Profile: Bernard Kerik
By Kathryn Westcott
BBC News
Bernard Kerik - chosen by President Bush to protect the US from security threats - is no stranger to danger.
Bernard Kerik, a former New York City street cop
The nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, known as "Bernie" to his friends and colleagues, has worked in the fields of law enforcement and security for decades.
Mr Kerik is a tough-talking former street cop and undercover narcotics officer. His background is very different to that of Tom Ridge whom he will be replacing.
While Mr Ridge is a Harvard-educated, former congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, Mr Kerik's story is one of a battle against the odds to become New York City's top cop and then the country's head of domestic security.
Growing up in a tough neighbourhood of Paterson, New Jersey, no one would have known that he would go on to lead one of the biggest police forces in the world, winning plaudits for overseeing the police department's heroic efforts in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4065105.stm