Benjamin B. Tucker Confirmed as ONDCP Deputy Director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs; Brings 40 Years’ Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Experience to Drug Policy Office

(Washington, D.C.) – The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Benjamin B. Tucker by unanimous consent today to be the new Deputy Director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Mr. Tucker will oversee ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program (HIDTA), Drug-Free Communities (DFC), National Youth-Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC).

“I am pleased with the confirmation of Benjamin B. Tucker,” says Director Kerlikowske “He embodies the Obama Administration’s commitment to a comprehensive and balanced National Drug Control Strategy that recognizes addiction as treatable disease, emphasizes prevention and facilitates coordination with law enforcement. Mr. Tucker knows first hand that this country needs to be smarter when developing solutions to our Nation’s drug problem. His perspective will aid us in addressing the problem as both a public safety and a public health issue.”

With 40 years of experience in the fields of law enforcement and criminal justice, he is a recognized expert in community policing. Prior to joining ONDCP, Mr. Tucker served as a professor of criminal justice at Pace University. He has also worked as a consultant to the Urban Institute and as Director of Field Operations and Senior Research Associate at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Within government, Mr. Tucker served as Deputy Director for Operations at the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; Executive Director of the New York City Commission on Human Rights; Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services in the Office of the Mayor of New York City; and Chief Executive for School Safety and Planning at the New York City Department of Education.

He began his career with the New York City Police Department in 1969, and prior to being assigned as beat cop, was one of a select group of new precinct service officers educated by medical and other substance abuse experts to conduct innovative drug prevention and education programs in city schools and colleges.

Mr. Tucker was born and raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; he received his Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and his JD from the Fordham University School of Law.