Urban Innovator Award Winner

2005
New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly Receives Manhattan Institute’s Urban Innovator Award

New York Post Op-Ed by Manhattan Institute President Lawrence Mone on Kelly's Achievements

For driving crime down to historic lows and for creating the first urban counterterrorism operation designed specifically to prevent terrorism in New York City, the Manhattan Institute awarded New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly with its annual Urban Innovator award at a luncheon held on Tuesday, October 24, 2005.

"When Commissioner Kelly took office in January 2002, no one predicted that crime would continue to decline or that the city would not suffer from another terrorist attack. Yet, that is exactly what happened," said Manhattan Institute President Lawrence Mone. "The credit belongs in full measure to Ray Kelly’s extraordinary leadership.

Mixing innovation in technology, intelligence, communication, and policing strategy with New York determination, Commissioner Kelly has not only driven New York City's crime to historical lows, but he also created the first urban counterterrorism initiative in the world that treats terrorism as a preventable crime.

Some of Commissioner Kelly's Groundbreaking Policing Innovations:

• Premier Counterterrorism Operation - Commissioner Kelly hired David Cohen, a 35-year CIA veteran, to revamp and lead the NYPD's intelligence division and Michael Sheehan, former director of Counterterrorism for the National Security Council, to head up the new NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau. The NYPD now has 1,000 cops on a full-time anti-terrorism beat with detectives stationed across the globe gathering intelligence. The NYPD also hired scores of foreign language experts, tapping into New York’s immigrant communities. In addition, Operation Nexus was created so the NYPD could establish relationships with 20,000 businesses in New York City and create open communication between the police and businesses regarding the terror threat.
• Operation Spotlight - Expanding upon Compstat, NYPD now uses data to pinpoint specific individuals who are responsible for a disproportionate share of offenses.
• Operation Impact -The NYPD identifies high-crime zones and floods those areas with police officers. So far, those officers have made more than 20,000 arrests and issued 335,000 summonses in impact zones. Major felonies are down by 26% in Operation Impact zones since last year.