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William J. Bratton Chief of Police Los Angeles Police Department
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Appointed the 55th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department by Mayor James Hahn in October 2002, William J. Bratton oversees the operations of one of the largest major municipal law enforcement agencies in the United States. His responsibilities include the supervision of 9,304 sworn and 3,055 civilian employees. Chief Bratton directs all patrol, investigative and administrative operations and administers an annual budget of $927 million. A strong advocate of transparent community policing that embraces partnership, problem solving and prevention, he initiated a major re-engineering of the Los Angeles Police Department, moving towards a decentralized police bureaucracy with stronger area commands that are more responsive to local community needs, and better trained and motivated police officers.
Chief Bratton's vision includes a comprehensive and assertive strategy for dramatically reducing crime, disorder, and fear in the largest metropolitan city on the West Coast. Particular emphasis has been placed on gang-related crimes and the culture that creates it.
Chief Bratton joined the Los Angeles Police Department with over thirty-two years of public and private sector law enforcement experience. His policing career began as a police sergeant during his tenure in the United States Army Military Police. He continued with a career in civilian law enforcement, joining the Boston Police Department in 1970, and rising through the ranks to Superintendent of Police, the highest sworn rank, by 1980.
In 1983, Chief Bratton was recruited by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police Department to serve as Chief of Police. By the end of his tenure, violent crimes had been reduced by 37%. In 1986, Chief Bratton was appointed as the Superintendent of the Metropolitan District Commission Police, which patrols the Boston Metropolitan Area. During his tenure, Chief Bratton implemented strong affirmative action initiatives, which resulted in the doubling of minority supervisors and the recruitment of the first female Chief of Patrol.
In 1990, Chief Bratton became Chief of Police/Senior Vice President for the New York City Transit Authority Police Department. From 1990 to 1991, he won national recognition for his leadership by initiating reforms and strategies that eventually cut subway crime by nearly 50%.
In 1991, Chief Bratton returned to the Boston Police Department as Superintendent in Chief and in 1993, was appointed as that city's 34th Police Commissioner. During his tenure, he initiated and implemented that city's neighborhood policing initiative that helped pave the way for significant crime reduction and improved relations between the police and minority communities.
Chief Bratton returned to New York in 1994 when he was appointed as the 38th Police Commissioner by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. His re-organization of that 50,000 person department with a $2.3 billion dollar budget resulted in a 39% decline in serious crimes and a 50% reduction in homicides. During the period of 1994 to 1996, he also initiated the internationally acclaimed COMPSTAT system - a computer driven management accountability process that is an integral part of his decentralized management philosophy. It emphasizes a "management from the middle down" style that prioritized empowerment, inclusion, accountability, and the use of timely and accurate crime analysis to drive the organization.
From 1996 until his appointment as Los Angeles Chief of Police, Chief Bratton worked in the private sector, where he formed his own private consulting company, The Bratton Group, L.L.C. He also served as a senior consultant with Kroll Associates. Kroll was appointed as the federal monitor to oversee the implementation of the federal consent decree with the Los Angeles Police Department. Chief Bratton served as one of their three police subject matter experts.
Chief Bratton holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Law Enforcement from Boston State College/University of Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute and was a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he served as a Research Fellow. During the period from 1993 to 1996, he served as the elected president of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a national police research and policy organization whose members include some of the most progressive police leaders in North America.
A frequent guest lecturer, writer and commentator, he is the co-author of his critically acclaimed Random House autobiography "Turnaround." Among his many other honors and awards, Chief Bratton holds the Schroeder Brother's Medal, which is the Boston Police Department's highest award for valor.
Chief Bratton is married to Attorney Rikki Klieman, and has one adult son, David Bratton.
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