Who was Bernard Kerik? Ex-NYPD commissioner hailed as 9/11 hero, then enmeshed in fraud case, has died at 69

Mint

30-05-2025

Bernard Kerik, the disgraced former New York City police commissioner, hailed for his leadership during the 9/11 incident, has passed away at 69 due to illness, according to an AP report.
The news was confirmed by the NY police department (NYPD) via social media on May 29. And FBI Director Kash Patel shared that Kerik's death came 'after a private battle with illness'.
Kerik fell from grace after pleading guilty for tax fraud and serving time in jail for the same. He was later pardoned by United States President Donald Trump and released from prison, it added.
Kerik grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. He dropped out of the local Eastside High School, known for its troubles and which was depicted in the 1989 film 'Lean on Me', and joined the Army, as per the report. He started his military career as a policeman stationed in South Korea.
Post the military he worked private security in Saudi Arabia, before returning to the US as a supervisor at a New Jersey jail. He joined the NYPD in the late 1980s and in the 1990s was tapped to run New York's long-troubled jail system, including the city's notorious Riker's Island complex, the AP report noted. Kerik rose through the NYPD ranks to the position of commissioner.
He was appointed as police commissioner in 2000 by then mayor Giuliani, and was in the role during the September 11, 2001 twin tower attacks.
In Kerik's 2015 book, 'From Jailer to Jailed', he described becoming 'America's Top Cop" after the attacks. Stating: 'But I'd give anything for that day not to have happened. I wish it hadn't. But it did. And I happened to be there at the time. I was there, and I did the best I could do under the circumstances. It's all any of us did.'
In 2003, then President George W Bush appointed Kerik to help organise Iraq's police force. In 2004, Kerik was nominated to head the US Department of Homeland Security, but abruptly withdrew his nomination, saying he had uncovered information that led him to question the immigration status of a person he employed as a housekeeper and nanny.
In 2005, Kerik founded the crisis and risk management consulting firm, called Kerik Group.
In 2010, he was arrested for federal tax fraud and false statements. The charges said he recieved $2,50,000 in apartment renovations from a construction company, to convince NY city officials the firm had no organised crime links.
During Kerik's sentencing, the judge noted that he committed some of the crimes while serving as 'the chief law enforcement officer for the biggest and grandest city this nation has.' He served three years in prison and was released in 2013.
Later in 2020, US President Donald Trump pardoned Kerik.
He later worked for the former mayor of New York City surrounding the efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 loss.
Speaking about his friend on May 29, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani praised Kerik saying, 'We've been together since the beginning. He's like my brother. I was a better man for having known Bernie. I certainly was a braver and stronger man.'
In his post on social media, Kash Patel described Kerik as 'a warrior, a patriot, and one of the most courageous public servants this country has ever known.'