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The Police Are Still Out Of Control -Frank Serpico

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  • The Police Are Still Out Of Control -Frank Serpico

    Long article, but worth the read. I'm just posting the opening of it:


    In the opening scene of the 1973 movie “Serpico,” I am shot in the face—or to be more accurate, the character of Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino, is shot in the face. Even today it’s very difficult for me to watch those scenes, which depict in a very realistic and terrifying way what actually happened to me on Feb. 3, 1971. I had recently been transferred to the Narcotics division of the New York City Police Department, and we were moving in on a drug dealer on the fourth floor of a walk-up tenement in a Hispanic section of Brooklyn. The police officer backing me up instructed me (since I spoke Spanish) to just get the apartment door open “and leave the rest to us.”

    One officer was standing to my left on the landing no more than eight feet away, with his gun drawn; the other officer was to my right rear on the stairwell, also with his gun drawn. When the door opened, I pushed my way in and snapped the chain. The suspect slammed the door closed on me, wedging in my head and right shoulder and arm. I couldn’t move, but I aimed my snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver at the perp (the movie version unfortunately goes a little Hollywood here, and has Pacino struggling and failing to raise a much-larger 9-millimeter automatic). From behind me no help came. At that moment my anger got the better of me. I made the almost fatal mistake of taking my eye off the perp and screaming to the officer on my left: “What the hell you waiting for? Give me a hand!” I turned back to face a gun blast in my face. I had cocked my weapon and fired back at him almost in the same instant, probably as reflex action, striking him. (He was later captured.)

    When I regained consciousness, I was on my back in a pool of blood trying to assess the damage from the gunshot wound in my cheek. Was this a case of small entry, big exit, as often happens with bullets? Was the back of my head missing? I heard a voice saying, “Don’ worry, you be all right, you be all right,” and when I opened my eyes I saw an old Hispanic man looking down at me like Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan. My “backup” was nowhere in sight. They hadn’t even called for assistance—I never heard the famed “Code 1013,” meaning “Officer Down.” They didn’t call an ambulance either, I later learned; the old man did. One patrol car responded to investigate, and realizing I was a narcotics officer rushed me to a nearby hospital (one of the officers who drove me that night said, “If I knew it was him, I would have left him there to bleed to death,” I learned later).

    The next time I saw my “back-up” officers was when one of them came to the hospital to bring me my watch. I said, “What the hell am I going to do with a watch? What I needed was a back-up. Where were you?” He said, “Fuck you,” and left. Both my “back-ups” were later awarded medals for saving my life.


    Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...#ixzz3NUKXE06u

  • #2
    Thought about posting a new thread about this but still can't decide how I feel.

    Looks like NYC cops are laying down and playing scared to get their way. Or are they really that afraid of doing their job now?

    It’s not a slowdown — it’s a virtual work stoppage. NYPD traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent following the execution of two cops — as office…

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Ruffdaddy View Post
      Thought about posting a new thread about this but still can't decide how I feel.

      Looks like NYC cops are laying down and playing scared to get their way. Or are they really that afraid of doing their job now?

      http://nypost.com/2014/12/29/arrests...n-of-two-cops/
      Interesting. Guess people will have to fend for themselves...Could get interesting.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by dcs13 View Post
        Interesting. Guess people will have to fend for themselves...Could get interesting.
        While still paying for a service they will not receive...

        Comment


        • #5
          I think organized crime/mafia do a better job of protection. You pay them to protect your interests, and they do. Police will go after you just as fast as they would any other individual.

          I really hope this grandstanding shows how ineffective the police are and reduces the overall number.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Ruffdaddy View Post
            While still paying for a service they will not receive...
            Typical union tactics and not acceptable by any means.

            Comment


            • #7
              Why the fuck do the police need a union?
              ZOMBIE REAGAN FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!! heh

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by YALE View Post
                Why the fuck do the police need a union?
                If they didn't, nobody would take the job.
                "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Baron Von Crowder View Post
                  If they didn't, nobody would take the job.
                  Maybe.
                  ZOMBIE REAGAN FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!! heh

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Baron Von Crowder View Post
                    If they didn't, nobody would take the job.
                    I don't buy that

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Village People - YMCA OFFICIAL Music Video 1978: http://youtu.be/CS9OO0S5w2k

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Ruffdaddy View Post
                        I don't buy that
                        If I loan you a few bucks, can you get a sarcasm detector?
                        "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Baron Von Crowder View Post
                          If they didn't, nobody would take the job.
                          Which would result in the cities having to pay more. The job would then attract smarter people.
                          Originally posted by racrguy
                          What's your beef with NPR, because their listeners are typically more informed than others?
                          Originally posted by racrguy
                          Voting is a constitutional right, overthrowing the government isn't.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Broncojohnny View Post
                            Which would result in the cities having to pay more. The job would then attract smarter people.

                            We know they don't want that, since they're actively eliminating people with high IQs from their potential rookie pool.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Broncojohnny View Post
                              Which would result in the cities having to pay more. The job would then attract smarter people.
                              My idea is to set the standard higher, rather than lower. They can exclude an applicant for a high iq, where they should have a bottom and no top.

                              Drive out done of the idiots, and pay a bit more to hire people that can think and have good decision making and can work well under pressure.
                              "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford

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