Documentary about a corrupt police officer in 1980s New York. In need of money, he began stealing and extorting money and goods from the drug dealers he was supposed to be arresting, and using the narcotics he stole to set up his own criminal enterprise, When he was finally brought to justice in 1992, his arrest exposed widespread corruption on the force
The 75th precinct in New York serves the eastern portion of Brooklyn. In the 1980s, as this unyielding, slightly shouty documentary makes plain, it was buckling under the pressure of an illegal narcotics epidemic. "It was like the heyday of crack," observes one law enforcer, adding to a vivid snapshot of the Big Apple when it was rotten to the core. But seasoned crime documentary producer Tiller Russell's film is less about the drugs and more about corruption. Michael Dowd, described as "a crook in a cop's uniform", was eventually put away for 13 years for his crimes. A charismatic raconteur and wiseguy self-publicist, Dowd lived by the code to never rat on another cop and refused to name names when he was convicted in 1994. What makes the film compelling is the just-like-the-movies momentum of the escalating story, colourfully retold by its participants - including a Dominican drug dealer - without a shred of remorse. A revealing, testosterone-fuelled addition to the true-crime genre.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Ken Eurell | Ken Eurell |
| Michael Dowd | Michael Dowd |
| Adam Diaz | Adam Diaz |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Tiller Russell |
