AAHKS Spring Meeting Guest Speaker

Our featured guest speaker at the 2019 AAHKS Spring Meeting is Commissioner William Bratton, one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues. 

As the only person ever to lead the police agencies of America’s two largest cities, Commissioner Bratton established an international reputation for re-engineering police departments and fighting crime based on the use of data to drive his decisions and program development. At the NYPD he led the development of CompStat, the internationally acclaimed command accountability system now in use by police departments nationwide. CompStat employs accurate, real-time intelligence, rapid deployment of resources, relentless follow-up, and accountability systems to focus the work of police on stopping crimes before they happen.

Commissioner Bratton also spearheaded the first major technological overhaul in the NYPD in years, the Mobile Digital Initiative, which gave a smartphone with custom-designed apps to every officer and put a tablet in every patrol car. These devices put an entire precinct’s data capabilities in the palm of an officer’s hand, allowing them to read details about calls for help, research locations of interest, search names and license plates, and complete paperwork—all while remaining in the field.

He compares precision medicine to precision policing, noting that making the right diagnosis leads to the right treatment and the optimal outcome. For hip and knee surgeons, providing health security can be approached in a manner similar to the physical security provided by police agencies.
As NYPD police commissioner from January 2014 to September 2016, he initiated an unprecedented Neighborhood Policing program to close the gap between the NYPD and the communities it serves, refocusing resources based on data to enhance outreach and communication strategies as a cornerstone of “precision policing”—the practice of identifying the few who create crime and disorder while safeguarding the many.

During his almost 50-year career in law enforcement, Commissioner Bratton instituted progressive change and provided for dramatic drops in crime while leading six major metropolitan police departments. He continues to serve this country s as vice chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. We look forward to hearing from Commissioner Bratton on the use of data to drive decisions to provide physical security for all.