Building a think tank to address policing issues

If “The Odd Couple” was filmed today and focused on policing, it might star Ray Kelly and Bill Bratton.

We all know that Bill Bratton succeeded Ray Kelly twice as police commissioner. Both men delivered laudable results by every objective measure, despite working for four different mayors between them and leading the NYPD at very different times. It’s no secret that both men seem to not only have very different personalities and leadership styles but also very different philosophies in terms of policing on issues like “stop, question and frisk,” surveillance of certain mosques, analysis of crime data and prosecution of certain minor offenses. But while both men may have different methods of skinning a cat, the common denominator is that both of them get the cat skinned.

While cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Los Angeles have seen shootings and violent crime skyrocket, what is New York doing right that these other cities are doing wrong? That’s the question police departments around the city should be trying to answer.

Now that Bratton has announced he’s retiring and moving on to the private sector, as Kelly did, now is the perfect time to create a new think thank focused on policing, criminal justice issues, police-community relations and improving morale among law enforcement. Just as the Council on Foreign Relations has become the preeminent foreign policy think tank in the world, largely due to the reputation, scholarship and seriousness of the many secretaries of state that have served in its membership, a new think tank founded and co-chaired by every living former commissioner of the NYPD could become an incredible resource for the current department leadership. It would provide a forum for addressing the hot-button criminal justice issues facing every major city and offer a possible road map to solutions, or at the very least a great deal of wisdom tempered by experience, for which there is no substitute.

Think of a conversation between Bill Bratton, Ray Kelly, Bernard Kerik, Howard Safir, Lee Brown and Richard Condon on the subject of how to keep cities safe from terrorism. Think of a symposium chaired by any of these two men, with experts on a panel discussion handpicked by them to offer their perspective on the question of “broken windows” policing. How beneficial would that be, not only for municipal leaders around the country, but for academics and the public at large? These men may have differences with one another, and sizable egos to boot, but the shared commitment that they have to safer streets leads me to think that they might consider being the charter members of a new “Council on Police Relations,” which could be set up as a nonprofit organization, have a small support staff, fund research scholarship through grants and drive the national dialogue on everything from the “Ferguson Effect” to mass incarceration.

I realize all of these men are busy and may not be eager to take on even more work, but as I see it, at least at the outset their role could be limited to offering their opinions, insight and experiences in public forums, directing the selection of experts for symposiums and offering guidance on reports that the group issues. What do we have to lose? Crime is a real problem and worsening in many cities throughout the country. Why not tap into the experience of those who have been on the front lines?

If we want to see a think tank like this come to fruition, the next steps are threefold: the former commissioners would have to indicate their willingness to be a part of something like this; members of the public should make their voices heard about the necessity of an entity like this; and New York’s wealthiest philanthropists – think Mike Bloomberg or John Catsimatidis – who care about policing and public policy to volunteer to offer the seed money to help a nonprofit think tank like this get off the ground.

There’s no question that urban crime is down significantly versus 40 years ago. Combining the tactical and strategic knowledge of our past police commissioners could make it even better 40 years from now.