Raymond W. Kelly
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Raymond W. Kelly (born September 4, 1941) is the current Commissioner of the New York City Police Department and the first person to hold the post for two nonconsecutive tenures. Kelly spent 31 years in the NYPD, serving in 25 different commands and as Police Commissioner from 1992-1994 and 2001-present. He is the only person to date to hold every rank in the NYPD.
He was the original choice for FBI Director after Bill Clinton was elected. He turned it down to remain Commissioner of the NYPD and Louis Freeh got the FBI post.
Kelly was formerly the Senior Managing Director of Global Corporate Security at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Prior to 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.
From 1996 to 1998, Kelly was Under Secretary for Enforcement at the United States Department of the Treasury. At that post he supervised the Department's enforcement bureaus, including the Customs Service, the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Kelly served on the executive committee and was elected Vice President for the Americas of Interpol from 1996-2000.
Mr. Kelly served as Director of the International Police Monitors of the Multinational Force in Haiti from October 1994 through March 1995. This U.S.-led force was responsible for ending human rights abuses and establishing an interim police force there. For his service in Haiti, President Clinton awarded Mr. Kelly a commendation for "exceptionally meritorious service". Kelly was also awarded the Commander's Award for Public Service by then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Shalikashvili.
Kelly is a veteran of the Vietnam War and retired as a Colonel from the Marine Corps Reserves after 30 years of service. He holds a BBA from Manhattan College, a JD from St. John's University School of Law, an LLM from New York University School of Law and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
As Commissioner of the NYPD, Kelly has occasionally been the target of criticism, as for the department's handling of the protests surrounding the 2004 Republican National Convention. However, he has also received praise for revamping the department into a world class counter-terrorism operation. Prior to September 11th, 2001 there were fewer then two dozen officers working on terrorism full time; today, there are over 1,000.
One of Kelly's notable innovations is stationing New York detectives in cities throughout the world following terrorist attacks to determine if there are any connections to New York City. In the cases of both the March 11, 2004, Madrid bombing and the London bombings on July 7 and 21, 2005, NYPD detectives were on the scene within a day to relay pertinent information back to New York.
On September 9, 2006, Kelly was awarded the Légion d'honneur during a ceremony at the French consulate in Manhattan.
| Police Appointments | ||
| Preceded by: Lee P. Brown |
NYPD Commissioner 1992-1994 |
Succeeded by: William J. Bratton |
| Preceded by: Bernard Kerik |
NYPD Commissioner 2002 – present |
Incumbent |
