Bernard Kerik, the 40th police commissioner of New York City— who became a national hero on 9/11 and who just passed away at the age of 69 — had a special way about him.
When you met him for the first time, he was guarded, showing little emotion and trusting even less. Of course, this comes from a career on the front lines of national security and politics, where he excelled in the former and was mercilessly punished in the latter.
Who could blame him for being guarded? Next to President Donald Trump, no one paid a greater personal price in terms of political character assassination than Commissioner Kerik. After serving the people of New York nobly in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack and serving his country again as the interior minister of the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority, President George W. Bush nominated him to be the Secretary of Homeland Security in 2004. In pursuit of their own power, the Democrats used the opportunity of Kerik’s nomination to dig up dirt about him that ultimately led to the withdrawal of the nomination and criminal charges for which he served three years in prison.
In his bestselling book, From Jailer to Jailed, Kerik reflected on his experience as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction prior to his service as the NYPD Commissioner and his time behind bars. Despite this spectacular rise and fall, the Commissioner never complained and never sought revenge against his political enemies. That was the Bernard Kerik way.
Bernie Kerik discusses his book “From Jailer to Jailed” on April 6, 2015 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
Commissioner Kerik worked in the Middle East for many years, including consulting on security planning and services for King Hussein of Jordan. All told, he lived and worked in the region for more than a dozen years and became an expert on Mideast security policy.
During President Trump’s first term, Commissioner Kerik worked tirelessly with the White House to help pass the First STEP Act, which applied historic reforms that led to the release of thousands of unjustly incarcerated individuals.
Kerik’s interest in prison reform was personal as well as professional. Having been raised in Newark and Paterson, New Jersey, Kerik had great personal insight to urban America and the subtle bigotry of low expectations. Considering his experiences on the streets of urban New Jersey and in prison, his work on the passage of prison reform came as no surprise. This was the Bernard Kerik way.
Once you got to know Bernie Kerik on a personal level, he let you see through the rough and guarded exterior. What he revealed to very few people was a deep passion and concern for those closest to him, first and foremost his family – including four children — and then a vast array of friends, some powerful and influential (such as his partner in cleaning up New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) and others from much more humble and modest backgrounds, all of whom were blessed to know him.
Bernard Kerik places his hand on the bible as he is officially sworn in as the city’s 40th police commissioner by Mayor Rudy Giuliani on September 5, 2000, in New York City. (Keith Torrie/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik talking to police officers in Times Square, New York City, 2001. (Michael Brennan/Getty Images)
As the son of a New York City cop, I bonded with Bernie Kerik on a cold winter’s day in 2018. My father had just passed away and Bernie asked me for his badge number at the NYPD. Days later, after a massive winter storm, he appeared at my father‘s memorial service to present my mother with a replica NYPD shield with the number 9177 that my father had proudly worn on the force for 10 years decades earlier.
That thoughtfulness and magnanimous compassion was also the Bernard Kerik way.
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (left) and New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik hand out medals on December 4, 2001, at Carnegie Hall in New York City to police officers and relatives of fallen police officers for service during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
As friends and family stood by him over the past several weeks, hopeful that we would enjoy many more years with him to come, one visit he received came from an unexpected source. Mayor Eric Adams, who formed a friendship of his own with Commissioner Kerik, came to the hospital to pay his respects.
With that visit in mind, I offer a suggestion to the City’s Mayor in honor of a life well lived with remarkable dignity and purpose: Let’s find a city street in the shadow of Freedom Tower — the site of the tragic day that revealed such heroism from New York’s finest and bravest — that can forever be known as Bernard Kerik Way.
Few people have experienced and achieved as much in life as Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Fortunately, his signature grit and compassion will continue to serve as a model for us all as we remember the Bernard Kerik way.
Mark Serrano is the founder and president of ProActive Strategies and former Trump Advisory Board Member.
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