WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden says a former police chief in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce will be nominated by President Obama today as drug czar.

Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske (kuhr-lih-KOW-skee) will bring to the job a lifetime of experience working on drug policy, Biden said.

Kerlikowske is a 36-year law enforcement veteran and has been Seattle’s top cop for nearly nine years. He’s been credited with cutting crime rates to record lows.

He was head of Port St. Lucie’s department from 1987 to 1990, when he took over in Fort Pierce and headed on to Buffalo, N.Y. to be police commissioner.

In Fort Pierce, Kerlikowske caused some upheaval in a department that was suffering. He brought community policing to Fort Pierce and discouraged the heavy-handed police tactics most officers were accustomed to.

Kerlikowske’s lenient management style prevented supervisors from dealing with them, some said. He even let officers work different shifts from their supervisors, allowing some to escape supervision if they wanted.

But others thought his new ideas for a department stuck in traditional police practices helped the department move forward.

Biden introduced Kerlikowske at a White House ceremony.

Kerlikowske, 59, said he looked forward to his new role and noted his professional and personal experience with the effects of drug abuse on young people and families. His stepson, Jeffrey, has an arrest record on drug charges.

Kerlikowske’s nomination as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy requires Senate approval. If confirmed, he would take over for John Walters, who held the job under President George W. Bush.

Before joining the Seattle force, Kerlikowske held top police positions in two Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie and in Buffalo, N.Y. He then served in the Clinton administration as deputy director of the Justice Department office that promotes community policing.

The Associated Press contributed

Tags: Add new tag, Fort Pierce police, Gil Kerlikowske, Joe Biden, Port St. Lucie police, Seattle police

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Community events, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.