Remember "top cop" Bill Bratton? He's back.
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced William Bratton will be returning to New York City as police commissioner -- a position he previously held and resigned from in 1996.
Bratton, age 66, became famous in the 1990s after the historic reduction in crime during his term as NYC police commissioner between 1994 and 1996. However, as 60 Minutes reported in 2003, his prominent public profile put him at odds with then-mayor Rudy Giuliani over who got the credit for the turnaround.
In an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, Bratton discussed his mistakes while serving under Giuliani:
Bratton: The failure in New York was not the turnaround in that city. The failure was to work with a man who is significantly responsible for making that happen, Giuliani, and...the failure to manage your boss, if you will.Bradley: You were on the cover of Time magazine.
Bratton: I will probably be on the cover of Time magazine again, but this time I'll make sure that I've got the mayor standing with me.
Bradley: So you've learned something from New York.
Bratton: I did.
Bradley reported that Bratton was "squeezed out" by Giuliani. The commissioner went on to work as a security consultant until he was hired by the city of Los Angeles in 2002. As the police commissioner of LA, Bratton implemented and supported "stop and frisk"-- a controversial program that de Blasio has spoken out against.
When Bratton returns to NYC, he will be met with historically low crime rates, but he'll also be facing a growing rift between officers and the public over New York City's stop and frisk program. Current commissioner Ray Kelly stood behind the policy during his 12 years overseeing the NYPD.
By Evie Salomon
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