“Ensuring public safety, which is so critical to our quality of life and our economic future, takes the coordinated work of several agencies, including two that receive less daily attention than others: Probation and Correction.  Today, I announce with regret the resignation of a Commissioner who has directed those two agencies with grit and great effectiveness.

“Martin F. Horn has served since the beginning of our Administration as the Commissioner of the Department of Probation. In January 2003 I asked him to serve as Correction Commissioner as well, and he has become the longest-tenured City Correction Commissioner of the past 50 years.

“Marty came to our Administration after earning numerous promotions for distinguished service, having started out as a parole officer before working his way up to Secretary of the Pennsylvania state prison system.  In New York City, he has used those experiences to help us make our jails the safest large city jails in the nation.  Crime in the jails has dropped markedly, with far fewer escapes, suicides, homicides and inmate assaults than in previous periods.  And with his support, we have kept driving down crime across the City, and kept making the safest big city in the nation even safer.

“Marty is recognized around the nation as one of the strongest advocates of prison reform, and a champion for humane conditions and respectful treatment who understands the potential of those committed to the City’s custody.  His work to create an innovative jail-based reentry program, which is defined by a remarkable degree of interagency collaboration and community participation, has been hailed as a national model and is being replicated throughout the country.

“As Probation Commissioner, his contributions have been equally important.  Since taking over the Department, Marty significantly reduced violent recidivism in the City through aggressive management and implementation of accountability and information systems that have enabled probation officers to work more effectively.  In fact, data released by the State just yesterday show that ‘New York City hit all time lows’ for felony re-arrest rates of recent probationers.

“Marty has accepted an offer to join the John Jay College faculty as a Distinguished Lecturer in the fall 2009 semester, where he will have the opportunity to share his experience and wisdom with the next generation of criminal justice professionals – and perhaps future Correction and Probation commissioners.  I thank him for his great work and wish him well.”

Statement by Commissioner Martin F. Horn:

“I have profound respect for what Mayor Bloomberg has accomplished in making our city safer, and profound gratitude for giving me the chance to contribute to his Administration.  We have dramatically changed the way the family court system responds to juveniles, replacing destructive institutionalization with community-based supervision for better outcomes.  We have streamlined adult probation supervision and created a case management system that is the nation’s envy.  We have made real a commitment to safety and security as the first rights of those in our jails.  We have broken ground in programs that are giving offenders a chance to resume productive, law-abiding lives.  And, with it all, we have made and kept New York safer.  I owe my thanks and my respect to Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership and support, and also to his management team and the remarkable men and women of the Department of Correction and the Department of Probation.”