During testimony before the City Council Tuesday, Police Commissioner William Bratton said he does not think adding 1,000 police officers to the NYPD ranks is necessary. City Council members, citing increases in crime in certain areas of the city, are pushing for additional funding in the city budget for the hiring. It would be helpful, Bratton said, but stressed that any extra money should go to training, technology, and salaries. To address crime hot-spots - at public housing projects and across Brownsville, for example - he would use overtime, which would be the equivalent of 320 extra officers, and reassign certain counterterrorism patrols. The budget will be finalized by July 1. At the Council on Tuesday, Bratton went on to discuss the potentials of using flying drones with cameras and microphones to combat crime, which the department is currently studying.
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