It's official. William Bratton is the Police Chief of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Times, he comes in swinging:

"There's an enormous amount that can be done here, an enormous amount that needs to be done," Bratton said. Among his concerns: "The organizational chart currently makes no sense ....[It] looks like it was put together by three blind men.... The department is not strategically engaged in fighting crime.... We have 9,000 officers smiling and waving as they drive around in their cars." He said he expects to make "extraordinarily sweeping" changes."

Mayor James Hahn "said he supports the new chief's commitment to overhauling the Police Department and will let him make the changes he believes are necessary. "I have complete confidence in Bill Bratton," the mayor said."

A public swearing-in ceremony for Bratton, called the Changing of the Guard, will take place at 11 a.m. Monday on the training field at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park.

We'll be there. And at the reception Monday evening. We're a little nervous about being around so many men in blue. Encountering even one or two anywhere besides a jail or courtroom is enough to rattle us, and the swearing in and reception will be filled with hundreds if not thousands. But we're going anyway.

[If you haven't been following our coverage of the LA Police Chief selection process, here's why: Bratton's wife, Court TV anchor and former criminal defense attorney Rikki Klieman, is our good pal and we like Bill.]

We'll report all noteworthy details here.