Bernard Kerik
40th Police Commissioner of the City of New York
Bernard B. Kerik is one of the most controversial and accomplished leaders in law enforcement, correction, and national security in the United States. He served as the 40th Police Commissioner of the City of New York.
A high school dropout, he later volunteered for the U.S. Army, earned his GED, and served in the Military Police Corps in Korea and at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There he taught defensive tactics at the John F. Kennedy Unconventional Warfare Center to U.S. Special Forces and special operations personnel. After his military service, he spent four years in various security assignments in Saudi Arabia. In 1981, he joined the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department in New Jersey, where he served as the Commander of Special Weapons and Operations and as Warden of the Passaic County Jail. He then became the Police Commissioner of the City of New York. His term was marked by dramatic reductions in crime, enhanced community relations, and his unflinching leadership and oversight, as he led New York City through the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11, overseeing the rescue, recovery and investigation. In 2001, he was one of the founding members of the Board of Trustees of the Twin Towers Fund, which raised and distributed $216 million to over 600 families related the emergency service workers killed on 9/11.
In March 2014, Kerik published his second book, From Jailer to Jailed: My Journey from Correction and Police Commissioner to Inmate 84888-054, documenting the 13 prior years of his life including his incarceration and personal observations of the U.S. criminal justice system. He has spoken adamantly about prison reform since his release.
Kerik was hosted by The Common Good in 2015: Law Enforcement, Corrections and Prison Reform with Former NYC Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik.
Twitter: @BernardKerik
