Internationally praised for crime-fighting tactics that have driven violence to historic lows in Los Angeles, globe-trotting Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton is better known among the rank and file simply as “A.L.” – absentee landlord, says the Los Angeles Daily News. This year, he has been out of town 71 days, giving a lecture at Harvard University, attending a conference in London and appearing at a police graduation in Las Vegas.
“That amount of travel certainly raises eyebrows. If he’s getting things done that’s good. But a lot of travel is susceptible to abuse. Whether it’s occurring at this point we just don’t know,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Bratton, who is out of town at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in San Diego, could not be reached for comment. Although Bratton has denied wanting a job in the Barack Obama administration, “He wants to be head of Homeland Security, there’s no question about that,” said Joe Domanick, a fellow at the Institute for Justice and Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication. “I am sure he is vying for the job.”