Bernard Kerik Quotes

Bernard Bailey Kerik is an American former police officer, consultant and convicted felon, who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 2000 to 2001, and New York City's Correction Department Commissioner and First Deputy, overseeing the New York City jail system, from 1995 to 2000.

Kerik was born in Newark, New Jersey. He served in the United States Army from 1974 to 1977 before working various law enforcement jobs in the United States and abroad. Joining the New York Police Department in 1986, Kerik is most well known for his time at the NYPD and New York City Department of Correction, as he served in commissioner positions for both city agencies. Kerik's tenure as police commissioner included overseeing the police response to the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush appointed Kerik as the interior minister of the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority. In 2004, Bush nominated Kerik to be the head of the Department of Homeland Security. However, Kerik soon withdrew his candidacy, explaining that he had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny. His withdrawal resulted in state and federal investigations as a result of which in 2006 Kerik pleaded guilty in Bronx Supreme Court to two unrelated ethics violations and was ordered to pay $221,000 in fines. Kerik then pleaded guilty in 2009 in the Southern District of New York to eight federal charges, including tax fraud and false statements, and on February 18, 2010, was sentenced to four years in federal prison.

✵ 4. September 1955