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Raymond Walter Kelly (born September 4, 1941) is an American police officer who was the longest-serving Commissioner in the history of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the first person to hold the post for two non-consecutive tenures. According to its website, Kelly, a lifelong New Yorker, had spent 45 years in the NYPD, serving in 25 different commands and as Police Commissioner from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2002 until 2013. Kelly was the first man to rise from Police Cadet to Police Commissioner, holding all of the department's ranks, except for Three-Star Bureau Chief, Chief of Department and Deputy Commissioner, having been promoted directly from Two-Star Chief to First Deputy Commissioner in 1990.
After Kelly turned down the position, Louis Freeh was appointed.
Kelly was a Marine Corps Reserve colonel, director of police under the United Nations Mission in Haiti, and an Interpol vice president. During the Clinton administration, Kelly served as Treasury Department Under Secretary for Enforcement, as Customs Service Commissioner and was in the running to become the first United States Ambassador to Vietnam, after President Bill Clinton extended full diplomatic relations to that country in 1995.
In March 2011, New York Senator Chuck Schumer endorsed Kelly to become the next director of the FBI,Lemire, Jonathan .(March 13, 2011). Sen. Charles Schumer loves idea of NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly taking over FBI Daily News Hoboken, NJ
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Archived(Tabloid) on December 13, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2022. and in July 2013, he endorsed Kelly to become Secretary of Homeland Security.
In March 2014, he was appointed as President of Risk Management Services at Cushman & Wakefield, a New York City-based commercial real estate services firm. RAYMOND W. KELLY NAMED PRESIDENT OF RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES-March 5, 2014-Cushman & Wakefield In 2015, the New York Post reported that Kelly was considering a run for New York City Mayor, citing his "Love for New York City".
and Elizabeth Kelly, a dressing-room checker at Macy's.
Kelly graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in 1959. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Manhattan University in 1963. He also holds a Juris Doctor from the St. John's University School of Law, St. John's University Web Site a LL.M. from the New York University School of Law, NYU Notable Alumni and an M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School. NYPD Crimson Harvard Kennedy School Magazine, Winter 2011
Kelly has also been the recipient of honorary degrees from Marist College, Manhattan University, the College of St. Rose, St. John's University, the State University of New York, New York University, Iona College, Pace University, Quinnipiac University, St. Thomas Aquinas College and the Catholic University of America.
However, his long service stands in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Bernard Kerik. Kerik served as an NYPD officer for only 8 years before he was appointed commissioner by Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Kelly was promoted from a Two-Star Assistant Chief to the First Deputy position over several Three-Star Bureau Chiefs and the Four-Star Chief of Department, Robert J. Johnston Jr.
At the time Johnston was so powerful, Brown altered the traditional hierarchy by announcing that Johnston would report directly to the Police Commissioner rather than the First Deputy as had been called for under the former departmental structure. This was done to prevent Johnston from having to report to his former subordinate, Kelly.
He showed himself a master of outreach and even attended black church services in an effort to recruit minority policemen. The national decline in both violent crime and property crime began in 1993, during the early months of Raymond Kelly's commissioner-ship under Dinkins. A firm believer in community policing, Kelly helped spur the decline in New York by instituting the Safe Streets, Safe City program, which put thousands more cops on the streets, where they would be visible to and able to get to know and interact with local communities. As the 37th Commissioner, he also pursued quality of life issues, such as the squeegee man that had become a sign of decay in the city. The murder rate in New York city had declined from its 1990 mid-Dinkins administration historic high of 2,254 to 1,927 when Kelly left in 1994,http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/crime/20011130/4/226 | Julia Vitullo-Martin, The New And Old Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, The Gotham Gazette, Nov. 2001. and continued to plummet even more steeply under Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. The decline continued when Kelly returned as commissioner under Mayor Bloomberg in 2002–2013.
Under Bloomberg, Commissioner Kelly also revamped New York City's Police Department into a world-class counter-terrorism operation, operating in conjunction with CIA. Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks there were fewer than two dozen officers working on terrorism full-time; ten years later there were over 1,000. One of Kelly's innovations was his unprecedented stationing of New York City police detectives in other cities throughout the world following terrorist attacks in those cities, with a view to determining if they are in any way connected to the security of New York. In the cases of both the March 11, 2004 Madrid bombing and the July 7, 2005 London bombings and July 21, 2005 London bombings, NYPD detectives were on the scene within a day to relay pertinent information back to New York. An August 2011 article by the Associated Press reported the NYCPD's extensive use of undercover agents (colloquially referred to as "rakers""The AP investigation revealed that the NYPD built databases of everyday life in Muslim neighborhoods, cataloguing where people bought their groceries, ate dinner and prayed. Plainclothes officers known as "rakers" were dispatched into ethnic communities, where they eavesdropped on conversations and wrote daily reports on what they heard, often without any allegation of criminal wrongdoing,"— "Law on NYPD's side in Muslim intel program?" CBS News, November 8, 2011. and "mosque crawlers""Police have also used special informants, dubbed "mosque crawlers," to monitor weekly sermons and activity inside of mosques — even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing, the AP said." — Jill Colvin, "NYPD Spying on Muslim Communities with Help of CIA, Report Says", DNA Info Manhattan Local, August 24, 2011) to keep tabs, even build databases, on stores, restaurants, mosques. and clubs. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne denied that police trawled ethnic neighborhoods, telling the AP that officers only follow leads. He also dismissed the idea of "mosque crawlers," saying, "Someone has a great imagination."Colvin (August 24, 2011).
Valerie Caproni, the FBI's general counsel, told the AP that the FBI is barred from sending agents into mosques looking for leads outside of a specific investigation and said the practice would raise alarms. "If you're sending an informant into a mosque when there is no evidence of wrongdoing, that's a very high-risk thing to do," she said. "You're running right up against core constitutional rights. You're talking about freedom of religion." However, as the ACLU acknowledged at the time, the FBI operates under limits such as the Federal Privacy Act that do not apply to state-authorized agencies such as the NYPD.See Pillifant (2011) and Adam Serwer, "60-Minutes Hearts NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly", Mother Jones, Sept. 2011.
Under Mayor Bloomberg, Kelly's NYPD also incurred criticism for its handling of the protests surrounding the 2004 Republican National Convention, which resulted in the City of New York having to pay out millions in settlement of lawsuits for false arrest and civil rights violations, as well as for its rough treatment of credentialed reporters covering the 2011 Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. New York Times editorial, "Police and the Press", Nov. 26, 2011.
On March 5, 2007 it was announced that a Rikers Island inmate offered to pay an undercover police officer posing as a hit person to behead Kelly as well as bomb police headquarters in retaliation for the controversial police shooting of Sean Bell.
In 2012, Kelly oversaw the rollout of the Domain Awareness System, a computer system used for Police surveillance in New York City.
In 2013 his visit to Brown University was met with a demonstration against what protestors saw as increased racial profiling and violations of civil rights under Kelly's leadership as NYPD commissioner.
In November 2014 it was reported that Kelly would no longer require a $1.5 million security team after completing his transition into the private sector. Prior to relieving his security detail and since leaving office, Kelly had 24-hour-a-day protection consisting of an NYPD lieutenant, three sergeants and six detectives. With their $140,000 salaries (plus overtime), the ten-man team cost New York City taxpayers $1.5 million. The NYPD had argued this was a necessary expense due to the threats Kelly and his family received as a result of his work. Kelly determined he was no longer the target he once was.
Kelly also worked as the head of the New York office of Investigative Group International, a private investigations firm. Kelly Sleuthed Insider' Wigand for Private Firm.. Observer. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
After leaving his post as New York City Police Commissioner, Kelly signed a deal with Greater Talent Network speakers bureau which was effective from January 1, 2014. He also works for K2 Intelligence, an investigative consultancy.
Kelly, a retired Marine Colonel, was appointed as the Grand Marshal of the 95th annual Veterans Day parade in New York City in 2014. He marched with his wife who was a member of the Coast Guard reserve.
In August 2021, Kelly was named as a member of American facial recognition company Clearview AI's advisory board.
During a July 16, 2013 interview, President Obama referred generally to the "bunch of strong candidates" for nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but singled out Kelly as "one of the best there is" or "very well qualified for the job". "Obama would consider Ray Kelly to replace Janet Napolitano" by JENNIFER EPSTEIN, Politico, July 16, 2013, Retrieved 2013-07-17 The next day, Kelly said he was "flattered" by Obama's praise but otherwise refused to confirm or deny whether he was interested in the secretary position. "NYC top cop Ray Kelly 'flattered' by Obama's praise, DHS talk" by Meghashyam Mali, The Hill July 23, 2013 Retrieved 2013-08-04 Describing "a growing campaign to quash the potential nomination of New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security", the Huffington Post cited a July 18 letter to Obama from a coalition of Muslim groups; the letter stated in part, "Commissioner Kelly's legacy in New York is synonymous with divisive, harmful and ineffective policing that promotes stereotypes and profiling"."Muslims Oppose Raymond Kelly Bid For Homeland Security Secretary" By Omar Sacirbey, Huffington Post, August 1, 2013 Retrieved 2013-08-04 On July 22, Kelly penned a Wall Street Journal opinion article defending the NYPD's programs, stating "the average number of stops we conduct is less than one per officer per week" and that this and other practices have led to "7,383 lives saved... they are largely the lives of young men of color." Retrieved 2013-08-04 "Ray Kelly: The NYPD: Guilty of Saving 7,383 Lives" by Ray Kelly, Opinion: The Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2013
On October 17, 2013 President Obama moved to nominate Jeh Johnson to be United States Secretary of Homeland Security. The Washington Post reported "Johnson, an African-American, would bring further racial diversity to Obama's Cabinet. The first black U.S. president has been criticized for having a high number of white men in top Cabinet roles." "Obama picks attorney Jeh Johnson for Homeland Security chief" by Jeff Mason, Washington Post October 17, 2013 Retrieved 2013-10-18. In November 2013, a rule change in the United States Senate prevented the minority party from seriously contesting any executive nominee; Johnson was confirmed as DHS Secretary in December 2013. "Jeh Johnson confirmed as secretary of homeland security", CBSNews.com, December 16, 2013, Retrieved 2013-12-31
In Kelly's defense, Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, argued that a police commissioner should get "broad latitude" in a post-terrorist era. According to Professor Moss, "The police commissioner of New York City occupies a special, appointed position. He's our secretary of defense, head of C.I.A. or, I would say, chief architect rolled into one. He may be the one person who we should treat with some respect on his privacy."Baker, New York Times Oct. 18, 2011.
In an editorial entitled "They Like Transparency Until They Don't", the New York Times admonished:
Similarly, the Times was forced to go to court to get fuller access to police data. A judge had ruled in September 2011 that the New York Police Department had improperly withheld information about pistol owners and the locations of hate crimes.
From the segment:
It is nearly impossible now to walk a block in lower Manhattan without being on television. There are 2,000 cameras and soon there will be 3,000 -- all of which feed into this control center housed in a secret location.
Technology built specifically for the NYPD includes radiological and nuclear detectors on boats, radiation detectors on helicopters and trucks and detectors on officers' gun belts so sensitive that people who have had medical procedures may trigger them. Lower Manhattan includes thousands of surveillance cameras that can identify shapes and sizes of unidentified "suspicious" packages and can track people descriptions, like, "someone wearing a red shirt," within seconds.
Also during his service as commissioner under Mayor Bloomberg, Kelly has been a member of the Harvard Club of New York City, with membership and expenses charged covered by the privately funded New York City Police Foundation. The gift was not reported in Kelly's financial disclosures, but indications upon public revelation in 2010 were that the disclosures would be amended.Rivera, Ray and William K. Rashbaum, "Police Leader Had Help With Harvard Club Dues", October 25, 2010 (October 26, 2010 p. A20 NY ed.). The Times credited nypdconfidential.com with first report of the Club affiliation arrangement. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
A 2010 report on gifts "reported six shared plane flights to Florida in 2008 and five more in 2009, provided by Mayor ... Bloomberg at an undetermined cost".
Kelly met his future wife Veronica on the beach at Island Park, New York, where his family had a summer residence. Halcyon Days In Island Park New York Times Retrieved 2014-10-08.
Kelly is the father of Greg Kelly, former co-host of the local Fox morning television show Good Day New York, currently host on Newsmax TV and weekday program on New York's WABC radio Greg Kelly set to co-host 'Good Day New York', by Richard Huff July 10, 2008, NY Daily News
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