Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske is set to be federal “drug czar” in the Obama administration, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. “I think he knows the right things to do for communities, cops, prosecutors and the defense bar. I think he is well qualified for this,” said a source. Kerlikowske, 59, came to Seattle in 2000 after serving as deputy director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services grant program.
A military veteran with 36 years in law enforcement, he spent four years as Buffalo’s police commissioner after starting his career in Florida. As president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, he frequently speaks out on issues such as gun control and has testified before Congress several times.