Former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton has been chosen to lead the city’s police department for a second time. Bratton led the NYPD under Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the mid-1990s, embracing a controversial strategy of cracking down on low-level offenses. He also led both the Boston and Los Angeles police departments. New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio campaigned on a promise to curb the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy, but his new appointee actually expanded the program in Los Angeles. A 2009 report from Harvard University shows the number of stops conducted by L.A. police doubled while Bratton was commissioner. On Thursday, de Blasio praised Bratton’s views on the policy.

Bill de Blasio: “Bill Bratton knows that when it comes to stop-and-frisk, it has to be used with respect, and it has to be used properly. You know, one of the things that inspired me in my thinking was a quote from Bill from some years ago. I’ll paraphrase it. He said stop-and-frisk is like chemotherapy: Used in the right dose, it can save lives; used in the wrong dose, too heavy a dose, it can create its own dangers and problems, it can backfire.”