Late-night subway riders might see an unexpected straphanger in the coming weeks: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton will be riding the rails to check on crime and quality-of-life issues.
The top cop said Tuesday that George Kelling, the criminologist who helped formulate the “broken windows” theory of policing, will be leading a survey of parks, popular public spaces like Times Square, and the nation’s largest subway system, all with an eye to nipping small problems before they turn into major issues.
Bratton — who sometimes takes the No. 4 or No. 6 train to One Police Plaza, and who rode the subway late at night when he headed the Transit Police and during his first tenure as NYPD commissioner — said checking on the homeless population will be a key focus.
“George and I are going to go out, kind of like old times for us, riding the rails and getting a sense. Has the shelter-resistant population attempted to get back into any of these areas?” Bratton said. “If so, how do we work with the various advocate groups to get them into an environment where they can be served?”
Bratton also said there is a concern that the disorder that goes hand-in-hand with quality-of-life problems, such as aggressive panhandlers, could return.
“It can,” he said. “But it won’t.”
“We will be focused not only on crime, not only on terrorism,” he added. “We will be focused on ensuring that … all of those activities that create fear and destroy our neighborhoods, those seemingly minor things that were so much in evidence in the ’80s and early ’90s, don’t have a chance to come back.”
Bratton’s late-night plans struck a chord with subway advocates.
John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance, said it was “heartening that the commissioner is prioritizing the safety of subway riders.”
And Gene Russianoff of the Straphanger Campaign said he remembers Bratton running computer checks on fare evaders and learning many were wanted for more serious crimes.
“Riders will benefit from the police commissioner’s taking the subways at night and developing creative ways to fight crime,” Russianoff said.
Bratton unveiled his plans after a breakfast hosted by the Police Foundation, which funds different police initiatives, such as purchasing bullet-resistant vests and paying expenses for cops stationed overseas as part of its intelligence gathering efforts to fight terrorism.
Bratton also said that the NYPD is about to equip a number of patrol officers with tablet computers that will provide them more information about 911 calls they respond to.
“Are there warrants at this address? People arrested at this address? Is there a gun registered to that address?” he said. It will provide “real-time information as they respond the scene.”
Jessica Tisch, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of information and technology, said the data will come from the department’s Domain Awareness System, which pulls together various databases, such as complaint reports and warrants.
She said the cops chosen to use the tablets will be interviewed after two or three months to see how helpful the devices were.
“We’ll get their feedback, fold it back into the product, and then start a larger rollout,” she said.
Bratton, who has repeatedly said the department needs to work closer with other agencies, also said the NYPD is collaborating with the Los Angeles Police Department, which he previously headed, and London’s Metropolitan Police to share information.
He said that police in London are beginning to grapple with the stop, question and frisk issue and can learn from the NYPD what it did right and what it did wrong.
The LAPD, meanwhile, has been using predictive policing for about six years, working with academics to create algorithms that allow police to predict where crime might occur.
Bratton said the Police Foundation could pay for Los Angeles cops involved in that effort to spend a few months in New York City to “jump-start” a similar effort here.
With Pete Donohue
