**LEAD STORY**
Tuesday, March 26th, was a day in the NYPD that many say will have long term effect on the Department. At 1000 hrs., EST, Commissioner William Bratton handed in his resignation to Mayor Rudolph Guiliani at City Hall, effective on April 15. Later on the same day, Police Officer Peter DelDebbio was found guilty of shooting a NYC Transit plainclothes officer during a shootout on a subway platform, which occurred in August of 1994.
Bratton's resignation ended a 27 month reign of a pro-active, street-wise, former Boston police officer, as Commissioner of the NYPD, who was primarily responsible for the unprecedented decrease in street crime in NYC. Bratton put a staff in place in his administration that, like himself, were all a "cop's cop," able to use their police experience to fighting crime on a block-by-block process.
By utilizing uniformed patrol officers, as well as plainclothes task- forces, and computerized crime analysis, Bratton put all his resources to work to "bring the numbers down." It worked. Television interviews with neighborhood people throughout the city confirmed what the numbers showed: that street crime was down. Bratton's promise of taking the streets back was not hollow.
Bratton knew that the first line police officer was the solution to the worsening problem. Officers on patrol were ordered and expected to effect arrests for all "quality of life" violations, such as the most annoying "squeegee people," usually homeless individuals who stood at intersections with long red light signals, seeking handouts for cleaning your car windows.
Sometimes, a 'no' answer from the driver resulted in harrasement, or worse, robbery. It was this concentration on what was annoying, which then sometimes escalated to felony crimes, that Bratton's success was built on. Before the NYPD, Bratton was the Chief of the NYC Transit Police. This same concentration on low-level crimes in the NYC Transit System, such as fare evasion, caused the crime stats in Transit to decrease. The "fare-beat" arrests resulted in arrests for guns, drugs, and outstanding warrants.
This aggressive policing raised the morale of the cop on the street in the NYPD, a morale that was shattered during the prior administration of Mayor David Dinkins, and his Police Commissioner Brown. Sources within the NYPD reported that the Dinkins Administration officially sought the change of the NYPD weapon from the .38 calibre revolver, down to a .32 calibre gun, something that was unheard of before this. When Bratton arrived on the scene, while still in Transit, he ordered bids to go out for an upgrade to the 9mm semiautomatic weapons. This was the start of a good relationship.
Later on the same day that Bratton quit, PO Peter DelDebbio was found guilty of second degree assault. The circumstances of this situation is a text book example of what not to do in a fire fight when you are in plainclothes. DelDebbio was off-duty, on his way home on the IRT subway train in Manhattan.
At the E. 53 St. station, the doors of the train opened, and DelDebbio was faced with panic on the platform, the sound of shots being fired, and the stinging pain in DelDebbio's left arm from having been shot. In front of DelDebbio was a black male with a gun in his hands. DelDebbio's reaction was from his training: stop the action, protect yourself and anyone else who you believe to be in danger, use deadly physical force if necessary. This is just what he did.
Unfortunately, the black male with a gun was a NYC Transit Officer in plainclothes. DelDebbio fired, emptying his revolver, as trained. The male with the gun, Officers Desmond Robinson, did not identify himself in the manner proscribed by all NYC agencies: wear your shield on your outer most garment, wear a cloth band signifying the "color of the day" that all NYC agencies know, and surrender yourself to a properly identified officer, if ordered to. Robinson went down with several shots.
DelDebbio, although off-duty, did what he knew he had to do; Robinson didn't do what he was suppose to do. But DelDebbio was found guilty of second degree assault on Robinson. Police Officers in NYC are now reeling from this verdict, and the cops on the street believe that it will have a chilling effect on the way they operate off-duty, and, in some cases, on-duty. Having been found guilty of a felony, DelDebbio automatically looses his job with the Police Department. Robinson retired on a disability pension, and is suing the City of New York, as well as DelDebbio personally, for fifty million dollars. As of Tuesday, there were two decisions that will effect the NYPD broadly for a good time to come. Where the Police Department goes from here, is anyone's guess.
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved.