Thankfully, Bratton is gone. The consistent pressure of outspoken, uncompromising activists; the organized activities of the movements calling for justice; the prayers of families of victims of police misconduct; and yes, the scrutiny of federal investigations into corruption, have brought their weight to bear and have forced the departure of police commissioner William Bratton. When Mayor de Blasio announced in 2013 that Bratton would be appointed as commissioner, Charles Barron and I called a press conference on the steps of City Hall to register our objections. It was the launching of the “Bratton Must Go” movement. Joined by Nicholas Heyward, Sr, Josmar Trujillo and others, we cited as prominent reasons why Bratton should not be given this position—again, the historical negative impact of Bratton’s “broken windows” policy and the unjustified killing of Nicholas Heyward. Jr., Anthony Baez, Antonio Rosario and Hilton Vega.
During his first tenure as commissioner, Bratton instituted his “broken windows” program which criminalized countless black and latino youth for minor offenses, resulting in loss of jobs, obstacles to employment, denial of public housing, and the inability to receive federal aid for higher education.
Ditto for his current tenure.
Bratton continued his “broken windows” policy, which was the basis for the racial profiling “stop and frisk” tactics, (which were declared unconstitutional) ,that ruined hundreds of thousands of young lives. Bratton has touted his embrace of the antiquated, discredited Moynihan Report which stereotyped black families as a “tangle of pathology” that is endemic to the black community. Bratton has insulted black families by saying that we do not know how to raise our children, that is why they get arrested. Bratton has said that the low numbers of blacks in the police department is because the department can’t find qualified blacks because they have criminal records. Bratton has belittled and demonized the Black Lives Matter movement and would prefer to restrict their constitutional right to protest.
Bratton has been demeaning, patronizing and condescending. He has been dismissive of the City Council’s responsibility to enact legislation and has undermined the strength of police reform bills, by taking the responsibility of shaping and making it administrative policy rather than having the force of law. (But that shortcoming lies at the feet of the Council for choosing not to bring strong legislation that would codify police behavior.)
Bratton has been at the helm of a police department that has been cited for corruption at the highest levels. (By leaving now, he ducks the glare of the spotlight and also protects his pension.)
But most importantly, Bratton has rendered no adequate administrative action to police officers who have caused the deaths of unarmed people–either by use of the banned chokehold or by firing their weapons in situations where they should not have. The families of Eric Garner, Akai Gurley and Delrawn Small Dempsey cry out for justice. Bratton gave no reprimands to the offending officers.
Yes, we are glad Bratton is gone, but a change in personnel will not bring any real, substantive change, when the same policies and practices are in place that create and permit a culture where police officers know that they can commit crimes and violate procedures and receive little or no consequences. Officers can kill innocent unarmed people and yet go free, lose not status in rank, even continue to rise through the ranks and gain salary increases. All under the immunity of the blue uniform with no reprimand from the Commissioner.
Finally, I call on my colleagues to bring the Right to Know legislation to the floor for a vote. This police reform legislation will begin to hold officers accountable to follow procedures for interactions with the public.
During Bratton’s current tenure, I repeatedly have used the platform of demonstrations, the energy of marches, the steps of City Hall and yes, hearings in the chambers of City Hall to call for Bratton’s removal. We have gained our goal.
To close, let me paraphrase Ray Charles, “Hit the road, Bill and don’t ya come back no more, no more, no more, no more”.
