Michael F. Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231153546
- eISBN:
- 9780231526982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231153546.003.0023
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses the preparations for and start of public hearings on the charges of Frank Serpico on December 14, 1971. Serpico claimed that top-level people in the Department and in City ...
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This chapter discusses the preparations for and start of public hearings on the charges of Frank Serpico on December 14, 1971. Serpico claimed that top-level people in the Department and in City Hall, perhaps including the mayor, had, in 1966–67, deliberately or negligently failed to take proper action to look into the corruption Serpico had reported to exist in the Bronx Plainclothes Division in which he then served. The Commission originally decided that the Serpico events would be dealt with in their final report, not in continued public hearings. However, Serpico's partner, David Durk, quite clearly did not want to give up what he saw as his day in the sun. Apparently Durk went to a local politician, Queens County Democratic leader Matthew Troy, and persuaded him to object. Troy held a press conference and accused the Commission of selling out. As a result of the stir caused by Troy's well-publicized accusations, and to preserve their credibility, the Commission had to show that they were not covering anything up. So, on the day before the hearings ended, Knapp announced that they would be resumed in December, for the purpose of exploring the Serpico charges.Less
This chapter discusses the preparations for and start of public hearings on the charges of Frank Serpico on December 14, 1971. Serpico claimed that top-level people in the Department and in City Hall, perhaps including the mayor, had, in 1966–67, deliberately or negligently failed to take proper action to look into the corruption Serpico had reported to exist in the Bronx Plainclothes Division in which he then served. The Commission originally decided that the Serpico events would be dealt with in their final report, not in continued public hearings. However, Serpico's partner, David Durk, quite clearly did not want to give up what he saw as his day in the sun. Apparently Durk went to a local politician, Queens County Democratic leader Matthew Troy, and persuaded him to object. Troy held a press conference and accused the Commission of selling out. As a result of the stir caused by Troy's well-publicized accusations, and to preserve their credibility, the Commission had to show that they were not covering anything up. So, on the day before the hearings ended, Knapp announced that they would be resumed in December, for the purpose of exploring the Serpico charges.
Michael F. Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231153546
- eISBN:
- 9780231526982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231153546.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter details the widespread corruption in the New York City Police Department and how a young police officer named Frank Serpico and New York Times investigative reporter David Burnham helped ...
More
This chapter details the widespread corruption in the New York City Police Department and how a young police officer named Frank Serpico and New York Times investigative reporter David Burnham helped expose it. Burnham's front-page article was published on April 25, 1970, based chiefly on the experiences of Serpico. It also suggested that Mayor John Lindsay had deliberately ignored the problem. Within days, police corruption became a hot topic all over the city. Rumblings were heard that Serpico's revelations might be, as Burnham suggested, only the tip of an iceberg that, among other things, could threaten Lindsay's national political hopes. Lindsay, aware that the article was coming out, moved to preempt it two days before it was published by appointing a committee to study the problem and make recommendations. After three weeks, the committee recommended an independent commission, made up of prestigious citizens, with its own investigators and staff. The remainder of the chapter describes the establishment of the commission headed by former prosecutor Whitman Knapp.Less
This chapter details the widespread corruption in the New York City Police Department and how a young police officer named Frank Serpico and New York Times investigative reporter David Burnham helped expose it. Burnham's front-page article was published on April 25, 1970, based chiefly on the experiences of Serpico. It also suggested that Mayor John Lindsay had deliberately ignored the problem. Within days, police corruption became a hot topic all over the city. Rumblings were heard that Serpico's revelations might be, as Burnham suggested, only the tip of an iceberg that, among other things, could threaten Lindsay's national political hopes. Lindsay, aware that the article was coming out, moved to preempt it two days before it was published by appointing a committee to study the problem and make recommendations. After three weeks, the committee recommended an independent commission, made up of prestigious citizens, with its own investigators and staff. The remainder of the chapter describes the establishment of the commission headed by former prosecutor Whitman Knapp.
Michael Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231153546
- eISBN:
- 9780231526982
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231153546.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
For two years the author was chief counsel to the Knapp Commission, investigating cops. Based on the author's recollections of this watershed moment in law enforcement accountability—prompted by the ...
More
For two years the author was chief counsel to the Knapp Commission, investigating cops. Based on the author's recollections of this watershed moment in law enforcement accountability—prompted by the report on whistleblower cop Frank Serpico—this book recreates the struggles and significance of the Commission and explores the factors that led to its success and the restoration of the NYPD's public image. Serpico's charges against the NYPD encouraged Mayor John Lindsay to appoint Whitman Knapp to chair a Citizen's Commission on police graft. Chief Counsel Armstrong cobbled together an investigative group of a half-dozen lawyers and a dozen agents. When funding was about to run out, the “blue wall of silence” collapsed. A “Madame,” a corrupt lawyer, and an informant led to a “super thief” cop, who was trapped and “turned” by the Commission. This led to hearings, which publicly refuted the notion that departmental corruption was limited to only a “few rotten apples.” The book illuminates police investigative strategy; governmental and departmental political maneuvering; ethical and philosophical issues in law enforcement; the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the police's anticorruption efforts; the effectiveness of the training of police officers; the psychological and emotional pressures that lead to corruption; and the effects of police criminality on individuals and society. It concludes with the effects, in today's world, of Knapp and succeeding investigations into police corruption and the value of permanent outside monitoring bodies, such as the special prosecutor's office, formed in response to the Commission's recommendation, as well as the current monitoring commission, of which Armstrong is chairman.Less
For two years the author was chief counsel to the Knapp Commission, investigating cops. Based on the author's recollections of this watershed moment in law enforcement accountability—prompted by the report on whistleblower cop Frank Serpico—this book recreates the struggles and significance of the Commission and explores the factors that led to its success and the restoration of the NYPD's public image. Serpico's charges against the NYPD encouraged Mayor John Lindsay to appoint Whitman Knapp to chair a Citizen's Commission on police graft. Chief Counsel Armstrong cobbled together an investigative group of a half-dozen lawyers and a dozen agents. When funding was about to run out, the “blue wall of silence” collapsed. A “Madame,” a corrupt lawyer, and an informant led to a “super thief” cop, who was trapped and “turned” by the Commission. This led to hearings, which publicly refuted the notion that departmental corruption was limited to only a “few rotten apples.” The book illuminates police investigative strategy; governmental and departmental political maneuvering; ethical and philosophical issues in law enforcement; the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the police's anticorruption efforts; the effectiveness of the training of police officers; the psychological and emotional pressures that lead to corruption; and the effects of police criminality on individuals and society. It concludes with the effects, in today's world, of Knapp and succeeding investigations into police corruption and the value of permanent outside monitoring bodies, such as the special prosecutor's office, formed in response to the Commission's recommendation, as well as the current monitoring commission, of which Armstrong is chairman.
