Bass and Caruso differ on crime issues and policing — but not as much as many think
Caruso had no problem with the mayor’s call for less aggressive policing. The mayor, when he took office, has tried to make up for lost time, making public safety a huge priority. It’s led to more aggressive tactics, and a reduction in stops of immigrants, some of whom were victims of violence.
Caruso is working to overhaul his department, calling on the FBI to come in and lead a review of the department, but he’s also hired another woman, Deirdre Daly, as police chief. She’s an ex-nun whose specialty is teaching police to use “intersectionality,” which is a method of looking at social disparities and the effects on people of those disparities. Daly’s job is to study the issues surrounding law and order, and figure out how best to address them.
Caruso has also come to realize that he has less leverage than he thought as the city’s police chief. He was a police captain for 16 years, and his experience is very useful in dealing with the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that the president is invoking.
The mayor’s criticism of Caruso has the potential to complicate the relationship between the mayor and his chief of security. The mayor hired Caruso and gave him a large pay raise after he won a third term in 2013.
Despite the controversy about the officer’s behavior, Caruso is still paid more than $125,000 a year.
The mayor has also promised that the chief of security will be a more vocal presence in the community, and he’s made several trips to the Southwest to meet with different groups to talk about the budget and violence in the neighborhood.
“I’m not going to be a figurehead. I’m going to be the guy that you’re going to hear from,” Caruso said.
He has started to hire his own security firm. Security and police services director Mark Niedermann plans to hire a consultant and figure out how to make the department more efficient.
The chief of security also had some issues with Caruso.
“There’s a perception,