NYPD Commissioner William Bratton announced his resignation on Tuesday and will be replaced by Chief of Department James O’Neill.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Bratton’s resignation at City Hall on Tuesday. James O’Neill, currently the Chief of Department, will be taking over as the new commissioner.
“We will never forget or fail to honor the achievements of Bill Bratton,” de Blasio said. “He and I have developed an intense bond over these last 31 months and I am happy for the future.”
Bratton said he was “leaving with reluctance.”
“I wish I had more time, chronologically, to stay around for three or four years to work on the issues that are going to take that long to straighten out,” he said. “I don’t have that type of time.”
He said he received an offer in the private sector that for him and his wife is “extraordinarily exciting.”
I don’t think anyone could have imagined a more productive 31 months for the NYPD.- @BilldeBlasio on @CommissBratton pic.twitter.com/azUndd8VBc
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 2, 2016
Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, issued a statement saying Bratton is “finally doing what is right for the members of the NYPD and the people of New York City.”
“We wish him well and look forward to a new direction for the NYPD,” he said.
De Blasio said he has “tremendous faith” in O’Neill as the city’s next police commissioner.
“O’Neill burns with a passion to keep making things better, to keep finding the next innovation and he is going to be an extraordinary leader for this department,” de Blasio said, adding O’Neill “is ready to take this department where it’s never been before in terms of a truly deep and consistent bond between police and community.”
De Blasio said O’Neill has been the architect of the department’s neighborhood policing program, which works to strengthen the relationship between police and the community. He said the program would be in place in 51 precincts by the fall.
Housing Chief Carlos Gomez will succeed O’Neill as Chief of Department. O’Neill has held the department’s highest uniformed position since November 2014.
