New York, NY – Has Ray Kelly’s Use of Power Diminished His Once-Towering Stature?

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    Members of the Muslim community rally for the resignation of NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne, in a demand for independent community control of the NYPD, and a well-funded oversight mechanism with subpoena power, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)New York, NY – The officers who stand sentinel over New York’s streets and run the station houses rarely intersect with the police commissioner. They see the man they call “boss” at Police Academy graduations, at promotions, on the news recapitulating the latest ugly crime or at police funerals. That is about it.

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    So it was jarring recently when some commanders got e-mails from the boss with photos of vagrants taken by his personal staff. The messages cited “a condition that requires your immediate attention.” They specified no action, but officers said those highlighted sometimes later wound up in handcuffs.

    The e-mails reminded some precinct commanders of the blanket control the commissioner exerts – even the ceremonial unit of anthem singers and pallbearers reports directly to him – and of his thirst for arrests, of almost any sort. They also reminded them of something quite contrary: While his presence is always sensed, it is unusual to have contact with a commissioner who seems to have reigned for eons.

    But that is Ray Kelly.

    After years of undeniable suc-cess, Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is going through turbulent times, confronted with a steady drip of troublesome episodes. They include officers fixing traffic tickets, running guns and disparaging civilians on Facebook, and accusations that the Police Department encourages officers to question minorities on the streets indiscriminately. His younger son has been accused of rape, though he has not been charged and maintains his innocence. On Thursday, in an episode that Mr. Kelly said concerned him, an officer killed an 18-year-old drug suspect who was unarmed.

    At 70, Mr. Kelly has now run the 52,000-member department longer than any of the city’s 41 commissioners. Almost everything about him braids through the department’s interlocking workings. Yet many inside and outside the force wonder whether the pileup of scandals and his increasingly authoritarian use of power have diminished his once-towering stature.


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    8 Comments
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    kingizzy
    kingizzy
    12 years ago

    Ray Kelly is awesome. Leave him alone.

    12 years ago

    It is time for Ray Kelly to submit his papers, and be honorably retireed from the NYCPD. Also, he should not think of running for Mayor in 2013. I still remember his off the cuff remarks accusing the Yidden of Borough Park of wrongdoing, during the April, 2006 civil disorders, before he had all of the facts. Also, when he was Commissioner of U.S. Customs, some of his agents were performing some extremely intrusive drug searches on innocent females, coming back from the Caribbean.

    12 years ago

    Time for age limits and term limits.

    12 years ago

    NYC government workers should have age limits for mandatory retirement. In this economy we should not have geriatric police and sanitation commisioners. Having 80 year old civil servants collecting their full Social Security benefits while continuing to work is just plain unfair to the unemployed young people.

    12 years ago

    He should worry more about his son, who is in big trouble.