Release #102-01

 

Contact:

Sunny Mindel/ Lynn Rasic

(212) 788-2958

"I am proud to appoint Cal Mathis as Sheriff of New York City," Mayor Giuliani said. "He has a long and distinguished career in law enforcement in this City, and his skill as an administrator has been proven time and again. I am fully confident that he will build upon past successes and use his experience to bring the Office of the Sheriff to new levels of effectiveness."

"I would like to thank the Mayor for opening up such a wonderful opportunity by selecting me as Sheriff," Sheriff Mathis said. "I look forward to working with Finance Commissioner Andrew Eristoff, and the men and women of the Office of the Sheriff, who have proven themselves to be second to none."

As Sheriff, Mathis will head the chief civil law enforcement agency for the City Of New York. The Office of the Sheriff spans the entire legal spectrum, overlapping both civil and criminal law, and is a subsidiary of the Department of Finance.

Prior to the appointment, Sheriff Mathis served in several important law enforcement positions in New York City, most recently as Lieutenant Commander in the Protective Intelligence Unit of the New York City Police Department Intelligence Division, a position he assumed in December 1998. As Lieutenant Commander, Mathis was responsible for the after hours operation of the unit, and served as a liaison to law enforcement agencies at all levels of government, including the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the State Department, as well as to the diplomatic community residing in and visiting New York City.

Prior to serving in the Protective Intellegence Unit, Sheriff Mathis was Executive Officer of the Transit Police's Field Internal Affairs Unit. In this capacity, Sheriff Mathis worked with the Mayor, who was then serving as U.S. Attorney, on a case involving the investigation and conviction of several transit police officers who had been falsely arresting African American and Latino males.

Sheriff Mathis is an eighteen-year veteran of the Police Department, which he joined in 1983 after serving as a Correctional Officer at Ossining Correctional Facility. He served twelve years with the Transit Police Department and the last six years with the NYPD. Sheriff Mathis holds a Bachelor of Science degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and is a 1988 graduate of the FBI National Academy.

During his career, Sheriff Mathis has also held the positions of Adjunct Lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Consultant to the Bridgeport, Connecticut Police Department. He is affiliated with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Sheriff Mathis, 38, is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, and has been married for thirteen years to his wife, Arlette. They have three children: son Caliph, 12; daughter Ashley, 10; and daughter Gabrielle, 7.