(Trinidad Express) THE DOCTOR is in.
United States policing expert William Joseph “Bill” Bratton arrived in Trinidad and Tobago around 12.50 p.m. yesterday.
Bratton, who was instrumental in the murder rates of New York City and Los Angeles this year being the lowest figure in more than 50 years, is here for two days to help address this country’s crime scourge.
Speaking at a news conference following his arrival yesterday, Bratton likened his modus operandi to that of a medical doctor dealing with a disease.
Bratton said his two-day visit to this country was a “brief diagnostic”.
In 1994, Bratton introduced a data-driven management model in the New York City Police Department called CompStat (Comparative Statistics).
Bratton was the police commissioner at the time.
The implementation of CompStat has been credited with decreasing crime in New York City.
Bratton said New York City is currently on the way to recording its lowest murder toll since the 1950s.
Because of the success in New York, CompStat has been implemented across the US.
Bratton yesterday credited CompStat for Los Angeles also being on its way to recording 275 murders this year, the lowest figure in over 50 years.
Gang violence in Los Angeles was also reduced by 60 per cent, Bratton said.
He said CompStat had dealt with the gang and drug problems that were plaguing areas.
Bratton described CompStat as the “engine that is driving the crime reduction efforts”.
He said CompStat is geared at identifying where crime is taking place and will be an accountability system for those in charge of addressing the scourge.
He added: “It is pretty much what happens in medicine, you go see a doctor when you are not feeling well. The doctor proceeds to examine you, first your chest then chest to back.
“You have a cancer, he wants to rapidly respond to that cancer to keep it from growing, that is rapid response. He may use chemotherapy, he may use radiation, he may use other forms of treatment that effectively deals with the cancer.
“After the surgery he still wants to come back because that is his responsibility. That is CompStat, it is practised in medicine and it is now widely practised in policing.”
Bratton said he would be looking to see why other crime prevention techniques implemented in this country have not worked.
However, the “good news” is crime can be addressed and this country’s crime scourge is “not unique”, Bratton said.
He believes CompStat is the answer.
“When a doctor discovers a new medicine, a new form of treatment that works for patients in the United States it also works for patients elsewhere,” he said.
Bratton said crime in this country is “not shocking”.
“Your situation as bad as it is, is not unique,” he said.
