Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous, no-punches-barred scenario of NYC turnaround
Review: Bill Bratton had an agenda, from the time he was a teenager. His mission was to be a great policeman. His autobiography candidly portrays his path to leadership of the NYC Police Department and his triumph and discoveries along the way. This book is not only a primer for criminal justice transformation, but also a guidebook to developing leadership skills and mastering the political process while achieving political goals. Anybody who has been to New York City in the past several years has seen the fruits of Bill Bratton's efforts. His book gives witness to the journey he and his team took to renew the world's greatest city. A great opportunity for readers to go along for the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Lucky than Good
Review: Bill Bratton is an accomplished police manager. He proved himself an excellent police chief in several agencies. He is not, however, a miracle worker. The innovations Bratton introduced into the NYPD coincided with the largest drop in crime in the nation's history. The drop started in 1991, accelerated in 1994 (the official starting date for Bratton's organizational changes) and culminated by 1998 with the national crime rate at its lowest point since the 1960's. This happened nation-wide and a number of departments other than New York City experienced record declines in crime. The real tragedy in New York is that Bratton believes they actually validated the Broken Windows theory of crime control. In fact, had he implemented these strategies in 1984 instead of 1994, the rising tide of crime would have made him appear foolish. Timing is everything and it really is better to be lucky than good.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Accurate, Interesting
Review: Having worked for Bratton during his time as Police Commissioner for the NYPD I can honestly say his book is excellent! He gives great background info on himself and the success he had with his other police departments. It makes great reading for everyone!
Rating:
Summary: I'm a believer
Review: I decided to read this book when Bill Bratton
was hired as Chief of Police in Los Angeles. This book reads like an autobiography, from Bratton's
childhood in Boston, until after his falling out with
Guiliani. Through his experiences, I learned a lot
about police work. Critics say that Bratton's success in New York was
concurrent with a nationwide drop in crime (presumably
due to a strong economy) and thus isn't such a big deal.
Cheap shot. This book explains how a well managed police effort absolutely has an effect on crime. Bratton has a strong track record of accomplishment,
turning around the MBTA Police (Massachusetts Bay Transit
Authority), the Metropolitan Police (now part of the
Massachusetts State Police), the New York Transit
Police, Boston Police, and NYPD. Bratton believes in the Broken Windows theory, i.e.
that acceptance of petty crime creates an environment
that breeds more serious crime. (The slippery slope
argument.) He also believes in analysis of crime
statistics, by location/time/etc. to determine how
to deploy police resources: originally pins on
a map, eventually growing in to the famous CompStat. Having lived in the Boston area for many years, the
references to different parts of the city where he
worked, and to various people (Mayors, police officials,
etc.) made the book all the more interesting for me.
Also, Bratton talks about a book called Your Police
which he checked out of the library as a boy; I remember
checking that same book out of the library when I was
around 8-years old. (Although I've always had a strong
interest in it, I didn't pursue a career in law enforcement.). Bratton certainly has his work cut out for
him in Los Angeles. The LAPD has been plagued by
scandal, inept leadership, and (not surprisingly)
low morale and high employee turnover. And crime
is pervasive -- from reckless driving, littering
and graffiti, to gang drive-by shootings. After reading this book, I am convinced that
Bratton is exactly what L.A. needs, and I applaud
Mayor Hahn for having the spine to hire the
most qualified person for the job, despite all
of the political pressure to make an appointment
based on race.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting on many levels
Review: I found this book to be interesting on many levels. The book is interesting, first, as an autobiography of one of the most important police commissioners of the twentieth century. Bratton has an interesting story to tell, and he is a good storyteller. He recounts what his childhood was like growing up in the Boston suburbs, and how he rose from humble beginnings to become the most important police officer in the United States. This part of the book is inspirational, and is very much in the self-improvement tradition of American autobiography (think Benjamin Franklin, Malcolm X, etc.).
This book is interesting, further, because Bratton explains the type of power politics that are played in police departments. This part of the book really surprised me. I thought that Bratton would keep mum about all the negative things that occur at police headquarters. But, instead, he details the infighting that often happens between the old guard and the new guard. As Bratton explains it, members of the old guard do not take well to newer officers who are advancing quickly, and try to thwart their progress. The ways in which they do this are Machiavellian and are, accordingly, fun to read about. Bratton does not pull any punches in describing the run-ins he had with members of the old guard at the Boston police department, as well as his famous battles with Rudolph Giuliani, while Bratton was head of the NYPD. Readers will be astonished and disconcerted by the type of hardball officers and government officials play, so that these power-seekers can receive credit for initiatives that might not even have stemmed from their own ideas.
This book is interesting, too, from a philosophical perspective. Bratton was the first major police commissioner to put the "broken windows" policing philosophy into practice. The broken windows philosophy, in short, says that ignoring petty crime provides an atmosphere that is conducive to all types of crime. For instance, if a criminal sees a street that has broken windows, then the criminal may believe that it is open season for committing crime on that street. Bratton found that, by reducing the amount of city-wide petty crime, he was also able to reduce the number of city-wide serious crime. It is interesting to read about this theory of policing, which originated in an essay written by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, and how the theory works in practice.
This book is interesting, lastly, from a management perspective. I would recommend this book to students in business school, or to anyone who is responsible for overseeing large groups of people. Bratton gives many insights into how to interact well with the press, how to keep employees happy and how to sell a program. It is not clear whether Bratton intended his book to be read from this angle, but I think that his book contains many remarkable pearls of wisdom on how to run and operate a large organization.
All-and-all, this is a wonderful book and it should appeal to many different types of people. Police officers, Bostonians, New Yorkers, managers of businesses and citizens interested in learning more about policing and crime should all find something to enjoy in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting on many levels
Review: I found this book to be interesting on many levels. The book is interesting, first, as an autobiography of one of the most important police commissioners of the twentieth century. Bratton has an interesting story to tell, and he is a good storyteller. He recounts what his childhood was like growing up in the Boston suburbs, and how he rose from humble beginnings to become the most important police officer in the United States. This part of the book is inspirational, and is very much in the self-improvement tradition of American autobiography (think Benjamin Franklin, Malcolm X, etc.).
This book is interesting, further, because Bratton explains the type of power politics that are played in police departments. This part of the book really surprised me. I thought that Bratton would keep mum about all the negative things that occur at police headquarters. But, instead, he details the infighting that often happens between the old guard and the new guard. As Bratton explains it, members of the old guard do not take well to newer officers who are advancing quickly, and try to thwart their progress. The ways in which they do this are Machiavellian and are, accordingly, fun to read about. Bratton does not pull any punches in describing the run-ins he had with members of the old guard at the Boston police department, as well as his famous battles with Rudolph Giuliani, while Bratton was head of the NYPD. Readers will be astonished and disconcerted by the type of hardball officers and government officials play, so that these power-seekers can receive credit for initiatives that might not even have stemmed from their own ideas.
This book is interesting, too, from a philosophical perspective. Bratton was the first major police commissioner to put the "broken windows" policing philosophy into practice. The broken windows philosophy, in short, says that ignoring petty crime provides an atmosphere that is conducive to all types of crime. For instance, if a criminal sees a street that has broken windows, then the criminal may believe that it is open season for committing crime on that street. Bratton found that, by reducing the amount of city-wide petty crime, he was also able to reduce the number of city-wide serious crime. It is interesting to read about this theory of policing, which originated in an essay written by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, and how the theory works in practice.
This book is interesting, lastly, from a management perspective. I would recommend this book to students in business school, or to anyone who is responsible for overseeing large groups of people. Bratton gives many insights into how to interact well with the press, how to keep employees happy and how to sell a program. It is not clear whether Bratton intended his book to be read from this angle, but I think that his book contains many remarkable pearls of wisdom on how to run and operate a large organization.
All-and-all, this is a wonderful book and it should appeal to many different types of people. Police officers, Bostonians, New Yorkers, managers of businesses and citizens interested in learning more about policing and crime should all find something to enjoy in this book.
Rating:
Summary: A New Paradigm in Police Leadership
Review: I have been teaching college level police management courses since 1976. I began to cite Bratton's tactics and leadership style in my lectures after he appeared in TIME and predicted that his name will be in police text books in the near future along with other heavyweights. Sure enough, in John Dempsey's "Introduction To Policing" (second edition) Bratton's COMPSTAT efforts are cited on pages 24-25. What is surprising to me are the negative reviews posted on this Amazon review section. They apparently have no clue on the nature of social disorder fostered in the "Broken Window" syndrome embraced by Bratton and integrated into his crime-specific targeting tactics of COMPSTAT. And yes crime did decrease in the nation during that period but that had nothing to do with targeting the notorious "window wipers" and recently paroled ex-cons (read the book to learn about these police tactics). I wonder if the negative reviewers are part of the traditional set that resisted needed change in how police do business? But I respect Bratton for his leadership style. Talk to New York transit cops who got new radios, Glocks and black leather jackets. Those little things mean a lot to street cops and that's what bonds them to their leaders. And, after being on the job only for a few weeks, he goes into the NYPD precinct to personally supervise the arrest of the cocaine cops then faced the cameras holding up the badges telling the city that the badge numbers will never be used again forever. It is a leadership paradigm that others wish they had thought of first. Of course, his detractors will call it grandstanding. If they know so much, how come they never got to be top cop of Boston, NYPD or LAPD?
Rating:
Summary: Great read, esp. for cop to be's
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and found it very educational. I am a criminal justice and law enforcement major, and this was one of our required texts for community oriented policing class. I just can't believe how badly Bratton got the short end of the stick from Guiliani. I wish it would be worthwhile to write Mayor Guiliani and give him a piece of my mind. Oh well, I don't live in NYC, but either way, at least he's on his last term! Guiliani should be thankful for Bratton's work and that Bratton is still granting his residence to Guiliani's esteemed city. I'll stop griping now.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a "good read" but solid and interesting
Review: If you're interested in the topic of police management, and effective police work in the community, this is a terrific book. Bratton is a very straightforward type, which makes him a terrific police administrator, and (with the help of an excellent co-author) not bad at explaining situations. Especially the complicated and tense problems of politics at high levels where a bad quote or misplaced humor can end one's career. Most fascinating to me were the chapters on how he turned around crime in the New York Subways when he was head of their special police force. Paying attention to small crimes, like fare evasion, made a huge difference. He also figured out how to back his men and help them work effectively. His accomplishment in reducing crime in New York City, helping police be effective and more honest, is extremely important. We hope to publish a Polish translation next year.
Rating:
Summary: Turnaround is a page turner
Review: Read it! I was captured by the introduction alone. Branton brings you behind the pillars of city hall and exposes an otherwise great Mayor as an ambitious headline grabber (not that there is anything wrong with that). This book left me (a NJ to NYC commuter) that the 2 year sinking feeling of the relationship between the mayor and Commissioner was "this town ain't big enough for both enough." It is a shame. Branton delivers a biting biography that does not pull the proverbial punch.
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