NY Mayor Picks New Police Head
N E W Y O R K, Aug. 19, 2000 -- A former New York City drug detective whocurrently manages the city’s 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 nation’s 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.”
Kerik’s NYPD colleagues predict the rank-and-file will embracehim quickly.
“He’s a cop’s cop,” said Sgt. Jerry Kane, who worked withKerik at Manhattan’s 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 Kerik’s appointment—especially in lightof Giuliani’s 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.
“I’m going to visit the cops, I’m going to visit thecommunities. I think they will be seeing a lot of me,” he said.
Three incidents marred Safir’s four-year tenure in office andcreated a wide gap between the NYPD and minorities: the policetorture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, and the fatal policeshootings of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo and PatrickDorismond.
Giuliani said race relations between the community and thepolice was only one factor in his decision to choose Kerik overChief of Department Joseph Dunne, who was named today as theNYPD’s first deputy commissioner, the second-in-command. Dunne, 52,had a strong rapport with minority groups when he was a policecommander in Brooklyn.
Dunne Will Support Team
Dunne, who looked visibly upset, said he’d be lying if he saidhe wasn’t “terribly disappointed” at not getting the top job.
But Dunne reassured Kerik that he would support him.“Commissioner Kerik, we’re a team now,” he said.
Giuliani praised Kerik for his three-year tenure at theCorrections Department, where he has earned the respect of the12,400 employees, 76 percent whom are black or Hispanic. Heoversees approximately 130,000 inmate admissions yearly in thecity’s 16 jails, 15 court holding pens and four hospital wards.
“Bernie has (one) thing so important as police commissioner -having served as a police officer, understanding the difficultiesand split second decisions an officer has to make,” Giuliani said.“He brings a quality of leadership.”
Kerik, after thanking Giuliani, expressed his gratitude toformer mayor Koch. While working in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980sas a security supervisor, Kerik called the city Department ofPersonnel to get an application for the police force—and wastwice hung up on.
He sent a letter to Koch, who personally responded, and soonreceived a half-dozen applications in the mail.
He was sworn in July 15, 1986.
Kerik hasserved as chairman of the Michael John Buczek Foundation thathonors law enforcement officers nationwide. Buczek was an NYPDofficer killed in the line of duty in 1988. Sgt. Kane said Kerikcommitted hundreds of hours of his own time to the foundation.
“I don’t think everybody at the NYPD knows how much he caresabout cops,” Kane said. “The rank and file are going to loveBernie because he knows the foot cop story, the detective story,the boss’s story. He’s going to be able to relate to all of thosepeople.”
Colleagues Praise Him
Kerik’s colleagues in the Corrections Department gave him highmarks for boosting morale and reducing violence among inmates andagainst officers.
“He has a lot of credibility and is someone who has been ableto communicate and make a working relationship with us,” saidNorman Seabrook, the president of the Correction Officers’Benevolent Association.
Kerik was named by Giuliani as Corrections Commissioner inJanuary 1998. Prior to being commissioner, he was the CorrectionsFirst Deputy Commissioner, appointed that position in January 1995.He joined the department in 1994, and also has served as theexecutive assistant to the commissioner and as director of theInvestigations Division.
Kerik, from Paterson, N.J., joined Corrections after servingeight years as an NYPD cop, spending much of his career as anarcotics detective in Manhattan. He received 30 police citations,including the Medal of Valor. He earned that award after survivinga 1991 shoot out in Washington Heights.
Kerik worked on the New York Drug Enforcement Administrationtask force, helping direct an investigation that resulted in theconvictions of more than 60 members of the infamous Cali drugcartel.
Before joining the police force, Kerik served as a militarypolice officer in the U.S. Army and as warden of the Passaic CountyJail. A martial arts expert, Kerik spent four years in varioussecurity assignment in Saudi Arabia.
A high school dropout with an equivalency diploma, Kerik hasbeen taking courses through Empire State College and is 24 creditsshort of a bachelor’s degree.