From the sagging row houses of New Jersey to the cocaine fields of Colombia, from the razor wire of Rikers Island to the streets of New York City, Bernard Kerik has dedicated his life to a single goal: to fight the injustice he sees around him. A jail warden with a black belt in martial arts and a background in international security and anti–terrorism, he took a substantial pay cut to become a beat cop on the streets of Times Square in 1986. A fearless narcotics detective, he went undercover to buy drugs in Harlem, seized millions of dollars of cocaine from the druglords of the Cali cartel, and was awarded the Police Department's Medal of Valor. As New York City's 40th Police Commissioner, Kerik directed the largest municipal police force in the world, and his battles continued. And yet Bernard Kerik's greatest battle was not pitched on tough city streets, but within himself. The greatest unsolved case of his life: the tragic mystery of his own mother, who abandoned her young son 41 years ago.

Through over 100 pages of black and white photographs (and 16 pages of full color), this memorial volume documents the heroism of New York's Finest and Bravest in the hours and days following the disaster. With a Foreword in tribute to the search and rescue teams -- and their fallen comrades -- by Commissioner Kerik, and filled with the inspirational words of national and spiritual leaders, In the Line of Duty bears witness to the indomitable spirit of the American people.