From Jailer to Jailed

The controversial New York City police commissioner and New York Times 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. 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 résumé as a public servant is long and storied, and includes receiving a Medal of Honor. In 2004, Kerik was nominated by George W. Bush to head the 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, he talks candidly about what it was like on the inside: the torture of solitary confinement, the abuse of power, the mental and physical torment of being locked up in a cage, the powerlessness. With newfound perspective, Kerik makes a plea for change and illuminates why our punishment system doesn’t always fit the crime. In this extraordinary memoir, Kerik reveals his unprecedented view of the American penal system from both sides: as the jailer and the jailed. With astonishing candor, bravery, and insider’s intelligence, Bernard Kerik shares his fall from grace to incarceration, and turns it into a genuine and uniquely insightful argument for criminal justice reform.