Jack Weiss joins Bratton at new firm

Former City Councilman Jack Weiss will run the Los Angeles office of Altegrity Risk International, the new international investigations firm that William Bratton left the LAPD to establish. The firm kicks off Monday, with Bratton as chairman and former LAPD deputy chief Michael Berkow as president. From the LAT story:

Bratton retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in August after eight years to work for Altegrity, which had more than $900 million in revenue last year and is headed by Mike Cherkasky, former chief executive of the Kroll Group. The global security firm, headquartered in New York, becomes the fourth company operated by Altegrity Inc.

Altegrity Risk International, which launches Monday, will face significant competition from security and investigative firms such as Kroll and DynCorp. The new unit will employ about 100 people and operate offices in Chicago, Houston, London and Hong Kong as well as L.A.

Bratton said he tapped Weiss to run the Los Angeles office because of Weiss' experience as a former federal prosecutor and two-term councilman. He said he was impressed by Weiss' efforts in 2008 to obtain $1 million in city funding to hire analysts and outside consultants to reduce the LAPD's backlog of unexamined DNA evidence.

"I got to see Jack in a role in which he was very supportive of the goals of the department. He drove the DNA issue. He knows how to dig down, get information, get results," Bratton said.

"Jack has a very big Rolodex and, let's face it, I need somebody who can get out of the gate very quickly, get through the door and show people what ARI can do."

Since losing the race for city attorney to Carmen Trutanich, Weiss has been writing and blogging for the Jewish Journal — in his latest piece, he changes his mind and says L.A. needs an NFL team. Weiss also has appeared on KNBC's digital yakking show The Filter.