Bratton Has Opportunity to Repair Community Relations as NYPD Commissioner

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced today that William Bratton will be the new police commissioner for the city of New York. Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, issued the following statement.

“Bill Bratton’s appointment comes at a critical time for the NYPD, as it faces scrutiny over biased police practices from stop and frisk to its Muslim surveillance program,” said Patel. “Both the new mayor and the new commissioner have promised to rebuild partnerships between the police and the communities they serve. As chief of the Los Angeles police, Bratton made a good start in repairing police-community trust after decades of turmoil. The best way to repair these relationships in New York is to end policing that is based on bias rather than criminal activity. We look forward to working with Commissioner Bratton to do so.”

The Brennan Center proposed an inspector general for the police last year, followed by the publication of a detailed report that draws on the experience of the federal government and other police departments in making the case for independent oversight. See our work in support of an inspector general here.