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Gil Kerlikowske

AKA Robert Gil Kerlikowske

Born: 23-Nov-1949
Birthplace: Fort Myers, FL

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Law Enforcement

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: American Drug Czar

Military service: US Army (1970-72)

Gil Kerlikowske, the Drug Czar for the Obama administration, has worked in law enforcement since high school, when he was a part-time crime scene photographer for the local police. Starting as a police cadet at the age of 18, he worked as a beat officer, narcotics detective, internal affairs investigator, and hostage negotiator. In the Army he was a Military Police officer stationed in Washington, DC, where his duties included guarding the presidential helicopter and saluting President Richard M. Nixon whenever he boarded Marine One. After stints as Police Chief in two small Florida towns, he was hired as Chief in Buffalo, New York, and worked in the Justice Department for the Clinton administration.

Kerlikowske is the first US Drug Czar who seems to be less than an absolute absolutist on recreational drugs. As Chief of the Seattle Police Department, Kerlikowske was noted for calling marijuana busts "not a priority", and for supporting a local drug court that sentences abusers to treatment instead of jail time. When neighbors complained about the Green Cross Patient Co-op, a medical marijuana clinic being run out of a Seattle woman's home, instead of mounting a police raid Kerlikowske asked the woman to relocate the co-op in a commercial district. He has expressed impatience with the term "war on drugs", and suggested that drug abuse should be seen as a public health issue at least as much as a criminal justice matter, but adamantly states that "Legalization is not in the President's vocabulary, and it's not in mine". Kerlikowske's estranged son Jeffrey has a criminal record that includes arrests for marijuana possession and distribution.

Father: Thomas W. Shands (stepfather, judge)
Mother: Norma Shands
Wife: Carol (div., two children)
Son: Jeffrey Kerlikowske (b. circa 1970, adopted)
Wife: Anna Laszlo (criminal justice researcher, m. 1995)

    High School: Fort Myers High School, Fort Myers, FL (1968)
    University: BS Criminal Justice, University of South Florida (1975)
    University: MS Criminal Justice, University of South Florida (1978)
    University: The FBI Academy, Quantico, VA (1984)
    Teacher: Criminal Justice, Seattle University

    US Homeland Security Department Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (2014-)
    Director of National Drug Control Policy (2009-14)
    Washington State Official Police Chief, Seattle, WA (2000-09)
    US Official Deputy Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (1998-2000)
    New York State Official Police Chief, Buffalo, NY (1994-98)
    Florida State Official Police Chief, Fort Pierce, FL (1990-94)
    Florida State Official Police Chief, Port St. Lucie, FL (1987-90)
    US Official Justice Department (Fellowship, 1985)
    Florida State Official Police Department, St. Petersburg, FL (to Commander, 1972-87)
    Florida State Official Police Department, Fort Myers, FL (1966-70)
    Major Cities Chiefs Association President (2009)


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