WHEN: Today, Tuesday, August 2nd
WHERE: CNBC's "Closing Bell"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and David Faber on CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F, 3PM-5PM ET) today, Tuesday, August 2nd. Following is a link to the video on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000539887.
BILL GRIFFETH: IT WAS JUST A FEW HOURS AGO THAT NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER BILL BRATTON ANNOUNCED HE WOULD STEP DOWN NEXT MONTH. HE IS HERE AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE NOW JOINING DAVID FABER IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. DAVID?
DAVID FABER: THANK YOU, BILL. THAT'S RIGHT. VERY NICE TO HAVE YOU, OF COURSE.
BILL BRATTON: GOOD TO BE HERE.
FABER: ON A NEWSWORTHY DAY FOR YOU AND YOUR CAREER. WHY ARE YOU STEPPING DOWN AS THE COMMISSIONER OF THE NYPD?
BRATTON: WELL, THERE'S NEVER A GOOD TIME, BUT THE RIGHT TIME. FOR ME PROFESSIONALLY, THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME. GOT AN EXTRAORDINARY OFFER FROM TENEO TO COME JOIN THEM. THINGS ARE GOING VERY WELL IN THE CITY AT THIS JUNCTURE. CRIME DOWN. TERRORISM ISSUES BEING DEALT WITH EFFECTIVELY. SO IT'S THE RIGHT TIME AND I'M SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO THE OFFER THAT TENEO MADE.
FABER: YEAH, WELL, GIVE ME SOME SENSE THERE BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO SAY, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WERE PROTESTS YESTERDAY AT CITY HALL, NOT FAR FROM HERE. AND THEY ARE GOING TO SAY OH LOOK, BRATTON RESIGNED ONE DAY AFTER, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A BIG PROTEST THERE. OBVIOUSLY, THESE THINGS ARE IN THE WORKS FOR A WHILE, BUT GIVE ME SOME SENSE AS TO HOW YOU CAME ABOUT WANTING TO GO TO TENEO AND WHY THAT IS THE RIGHT MOVE FOR YOU.
BRATTON: FIRST OFF, THE PROTESTS, THEY ARE ABOUT 200 PEOPLE IN A CITY OF 8.5 MILLION PEOPLE SO THAT PROTEST WAS NOT PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT. BUT TENEO, IT'S EXCITING FOR ME. ONE, THE WORLD THEY FOCUS ON, BASICALLY ADVISING CEOs OF THE FORTUNE 100, FORTUNE 500 IN THE WIDE RANGE OF RISK ISSUES THAT THE CEOs FACE TODAY. I'M BEING ASKED TO CREATE A NEW DIVISION TO JOIN THE 12 OTHER DIVISIONS THEY ALREADY HAVE AND THAT IS TENEO RISK WILL BE THE NAME OF IT AND TO BUILD THAT COMPANY OUT. SO THEY ARE IN A POSITION RELATIVE TO THEIR CURRENT THREATS THAT BUSINESSES FACE AROUND THE WORLD, HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM, HOW TO PREVENT THEM, AND IF NECESSARY, HOW TO RESPOND TO THEM. RISK MITIGATION.
FABER: RIGHT. NOW, OF COURSE, CYBER IS AN AREA THAT, WELL, 20 YEARS AGO WE RARELY IF EVER TALKED ABOUT. NOW IT IS A HUGE ISSUE AT THE CEO AND THE BOARD LEVEL. I MEAN, HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK AT TENEO EVOLVING? WHAT IS IT GOING TO INVOLVE IN TERMS OF HOW YOU GO ABOUT HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH THESE CEOs ABOUT WHAT THEIR PRIORITIES SHOULD BE?
BRATTON: WELL, IT'S EXACTLY THAT ISSUE. 20 YEARS AGO I CREATED THE FIRST COMPUTER CRIMES UNIT IN THE NYPD. TEN DETECTIVES. A YEAR AGO, I AHD TO CREATE ONE, 250 DETECTIVES TO DEAL WITH THE EXPLOSION OF CYBER CRIME. THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS EXPERIENCING THAT ISSUE. BIG COMPANIES, SMALL COMPANIES. IT IS ALSO COUPLED WITH THE ISSUE OF TERRORISM. TERRORISM, CYBER CRIME, REALLY 20 YEARS AGO POLICING DIDN'T SPEND MUCH TIME ON IT AND THE CORPORATE WORLD DIDN'T SPEND MUCH TIME ON IT. BUT TO SURVIVE IN TODAY'S WORLD YOU REALLY HAVE TO HAVE ADVICE, SKILLS, HOW TO IDENTIFY THAT YOU'RE HAVING AN ISSUE, HOW TO RESPOND IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE, AND SECONDLY, HOW TO PREVENT FROM HAVING AN ISSUE.
FABER: RIGHT. BUT IF I'M A CEO OF A COMPANY, WHY AM I PARTICULARLY MORE CONCERNED WITH TERRORISM THAN ANY OTHER CITIZEN MIGHT BE?
BRATTON: WELL IN TERMS OF THE ISSUE OF WORKPLACE, KEEPING YOUR EMPLOYEES SAFE AS THEY TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD, KEEPING THEM SAFE FROM TERRORISM, KEEPING THEM SAFE FROM KIDNAPPING, WORKPLACE VIOLENCE, THE ACTIVE SHOOTERS. SO TERRORISM MANIFESTS ITSELF IN MANY FORMS. WE TEND TO THINK OF IT AS ISIS, AL-QAEDA. BUT YOU HAVE THE URBAN TERRORISTS AND YOU ALSO, AS WE HAVE SEEN IN THIS COUNTRY RECENTLY, THE MASS SHOOTINGS. SO HOW DOES A COMPANY PROTECT ITSELF, ITS EMPLOYEES FROM THOSE TYPES OF THREATS? THE THREATS, IF YOU WILL, ARE ALMOST UNLIMITED IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF THEM THAT ARE OUT THERE.
FABER: YEAH, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW OF THEM. SPEAKING OF THREATS, I MEAN, IS NEW YORK CITY GOING TO BE A LESS SAFE PLACE BECAUSE YOU'RE NO LONGER THE POLICE COMMISSIONER?
BRATTON: NOT AT ALL. I HOPE IT'S A MUCH SAFER PLACE BECAUSE OF THE THREE YEARS I HAVE SPENT THERE. WE HAVE EXPANDED DRAMATICALLY THE COUNTER TERRORISM CAPABILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. BUILDING ON THE PLATFORM THAT MY PREDECESSOR RAY KELLY BUILT, BUT WE'VE NOW ADDED WHOLE NEW LAYERS TO DEAL WITH THE CONSTANTLY MORPHING TERRORIST THREAT. ISIS TWO YEARS AGO DIDN'T EXIST, EFFECTIVELY. IN ITS MASTERY OF SOCIAL MEDIA, THE ABILITY TO SPREAD THREATS WITHOUT EVER HAVING TO EFFECTIVELY TRAIN ANYBODY, TO ENABLE, TO INSPIRE, TO DIRECT, IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD. AND IN THE NYPD, WE HAVE KEPT AHEAD OF THE CURVE RATHER THAN JUST RESPONDING TO IT.
FABER: HOW HAVE YOU KEPT AHEAD OF THE CURVE?
BRATTON: FOR EXAMPLE, A YEAR AGO WE CREATED A NEW 550-PERSON CRITICAL INCIDENT COMMAND. THOSE ARE OFFICERS HIGHLY TRAINED, EQUIPPED TO RESPOND ANYWHERE IN THE CITY WITHIN FIVE TO SEVEN MINUTES TO DEAL WITH AN ACTIVE SHOOTER OR TERRORIST INCIDENT. ALL THE STUDIES THAT WE HAVE DONE INDICATE THAT MOST CASUALTIES OCCUR IN THAT FIRST FIVE TO SEVEN MINUTES. SO THAT'S ONE LAYER THAT WE HAVE BUILT ON TOP OF OUR ALREADY VERY HIGHLY SKILLED EMERGENCY SERVICE UNIT. ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE ANOTHER 800 OFFICERS, SOON TO BE 800 OFFICERS, SIMILARLY EQUIPPED AND TRAINED, THEY CAN DEAL WITH CROWD MANAGEMENT AS WELL AS BACKING OUR OFFICERS UP IF WE'RE TO HAVE AN ACTIVE SHOOTER OR TERRORIST INCIDENT. SO JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS HAD TO CHANGE FROM JUST DEALING WITH TRADITIONAL CRIME TO DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF TERRORISM. AND SIMILARLY, I NOW HAVE, AT THE FBI, WE HAVE A CYBER CRIME UNIT AT THE FBI. WE HAVE A CYBER CRIME UNIT WITH CY VANCE WHO IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR MANHATTAN.
FABER: YEP.
BRATTON: I HAVE A 250-PERSON GRAND LARCENY UNIT THAT'S VERY EXPERT IN DEALING WITH CYBER TECHNOLOGY RELATED ISSUES. SO THE EXPERTISE THAT WE'VE HAD TO BUILD IN POLICING IS EXPERTISE THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR REALLY DESPERATELY NEEDS.
FABER: YOU SERVED 27 MONTHS UNDER MAYOR GIULIANI. QUITE SOMETIME BACK AT THIS POINT. THIS TIME A BIT LONGER UNDER MAYOR deBLASIO.
BRATTON: 31 MONTHS.
FABER: 31 MONTHS. WHICH WAS A HARDER TENURE FOR YOU?
BRATTON: THE ISSUE BACK IN '94 WAS CRIME. CRIME AND DISORDER. ISSUE TODAY IS STILL CRIME, ALTHOUGH IT'S DOWN 80%. DISORDER WHICH IS STILL DOWN DRAMATICALLY, BUT THE POPULATION OF NEW YORK TODAY IS NOT OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER HOW BAD IT WAS IN THE '80s AND EARLY '90s. SO THEY ARE CONCERNED WITH THE ISSUES OF STREET PEOPLE, HOMELESS CONDITIONS. BUT THE NEW ELEMENT IS THE ISSUE OF TERRORISM AND CYBER. DIDN'T EXIST BACK IN '94. SO FOR ME, THE EXCITEMENT OF COMING BACK INTO THE NYPD WAS TO WORK ON THOSE AREAS. AND THE EXCITEMENT OF GOING TO WORK FOR TENEO IS TENEO IS SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDING ITS MUSCLE, IF YOU WILL, TO ADVISE THE CEO POPULATION. THEY ADVISE MOST OF THE FORTUNE 100 AND A LARGE PART OF THE FORTUNE 500 CEOs AND A WHOLE MYRIAD OF ISSUES ACROSS THERE – 15, EXCUSE ME – PARTIALLY AT 12 AND SOON TO BE 13 DIVISIONS.
FABER: RIGHT. AND NOW I WOULD ASSUME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD YOUR CHOICE, I MEAN, ONCE YOU DECIDED YOU NO LONGER WANTED TO BE IN THIS JOB OF OTHER POTENTIAL JOBS. SO WHY WOULD YOU GO TO TENEO AS OPPOSED TO PERHAPS TO A LARGE BANK? I MEAN, I CAN REMEMBER RAY KELLY, OF COURSE, MADE SOME CHOICES AFTER HE STEPPED DOWN. THE FIRST TIME AROUND AS WELL. WHY THEM?
BRATTON: HAVING DONE THIS TWICE BEFORE IN '96 AND THEN 2009 WHEN I LEFT THE LAPD, PRETTY EXPERIENCED AT TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT'S OUT THERE. SO WHEN THE DISCUSSIONS BEGAN WITH TENEO, I LOOK AT THE LEADERSHIP, THE THREE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF IT, EXTRAORDINARY INDIVIDUALS. LOOK HOW IT'S GROWN IN FIVE YEARS. IMAGINE ADVISING THE MAJORITY OF FORTUNE 50 AND A LARGE NUMBER OF FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES. THE EXPERTISE THAT THOSE CEOs SAW IN TENEO, TENEO WITH ITS 12 DIVISIONS, ALSO WITH THE CEO ADVISERS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SENIOR ADVISERS, HEADED UP BY SENATOR GEORGE MITCHELL, EXTRAORDINARY ARRAY OF EXPERTISE. THAT'S A TEAM I WANT TO BE ON.
FABER: I WOULD ASSUME IT ALSO, THOUGH, HAS TO DO WITH ECONOMICS. I DON'T WANT TO BE PRESUMPTUOUS, BUT YOU'VE SPENT 45 YEARS MORE OR LESS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.
BRATTON: THAT'S CORRECT.
FABER: IS IT TIME TO MAKE SOME MONEY?
BRATTON: IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME MONEY AGAIN. I HAD A TASTE OF IT IN 2009, 2014. MY WIFE WILL TELL YOU WE GAVE UP QUITE A LOT TO GO BACK INTO THE PUBLIC SECTOR. TIME TO GET BACK OUT. SO CERTAINLY, THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVE IS THERE, BUT IT IS MORE FOR ME THE EXCITEMENT OF NEW CHALLENGES, EXCITEMENT OF BUILDING SOMETHING, THE EXCITEMENT OF MANAGING SOMETHING. I'M A MANAGER. I'M A LEADER. I'M A CREATOR. I'M A COLLABORATOR. WROTE THE BOOK "COLLABORATE OR PERISH." SO TENEO IS OFFERING ALL OF THIS, THE EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP, THE EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE ACROSS THE COMPANY. YOU KNOW, LOOK AT THE WORLD THEY INTERACT WITH. THIS WORLD. YOU KNOW, EVERY ONE OF THE COMPANIES THEY INTERACT WITH IS ON THESE BOARDS AROUND THIS ROOM.
FABER: RIGHT. AND FINALLY, ANY THOUGHTS OF GETTING BACK INTO POLITICS AT SOME POINT? OR INTO POLITICS AT SOME POINT?
BRATTON: NOT AT ALL. 45 YEARS OF SHOWING HOW SMART I AM BY NEVER BASICALLY SHOWING HOW CRAZY I AM TO GO INTO POLITICS. I AVOIDED EVERY WORKING IN WASHINGTON FOR 45 YEARS WHERE NOTHING GETS DONE. AND I AVOIDED GOING INTO POLITICS WHERE IT MIGHT BE ARGUED ALMOST NOTHING EVER GETS DONE. NO, I LIKE THE POLICING BECAUSE I COULD GET THINGS DONE. AND GOING WITH TENEO THAT'S A COMPANY THAT CLEARLY WITH A FIVE-YEAR TRACK RECORD GETS THINGS DONE.
FABER: COMMISSIONER, APPRECIATE YOU STOPPING BY. THANK YOU.
BRATTON: THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT.
FABER: WILLIAM BRATTON. BILL?
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