Police Commissioner William Bratton addressed members of the New York City Police Foundation Thursday to provide a yearly update on the state of the department.
Speaking to a room full of movers and shakers at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Midtown, Bratton touched on a host of initiatives including the department's ongoing couter-terrorism efforts.
He says officers from local precincts that are shared with the counter-terror unit about once or twice a week will be added permanently to the beat, boosting the unit's body count by about 350.
Bratton also says in the coming year every officer will have a smartphone and tablet in their patrol cars so they can stay connected.
Additionally, Bratton is working on a pilot program in Queens and the Bronx that will move some officers from their specialty roles back into patrol cars so they can work more closely with the community and increase NYPD interaction with neighborhood residents and leaders.
"Chief O'Neill is working on plan of action we will be discussing with the mayor and within the department to try to find ways where we can free up time that the officers instead of just continually chasing calls. Call after call after call, actually have time that they could spend time going to busineses, going into schools and, as one woman asked this morning, to spend time at YMCAs, YWCAs,” Bratton said.