Programme 15: 21st October 2007

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Frank Serpico, New York police officer who exposed corruption in NYPD

Having witnessed his fellow cops accepting bribes from gangsters, Frank Serpico tried to alert his superiors to the problem.  When this approach failed to change anything, Serpico reluctantly went public with his information and the New York Times ran a front-page story on the subject in 1970, which led to the establishment of the Knapp Commission.

Serpico's choices made him unpopular with other policemen and, he says, he paid the price in February 1971 when an apparently routine drugs bust went wrong.  His back-up colleagues reacted uncharacteristically slowly and Serpico was shot in the face.  After testifying to the Knapp Commission, Serpico was promoted and given the Medal of Honor.  A month later, he retired from the Police Department.