Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at NYP Foundation's 2016 Gala

April 7, 2016

Mayor Bill de Blasio: [Inaudible] despite what Donald Trump says there are still some journalists who are beloved in this country, and you are one of them. Let’s give Matt a big round of applause to thank him for all he does.

[Applause]

I also have to say at the outset – I want to just offer my profound thanks to Dale Hemmerdinger for all he has done for this city, for all he’s done for the Police Foundation. Dale is one of the people I turned to a few years ago to really think about what this city needed, how we could move this city forward, and I think anyone who knows him in this room knows he’s one of the real voices of wisdom, and a true civic leader. Let’s thank Dale for all he has done.

[Applause]

Now, because of the efforts of everyone in this room, our police leadership and all the men and women of the NYPD, and community leaders, and everyone who has supported the Police Foundation – we get to say something, we get to say together that we are the safest big city in America. What an extraordinary thing that is, and we know from whence we came – we know how tough it used to be. But everyone in this room contributed to that progress, and I hope wherever you go in this nation, you repeat that mantra because you own a piece of that victory. We are the safest big city in America.

[Applause]

I want to tell you, there is nothing you have done with your time, your energy, or resources better than donating to the Police Foundation, because it is making a huge difference. I have to tell you – I have the great honor of working with the NYPD leadership every single day, and the appreciation they feel for the Police Foundation – the appreciation they feel for what you’ve enabled that wouldn’t have been possible any other way – it’s intense and it’s constant. You need to know that your efforts are not only having a real impact in every neighborhood in the city, but they’re deeply appreciated by the men and woman in blue with whom you’ve entrusted the leadership of this department, and I want to thank all of them.

I’m going to say a few things about Commissioner Bratton when I have the honor of introducing him, but I have to also say beside every great man stands a great woman – I want to thank Rikki Klieman for all she does for the City of New York.

[Applause]

I want to thank our extraordinary Chief of Department, Jimmy O’Neill for his leadership transforming this department.

[Applause]

And all the members of leadership here tonight deserve tremendous praise because it is a real team. When you get to see it day in and day out, there’s amazing teamwork in this room – but even on a great team it’s possible to hold out a special star once in a while, and you’re going to here tonight about the amazing progress that’s been made in terms of technology, and how it’s advanced this police force even further. So let’s thank Deputy Commissioner for Information and Technology, Jessica Tisch.

[Applause]

My profound thanks to everyone who is a part of the Police Foundation and leadership. Special thank you to CEO Susan Birnbaum for her extraordinary, energetic leadership.

[Applause]

And thank you to my colleague in the government, Comptroller Scott Stringer. And thank you to former Police Commissioners Howard Safir and Richard Condon for their service to our city.

[Applause]

There are many special privileges that come with being mayor of the greatest city in the world, and one of them is I speak at police graduations. And when you talk to these graduates, these new officers who are so proud to be members of the NYPD, who have literally spent their life looking forward to the day when they could be there in Madison Square Garden, and cross the threshold into their career as a police officer – and the energy in the room and the pride of the families is so outstanding. But I get to tell them something – and I know it’s always true – I tell them welcome to a winning team, welcome to a team that for over 20 years has set record after record for reducing crime, and doing things that were considered almost impossible. That’s what the NYPD has shown us since the dawn of the CompStat era – an incredibly constant history of progress.

Now, let me tell you about what we saw in just the last three months – and if you don’t know this statistic, you need to know it because it says that every dollar you’re investing is making a difference. In the first three months of 2016 – the first quarter – the fewest murders and the fewest shootings in the recorded history of New York City.

[Applause]

And you know what’s happening at the same time? Our police officers are recording more gun arrests than ever, more gun seizures than ever – getting those guns off the streets of this city, and simultaneously bonding more deeply with our communities. What an extraordinary combination. [Inaudible] all of that progress has been made, complaints against our officers by community members have gone down 25 percent. Everything is coming together under this NYPD leadership.

[Applause]

In just two years we have an almost six percent drop in crime overall – and we see so many positive signs including the extraordinary work that’s being done preventing terrorism from visiting this city again.

Remember, since 9/11, the NYPD time and time again has stood in the way of terror plots, has foiled them almost 20 times. And that is something to honor. That is something that’s admired around the world, and that is why police leaders come from around the world to learn from the NYPD.

[Applause]

In a few minutes, Commissioner Bratton is going to give out the last of the 36,000 smartphones, and thank you for making that extraordinary innovation possible. The response from our officers have been outstanding. The appreciation they feel in being given the latest the technology – what they are they doing with it, the way they are innovating new approaches – is a thing to behold.

Now, I have to tell you, the officers of this department, they pick up on the signals from their leader. And I’ll say something about Commissioner Bratton – look, so many people in this room have had the joy of working with Bill Bratton, but I have a special opportunity. I get to see up-close and personal, every day, the way he approaches things. I say something very simple – he never rests on his laurels. If you ever met someone who could rest on his laurels, it’s Bill Bratton, but he doesn’t do it. He seeks the next innovation, and these smartphones are a part of that kind of constant effort to find what will make our police better.

And by the way, the same must be said about neighborhood policing. What Commissioner Bratton, and Chief O’Neill, and the leadership of the NYPD are doing – innovating a kind of neighborhood policing that people have talked about for decades but it’s finally going to happen here. And it’s going to continue to take hold here in New York City.

And I want to say a very special thank you to Brian Moynihan for Bank of America’s tremendous work in advancing neighborhood policing. We thank you for that support, Brian, and your whole team.

[Applause]

So, I’ll conclude with this – when you’re at meetings in this city, or anyone in this country, or anywhere in this globe, and you say, “You know, I come from the safest big city in America,” you should add, “By the way, we have the finest police leader in America.”

The man who has brought us to this great progress, an innovator, a visionary, a man who never rests on his laurels, and always takes us forward – our Commissioner, Bill Bratton.

Let’s bring him forward now.

[Applause]