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NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is stepping down

His exit comes after demonstrations on Monday by a group associated with Black Lives Matter called Organized By Millions March NYC
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton discusses crime statistics as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio listens (Photo by AP)

New York's top cop Bill Bratton will reportedly resign on Tuesday, just a day after protests near City Hall called for his firing. Multiple reports claim that Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce Bratton's resignation and put Chief of Department James O'Neill in his place.

Bratton, 68, had already told the New York Times last week that he would leave the job before 2017.

His exit comes after demonstrations on Monday by a group associated with Black Lives Matter called Organized By Millions March NYC.

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Bratton's continued position as police chief topped their list of grievances, along with his signature platform of Broken Windows policing — a theory and practice of policing that says cracking down on vandalism and lower level offenses keeps a lid on more widespread and violent crime.

One demonstrator, who told the Guardian he represented "New Yorkers Against Bratton," called de Blasio a "crooked ass fake liberal" for standing by Bratton.

The Times last week reported that Bratton has put in place a "line of succession" so that "the city is not dependent on just one person." He named dropped James P. O'Neill and repeated that he planned to leave before 2017.

"Life is full of challenges and I'm still young enough to basically have additional challenges," he said. "And when I think I've got things where I want them to be, then that's basically the time to move on."

Follow Brendan James on Twitter: @deep_beige