Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Stephen J. Adler, editor-in-chief of Reuter’s News, discuss security issues including terrorism and cyber-threats, balancing security and civil liberties, the future challenges of law enforcement and his approach to leadership.
Ray Kelly leads a police force which has steadily driven down crime rates to their lowest in a decade while also creating a bureau focused on protecting NYC from terrorists attacks.
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Bios
Raymond W. Kelly was appointed Police Commissioner of the City of New York in January 2002 by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, making Commissioner Kelly the first person to hold the post for a second, separate tenure. He also served as Police Commissioner under Mayor David N. Dinkins from 1992-1994. In 2002, Commissioner Kelly created the first counterterrorism bureau of any municipal police department in the country. He also established a new global intelligence program and stationed New York City detectives in eleven foreign cities. Despite dedicating extensive resources to preventing another terrorist attack, the NYPD has driven crime down by 40% from 2001 levels. Commissioner Kelly also established a Real Time Crime Center, a state-of-the-art facility that uses data mining to search millions of computer records and put investigative leads into the hands of detectives in the field. Commissioner Kelly was formerly Senior Managing Director of Global Corporate Security at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Before that, he served as Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, where he managed the agency's 20,000 employees and $20 billion in annual revenue. For his accomplishments at Customs, Commissioner Kelly was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Medal for Exceptional Service. From 1996-98, Commissioner Kelly was Under Secretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department. There, he supervised the Department’s enforcement bureaus including the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In addition, Mr. Kelly served on the executive committee and was elected Vice President for the Americas of Interpol, the international police organization, from 1996-2000. In 1994, he was appointed to serve as Director of the International Police Monitors in Haiti, a U.S. led force responsible for ending human rights abuses and establishing an interim police force there. For this service, Commissioner Kelly was awarded the Exceptionally Meritorious Service Commendation by the President of the United States. In September 2006, Commissioner Kelly was awarded France’s highest decoration, the Legion D’Honneur, by then French Minister of the Interior Nicholas Sarkozy.
Stephen J. Adler is editor-in-chief of Reuter’s News.