Bernard B. Kerik, Police Commissioner

BERNARD B. KERIK

POLICE COMMISSIONER

Bernard B. Kerik was appointed the 40th Police Commissioner of the City of New York by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani on August 21, 2000. As the leader of the largest municipal police department in the United States, Commissioner Kerik oversees a uniformed force of more than 41,000 officers, a civilian force of more than 14,500 which includes the 3,500 member School Safety Division and 2,000 member Traffic Control Division, and an annual agency budget of more than $3.2 billion.

Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Kerik served as Commissioner of the Department of Correction, a position to which he was appointed on January 1, 1998. He previously served for three years as the Department of Correction's First Deputy Commissioner and, prior to that, as the agency's Executive Assistant to the Commissioner and Director of the Investigations Division.

As the Commissioner of Correction, Commissioner Kerik was responsible for an agency with an annual budget of $830 million, a civilian and uniformed workforce of 13,000 and approximately 125,000 yearly inmate admissions in New York City's sixteen jails, fifteen holding facilities and four hospital prison wards. He is credited with bringing dramatic improvements to the safety of the city's jail system and the marked reduction of inmate-on-inmate violence by 93% over the past 5 years. His tenure is also marked by a series of demonstrable advancements in the agency's operational efficiency, including a 44% reduction in agency overtime expenditures and a 31% reduction in staff sick leave. His Total Efficiency Accountability Management System (T.E.A.M.S.) placed as a top 25 finalist among 1,600 candidates nationwide for the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award sponsored by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Commissioner Kerik began his professional career as a member of the United States Army's Military Police, serving for three years in Korea and in the 18th Airborne Corps where he trained Special Forces personnel at the John F. Kennedy Unconventional Warfare Center located at Fort Bragg. He was also a member of an all-Army martial arts team. Following his military service, Commissioner Kerik traveled to Saudi Arabia where he assumed various security assignments, including training Saudi and other nationals in security and police patrol operations as well as providing security protection for members of the Saudi Royal Family.

In December 1985, Commissioner Kerik was appointed the Warden of the Passaic County Jail, the largest county adult correctional facility in New Jersey, and was responsible for 265 staff members and an annual budget of $7.2 million. Prior to his appointment, he served as the Passaic County Sheriff's Office Training Officer, the Assistant Commander of the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team, and the Commander of its Special Weapons and Operations Units.

In July of 1986 Commissioner Kerik left the Passaic County Jail to join the New York City Police Department, which he proudly served for eight years. He performed a wide variety of patrol, investigative and undercover duties with anti-crime and narcotics units in Midtown South and Manhattan North commands before being selected for the U.S. Department of Justice's New York Drug Enforcement Task Force. It was there that he helped direct one of the most substantial narcotics investigations in the history of the office, which resulted in the conviction of more than sixty members of the Cali Cartel. During his tenure with the NYPD, he was decorated on thirty separate occasions for meritorious and heroic service, including receiving the Police Department's prestigious Medal of Valor.

In December 1997, he was appointed by Mayor Giuliani to the newly formed New York City Gambling Control Commission. The five-member Commission is charged with establishing and enforcing regulations for shipboard gambling

Commissioner Kerik has a diverse background in international and domestic anti-terrorism, personal protective security and special weapons and operations. During the course of his law enforcement career he has been the recipient of several awards, including the Paterson, New Jersey Mayor's Medal of Honor, the Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator's Award, the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers' Association Medal of Valor and the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Special Achievement Award. In 1984 he was honored by President Ronald W. Reagan with a Commendation for Heroism.

Commissioner Kerik currently serves on the Terrorism Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is also a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council of St. John's University and a former chairman of the Michael John Buczek Foundation's Annual Fundraiser, which honors law enforcement heroes across the nation. The Buczek Foundation is named in memory of a New York City police officer slain in the line of duty and it provides financial assistance to youth organizations in Washington Heights, Manhattan and to the law enforcement community in New York and New Jersey.


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