Mr. Schlanger’s experience spearheading high-profile independent investigations and oversight began in his role as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office (DANY), where he spent 12 years and rose to the level of both Senior Trial and Senior Investigative Attorney, the first individual to hold both such titles. During that period, Mr. Schlanger investigated and prosecuted some of the most notorious cases in the office, including the prosecution of the West Side gang known as the Westies and the prosecution of John Gotti, the head of the Gambino Crime Family.
Mr. Schlanger left DANY in 1990 and formed a private investigations firm which was bought by Kroll in 1998, the world’s leading investigations firm at the time. At Kroll Mr. Schlanger headed the Security Services practice and founded the Government Services practice, and, with William Bratton, began consulting to major police departments around the world. He was instrumental in the proposal for and the design and execution of the monitoring methodology in Los Angeles, serving as the Deputy Primary Monitor for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) consent decree for eight years. During this period, he was responsible for all operations of the monitorship including the review of LAPD’s compliance with all reform efforts. During that same time period, Mr. Schlanger performed significant independent investigations at the request of large police departments throughout the country including the Tennessee Highway Patrol (an investigation into corruption in the hiring and promotion process), the San Francisco Police Department (an investigation into an internal affairs investigation probe involving the son of a Chief in the Department), and the Austin Police Department (investigative reviews of two separate fatal officer-involved shootings). In addition, Mr. Schlanger led major investigations and coordinated security for the private sector and led the Security Services Group through the tumultuous aftermath of 9/11.
In 2009, when Kroll’s Government Services Practice was spun out, Mr. Schlanger became the president and CEO of the new entity, KeyPoint Government Solutions. KeyPoint employed more than 2500 investigators responsible for performing security clearance investigations on behalf of various agencies of the U.S. government. During this same period, Mr. Schlanger also served as the Primary Deputy Monitor of HSBC, developing methodologies and overseeing their implementation to ensure remediation of the bank’s involvement in financial crime throughout the world. The HSBC monitorship today stands as the most complex and comprehensive monitorship ever implemented.
In 2014, Mr. Schlanger left KeyPoint to re-join the public sector as the chief of staff to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. At DANY, Mr. Schlanger oversaw the day-to-day operations of the office with more than 500 attorneys and 700 support staff. Mr. Schlanger also oversaw a number of special projects for the office, including its “Extreme Collaboration” program with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) which included the funding of NYPD’s mobility initiative from forfeiture funds, providing approximately 36,000 officers with smart phones and the infrastructure to support those devices. Today, those devices continue to be an indispensable tool for NYPD officers.
In 2015, Mr. Schlanger left DANY, to join Exiger as president of its advisory division. There, Mr. Schlanger again oversaw the work on the HSBC Monitorship, as well as all other advisory engagements. In 2016, Mr. Schlanger led a team of policing professionals in the comprehensive review of the University of Cincinnati Police Department (UCPD), conducted in response to a fatal officer-involved shooting. The project included a thorough review of the UCPD and an analysis of its current practices relative to best practices in policing. The report found more than one hundred areas for improvement and made more than 275 specific actionable recommendations for improving the department while at the same time rebuilding trust between the UCPD and its community. Mr. Schlanger was then chosen to be the monitor of the department, overseeing the implementation of those recommendations. This monitorship was voluntary, supported and embraced by the University and the community as a way to provide assurance to the public that the reforms to which the UCPD had committed were actually being undertaken.
In 2018, Mr. Schlanger again left for the public sector, joining the NYPD as Counsel to the Police Commissioner. Three months later, Mr. Schlanger was asked to take on the position of Deputy Commissioner for Risk Management as the department elevated the risk management function to bureau (three star) status. Mr. Schlanger served in this capacity until March of 2021, helping to guide the Department through its most tumultuous period ever, implementing reforms brought about by both the federal monitorship arising out of stop and frisk abuses and the tragic murder of George Floyd.
In his role as Deputy Commissioner for Risk Management, Mr. Schlanger also sat on numerous departmental committees including the Use of Force Review Board and the Disciplinary Committee and headed the Use of Force and Tactics Working Group.
Over the years, Mr. Schlanger has also served in numerous pro bono positions including as Special Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County investigating a particular cold-case homicide as well as a separate claim of innocence in a child molestation conviction; and as Special Counsel to the New York State Commission on Public Integrity, involving an investigation into corruption and perjury allegations involving the governor of the state.
Mr. Schlanger started his latest venture, IntegrAssure, upon his departure from NYPD in March of 2021. IntegrAssure will focus on integrity assurance processes in both the public and private sectors. He currently serves as the Independent Consent Decree Monitor for the City of Aurora (CO).
Mr. Schlanger is a graduate of Binghamton University and New York University School of Law and holds a federal security clearance at the TS-SCI level.