James Burke is an American convicted criminal and former law enforcement officer from the state of New York.
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".[1]
Burke was appointed chief of the Suffolk County Police Department by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone in 2012[2] and served in that capacity until 2015.[3] 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",[4] drew criticism from other law enforcement officials.[1]
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.[5] 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".[4] 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'".[2] In November 2016, Burke was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison[6] for assault and obstruction of justice.[7] In January 2017, Burke began serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low. He was released to house arrest in November 2018.[8] His sentence was completed in April 2019.[9]
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.[3] [10]