William J. Bratton

American high-ranking police officer, tapped on 10/02/02 to the Chief of Police for Los Angeles, a police force riddled with problems. Bratton is no stranger to inner city police departments and has earned kudos for radically decreasing crime in New York City during his 1994-1996 tenure as Police Commissioner. His ideas and experience are documented in his book, "The Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic," published in January 1998. Bratton is known for his ability to think strategically, his thorough understanding of inner city dynamics, and an ability to enforce change as well as his brashness. In 1996, a growing feud with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani eventually forced him from his New York City position. He then became executive vice president of First Security Consultants, and found himself working with the LAPD as a consultant before his application to the top police job for Los Angeles.

Bratton's law-enforcement career began in 1970 when he joined the Boston Police Department and within ten year he was promoted to superintendent of police. In 1983, he became chief of police of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and he left in 1986 to head the Metropolitan Police Department. He subsequently spent two years as head of the New York Transit Police Dept from 1990-1992. Returning to Boston to become police commissioner, he spent another controversial two years before being named Police Commissioner of New York in 1994.

Bratton is married with one son. He earned his bachelor's degree from Boston State College and in 1996, was appointed a visiting fellow at Harvard University's John J. Kennedy School of Government, which he had attended in 1987 as a senior executive fellow. His many awards include the Schroeder Brothers Medal, the Boston Police Department's highest award for valor, bestowed in 1975 for rescuing a hostage during a bank robbery.