counterterrorism

Honorary Advisory Board Member: William J. Bratton

William “Bill'' Bratton is renowned as one of the nation’s top law enforcement officers and one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues. He currently serves as Executive Chairman of Risk Advisory at Teneo Holdings, where he advises clients on risk identification, prevention, and response in key security areas, including: cyber risk management, counterterrorism, crisis anticipation, critical infrastructure, and health crisis advisory. He also serves as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, offering his experience and expertise to provide the Secretary real-time, real-world, and independent advice to support decision-making across the spectrum of homeland security operations.

 During his 46-year career in law enforcement, Bratton instituted progressive change while leading six police departments. He served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner and seven years as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, making him the only person to have led the police departments of the two largest cities in the U.S.. 

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Bratton established an international reputation for re-engineering police departments and fighting crime in the 1990’s. As Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, and New York City Police Commissioner, he revitalized morale and cut crime, achieving the largest crime declines in New York City’s history. At the NYPD in 1994 and 1995, he led the development of Compstat, the internationally acclaimed command accountability system now in use by police departments nationwide. Bratton also implemented major reforms to the NYPD’s counterterrorism program by developing two new units—the Critical Response Command and the Strategic Response Group.

As Los Angeles Police Chief from 2002 to 2009, and in a city known for its entrenched gang culture and youth violence, he brought crime to historically low levels, greatly improved race relations, and reached out to young people with a range of innovative police programs. 

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A noted author, commentator, and consultant, Commissioner Bratton was a Senior Executive Fellow in Criminal Justice and a member of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government National Executive Session on Policing. For his collaborative efforts in working with U.S. and British police forces, he was recognized by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the honorary title Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). 

Bratton currently serves as a member of The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board, and he spoke at a Meet & Greet in 2014 at The Common Good.

Twitter: @CommissBratton

Selected Media: 

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Michael German

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MICHAEL GERMAN

Fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program and former FBI Agent

Michael German is a retired FBI agent, scholar, and writer. German is a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program, which seeks to ensure that the U.S. government respects human rights and fundamental freedoms in conducting the fight against terrorism. A former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, his work focuses on law enforcement and intelligence oversight and reform. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, German served as the policy counsel for national security and privacy for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office.

German is the author of Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy. The book chronicles how the FBI transformed itself after the 9/11 attacks from a law enforcement agency famous for prosecuting organized crime and corruption to arguably the most secretive domestic intelligence agency the country has ever seen. A 16-year veteran of federal law enforcement, German served as an FBI special agent, where he specialized in domestic terrorism and covert operations. He left the FBI in 2004 after reporting continuing deficiencies in FBI counterterrorism operations to Congress. German served as an adjunct professor of law enforcement and terrorism at National Defense University. He joined the ACLU’s Washington legislative office in 2006 and the Brennan Center in 2014. His first book, Thinking Like a Terrorist: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent, was published in 2007.

Michael German also participated in The Rise and Threat of Right Wing Domestic Terrorism. Along with Jeh Johnson, Robert Pape and Oren Segal he discussed the rise of right wing terrorism, and what can be done to fight it.