Thursday, April 9, 2015

From Jailer to Jailed By Bernard Kerik

The Explosive Memoirs of Former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik: From Jailer to Jailed

Bernard Kerik, the controversial New York City police commissioner and bestselling author of The Lost Son shares the story of his fall from grace and the effects of his incarceration on his views of the American justice system in his new book, From Jailer to Jailed: My Journey from Correction and Police Commissioner to Inmate.

Bernard Kerik was New York City's police commissioner during the 9/11 attacks and became an American hero as he led the NYPD through rescue and recovery efforts of the World Trade Center. His resume as a public servant is long and storied and includes honors from President Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II, and the NYPD's Medal for Valor for saving his partner in a gun battle. In 2004, Kerik was nominated by President George W. Bush to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Now, he is a former Federal Prison Inmate known as #84888-054. Convicted of tax fraud and false statements in 2007, Kerik was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Now for the first time, in this hard-hitting, raw and oftentimes politically incorrect memoir, he talks candidly about his time on the inside: the torture of solitary confinement, the abuse of power, the mental and physical torment of being locked up in a cage, and the powerlessness. With his newfound perspective, Kerik makes a plea for change and illuminates why our punishment system doesn't always fit the crime.

In From Jailer to Jailed, Bernard talks about: 
  • His transformation from Police Commissioner to Inmate # 84888-054;
  • "Losing Rudy," Giuliani, his former boss, partner and friend, and godfather to his children, and his involvement in the controversy;
  • Never-before-read stories of his time in prison and how the abuse he witnessed shaped his view of the U.S. corrections system;
  • His nomination for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, including his letter to the President for withdrawal from the nomination;
  • The myth of "paying one's debt to society" and shows how, in the current system, this debt is never repaid;
  • How the current justice system "monsterizes" young men of every race and ethnic background, thereby reducing their chances of ever fitting back into society; and
  • How frustratingly claustrophobic life is as a convicted felon - and how the current system affects an underclass of over 60 million felons.
In this extraordinary memoir, Kerik offers a riveting, one-of-a-kind perspective on the American penal system as he details life on the inside with the experience of an acclaimed correction commissioner from the outside. Bernard Kerik shares his fall from grace to incarceration, and turns it into an impassioned and singularly insightful rallying cry for criminal justice reform in a nation that he devoted his life to serving and protecting.


About the Author: Bernard B. Kerik was appointed the 40th police commissioner of New York City by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani on August 21, 2000. Prior to his appointment, Kerik was Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. He served with the New York Police Department on both uniformed and plainclothes duty for eight years and was awarded the prestigious Medal of Valor, among many other awards for meritorious and heroic services. His stewardship of the department in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center brought him to national attention.

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