NY Mayor Picks New Police Head

ByABC News
August 19, 2000, 4:44 PM

N E W  Y O R K, Aug. 19 -- A former New York City drug detective whocurrently manages the citys jail system was named police chieftoday.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, appointed his longtime friend policeCorrections Commissioner Bernard Kerik to head the 41,000-strong force, which is the nations largest.

This has been a dream from many, many years ago, when Istarted in law enforcement, said Kerik, 44. This is something Idreamed of, something I thought would never happen.

Keriks NYPD colleagues predict the rank-and-file will embracehim quickly.

Hes a cops cop, said Sgt. Jerry Kane, who worked withKerik at Manhattans Midtown South Precinct in the 1980s. He wasthe best street cop I ever worked with.

Minorities Criticize Process

But Rev. Al Sharpton, a critic of Giuliani and outgoing PoliceCommissioner Howard Safir, said minority community and politicalleaders feel betrayed by Keriks appointmentespecially in lightof Giulianis promise to reach out to them after he dropped out ofthe U.S. Senate race in May.

The real police commissioner is Mr. Giuliani, and he justappointed his first deputy, Mr. Kerik, said Sharpton at hisNational Action Network headquarters in Harlem.

If Giuliani had been sincere in his promise to reach out,he should have met with a cross-section of leaders beforechoosing a new commissioner, instead of consulting only his owncircle, Sharpton added.

Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York CivilLiberties Union, urged that Kerik begin his tenure by meeting withcivil rights officials and community leaders to address issues ofpolice brutality.

After accepting the job, Kerik told reporters he will be therefor all New Yorkers and will listen to their concerns.

Im going to visit the cops, Im going to visit thecommunities. I think they will be seeing a lot of me, he said.