As pressure mounted on the NYPD to diversify its top ranks following the stunning exit of Chief Phillip Banks III, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton promised the city’s minority communities “will be very pleased” with his pick for a new No. 2.
Banks, a 28-year veteran, was to be promoted to first deputy commissioner Monday, but backed out at the last minute during a heated meeting at Police Headquarters Friday, sources said.
His shocking departure comes after Bratton ousted Rafael Pineiro from the first deputy spot in September, and leaves the NYPD without a black or Hispanic person in the top three positions.
The embattled commissioner, speaking at press conference at 1 Police Plaza Saturday, said he’s already taking steps to ensure diversity at the top of his department.
“On Wednesday I will announce [Banks’] replacement and I think the city and its many diverse communities will be very pleased with that announcement,” Bratton said.
“I fully understand the concerns that we lost an incredibly talented young man who was very networked into those communities, very well respected but ultimately it was his choice to step away from the assignment that was offered. This is a very big department, we will move on and move on very quickly,” he added.
The commissioner, who called Banks’ resignation “regrettable,” then listed other top minority officers, including the head of the Police Academy, Ben Tucker, and Carlos Gomez, who runs the Housing Bureau.
“I think we have very extensive minority representation in the ranks of this department,” Bratton said.
As the commissioner defended his department’s diversity, minority law-enforcement leaders simultaneously slammed Bratton at a rally outside 1 Police Plaza.
“We believe that Bratton is orchestrating the elimination of minority representation in the New York City Police Department,” said Anthony Miranda, head of the National Latino Officers Association.
The departures of Pineiro and Banks represent “over 80 years worth of experience that [Bratton] allowed to leave the Police Department,” Miranda said. “Where are the minorities that are supposed to be representing New York City right now?”
Banks, 50, left in anger, sources said, over Bratton’s slow response to the chief’s demand that his new title come with increased responsibility, and because the commissioner failed to implement new policies Banks had authored.
Sources say Banks wanted the first deputy job, which had been largely administrative, to include oversight of the Internal Affairs Bureau and to have his successor as chief of department report to him.
Bratton initially promised to give Banks what he wanted, but apparently dithered, and the power struggle came to a head Friday morning.
“You still have not done anything. You have not changed the direction of the Police Department. You asked me to come up with six or seven policies that you did not implement,” Banks fumed at the city’s top cop. “The department is just going to go further into turmoil, and I don’t want to get blamed for that.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio then chewed out Bratton over the exit of Banks, who was the top choice of DeBlasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, sources said.
“You promised me you were going to use Banks and implement some of his policies. I counted on you to make changes, and now I’m blindsided by this,” de Blasio yelled, according to sources.
Bratton appeared shaken as he left the meeting and “looked like he needed a glass of water,” which he was handed by an aide, sources said.
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