By Jeremy Travis Jeremy Travis, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, has been Director of the National Institute of Justice and NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters. It is the best of times and the worst of times for the New York Police Department. Crime rates have hit historic lows.
Police shootings are way down.
Yet the controversies surrounding the Louima, Diallo and Dorismond incidents have revealed deep fissures in the relationships between the NYPD and the public, particularly the minority community. Two recent events provide the occasion for a fresh start. Howard Safir's resignation means a new commissioner can recommit the department to restoring public trust and confidence. And the widely reported decision by the Giuliani administration to drop its opposition to appointment of a federal monitor of police brutality cases will usher in a new regime of external oversight. Yet this opportunity is easily squandered.