Hiring top brass who will keep crime on a downward trend while addressing concerns over stop-and-frisk will be returning NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s biggest challenge, a former trusted insider told The Post.
Peter LaPorte, 50, who was Bratton’s closest civilian aide when he was the city’s top cop two decades ago, acknowledged that the stop-and-frisk furor remains “without a question” the proverbial elephant in the room for his former boss.
“You’re going to see some continued re-education of officers regarding stop-and-frisk to make sure the department is following the letter of the law,” he predicted.
“His challenge will be to find people who believe that crime can go down further and in a way in which you use all the tactics available to you, but you do it in a respectful way,” he said.
When he was commissioner in the 1990s, Bratton selected his most trusted and innovative police commanders by having candidates articulate their crime-fighting vision, keeping some and dumping others, LaPorte said.“Those that answered, ‘Yes,’ and had further answers were ready to jump off and take on some challenges.”
Bratton’s first order of business will be picking a loyal cadre of police commanders who mesh well, something LaPorte said his former boss accomplished with flawless precision in the early 1990s when he was Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s first police boss.
That process crystallizes the biggest stylistic difference between departing top cop Ray Kelly and Bratton — the former is a a micro-manager while the latter prefers to delegate, holding subordinates to exacting standards.
Then, Bratton selected his most trusted and innovative police commanders by summoning potential candidates and having them articulate their crime-fighting vision, keeping some and unceremoniously dumping others, LaPorte acknowledged.
“He had them present themselves in a way where they could discuss and present their strengths and weaknesses,” LaPorte recalled.
Bratton accomplished what he set out to do by posing a simple “out-of-the-box” question designed to establish who had the moxie and talents to take on leadership roles.
“The question was, ‘Do you believe crime can drastically be reduced in New York City? Please elaborate,’ ” LaPorte said.