The Great GOP Hope?

To read the sidebar, please go to Will Bratton Ask Rudy to Run the NYPD? Former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton sounds like he wants to be mayor in 2014.ˆ He may be Republicans" best candidate to keep their 20-year mayoral streak going By Megan Finnegan Bill Bratton speaks with a distinctive Boston accent and recently ended a stint as the Los Angeles Chief of Police, but make no mistake's he considers himself a true New Yorker. Bratton earned a reputation as the innovative, ambitious chief of the NYPD from 1994 to 1996, when he took control of the department under then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and instituted sweeping changes. Some, such as the CompStat system, fundamentally changed the way the department polices and interprets data, while others, like switching from light blue police uniforms to dark navy, sent the message that the police department was playing by new rules. Bratton also placed the authority to investigate cases with individual precinct captains instead of sending each case through One Police Plaza, easing bottlenecks of open investigations. Most famously, there was a precipitous drop in crime on his watch (felony complaints dropped by 44 percent and homicides by 60 percent, according to Mayor"s office reports)'s a fact that precipitated both his rise in popularity and eventual falling-out with Giuliani, reportedly leading to pressure for his resignation. While the mayor was happy with Bratton"s results, he wasn"t happy with what he and others at the time felt was the credit that the police chief was receiving. He signed a reported $350,000 book deal while still chief, and was accused of accepting lavish trips from various industry representatives. He left the NYPD in 1996. ------ In 2002, Bratton accepted the top job at LAPD, planning to stay for only five years but extending that until 2009. He and his wife Rikki returned to New York after seven years on the West Coast. Bratton now works for several private security companies and consults for the Department of Homeland Security on immigration issues. He and Rikki live in Manhattan, and they recently filmed a video declaring themselves New Yorkers who support marriage equality. By his own account, he"s happy in the private sector and being back in the city he loves. He"s also said he would be happy in his old job as police chief, should Ray Kelly vacate the post for a mayoral run in 2013. As for Bratton's designs on the mayoralty, he remains non-committal, speaking in hypotheticals - making it clear, at least, that he's giving it serious consideration. For a not-yet declared candidate, he speaks a lot about what he would do if he were mayor in 2014. Our Town talked to Bratton about what kind of mayor he might be and what it would take to make that scenario a reality. Q: There aren't a lot of prominent Republicans who have showed interest in the 2013 mayoral race. Are you interested in running? A: Actually, I'm registered as an Independent. I looked at running in the 2001 race. I actually did some polling, and then the deadline came when I would have had to file. I regained my sanity and stepped back from the precipice and have been happy ever since. I don't regret that I stepped back because Bloomberg got into the race, and then we had 9/11. Nobody could have foreseen that. Q: What would it take for you to consider running this time? A: Quite frankly, I'm very happy in my current environment. I'm having a great time, my companies pay me a lot of money and I'm able to work on lots of interesting issues. I spend a lot of time interacting with criminal justice issues. I'm vice-chair of Secretary Napolitano's Homeland Security Advisory Committee. I'm involved in a host of homeland security issues ranging from immigration to drug trafficking. I have more to offer at some point in the future, but at this particular point in time, 2011, my focus and energy is on the growth of my companies. Q: What are your personal political convictions? A: Politically, I'm fairly complex. People tend to think of law enforcement as being conservative and reactionary. American policing is probably one of the most progressive elements of government. There is no entity more integrated, with minorities, gays and women. I'm an opponent of three-strikes-and-you're-out laws. I was a strong opponent of the old Rockefeller laws and spoke out aggressively about changing that. On immigration issues in California, as the police chief, I was in favor of drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, and challenged Governor Schwarzenegger for his stand on that issue, and the red herring that he raised about terrorism. I don't fit neatly into any ideological pigeonhole. Q: Which could be an asset. Mathematically, you'd have to run as a Republican, right? A: Well, actually, you could be tempted to run as a Democrat because there'd be so many candidates running you could effectively get in the run-off with 15 percent of the vote. Possibly just on name. This is the big head start Kelly would have. If I were to look at it, I think I would have similar name recognition. Early primary voters tend to be older. That's the voter who remembers what New York looked like in 1994, versus what it looked like in 1996. And the name would attract much the same as Ray Kelly, if he gets into it. His name automatically supersedes every potential candidate in the race. It's just the nature of it. He's able to show significant accomplishments as police commissioner, that others would not be able to point to. It"s not just name recognition, but name recognition attached to accomplishment. Q: What do you think is going to be the biggest issue coming up in the next mayor"s race? A: Public safety will always be the front burner issue. If the reduction of the police department continues, and I think the budget this year is calling for further reductions, it reaches a point where the department's ability to continue the successes of the '90s will be stressed. And we might eventually see deterioration in quality of life issues. That would move policing center stage again. Right now, the city's still being well served. Crime is a shared issue going back to the '90s with Mayor Giuliani, and then beyond that to Mayor Dinkins hiring the cops in the first place. Dinkins' problem was he hired them too slowly, so we benefited. I think the budget's also going to remain a significant issue. Nobody sees any significant relief on that going forward. Q: How would you assess Mayor Bloomberg so far? A: I think he has been an excellent mayor. From a crime perspective and a public safety perspective. Our tourism numbers look great. Racial tension is a lot less than it was in the 1970s and '80s. The turnaround that began in the '90s has been further burnished during his time. I have no quarrels at all with his stewardship of the city. Q: Do you think the city, now that it"s had 20 years of Republican and unconventional mayors, will look for a leader that's not a career politician? A: Well, 20 years of Republican mayors who in some respects are Republican in name only. Outside of New York they would be basically Democrats. That's the reality of it. That's the idea of why a Ray Kelly or Bill Bratton could run on a Republican line comfortably, in this city. I think most voters here don't vote on ideology. They vote on the issues at hand. When we talk about unconventional mayors, Bloomberg certainly comes from the business environment, and Giuliani comes out of the prosecutor's environment. Neither were career politicians. Rudy's first run was for mayor. Bloomberg's first run was for mayor. Versus the others - every other mayor came from a life of political leadership. And on balance, I think the two people who are not career politicians did well. Q: If Ray Kelly did run, would that preclude your running? A: We would end up neutralizing each other to some degree. He certainly has the more contemporary, well-known name and successes keeping the city safe post-9/11, as well as continuing reducing crime during that time. And anybody that would seek to get into the race would need to be mindful of that, if it were me or some other person associated with law and order. I'll be frank though, the easiest way to go back into government is be appointed back, rather than suffering the slings and arrows of running for office. I could probably comfortably sit and look at the potential of being appointed police commissioner again. Q: Would that job interest you? A: I had a lot of fun my previous time. And one of the reasons I got back into policing was the inspiration of 9/11, but also I had not had my fill of being a police chief yet. L.A. provided that second opportunity. Q: Could you envision doing that again down the road? A: I fully envision getting back into government at some point in time. And I have to admit, I enjoy the speculation about possibly coming back, in some capacity, because it's nice to be thought of as capable and qualified. Q: How does your wife feel about the possibility of your running for mayor? A: Rikki would be a phenomenal asset. She can work a room better than any person I've ever met. I don't think I've ever seen her meet somebody that within 30 seconds, she hasn't found a connection with, somebody they know or an issue that they talk about. Q: You recently made a television commercial supporting marriage equality in the state. A: I've always been a strong supporter of gay rights and equal treatment for gays, going back as a young sergeant in the Boston police department. I was assigned as the first liaison to the gay community at that time. It was about the same time as Stonewall in New York, and was the first recognition that police needed to not be seen as acting upon that community, but rather working with them. And the issue of gay marriage - I have a sister who's gay, who was married in Massachusetts when it was legalized there, so I've got a personal sensitivity to some of the discrimination and frustration. Q: How do you think it will play out? A: There's certainly momentum with it. I was disappointed when California defeated it, because if ever there were a state you thought would support it... Ironically, what happened was a combination of Mormons and black church leaders rallied against it. For two groups who've been discriminated against so horrifically, to lead the charge discriminating another minority was absolutely amazing. Q: Was CompStat your idea? A: CompStat was a set of ideas and has a number of creators. I was doing a form of it in the 1970s, as a young sergeant on the Boston police department. My walls were covered with maps, and I had a student intern at night, they would take all the crime reports, put the dots in the map, and then that Sunday I'd direct the cops to those dots on the maps. In the '90s, it got its name, there were so many of us who worked on it - what's the expression? "Victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan." So CompStat originated in the police department, with many participants working in the perfecting of it. Q: What do you think the next big step in policing is going to be? A: The next era of policing, and indeed government, is predictive government. That with the algorithms you develop, and the information at hand, you can predict emerging problems and basically head them off. I'm more into it from a policing perspective, certainly. But much the same as CompStat spread from policing to the rest of government, predictive policing, predictive analysis, was spread from policing to the rest of government. You'll see and hear more of that in the years ahead. Q: What do you think of Andrew Cuomo and what he's accomplished so far? A: I think he's been masterful, in the sense that he's been steady on achieving what he said he was going to do. I don't think there's been a misstep that I've noticed. Q: Why has he succeeded where Paterson, Spitzer and Pataki couldn't succeed? A: He's benefiting from the frustration of voters with the status quo, that they want a change. And I think he's able to bring that leverage into Albany, and take on some very powerful, entrenched forces. And I certainly think Mayor Giuliani benefited from that during his time. Q: If you ran for mayor, would you seek Rudy Giuliani's support, and do you think he would give you his support? A: I think anybody running for mayor has to be somewhat mindful of Mayor Giuliani's legacy. In my case, if I were to seek an office in the city, either elected or appointed, because of the contretemps we had, particularly in the '90s, it's a given that that's going to come up. Much the same as when the mayor was running for president, I had no shortage of press - national, local - banging on my door, seeking comments about our contretemps in the '90s. I would think the same thing would occur here. It makes good press. Q: Do you still have a relationship with him? A: During the presidential race, we met several times in Los Angeles, and I guess you could describe it as a rapprochement. I'm not somebody that carries a grudge over time, and I'm pretty outspoken about what I think at a particular point in time. Life's too short to harbor grudges. Q: Did you support him when he ran for president? A: I didn't have to express support, because it never came to that, but at the same time, I don't think I ever said anything publicly during his race. Q: Did you support anybody in the 2008 campaign? A: Obama. Q: What do you think of Obama so far? A: I think he's done, under the circumstances, a very good job. On the issue I'm most closely associated with, criminal justice matters, he's been very, very good. Whether it's the economy or trying to wrestle with terrorism, I think he's been doing a great job. Q: How do you think the New York GOP, if you ran for the Republican nomination in 2013, would feel about you supporting the president? A: At this stage I have to beg off answering that question because I could not answer in a knowledgeable way. As to the political ins and outs, for example, on the Republican side of a potential mayoral race, I couldn't tell you. Q: What do you miss most about being a police commissioner? What was your favorite part? A: I like to manage and create change. I enjoyed dealing with crises, because out of crises comes opportunity. During my time as police commissioner in New York, it was like being in a batting cage, with five balls coming at you all the time. L.A. would have been about three. The pace was a lot different. Q: Have race relations in New York changed? A: I think race relations in New York are much better than they were. I attribute that to a much safer city, because then, as now, unfortunately, the significant majority of serious crime is committed in the African-American community, by the African-American community, and that was the case back in the '90s and still remains the case, even though crime is down 70 or 80 percent. The more you reduce crime in a city, the more you improve race relations, because the black and brown community, the bulk of crime occurs there, and is committed by that population. By reducing that crime problem in New York, it allows for the city to collectively take a big sigh. The city is a very different place than the city I visited in 1989 for the first time. And I think it continues to get better. Q: What do you think about the ticket fixing scandal? A: Unfortunately, I think that it's going to get bigger. It is a widespread problem. This is of a magnitude the department has not seen for decades, in scale and manifestation. There are the actual corrupt activities, fixing criminal cases, and the administrative. In the '70s, they had these expressions "grass eater" and "meat eater." A meat eater was somebody who was a cop who was aggressively seeking payment to take care of something. A grass eater would be somebody who either just ignored it, or benignly would try to fix a ticket for a friend. This specter of the 1970s resonates again - it's something that has not been seen in a while.