James Burke (police officer)

James Burke is an American convicted criminal and former law enforcement officer from the state of New York.

Biography
Burke was a New York City police officer in the 1980s. He later began working for the Suffolk County Police Department in Suffolk County, New York. In 1995, a Suffolk County Police Department internal probe found that Burke had "had a relationship with a woman engaged in prostitution and drug dealing, and had engaged in sex acts in police vehicles while on duty and in uniform".

Burke was appointed chief of the Suffolk County Police Department by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone in 2012 and served in that capacity until 2015. During his tenure as chief, Burke supervised the investigation of the Gilgo Beach serial killings. Burke's work on the Gilgo Beach case, "including a decision to end cooperation with the FBI", drew criticism from other law enforcement officials.

In May 2013, the FBI and the US Attorney's Office opened an investigation into Burke's alleged beating of a suspect in police custody, a subsequent cover-up, and coercion of witnesses. Burke was charged with assaulting Christopher Loeb after Loeb was arrested for allegedly breaking into Burke's unlocked vehicle and stealing a "gun belt, ammunition, a box of cigars and a bag containing sex toys and pornography". Burke pleaded guilty to reduced charges in February 2016. Following Burke's guilty plea, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone commented, "'Jim Burke, someone I entrusted with great responsibility, lied to my face for nearly three years and orchestrated a cover-up to perpetuate that lie'". In November 2016, Burke was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for assault and obstruction of justice. In January 2017, Burke began serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low. He was released to house arrest in November 2018. His sentence was completed in April 2019.

In August 2023, Burke was arrested for public lewdness, offering a sex act, and unlawful solicitation after allegedly exposing himself to a male plainclothes park ranger at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Farmingville and propositioning him.