Bill Bratton, Globocop

(Corrects the name of Providence Equity Partners in the fifth graph.)

Sometime this past summer Bill Bratton realized he was getting bored. He was nearing his 62nd birthday and wondering what his next challenge might be. He'd spent most of his career in law enforcement. Was it time for another shot at the corporate world? He had been in command of the Los Angeles police force for seven years, the longest he had ever stayed anywhere. Bratton had led the department through grueling, federally mandated reforms. He had put into practice all of his ideas about policing and management and leadership, and they had worked. The crime rate had dropped by more than a third. The LAPD, long despised in minority communities, found acceptance where it had previously been feared. Morale was high. "I had done everything I wanted to do," he says.