Historic Chief's Reappointment
William J. Bratton, Chief, LAPD

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is from the LAPD blog:

I, William J. Bratton, do solemnly swear…

In the history of the Los Angeles Police Department, only two Chiefs have served more than one term: Henry King from 1878-1880 and 1881-1883, and James Davis from 1926–1929 and 1933–1938.  On October 25, 2007, Chief William J. Bratton will join that list when he is sworn in for his second term in a public ceremony at the Elysian Park Academy.  He will also become the first Chief to be appointed to serve a second term under the new limits set in 1992 by City Charter Amendment F.

By the time of his 2002 swearing-in, Chief Bratton had already made international headlines.  In the 1990s, he became known as a change agent for reengineering police departments.  As Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, and New York City Police Commissioner, he had revitalized morale at each Department and cut crime significantly, even achieving the largest crime declines in New York City history.  Chief Bratton nonetheless left a lucrative consulting endeavor to return to public life as Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Since Chief Bratton's first swearing-in, Los Angeles has seen crime drop to historic lows: the crime rate in LA is lower than it has been at any time since the 1950's.  Violent crimes are down by more than 46%, while total Part I crimes are down more than 31%.  Chief Bratton targeted gang violence, which yielded a drop of more that 45% in gang-related homicides over these five years.  Additionally, Chief Bratton has directed a major reform of the Department, helping to change the insular culture of the rank-and-file and deliver a level of transparency to the public that is unprecedented in LAPD history.  Chief Bratton has also driven initiatives that have brought terrorism prevention and preparedness, near-complete compliance with a Federal Consent Decree, and the use of modern technology in fighting crime.

Chief Bratton starts his second watch with the LAPD ready to make more history, to make Los Angeles the safest big city in the nation, and to make the Los Angeles Police Department the best it has ever been.  He has stated publicly that he has come to call the LAPD, and Los Angeles, home.  Welcome home, Chief.

… that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department to the best of my ability.

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LAPD Blog:

http://lapdblog.typepad.com/lapd_blog/

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