Life has been pretty good for former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly since he was booted out of 1 Police Plaza three months ago.
Just five days off the job, Governor Andrew Cuomo decided Kelly would be the best person to advise a SUNY school dedicated to counter-terrorism and law enforcement (of course, backlash ensued). And then, Kelly recently went through the revolving door to join Cushman & Wakefield, the enormous global brokerage firm, as their President of Risk Management. We haven't even included the high-paying speaking gigs he's signed up to do. But now, he's landed a third job: a consultancy position "for all ABC News platforms."
"A 43-year veteran of the NYPD, Commissioner Kelly's vast knowledge will provide our viewers with an even deeper understanding of national security and intelligence issues at home and overseas," ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a statement today. "It is an honor and privilege to have him on our team." But exactly what Kelly will be doing at ABC News still remains unclear.
In terms of national security, it's a given that Kelly was behind the creation of the first municipal counter-terrorism unit in America, handing him a resume incomparable to most other crime-fighting experts. And of course, if we're talking about intelligence, it's no doubt Kelly is an expert—just ask the Muslim population of New York City. We're sure they have a lot to say.
Or maybe, "consultant" is to the media what "Yeah, I work in Sanitation" is in Mafia circles. In other words, Kelly has really been hired to keep people "in line" over at ABC News, this mostly done by his sheer, silent presence in any room. Now that he doesn't have to answer to an inspector general, he can be the person every employee at ABC News has to answer to. Come to think of it, every bouncer stops and frisks for a living, no?
