Full Coverage: The 9-11 Tragedy
TOM HAYS
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- The city's police and fire commissioners -- whose departments suffered heavy losses in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack -- will not seek reappointment when the new mayor takes office.
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Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who recently completed an autobiography, called his decision to leave ``bittersweet.''
``I've had a great run here,'' he said Friday. ``I've been in command of the police department when it's been at its very best.''
Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg, who had expressed interest in keeping Kerik on when he takes office Jan. 1, said the commissioner will probably take a corporate security job.
Kerik said he plans to spend more time with his family while considering offers in corporate security and other fields. He said First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Dunne is among those he has recommended as his successor.
Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen told The New York Times that he will not seek reappointment. A call to Von Essen's spokesman was not returned Friday. Bloomberg had not mentioned retaining Von Essen.
Von Essen told the newspaper he made the decision about three weeks ago, after one of the many memorial services he has attended for fallen firefighters.
Both men were appointed by outgoing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
The 11,000-plus Fire Department lost 343 firefighters in the World Trade Center attack. The 41,000-member Police Department lost 23 officers. Both are the nation's largest departments.
Kerik's autobiography, ``The Lost Son -- A Life in Pursuit of Justice,'' is due out Tuesday. It reveals how he discovered that the mother who deserted him as a boy was a prostitute who died of a blow to the head.
He completed the book hours before the World Trade Center attack, and then, at his publisher's urging, added a final chapter on the tragedy.
Kerik, 46, has scheduled TV appearances to promote the book in New York but canceled plans for a tour. He had indicated he would move on at the end of Giuliani's term, but reconsidered when Bloomberg expressed interest in keeping him at the helm.
