Leaving the New York City police commissioner’s job after holding it for 14 of the last 24 years, Raymond Kelly tells the New York Times, “Quite frankly, my poll numbers are great.” Kelly, a national, even international face of law enforcement, departs under criticism from Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and a federal judge over the department’s stop and frisk tactics. He gets both praise and criticism from experts.
“He has a record of exemplary leadership unmatched in the history of the department,” said Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “But the ramping up of stop-and-frisk drove a wedge between the department and young black and Hispanic men. In his determination to drive down crime at any cost, he doubled down without being nimble.” John Eterno, a retired police captain and professor at Molloy College, said, “He's done very well with technology and made many innovations, but lack of transparency is going to be his legacy. He's simply hidden things over and over that are harmful to democratic policing.”