Bernard Kerik, beleaguered former New York police chief through 9/11, dead at 69

The top cop who led the New York police department through the September 11 terror attacks has died aged 69.

Bernard “Bernie” Kerik, who rose to national prominence after leading the New York police department through the September 11 terror attacks, has died aged 69.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Kerik’s death on X, saying he passed away “after a private battle with illness.”

Bernard Kerik (right), former New York police commissioner, died at 69 after an illness.

Lauding Kerik, Patel called him “a warrior, a patriot and one of the most courageous public servants this country has ever known.”

Kerik was the tough-talking head of the New York police when Osama bin Laden’s hijackers struck the World Trade Center towers with commercial passenger jets in September 2001. 

In the traumatic days and weeks after the attack, Kerik, with his squat, muscular build, balding head and black moustache, became a familiar face to Americans across the country as he helped then-mayor Rudy Giuliani guide New York through the crisis.

He gained national recognition during the 9/11 attacks, assisting then-mayor Rudy Giuliani. Picture: AFP

He’d served as Police Commissioner for less than a year when his life and career were altered forever by the terror attacks that killed nearly 2,750 people, including 23 NYPD officers.

When Giuliani’s second term ended shortly after the attacks, Kerik left office with him and continued their decades-long friendship and professional allegiance.

Kerik’s rough upbringing was detailed in a memoir, The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit.

Born in New Jersey to an alcoholic sex worker, he was abandoned by his mother and brought up by his father, and had a troubled childhood.

The 9/11 hero had a challenging upbringing and wrote a memoir titled “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit.” Picture: Nathan Edwards

His career took him around the world, with a stint on a military police posting in South Korea and a role as a security consultant for the Saudi royal family in Saudi Arabia. 

He later joined the New York Police Department, where he worked undercover in the narcotics division and helped bust 60 members of the notorious Colombian Cali drug cartel.

After leaving the Police Commissioner role post-9/11, Kerik remained active in Republican politics, taking on a tour of duty to Iraq in 2003 to help train their law enforcement personnel for former President George W Bush.

He suffered another fall from grace after pleading guilty in 2009 to felonies, including tax fraud.

Kerik (right) served four years in prison after pleading guilty to felonies, including tax fraud before receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in 2020.

He admitted to accepting $255,000 worth of renovations to his apartment from a construction firm suspected of having mob ties, which was angling for government contracts.

His plea helped him avoid a maximum potential sentence of up to 61 years behind bars. 

Instead, he was sentenced to four years in prison. He was released in 2013. 

Kerik received a presidential pardon in 2020, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

He later teamed up with Giuliani to investigate debunked allegations of election fraud following Trump’s 2020 loss, and was among those subpoenaed by lawmakers over accusations of plotting to overturn the election in the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol.