At a farewell forum late last month, where he was lauded by community advocates, members of the clergy and others, LAPD Chief William Bratton said the "thin blue line" that had once kept communities apart has become a transparent force helping to unify the sprawling metropolis.

He praised his nearly 10,000 police officers for bringing about "a community that is in fact closer together, even as this community has become more diverse. It is the diversity, the mosaic of the city, that makes it what it is. And I truly believe that it can be expanded even more to become like the stained-glass colors of a Tiffany lamp."

Then the 62-year-old Boston native remarked, "That thin blue line that used to keep communities apart and keep us away from the community, you have become like the lead that winds its way through stained glass.

"We have become the adhesive force to bring communities closer together," he said. "And as we have done that, we have in some respects no longer become the 'thin blue line,' we have become the transparent blue line that helps to hold the city together."

Bratton became the Los Angeles Police Department's 54th chief in October 2002, after serving as police commissioner in Boston and New York City. During his SoCal tenure, major crime has steadily dropped every year. He assigned 250 officers to the city's infamous skid row; initiated a "broken window" policing tactic that targets quality of life minor offenses to stop more serious crimes; and brought to the city Compstat, the computerized crime-fighting program that identifies crime patterns and deploys officers.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Commission rewarded his efforts by reappointing him to a second five-year term - the first time an LAPD chief had been reappointed in almost two decades. But in August, the chief announced he would step down Oct. 31 to accept a position with the private international security firm Altegrity in New York.

At the evening farewell event filling Parker Center's auditorium with police officers and Angelenos, more than 20 people stood before two microphones to say goodbye to Bratton. The Rev. Andy Bales, president of the Union Rescue Mission, said his leadership had changed the culture of skid row by reducing non-homicidal deaths by 36 percent and violent personal attacks by 45 percent.

"You've made it safe for our guests at the Union Rescue Mission and all the folks living on the street," Rev. Bales said. "You've turned things around, and now we can build on it, and we can work towards the day when no human being will live on streets of this city. Your efforts have made that possible. Thank you."

Msgr. Jarlath Cunnane, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, said he had witnessed a decline in crime in the Pico-Union district during the chief's seven years in Los Angeles.

"More importantly, I've seen a closer relationship with the police and the community. So I just want to thank you for that," the priest told him. "And the Scriptures tell us that the wise men came from the East. So have a wonderful life there. All the people at our church and my fellow priests in the diocese wish you Godspeed."