3 days ago
Bernard Kerik, New York's Police Commissioner on 9/11, Dies at 69
Bernard B. Kerik, the New York City police commissioner who was hailed as a hero for overseeing the department's response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, only to fall from grace after he pleaded guilty to federal corruption and tax crimes, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 69.
His family said he died in a hospital, where he was being treated for heart disease. He had been hospitalized with skin cancer last year.
A cocksure high school dropout with a black belt in karate, shaved head and bulging biceps, Mr. Kerik vaulted to senior public posts as a disciple of Rudolph W. Giuliani after serving as Mr. Giuliani's bodyguard during his successful 1993 mayoral campaign.
In 1997, after Mr. Kerik had risen through the ranks of the Police Department from a street cop in Times Square and narcotics investigator, Mr. Giuliani promoted him to correction commissioner. In that position, he curbed sick-time abuse by prison guards and reduced violence by inmates.
Mr. Kerik's appointment as police commissioner in August 2000 was not well received, in part because he had been so rapidly promoted despite his lack of a college degree, which uniformed police officers ordinarily needed for promotion to captain and above. His highest rank before becoming commissioner was detective third grade. He later went on to earn a degree in 2002.
During his 16-month tenure as police commissioner, crime continued the decline that had been largely achieved by two of his predecessors, Raymond W. Kelly and William J. Bratton. Morale among officers improved. So did relations between the department and Black and Hispanic New Yorkers who had been alienated by incidents of police abuse.
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