Good Cops, Bad Verdict - How Racial Politics Convicted Us of Murder

I don't read a lot, but i couldn't put this book down. I really feel sorry for Larry and Walter. I wonder how hard it is too be a police officer in Detroit after the railroading those two received. I always thought that police; regardless of what position they hold, was one big family. This book was a good example of reverse racism!

In his riveting first-person account of his 1992 Detroit murder trial, former Detroit Police Officer Larry Nevers strips the veil from the eyes of Blind Justice. The Lady sees! And, as we discover, she tips her scales to achieve a politically correct verdict. Soon after the Rodney King case in California, Nevers and his police partner Walter Budzyn attempt to arrest Malice Green during a routine drug stop. High on cocaine and alcohol, Green resists. The struggle turns ugly and Nevers strikes Green with his flashlight. Backup officers finally cuff the prisoner. Then to Nevers' amazement, Green dies on the way to the hospital. Detroit vows not to replay Simi Valley. Within 24 housrs the circus begins and a dazed Nevers and Budzyn are marked for conviction of second-degree murder. Now in the book he vowed to write to clear his name, Nevers shows the underside of City Hall, political ambition, mob rage, the emerging science of cocaine-induced death--and a bevy of "victims" who got rich by suing the city over the case. His story is compelling and a cautionary tale for every police officer in the country. --Ann Sweeney

The policemen in this case were convicted based on the word of crackheads, drug dealers, prostitutes and an EMS technician who was looking for a stress-related retirement. In rationalizing the managing of the Malice Green Railroad, the philosophy of the Wayne County Prosecutor was: "Well, even a prostitute or drug dealer can tell the truth sometimes", while completely discounting the testimony of a host of "mainstream" witnesses and experts, and the credibility of two policemen with unblemished records compiled over 47+ combined years of serving and protecting some of the most predatory and parasitic residents of the ruins of a once great American city. This book offers a very high resolution look at the people involved in sending 2 policemen to prison for doing their jobs. These officers were sentenced to more time in prison than criminal cops who were caught robbing citizens and drug dealers and a City of Detroit chief of police who embezzled millions from a fund intended to finance narcotics enforcement. Their only crime was being much too naive considering their many years on the job. They mistakenly thought the system was actually in place to support officers who took drugs and guns off the street. Instead, they learned how powerful Detroit's not-so-underground economy of drugs, prostitution, racial politics, apathy and corruption was, and still is. For example: It is revealed in this book, through a memoir written by the Assistant Medical Examiner who conducted the autopsy of Green, that this particular medical examiner believed he had to consider "what was going on in the community" in determining Green's cause of death. What should the community's reaction have to do with the Medical Examiner's findings? The common thread running through the opinion of every experienced policeman who's read this book is: "There but for the grace of God go I". Any policeman who can't relate to the convicted officers in this book hasn't done much policework on the street. There are those employed as law enforcement officers who I've heard say that Nevers and Budzyn got what they deserved. When I try to reconcile this statement with the job assignment of those making it, it's not hard to see that the types of "police officers" who hold this opinion are not the types who would be responding to a citizen's or another policeman's call for help at 3:00am. Instead they are so far removed from the street that their opinion holds no credibility with me. There is a well-known principle in law enforcement management that says a community gets the kind of police service it deserves. I can think of no better example of the truth of this principle than in looking at the handling of the Malice Green case and the current state of the City of Detroit in general, and the Detroit Police Department in particular. The police department of the City of Detroit has an abysmally slow response time to crimes in progress. They have a ridiculously low clear

The true story of two veteran white cops, doing their job, ridding the streets of Detroit of drugs-and what can happen when things turn terribly wrong. While attempting to subdue a black person who is resisting arrest in front of a known dope house, the officers use force that includes striking the perpetrator with a flashlight. With help from other crews, the suspect, Malice Green, is subdued and conveyed to the hospital, where he passes away, allegedly from injuries suffered in the scuffle. Almost immediately, the police chief and mayor brand the officers as murderers and virtually fire them then and there. Responding officers are also suspended. The author and his partner, Wally Budzyn are eventually charged in the death of Green, but not before the city gives several million dollars to Green's relatives to prevent a civil trial. Both officers wind up in prison for several years after a racially charged trial involving questionable characters (witnesses and sworn personnel) and evidence in Detroit. This book is the journal of Larry's nightmare that occurred after the arrest of Green goes bad. He meticulously points out errors in testimony, forensics and the railroading they faced trying to clear themselves. A real eye opener for anyone who followed the case and a MUST read for any law enforcement officer, especially those who believe it can't happen to them. Because it can-and did-happen.

This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about the racial politics being played out in almost every big city police department in the USA. It should be mandatory reading for all police academy students to illustrate to them just what can happen if they "do their job." This book was hard to put down. As a civilian, it was particularly interesting to me because I learned the real workings of how the justice system railroads people, including it's own, every day in this country. The book will take you through the average work day of a big city police officer and show you just how things can turn bad in a second. And how corrupt city officials and politically appointed police officials conspired to put two innocent men in jail. After reading this I can't imagine any one in their right minds wanting "To Serve and Protect."