Giuliani's Law and Order Armor
There's no questioning Rudy's bold leadership on crime and terrorism. Or is there?
Politics. Giuliani's former Chief of Staff Anthony Carbonetti, now a political adviser, dismisses the union claims as pure politics. "This is an organization that supported John Kerry for president in 2004, so it's no shock that they're out there going after a credible Republican," he said. "Rudy's affection for the rank and file is second to none."
Giuliani's other campaign trump card is his crime-fighting success as mayor of New York. Crime in the city had started to decline before he took office. But his newly hired police commissioner, William Bratton, a national rising star, brought in fresh blood and innovative techniques, including an intolerance for petty crime and a policing strategy that relied heavily on computer analysis of crime patterns.
Between 1993 and 1996, the number of murders dropped dramatically, from 1,946 to 983. Criminologists like Jeffrey Fagan of Columbia Law School's Center for Crime, Community and Law, say other factors, including the waning crack epidemic, pre-Giuliani housing initiatives for the poor, and more stable immigrant communities, contributed mightily to the decline. "It's a grandiose claim to say a single cause drove down something as complicated as crime," he says. The debate still rages, and crime continued to decline, but most give Giuliani and Bratton some credit for innovative tactics and better management.
Despite their success, Bratton's headline-grabbing performance grated on Giuliani, who made clear his displeasure. Bratton resigned after 27 months. In June, after 10 years of not speaking to Bratton, who now heads the Los Angeles Police Department, Giuliani engineered a tactical détente and traveled to California for a photo op with him.
For now, says longtime Democratic political consultant Raymond Strother, America has seen one narrow snapshot of Giuliani, the one where he's standing tall with the trade center ruins behind him. That could get him elected president of the United States. But if other, more controversial images crowd that one out, Giuliani's fortunes could fall in a hurry.
With Nikki Schwab
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