Securing domestic tranquility was the topic of discussion yesterday when a former New York City police chief kicked off the Baker Peace Conference, speaking to a crowd of about 150.
Attendees nearly filled Baker Center Theatre to hear William Bratton’s keynote, which focused heavily on his more than 40-year career in law enforcement.
Bratton, who began his career in Boston, said preventing crime before it occurs is crucial.
“There are more people in prison than people in the army,” he added. “There are more guards for those prisoners than people in the Marines — which equals almost about 1 percent of the entire U.S. population.”
The keynote, entitled “Crime and Punishment: Securing Domestic Tranquility in the 21st Century,” included Bratton’s opinions about where lawmakers’ priorities should lie.
“The first obligation of government is to public safety,” he said.
Connie Hunter, an organizer of this year’s conference, said she believes Bratton practiced what he preaches.
“We were really excited to have him speak,” said Hunter, an events coordinator for the Contemporary History Institute. “He’s an innovator in law enforcement. I believe he was very successful in stopping crime before it happened.”
The first of the three panels is titled, “Punishments and Penalties.” The panel members include Dr. Angela Hawken from Pepperdine University, Mr. Robert Blecker from New York Law School and Dr. Ernest Drucker from City University of New York.
The 1 p.m. panel, “Law Enforcement, Policing & Security,” will be given by Mr. Radley Balko from The Huffington Post, Dr. Heather MacDonald from the Manhattan Institute and Dr. John Eck from the University of Cincinnati.
The final panel, “The Drug Wars” will be at 3 p.m. Panelists will include Dr. Mark Kleiman from the University of California at Los Angeles, Mr. William Healy from Northcoast Polytechnical Institute and Dr. Andrew Golub from the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.
“We hope to bring together people who will present intelligent ideas and who will help to get people thinking,” Hunter said. “Getting all the panelists in the same space together is always exciting.”
The conference is free and open to the public.
jb351009@ohiou.edu
