McDowell to meet ‘zero tolerance’ creator in US visit
Mr McDowell will use the opportunity to discuss US-style anti-racketeering laws he proposes to bring before the Government at the end of the month.
The proposals, similar to laws used in the US to target the mafia, are set to form part of a legislative crackdown on organised crime.
Commissioner Conroy will accompany Mr McDowell and Justice Department Secretary General Sean Aylward on the visit, which starts tomorrow.
A spokeswoman for Mr McDowell said he was particularly interested in looking at how US police bosses are dealing with violent crime and organised crime at an operational level.
“The minister will talk to the police chiefs and their experience of tackling violent crime in the context of where we are at the moment,” she said.
She said Mr McDowell was particularly interested in meeting Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton, who was the former New York Police Commissioner.
Mr Bratton was the instigator of the strict “zero tolerance” policing approach in New York in the mid-to-late 1990s.
He also introduced the CompStat system of tracking crimes, which has been hailed as successfully reducing crime in New York City and is still used to this day.
“The minister will talk to Bill Bratton about his experience in reducing violent crime in New York and LA. That will certainly be something he will be talking to him about,” said the spokeswoman.
She said the minister had received briefings previously in the US about the CompStat system.
“He is looking forward to meeting Bill Bratton, who is the creator of it. He’s not had the opportunity to meet him directly before.”
The CompStat system tracks crime patterns and persistent offenders by location and extracts accountability from senior police commanders.
Mr McDowell has already sought to pass responsibility for crime trends down to district commander level, including through local policing committees.
While in Los Angeles, Mr McDowell will give an address at Loyola University and visit the HQ of Amgen, which is developing a major manufacturing plant in Cork at a cost of $1 billion (€764 million).
The visit will conclude in New York with discussions with District Attorney Joe Hynes, who has extensive experience on prosecuting crime, holding the office since 1989.
Mr McDowell will take part in a seminar on criminal justice at the John Jay College in New York and meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
He will meet police chiefs in Chicago in between and develop closer links between the Law School in Notre Dame University and UCD.
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