, president of the 13,000-member Sergeants Benevolent Association. “We have to convey to the people of the city that our goal is to keep crime as low as possible.”

Crack Days

Public safety has become the most divisive campaign issue as the two candidates vie to lead the most populous U.S. city and manage its $70 billion budget. The job will require negotiating new contracts with workers, including police; continuing vigilance against terrorism; and diversifying an economy beyond Wall Street, which supplies high-paying jobs and 7 percent of city tax revenue.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/de-blasio-looks-at-bratton-for-nypd-as-homicides-hit-record-low.html