Bratton: I won't retire until NYPD is reorganized

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton Wednesday capped an intense 18-month effort to revamp the department by thanking the hundreds of officers involved and said he wouldn't retire until the job of remaking the organization was done to his satisfaction.

Speaking in the auditorium at police headquarters, Bratton said his often-touted "re-engineering" plan, which developed 1,373 recommendations for change -- 81 percent of which were approved or slated for more study -- was the wave of the future for the department.

"Re-engineering is Compstat on steroids," Bratton said, referring to the groundbreaking computerized crime-management system he helped create. "This is the culture of the NYPD -- proactive, transparent and inclusive."

Trying to squelch speculation that he might leave Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration, Bratton, 67, said he looked forward to working in a second term with the mayor -- should there be one.

"I hope to roll into a second term with the mayor," Bratton said after the meeting, adding, "There is work to be done and right now I am having the time of my life."

The re-engineering recommendations, created by 94 teams of NYPD and civilian personnel, range from improved job counseling for officers who apply for promotions to making command shifts such as a pilot program in Queens that will put the borough's detective units under the supervision of the local borough commander.

"We are looking for this to be successful and expand it citywide," Chief of Department James O'Neill said later of the Queens borough program.

Some of the changes have been publicized earlier, such as the creation of a permanent critical response unit staffed by officers dedicated to handle crowd control and other situations.

Also among the proposed changes were additional crime-fighting strategies, such as placing computer tablets in the hands of all cops, training initiatives and refurbishing and painting all city precinct houses. Bratton also said the department would expand specialized training on how to approach and assist the mentally ill and homeless.

"I need to make sure that this gets done," Bratton said. "I have the resources to implement what we are talking about . . . and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

With Anthony M. DeStefano