Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to be the Commencement Speaker at Dominican College's 59th Commencement Exercises
Dominican College is pleased to
announce that New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly will speak at
the College’s commencement exercises at the Westchester County Center on May
19 at 2 p.m.
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was appointed Police
Commissioner of New York City in January 2002 by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
This appointment is actually the second time Commissioner Kelly has served in
the role. The first was 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 designed a global
intelligence program which included sending New York City detectives to
eleven foreign cities. Under his leadership, the crime rate in the city is
down 40% from 2001 levels. Commissioner Kelly also established a Real Time
Crime Center 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 for which he was awarded 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
his service, Commissioner Kelly was awarded the Exceptionally Meritorious
Service Commendation by the President of the United States.
A 43-year
veteran of the NYPD, Commissioner Kelly served in 25 different commands before
being named Police Commissioner. He was appointed to the New York City Police
Department in 1963. Shortly thereafter he accepted a commission to the
United States Marine Corps Officer Program. He served on active military duty
for three years including a combat tour in Vietnam. He returned to the Police
Department in 1966 and entered the New York City Police Academy, graduating
with the highest combined average for academics, physical achievement and
marksmanship. He was also a member of the inaugural class of the New York
City Police Cadet Corps for three years while a student at Manhattan
College.
Commissioner Kelly holds a BBA from Manhattan College, a JD
from St. John's University School of Law, an LLM from New York University
Graduate School of Law and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University.
In September 2006, Commissioner Kelly was awarded
France’s highest decoration, the Legion D’Honneur, by then French Minister
of the Interior Nicholas Sarkozy.
Commissioner Kelly retired as a
Colonel from the Marine Corps Reserves after 30 years of service.
The
College will award Commissioner Kelly an honorary degree. In addition the
College will award an honorary degree to Dr. Joan H. Facelle, former Health
Commissioner for Rockland County. The Veritas Medal will be awarded posthumously
to Fr. Ronald A. Stanley, O.P. and Matthew L. Robertson will be recognized with
the Badami Outstanding Alumni Award.