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Ex-St. Pete Officer May Be Drug Czar

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By BILLY HOUSE

bhouse@tampatrib.com

Published: February 25, 2009

WASHINGTON - The man who is reported to be President Barack Obama's choice as the nation's drug czar was once a St. Petersburg police officer.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, a 36-year law enforcement veteran who has been Seattle's police chief since August 2000, began his law enforcement career in 1972 as an officer for the St. Petersburg Police Department, according to his resume.

He became a candidate for police chief in that city in 1992 but was not selected.

Now Kerlikowske is reported to be Obama's soon-to-be announced choice to oversee the Office of National Drug Control Policy, an appointment that will require Senate confirmation.

He already has held a Washington job. Kerlikowske was the former deputy director for the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, which provides federal grants to local police agencies to support community policing services.

Before that, he was the police commissioner for Buffalo, N.Y., where his selection by the mayor became the first outside appointment in 30 years. He also served as the chief of police for two Florida cities, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie, and with Army military police before arriving in St. Petersburg.

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