Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s announcement that he could step down... 
 
 NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is leaving the NYPD — for a cushy private-sector job with a firm with close ties to the Clintons, sources told The Post on Tuesday. 
 
 Bratton will be replaced by Chief of Department James O’Neill, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. 
 
 Bratton will officially leave One Police Plaza next month, with O’Neill assuming command Sept. 16, sources said. 
 
 Sources said Bratton is going to the controversial consulting firm Teneo Holdings, where he will head up a new “risk division,” according to the Wall Street Journal. 
 
 One of the company’s founders was a top aide to Bill Clinton, and the firm has close ties to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Last year, it refused to answer questions from a Senate committee investigating its access to high-level government officials when she was secretary of state under President Obama. 
 
 Bratton’s impending departure comes after he repeatedly helped push crime to its lowest levels in recent history — but amid an unfolding police corruption scandal that he’s called the worst since the Knapp Commission revelations of the early 1970s. 
 
 The feds are also conducting a wide-ranging probe of de Blasio’s fundraising operation and suspected pay-to-play practices. 
 
 The mayor put a positive spin on the NYPD’s leadership change during a hastily scheduled news conference at City Hall. 
 
 “This is a very important day for New York City — a very good day, a very meaningful day,” de Blasio declared. 
 
 The mayor hailed O’Neill as “one of the best-prepared incoming police commissioners this city has ever seen.” 
 
 “This is that man who created that vision of neighborhood policing, and he will see that vision through for the good of all New Yorkers,” de Blasio said. 
 
 De Blasio lauded Bratton as an “utterly inestimable and extraordinary” leader and said they had developed “an intense bond” since Bratton returned for his second stint as police commissioner 31 months ago. 
 
 “I’m happy for your future, but I want you to know, this friendship — I’ll miss seeing you every day — but this friendship and this deep, deep connection will continue,” he said. 
 
 O’Neill — a native of Flatbush, Brooklyn, who’s served the NYPD for 33 years — told the news conference that his head had been spinning since learning of his promotion just 16 hours earlier. 
 
 “Those of you who have known me for a while know that I love being a cop,” he said before choking up while mentioning his mother, who was in the audience with his sister. 
 
 “She really was the one who taught me the ideals of what good cops should aspire to,” O’Neill said. 
 
 First Deputy Commissioner Ben Tucker said he would remain in his job, and O’Neill said Chief of Patrol Carlos Gomez would replace him as chief of department. 
 
 TV newsman-turned-Bratton aide John Miller will remain as deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter-terrorism, de Blasio said. 
 
 Bratton, who ran the Los Angeles Police Department in between leading the NYPD, said he had accepted one of several job offers made to him in recent years, and told de Blasio of his plans July 8. 
 
 Bratton wouldn’t identify his new employer, but said he and his wife, lawyer and TV legal analyst Rikki Klieman, would remain in the Big Apple. 
 
 He also said that being New York City’s top cop marked his last time working in law enforcement. 
 
 “It is now time for me to move on. … Where I’m going, I will not be in the government arena,” he said. 
 
 Bratton has “wanted to go for months,” a law enforcement source said. 
 
 “He’s just tired of the daily grind. His wife is tired. He wants to move on and enjoy life and make money again,” the source added. 
 
 “He was pushing hard for O’Neill. He wanted O’Neill to get the job, and de Blasio did it.” 
 
 Word of Bratton’s surprise resignation leaked out shortly before the formal announcement, and Hizzoner was upstaged by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who issued a statement to thank Bratton “for his years of service to New York City and commend him for working hard to keep crime low and our city safe.” 
 
 “The City Council looks forward to partnering with incoming Commissioner O’Neill as we work to improve police-community relations, reform practices and strive to create a more fair and just city,” she added. 
 
 Bratton had repeatedly said he would not serve past the end of de Blasio’s current term, which ends next year, and he recently endorsed O’Neill as his preferred successor. 
 
 O’Neill was promoted to chief of department in late 2014 to replace Philip Banks, who unexpectedly quit rather than be promoted to first deputy commissioner. 
 
 Since he was tapped by de Blasio to run the NYPD, Bratton’s leadership has helped the city repeatedly notch record-low modern-era crime rates, and in June he predicted a continuation of that trend. 
 
 “We really do expect, based on our current trending, that crime at the end of the year will possibly hit historic lows,” Bratton said at the time. 
 
 But his tenure was also marred by a gifts-for-favors scheme involving high-ranking cops, with Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara saying bribes from two Orthodox Jewish businessmen got them, “in effect, a police force for themselves and their friends.” 
 
 The bribery allegedly included a 2013 trip to Las Vegas aboard a private plane with a hooker who told The Post she engaged in group sex with the men while dressed as a flight attendant. 
 
 Defense lawyer John Meringolo, who represents disgraced ex-Deputy Inspector James Grant, reacted to Bratton’s planned departure by saying: “He better not go too far, because we are calling him to testify.” ||||| NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill will take over the top job as police commissioner when Bill Bratton steps down. Gus Rosendale reports. (Published Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016) 
 
 What to Know NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill will take over as commissioner when Bratton leaves the post next month 
 
 Bratton has served as commissioner of the NYPD since 2014, and is credited as one of the architects of "broken windows" policing 
 
 His tenure has been marred by tensions with the public and a high-profile standoff between the NYPD's biggest union and the mayor 
 
 NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is stepping down as the city's top cop and will be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill in September, Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday. 
 
 De Blasio lauded the commissioner's contributions to New York City since taking over the job in January 2014 and praised the man who will replace him, a veteran cop with more than 30 years on the force who grew up in the city and whose experience he said will advance the work of neighborhood policing. 
 
 Under Bratton, the city already has made plans to shift toward that strategy, one predicated on building trust and working relationships between police and communities. O'Neill has been heavily involved in those efforts, and de Blasio said neighborhood policing would be in place in 51 precincts as of this fall. 
 
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 "I don't think anyone could've imagined a more productive 31 months. We will never forget or fail to honor the achievements of Bill Bratton," de Blasio said. 
 
 Of O'Neill, he added, "Jimmy is the real thing in every way." 
 
 Bratton will stay on with the department until mid-September to ease the transition, officials said. According to a news release from global consulting firm Teneo, Bratton will join the company as the senior managing director and executive chairman of a newly formed risk management division. 
 
 Sources close to the commissioner told NBC 4 New York that the job was a "perfect fit" for financial and lifestyle reasons, and that Teneo wanted him sooner than he had planned to be available. 
 
 De Blasio joked that Bratton would be able to "afford" to take him out to eat in the new job. 
 
 Bratton did not address the new position at the resignation announcement Tuesday, but instead reflected on his long-standing relationship with New York City and the people and politicians within it. The Massachusetts native called himself a "proud adopted son" of New York City and touted O'Neill's prowess, saying he would help make a seamless transition that, in this age of terror and sometimes volatile race relations, is more important than ever. 
 
 NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton Says Seamless Transition Is Critical 
 
 NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday he would step down in September, and indicated he could not be handing over the reins to a more capable colleague and exemplary department. (Published Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016) 
 
 The resignation comes days after Bratton told The New York Times in a widely cited interview that he wouldn't serve as the city's top cop after 2017. Law enforcement sources say he has been talking to de Blasio for at least a month about the possibility that he may vacate his office earlier. 
 
 Bratton has served as the city's commissioner under de Blasio since January 2014 and was also the commissioner during the Giuliani administration. He is credited as one of the early proponents of the CompStat crime-tracking methodology and the "broken windows" policing philosophy, which prioritizes enforcement of minor offenses to prevent major violent crimes. He also served as the top cop in Los Angeles and Boston. 
 
 De Blasio tapped Bratton for the job after campaigning on a promise to change police tactics and the department's relationship with New Yorkers. In announcing his resignation Tuesday, de Blasio vowed to continue that charge, and said O'Neill would be an extraordinary leader of the department. 
 
 O'Neill said rather than look at the promotion as the culmination of the career "of an old transit cop like me," he said he sees it as an opportunity and invitation to advance all of the work Bratton has done in the last 31 months. 
 
 "I love being a cop. I love this uniform. I love what it stands for," O'Neill said. "We are here for you, the people of this city." 
 
 O'Neill spoke of his optimism for the future -- a hopefulness imparted to him by his mother. 
 
 "Because of her I learned we can change the world into what we want it to be and that life is about much much more than just oneself, it's about all of us," O'Neill said, choking back tears. 
 
 He also emphasized the importance of bridging the divide between communities and police, and reiterated that the department knows most of the crimes in the city are perpetrated by a few criminals. O'Neill said he would focus on zeroing in on those perpetrators as Bratton has done while working to protect the city from broader scale threats like terrorism. 
 
 Chief of Department James P O'Neill Accepts Position of NYPD Commissioner 
 
 NYPD Chief of Department James P. O’Neill will succeed Bill Bratton as NYPD commissioner after he resigns his post in September, Mayor de Blasio announced at a press conference Tuesday. (Published Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016) 
 
 Despite some of the lowest crime rates the city has seen in history, Bratton's latest tenure as the head of the NYPD has been marred by tumultuous relations with the public and a tense standoff between the department's rank-and-file union and de Blasio following the killings of two officers in late 2014. 
 
 But sources close to the commissioner say he feels comfortable leaving the post with the crime rates as low as they are and in the capable hands of O'Neill. 
 
 "I'm leaving because it's the right time," Bratton said Tuesday. 
 
 The sources also said he wants to take more time for his three grandchildren, and that he wanted to leave before the next mayoral campaign. 
 
 Ben Tucker, first deputy NYPD commissioner, will stay on, and Carlos Gomez, the NYPD's chief of patrol, who has been with the force since 1984, will take over as chief of department. Calling Gomez a great friend, O'Neill said he "has the will to make the change, the vision to make the change." 
 
 The fate of others, including Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counter-terrorism John Miller and spokesman Stephen Davis are unclear. 
 
 Bratton's resume is unmatched in local law enforcement. He first held the top NYPD post in 1994 and is credited with leading the development of CompStat, a crime-mapping database begun in New York City that has been copied by police in other cities. Crime dropped significantly during his tenure, but civilian complaints about police misconduct and brutality went up. 
 
 Somewhat coincidentally, protesters had staged a demonstration outside City Hall Monday night and Tuesday to call for Bratton's resignation. One protester said that he was "very happy" to see Bratton step down and that he "will take anyone over Bratton, even a corpse." 
 
 The head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the NYPD's largest union, said that he "wishes him well in his new endeavors." 
 
 "We hope that Chief O'Neill will make supporting and protecting police officers on the street his first priority when he assumes his new role," said PBA President Patrick Lynch. "We look forward to working with him to make sure that New York City police officers are fully supported, with the fair compensation, staffing, equipment and training that we need to protect all New Yorkers.” 
 
 Bill Bratton's Police Resume 
 
 Bill Bratton's police resume is hard to match: He's run police departments in three of the country's biggest cities and changed the way cops fight crime. Along the way -- and not by accident -- he also became a celebrity. Tom Llamas reports. (Published Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013) 
 
 Under Giuliani, Bratton was also remembered for his theatrics, including proposing a police parade on his birthday. He left the job for the private sector in 1996, creating his own law enforcement consulting business. 
 
 Bratton, a Vietnam veteran who began his career as a Boston police officer, served as chief of the LAPD from 2002 to 2009, where he dramatically expanded the use of stop and frisk. On his watch as NYPD commissioner, the department drastically scaled back that strategy, but stepped up enforcement against of so-called "quality of life" offenses. Critics said that approach still unfairly targeted people of color. 
 
 Bratton was also hired by Oakland, California, in 2013 to serve as a consultant to the city’s troubled police department. ||||| New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will retire in September to "pursue other opportunities," he said today, after what Mayor Bill de Blasio called Bratton's "extraordinary" contributions to the largest police force in the nation. 
 
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 Bratton did not elaborate on his plans at today's news conference, but global CEO advisory firm Teneo said Bratton will join the firm in September as senior managing director and executive chairman of Teneo Risk, a new division that advises major companies on risk identification, prevention and response. 
 
 Declan Kelly, chairman and CEO of Teneo, said, "In a world of increasing uncertainty and instability, CEOs and business leaders are now, more than ever, looking for advice on critical risk and security issues from trusted, proven experts. Commissioner Bratton brings unparalleled expertise that will benefit our clients around the globe." 
 
 Bratton's retirement came as a surprise, as Bratton had been expected to stay on through next year's mayoral election, city officials told ABC News. De Blasio said Bratton told him his decision on July 8. 
 
 The next police commissioner — a position once held by Teddy Roosevelt — will be James O'Neill, who is currently the chief of department and the NYPD's top-ranking uniformed member. 
 
 Brendan McDermid/Reuters 
 
 De Blasio called O'Neill "the perfect person to succeed" Bratton and cited O'Neill — the architect of the neighborhood policing program — as the leader who can sustain the "deep and consistent bond between police and community" that the city is working toward. 
 
 "Neighborhood policing continues to grow," the mayor said. "We are rolling it out in 51 percent of our precincts this fall, and we will continue from there. And you'll see what it means in the lives of everyday New Yorkers. When they actually know the officer who patrols their part of their neighborhood, when they know the officer’s name, where they have a sense of personal connection ... that’s going to change this city for the better." 
 
 The mayor said O'Neill, a Brooklyn native who joined the NYPD 33 years ago as a transit officer, "burns with a passion to keep making things better." 
 
 O'Neill, who has been the chief of department since November 2014, said the push for the neighborhood policing initiative gained strength after two Brooklyn officers were shot dead in December of that year. 
 
 “Knowing who your police officers are, especially what their names are ... is one way to strengthen the bond that already exists in many places and bridging the divide where it doesn't," he said. 
 
 Getty Images 
 
 Bratton is retiring after twice serving as New York City's police commissioner. He has also been the Los Angeles police chief and the Boston police commissioner. He's the only person who has led both the New York and the Los Angeles police departments. 
 
 Bratton, who grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, called himself a "proud adopted son" of New York City. 
 
 He said the department has worked to redefine its relationship with residents from "being the police" to "being your police." 
 
 "When you see a policeman, remember that he is your friend," Bratton said. He acknowledged that change "doesn't happen overnight" but added that "we have already seen the tide shift in that direction ... We are farther along in New York City than most places." 
 
 He said the department will have a "seamless transition." 
 
 Brendan McDermid/Reuters 
 
 O'Neill "has brought police and the people together" and "has all it takes to lead the NYPD into the future," said Bratton. 
 
 De Blasio told reporters today, "We will never forget or fail to honor the achievements of Bill Bratton. And he and I have developed an intense bond over these last 31 months." 
 
 "I don't think any of us could have imagined a more productive 31 months," de Blasio said of Bratton's second time as the city's top cop. "This friendship and this deep, deep connection will continue." 
 
 He added, "Thanks to Bill Bratton, crime is at record lows, and our police force is the most sophisticated and technologically advanced department in the country. Our next police commissioner's decades of experience make him uniquely qualified to continue building on these incredible public safety achievements." 
 
 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was surprised and saddened by Bratton's departure, calling him and former commissioner Ray Kelly the "Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig" of policing. ||||| New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s choice of a new police commissioner Tuesday was meant to provide continuity after the resignation of Commissioner William Bratton while offering an olive branch to those who said Mr. Bratton’s policing tactics were unfair to minorities. 
 
 Mr. de Blasio called James O’Neill, the chief of department who becomes commissioner next month, “the architect of community policing.” But his aides assured...
– In a surprise move, Bill Bratton is expected to step down as New York City's police commissioner Tuesday, city officials tell ABC News. Bratton had previously been expected to remain in his post through the mayoral election next year. James O'Neill, the current chief of the department, is expected to take Bratton's place. The Wall Street Journal reports Bratton will stay in his post until September in order to have a smooth transition. Crime has hit historic lows during Bratton's tenure, but as NBC New York notes, that tenure has also "been marred by tumultuous relations with the public and a tense standoff between the department's rank-and-file union and (Mayor Bill) de Blasio following the killings of two officers in late 2014." And, the New York Post adds, a police corruption scandal involving high-ranking officers also erupted under Bratton's watch.