Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bratton's New NYPD: "Less Emphasis On Numbers"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 28, 2014
Modified Jan 28, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 28, 2014
Modified Jan 28, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Like the voice of a new principal over the intercom during the morning announcements, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has released a video message to the city's largest police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, outlining the vision for his tenure under a Democratic mayor: Collaborative policing, emphasizing quality, not quantity.
"It's good to be back, back in the city I call home," Bratton says with some conviction. "New York is a very different city than it was in 1994." In 1994 the city saw 1,561 murders. Last year the number was 334.
"I intend to focus on the quality of police actions, with less emphasis on their numbers, and more emphasis on our actual impact," Bratton says, assuaging concerns about quotas and stat manipulation that have intensified over the past decade (stop and frisk has already been "solved," you see).
Bratton describes "collaborative policing" as working with "city, state, and federal agencies to address the recurring conditions that create crime and operational bottlenecks" (a jab at former Commissioner Kelly's unwillingness to cooperate with federal authorities) and "collaborating with New York City's vast array of ethnic and culture communities." Many of these communities, especially those who practiced Islam, didn't get this under Kelly.
Bratton's subordinates are apparently taking "Collaboration" seriously: the pissing contest between the PAPD and the NYPD over who would closely monitor the 9/11 Memorial site recently ended after New York's Finest backed down.
"Nice job," commenter 32blue writes on Thee Rant of Bratton's video.
alot of re-hashed hogwash...but most importantly...a tacit shot at the contempt Kelly felt for nearly everyone beneath him starting from the COD on down.
A nice start (and backing the cops who collared the jaywalking arse-wipe) in re-introducing himself.
The rolling heads next week (if the rumours are true...) will be declaritive.
I look foward to it.
ParadeRest adds, "You should watch the new video they put on the dept intranet. Bill had some very interesting things to say at last week's compstat." Oh? Send us the file.
Our favorite jab comes from RetirementIsParole: "The CO of the Video Production Unit should be dumped- a black suit against a black background??"
Tagged
Bill Bratton
collaborative policing
nypd
Ray Kelly
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .