As we move beyond the Bloomberg years, there are those already bothered by Bill de Blasio‘s decision to replace outgoing top cop Ray Kelly with former commissioner Bill Bratton.
The complaint fuming out of cinematically militant “activists” radiates from the fact that there will be no immediate total ceasing of the stop-and-frisk policy, which became the chief policing complaint of critics, including de Blasio, over the past few years.
For some, the failure to make a clean break is close to sinful. They allege it not only breaks a de Blasio promise but repudiates his use of his son in a campaign commercial. Dante, you’ll remember, promised to “end a stop-and-frisk era that targets minorities.”
Not quite right now.
De Blasio knows his first job is to continue to push crime down, as Kelly did so successfully. To do that, he’ll rely on the best evidence of what works.
Nobody is better equipped to do that than Bratton, who helped staunch the flow of New York bloodshed in the 1990s and then pulled a similar trick in Los Angeles.
And, contrary to the caricature, Bratton has actually thought a great deal about how to improve relations between cops and what we sometimes call “the community.”
So expect new strategies based on evidence — not on symbolic rattling of metal trash cans.
Our new man de Blasio seems solid and clean. He is a family man. He’s a bit of an earnest expert or wonk. He’s a believer in integration; he lives who lives it at home.
He is a liberal Democrat who climbed all the way to the top, skillfully kicking the mayoral aspirant and popper of the City Council’s whip, Christine Quinn, like a bent can down the road.
Which is not to say he’s a saint. He doesn’t have to be.
So what can we anticipate from de Blasio as he inherits the gargantuan challenges of running this great city — promising a dramatically different set of priorities than Bloomberg?
The place where we’ll see his true stuff is not on the streets. It’s in the classrooms. And there, he will succeed if he focuses not on stereotype or ideology but on evidence.
What the new mayor has to do is study and look to replicate some extremely successful programs that have proven that good grades are not beyond poor and minority kids from tough backgrounds. Some of these are in the Bronx and in Harlem, and their lessons are ones the teachers unions are often loath to learn.
They educate kids with longer school days.
With dedicated teachers.
With strong school cultures.
And, most important, with strong curricula that do not compromise — setting high expectations for kids and ensuring they have the tools to meet them.
This is not about appearances or demeanor. It’s about learning from real things, from facts.
We have to always strain to see the honest truth, not be sidetracked by what we think we’re supposed to see.
I spoke to an incoming group of rookies at a panel organized by Kelly at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. The most memorable thing I heard said was by a veteran of about five years on the force.
When he began work and would receive a complaint about a minority kid who had stolen something, he tended to look for someone with his pants hanging down.
Soon, however, he found that no criminal on foot wants to run in pants dropping down because he will fall and soon be caught.
So let’s not confuse things, either as we seek to keep crime going down or as we try to expand our intellectual capital. New simple rules: Stay focused on what works, not on what happens to be consistent with the images in our heads. Simplemindedness always distracts.
crouch.stanley@gmail.com
