Executive Mosaic is honored to introduce Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection, as an inductee into the 2016 edition of the Wash100 — Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of influential leaders in the government contracting arena.

Kerlikowske was sworn in as CBP commissioner in March 2014 and oversees the 60,000-employee agency’s efforts to protect national security and economic prosperity of the U.S.

CBP started to deploy facial screening technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport in January in an effort to verify the identity of first-time Visa Waiver Program travelers and returning U.S. ePassport holders.

“This biometric capability will aid our officers in identifying legitimate travelers while protecting them from fraud and identity theft with little to no delay to the entry process,” Kerlikowske said.

He previously indicated that some of the agency’s border patrol agents would test body camera systems as part of a push to increase accountability and transparency.

Prior to CBP, Kerlikowske directed the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy as well as served as Seattle’s chief of police for nine years, deputy director at the Justice Department‘s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and police commissioner for Buffalo, New York.

He spent most of his law enforcement career at the St. Petersburg Police Department in Florida and is a former president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Kerlikowske also received a Presidential Service Badge during his time at the U.S. Army.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Gil Kerlikowske and the entire CBP team for their selection to receive this award.