All this week, we will be running the two mayoral candidates' responses to questions on six issues of vital importance in the mayor's race: education, public safety, race and diversity, neighborhoods, government reform, and jobs. The questions were developed by participants in the Citizen Voices project. Today's issue is public safety, which spurred this question from the Citizen Voices participants:

"What will you do to prevent good police officers from turning bad, and what will you do to identify and weed out bad officers?"

Below are John Street's and Sam Katz's responses.

John Street: Citizen confidence in the integrity of the Police Department and its members is vital. In truth, there have been instances that have undermined that confidence in years past - actions that led to my support of the Police Advisory Commission. No single factor is more important than clear leadership in the department and in City Hall. Corruption in government, shaving ethical corners, at any level, of any kind can not be tolerated.

Significant improvements have been made during the past few years. The Police Department has taken steps to monitor the integrity and quality of the department and begun to institute specific initiatives that include:

Police Corruption Task Force - created by executive order in January 1997 to review systemic issues such as recruitment, training, policies, ethics, Internal Affairs, and the impact of the labor-arbitration process.

Integrity and Accountability Officer - responsible for assessing, auditing and reviewing policies, Internal Investigations Bureau operations, and specific operations.

Training to emphasize equal treatment of citizens, review of policies and practices that have potential racial implications.

Training supervisors to enable them to identify potential corruption more easily.

Aggressive support is needed to help police officers, many who have the most difficult and emotionally taxing jobs in the city. It is critical that the city provides officers the support they need. Officers should have state-of-the-art equipment, training and technology available to them. Because of the stress associated with their jobs, officers must have counseling to help them cope, ongoing training and improved working conditions so they can perform at high levels. The department, in turn, must work to identify officers who need support services and assure that the services are provided.

Sam Katz: Most police officers do a good job, often at the risk of their personal safety. These dedicated protectors of the public should be recognized and held in high esteem by all of us. We need to boost morale, keep it high and make officers feel proud to wear their badges. We can do this by making more career path opportunities available and by rewarding officers for innovative thinking and for taking on difficult assignments. We must also entrust our local police commanders with more responsibility for crime-fighting decisions within their own districts. Making commanders more accountable for ensuring better performance will provide an incentive to good officers and help weed out any others.

I do not believe that good officers turn bad, but as in any field, there are some recruits who are a mismatch for this type of work. Because these men and women do hold a public trust, we must demand that they uphold the highest standards at all times. Corruption of any type has a chilling effect on all of us. We must continue to encourage citizens to immediately report any illegal activity to the Inspector General or to Internal Affairs. Every complaint must be treated seriously and investigated fully and fairly, and appropriate action must be taken as warranted by the evidence.

My administration will have zero tolerance for police corruption. We will hire the best recruits. We will invest in their training throughout their careers. I will work cooperatively with Police Commissioner John F. Timoney and the Fraternal Order of Police to deliver the zero-toleration message to each new Police Academy class and to all police officers throughout their tenure. The vast majority of officers understand that while past police corruption scandals may have involved only a few officers, the entire police department suffered from an erosion of public trust. I want our officers to be proud to serve, and I want the public to be proud of their service.

Tomorrow: Race and diversity.