Newark Mayor Cory Booker chose Garry McCarthy, New York City’s top crime strategist, to lead the police department, the New York Times reports. The city has been struggling against a tide of homicides, shootings, and public unease. McCarthy, a 25-year police veteran, has been the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner of operations for seven years, a period in which violent crime has dropped markedly. McCarthy, 47, helped set up Compstat, the data-collection program on crime that has been adopted by other police departments.
New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said McCarthy's strong suit was his ability to size up a hot spot and then figure out how to attack it best. McCarthy would replace Anthony Ambrose, who retired on June 30, the day before Mr. Booker took office. The Newark force has dropped to 1,300 from 1,475 in 2001, and has been plagued by outdated equipment, negative publicity and sagging morale. In March, a New Jersey judge fined McCarthy and his wife $200 each for blocking traffic with his police-issued vehicle while they argued with officers, who had issued a summons to their 18-year-old daughter, who was driving another car.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/07/nyregion/07newark.html?_r=1&oref=slogin