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'The Commish' may serve again
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
INVERNESS -- At age 60, Anthony Schembri has compiled a long and enviable resume. He served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections and is the former police commissioner of Rye, N.Y. A law professor and aspiring novelist, Schembri was the inspiration for the ABC television drama The Commish. The basement of his Inverness home is cluttered with mementos from his career in law enforcement. Pictures of him arm-in-arm with celebrities ranging from Sylvester Stallone to Bill Clinton adorn the walls. Now Schembri is hoping to add another line to his curriculum vitae: member of the Florida Corrections Commission. Gov. Jeb Bush nominated Schembri to the nine-member board Tuesday. His appointment must be approved by the state Senate in January. "I'm very, very excited," said Schembri, who loves spinning stories about his days in New York City law enforcement. "It's good to be back in the groove again. It's nice to contribute." Schembri received word of the appointment at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday as his wife, Barbara, was frying eggs and bacon for breakfast. The phone hasn't stopped ringing, as well-wishers congratulate him on the opportunity to add "commissioner" to his title again. "I had one friend call me and say, 'Is this commissioner, commissioner, commissioner Schembri?' " he said, laughing. Since moving to Inverness in 1999, Schembri has served as a professor at the University of Central Florida and also teaches the police and corrections academies at Withlacoochee Technical Institute. He also made an unsuccessful bid to become the St. Petersburg police chief in 2001. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Schembri said he began his career in law enforcement at age 16, when detectives from the local precinct asked him to type their reports. "I always wanted to be a cop, all my life," he said. "Those detectives, they really knew people." He served as police commissioner in Rye for 14 years before being appointed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections in 1994. Schembri resigned a year later, after he was accused of violating the law by never establishing residency in the city and generating $3,800 in unnecessary overtime by commuting from Westchester County. He said his goal on the commission will be to emphasize measures such as crime diversion programs and job training for inmates. The Florida Corrections Commission was created in 1994 and is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the state's prisons. The commission meets several times a year in Tallahassee and makes policy recommendations to the governor. Schembri's first meeting: a telephone conference Friday with several other members regarding work programs for state inmates, an initiative he strongly supports. "Instead of making bigger, better jails, we need to take a long-term approach and look for ways to prevent crime," he said.
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