The Business Council of Westchester has locked up New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly as keynote speaker at its annual fall dinner.
Kelly, the longest-serving police commissioner in the city’s history, will address Business Council members and guests at the Oct. 23 event at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook.
“Commissioner Kelly’s efforts in reducing the city’s crime rate has helped spur economic growth in New York City, which has benefited Westchester’s economy as well,” Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester, said in the announcement. “We look forward to his keen insights on some of the most pressing security issues facing our nation today.”
Kelly first served as police commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins from 1992 to 1994. Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him to the post in January 2002, making Kelly the first person to hold the job for a second, separate tenure.
Under Commissioner Kelly’s leadership, the NYPD became the first municipal police department in the country to develop its own counterterrorism bureau and global intelligence program.
A 45-year NYPD veteran, Kelly has been credited with reducing the city’s crime rate, which is down 32 per cent from 2001 levels, the Business Council noted. But the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk practice under Kelly and Bloomberg has drawn numerous critics and a judicial ruling this week that the street searches are based on racial profiling and policy changes are needed to eliminate discrimination in its use.
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