MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG APPOINTS MARTIN F. HORN AS COMMISSIONER OF DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the appointment of Martin F. Horn as Commissioner of the Department of Correction. Horn will continue to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Probation and the Bloomberg administration will seek legislation allowing the agencies to merge. A merger would give one agency responsibility for supervising the City's sentenced offenders, create greater efficiencies by reducing administrative costs, ensure timely collection of information about defendants for the courts and other criminal justice agencies, and eliminate redundant functions.

"Martin Horn has done a spectacular job as Probation Commissioner, actually improving the agency's performance while still reducing the agency's budget," Mayor Bloomberg said. "He has the law enforcement and government experience required to build upon the Department of Correction's successes and the management skills to oversee a successful merger with the Department of Probation, assuming we are successful in getting the appropriate legislation passed."

Horn has served as Commissioner of the Department of Probation since January 1, 2002. He has extensive experience improving government operations and has held numerous executive posts, primarily in the criminal justice field. This year, he has re-engineered the Department by focusing on high-risk offenders, improving the delivery of treatment for addiction to alcohol and other drugs, improving the Department's IT capacity, and streamlining the probation violation process. He has emphasized Probation's role as an arm of the court and seeks to strengthen the relationship between the City's judges and the Probation Department. Under his leadership, the Department of Probation cleared twice as many warrants as in 2001, rising to 9,528 from 4,574, while the agency cut its headcount by 20%.

Prior to his return to his home state of New York, Horn served as a member of former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge's Senior Staff as Secretary of Administration for the state. The Office of Administration (OA) is the non-financial operating arm of state government and its main functions include: information technology, labor relations and human resource management. Governor Ridge appointed him to chair the state's Tobacco Settlement Investment Board. He also served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Employees' Benefit Trust Fund, chairman of the ImaginePA Executive Committee, chairman of the JNET Council (Justice Network); and as a board member of the Public School Employees' Retirement System.

Horn served as Pennsylvania's Secretary of Corrections from March 1995 until January 2000. While in that post, Horn was credited with implementing an aggressive drug interdiction program and increasing drug and alcohol treatment within prisons. He managed an expansion of more than 8,000 inmates and instituted programs in citizenship and parenting. During his tenure staff and inmate safety improved and prison perimeters and information systems were modernized. Horn had earlier served in criminal justice positions in New York State with the Division of Parole and the Department of Correctional Services. Most notably, he served as executive director and chief operating officer for the New York State Division of Parole, assistant commissioner of corrections for New York State and Superintendent of Hudson Correctional Facility, and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at State University College in Utica, New York from 1975 to 1977.

He began his career as a New York State Parole Officer in 1969. Horn earned a bachelor's degree in government from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1969, and a master's degree in criminal justice from John Jay College, City University of New York, in 1974.

The Department of Probation promotes public safety by providing supervision for the thousands of adults and juveniles placed on probation each year by judges in the Supreme, Criminal and Family Courts. It seeks to assist people who have committed crimes become responsible members of the communities in which they live. In addition, Probation Officers are responsible for preparing thousands of background reports each year that assist judges in determining appropriate sentences for adult offenders and juvenile delinquents. The agency's goal is to give each probationer the tools he or she will need to lead a law-abiding life. The Department provides counseling and helps connect offenders to a broad array of community-based services, including job training and drug treatment. The agency informs judges when an offender fails to abide by the conditions of probation and to identify those probationers who are unable or unwilling to make the transition to a law-abiding life.

The Department of Correction averages a daily inmate population of between 14,000 and 19,000. Annually, between 110,000 and 120,000 inmates are admitted to custody. The Department employs just over 10,000 uniformed staff and 1,500 civilian staff. The Department provides custody of males and females, 16 and older, who - after arraignment on criminal charges - have been unable to post bail or were remanded without bail, pending adjudication of their criminal charges. These detainees constitute about two-thirds of the total inmate population. The Department also incarcerates those sentenced in the City to terms of up to one year, parole violators awaiting parole revocation hearings, and persons charged with civil crimes. The majority of inmates are housed in one of the 10 facilities on Rikers Island, located in the East River adjacent to LaGuardia Airport.

Crime at the City's correction facilities has continued to decline in 2002. Through December 5th, the number of use of force incidents stands at 1,042, a 19.3% reduction as compared to the same period in 2001. Inmate assaults of staff members have decreased by 22% through December 5, 2002, when compared to the same period in 2001. The number of inmate-on-inmate stabbing/slashing incidents remains low. Inmate suicides have also dropped. Notably, there have been no inmate homicides in 2002.

"I would also like to thank outgoing Correction Commissioner William Fraser for his dedicated service to this City and for his instrumental role in much of the agency's successes," Mayor Bloomberg concluded.