[Mb-civic] The Wrong NYPD Chief

[Michael Butler]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-kerik5dec05,1,4726996.s
tory?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

EDITORIAL

The Wrong NYPD Chief

An avid supporter of Bush may not be the best leader for Homeland Security.

 December 5, 2004

 Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, President Bush's nominee to replace
departing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, has an engaging life story.
His tough-kid-with-grit story couldn't be more engaging. He was then-Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani's police chief at the time of the 2001 attacks on the
World Trade Center. He helped train Iraq's still-emerging police force. He
has ties to the Arab world through his Syrian wife and work experience with
Saudi Arabia's royal family.

 Unfortunately, he's not the New York police chief most suited for the job.

 Kerik may have campaigned hard for Bush, but Raymond W. Kelly, a former
head of the Customs Service who is in his second run as New York's police
commissioner, would have been a better choice. But then, Kelly, who has
worked for Democrats, may be too independent-minded for this administration.

 Ridge, the affable former governor of Pennsylvania, never became a
commanding presence in the Bush Cabinet. His department was a stepchild in
the administration from the beginning, pushed on a reluctant White House by
an adamant Congress. Ridge was the butt of sometimes unfair ridicule about
his color-coded terror alerts, duct-tape recommendations and bullying by
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, even as he succeeded in improving airline
passenger security and sketching larger roles for his $36-billion-a-year
bureaucracy.

 Creating one department that brings together the various government
agencies charged with border security made sense, but it isn't clear that
this administration and the Congress are prepared to allow Homeland Security
to fulfill its promise. Far more needs to be done to improve security on
trains and at ports, air cargo facilities and private chemical plants.
Republicans in Congress seem more intent on privatizing airport security,
which would be a disastrous backward move.

 Kerik will have to take on Republican leaders on these issues if he is to
succeed, and fight the current, nonsensical anti-terrorism spending formulas
that convert scarce security funds into political pork.

 Kerik projects a tough-guy image, and his 9/11 credentials could give him
added credibility to argue that more money needs to go to fortify actual
targets. Currently, Wyoming gets seven times the per capita anti-terrorism
funding of California. But Kerik, a Giuliani acolyte who was a relentless
campaign attack dog for Bush, may simply give the administration cover to
proceed on its present course. Even if he were inclined to make waves, his
lack of experience at the federal level could prove a major handicap.

 Kelly, on the other hand, would have brought a more bipartisan sensibility
to the job, a wealth of federal experience and, for what it's worth, a more
distinguished police record. But given that we are talking about someone
charged with protecting the nation from terror attacks, we hope that Kerik
proves us wrong, and that it turns out he was the ideal New York cop for the
job.




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