NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption in the Country's Greatest Police Force

Leonard Levitt has written a book which is less an expose and more a study of how polices forces have been run in this country during the past 40 to 50 years. While his expertise is the NYPD he could have just have easily been the LAPD, Boston Police or NOPD all of which have had similar style coverage during the past few years. Where Levitt is truly exception is how well he knows everyone from the commissioner down to the rank and file. He knows exactly what he is writing about and most importantly seems to have created a climate of trust within the police force that he is able to break the fabled "blue wall of silence." This is a very readable and highly interesting book. Levitt does not try to portray the police has totally corrupt, nor does he overlook the minor failing which resulted in major problems. He recognizes the cases of police officers who have been sacrificed in the name of political expediency while recognizing the cases of senior level people who have been forced out as much for their being right as anything else. This is a very interesting book and I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in how a police force really works.

NYPD CONFIDENTIAL: Power and Corruption in the Country's Greatest Police Force NYPD Confidential by Leonard Levitt certainly didn't spare any criticisms of the "Brass" at One Police Plaza or even City Hall for that matter. So, Levitt shouldn't have been surprised that the Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly and the other two major subjects of his book, Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg didn't respond to his request for interviews. Levitt was already on record as having criticized them in his news editorials. Commissioner Kelly even had previously revoked his press credentials after a negative article that Levitt wrote about Kelly. Welcome to the New York City Police Department. "When your in you're a Guest when your out you're a Pest." I spent twenty-two and a half years in the NYPD in a number of special assignments from the elite Tactical Patrol Force making my way up the ladder through the Detective Division and retiring as the Commander of Bronx Homicide. I can personally attest to what happens to anyone who criticizes the "High Command." I was there during many of the scandals that Lenny describes in his book. Although I thought that I knew most of what had taken place and some of the inside stories behind the news, I was amazed at how much I didn't know after I read Lenny's book. There are certainly some eye-opening details in this book that reveal the naked ambitions of some of the most powerful people I served under during my career with the NYPD. However, one thing I did notice is that Lenny didn't get everything right. That was probably because he was looking at the event through the eyes of a reporter and not a cop. Needless to say, as a dedicated law enforcement professional I found some of the revelations embarrassing. Yet, despite the revelations in NYPD Confidential, I can state unequivocally that there are more good cops than bad cops in the NYPD. As a student of human behavior I can comprehend how some of the folks that Lenny personally identified in NYPD Confidential chose to use political expediency to combat the truth. But is it any different in the federal government or private industry? Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be assigned to the outer Borough of the Bronx for most of my career and had little interaction with the Headquarters. I found the "Headquarters Mentality" to be treacherous not to mention how devastating it was to people's careers. I think that Lenny did get it right regarding the egos, attitudes and rivalries, which permeate One Police Plaza. But, sadly, the duplicity of these folks will continue to be played out each and every day. Even in his introduction Lenny admits that most of the police officials who did talk to him did so anonymously and that included high ranking members of the department. You have to read this book to understand how and why people like Commissioner Ray Kelly, who has been described as a megalomaniac in NYPD blogs, as well as others mentioned in this book can be dangerous a

Not much good was ever done by the NYPD in this journalistic memoir. This recounts every scandal and shameful episode from the past 40 years, along with acerbic portraits of Guiliani and numerous police commissioners, most of whom are shown as egotistical, if not downright stupid. The author was buddies with a few of them and they get kid-glove treatment. You'll want to read this if you're a police or crime buff. It's pretty fascinating, if grim, stuff.

This is an excellent historical and critical look about good and bad police practices from a journalist who has spent years in the forefront overseeing New York police operations. He recalls how John Guido, head of NYPD Internet Affairs for 15 years, observed that corruption has been a part of the New York police culture. Detective Frank Serpico went public with corruption which led to the Knapp Commission in 1970 that found corruption at all levels. There was a continuation of corrupt practices discovered by the Lexom Commission in the 1890s. Police were known to shake down the public and criminals. The Knapp Commission discovered officers known as "grass eaters" and "meat eaters" depending on the degree of corrupt practices in which they engaged. The police had a culture of covering up their misdoings. Reports were altered to make the police falsely appear correct. The highest uniformed officer, the Chief Inspector, admitted to receiving improper gifts from business leaders. Reports of corruption were reported to Mayor John Lindsay, who looked the other way in hopes of keeping the police ready in case of riots, which did occur. Ironically, after the Knapp Commission, police leadership focused more on preventing policy corruption than on fighting crime. There was less managerial concern about the rising crime rate than on avoiding corrupt practices. Precinct cops and squad detectives were steered away from making drug arrests, which had led to kickbacks. Instead, arrests were made by specialized units, which resulted in decreased arrest rates. Broken police command led to tragic consequences. The police were left to continue monitoring themselves. Yet, 33 officers were convicted of drug related charges. The Mollen Commission studied the police and concluded that officers placed loyalty to each other above the truth. Kelly slowly and reluctantly removed some senior officer alleged to be part of cover-ups. A permanent police monitoring agency was proposed but Mayor Guiliani opposed the idea. Ray Kelly as Police Commissioner saw the murder rate decline during his tenure. He was known for fighting police corruption. His successful tenure at lowering crime helped boost the image of Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Yet Guiliani replaced him with William Bratton. Bratton had NYPD increase arrest of "quality of life" crimes such as squeegee people, graffiti writers, people public urinating, shoplifters, marijuana dealers and users, etc. Britton's successes made him more popular than was Mayor Guiliani. Guiliani was not happy with being overshadowed. 1,000 officers, or 4% of all officers, were in the Narcotics Division. Since 30% of crime was related to drugs, Bratton decided to transfer more police into the Narcotics Division. Once again, Bratton received more praise for this than did Guiliani. Guiliani demanded the police press office be reduced from 35 to 17, one less than the 16 who composed the Mayor's press office. Bratton o

Leonard Levitt's new book NYPD Confidential is a no holds barred look into the NYC Police Department and the corruption, collusion and relationships among mayors, mobsters and politicians. Noone is spared, not mayors,chiefs of police,politicians both local and national, district attorneys or mobsters. Levitt names names and places and his sources are both named and unamed. Noone has yet denied or disputed any accusations made in this book. As a NYC resident during the three decades covered in the book I can attest to the voluminous cases of police and political corruption reported so frequently in the daily newspapers. Levitt, however, goes much further into the details of what went on as well as shocking new allegations against people in power that the public was never aware of until now. This is a very powerful book and I strongly suggest that any person that believes that power does not corrupt will surely change their minds after reading this book.