searching for serpico

8/7/2019 Searching for Serpico

1/6


2/6


3/6

'm in the boardroomofan upmarketNewYorkCiry hotel . I 'msurounded y some eryangry ops.They're lsontensely orried. orgood eason.rvoofthe officerspresent ave eceivedathhreatstlthe past e" days.One tells me he hasbeen

sickwith worry. Literally. The reason s his"bro ther of6cers".Hallivay through anundercoverjob he discoveredmany oFthemwere corrupt n more rvays han hecould possiblyhave magined,and nowhe\ blorving hewhisde. He's allla*yered-up;hisrvife, a fellow of6cer, s standingbyhis side.His partner6om the dpartment,also. utunt i l today he most mportantpiece ftheircrusade asmissing. leader.

They all knew exactlywho theywantedto 6llthat role,and thrs afternoon hearrived. ghen he stpped onvard,rvithhis hand outstretched, heir rvoniesevaporatedora beautitulsecond.Hisname s Frank Serpico.And, asoftoday,he'sback n business.Therewasa time rvhenFrankSepico's ameeclipsedElvis Presley ,John i/ayne's andMuhammadAli t .

ln the arly Sventies, mid th e mud ofVitnam andWatergate,America oundth ehero t lvas ooking or:an honest opcalledSerpico.Naturally, I lollrrvoodloved it and when they made he film in1973 s arringAl Pacino Serpicot namebecamedre itle, assumi'rg he kind offamitiarity normally reservedor rock stars,

FrankSerpicohad graduated rom $epolice academyur r95o,hopeful andidealistic. 0ithin days on the ob" hediscovered orv-level orruptionevery.rvhere:reeme:ls from diners;sleeping n the ob ; bibes rom speedingdrivers,and so on But Serpicostayedclean.So cleanhe evencarriedout arrestsofFduty. As a result,heivasostracised.

He fought back,embracingSixtiescounterculture living like a hippy andeschervinghe normal "we atl sticktogethel 'pol icei fe.An d whenhe eal isedthe sheer cale fthe corrupt ion, erpicoknewhe had o tel lsomeone bout t .

He fol lorvedhe mle bookand:rpproached i s mostseniorofficers.Theyignored im. He thendid heunthinkable,wentoutsidehepol icedepartmentothe Mayor ofNervYork's a ssistant whoalsodidnothing.Ina ast, esperatemcasure, eryico ecret ly et DavidBurnham, a respected eporter rom theNna )'or| Tim:. On Aprtl21, 97o,headlinesannouncing n unprecedentedcale fpolice corruption made he front page.

Despite eingcal led "psycho"by thepol ice ommissionernd 6ndinga ive>

@-@@btNrr{ark@hneagH#*ff San b Add '' ro B'ddps C.e


4/6


5/6

> hand-grenade ddressedo him underthe precinctChristmas ree,Serpicokepton working undercover.Despisedby otherofficers, twas only a matter of time beforesomthingbad happened. n Februaryr97, an undercoverBrooklyndrugsbustwentwrong and his back-upwasstrangelyreluctant o, well, backhim up . Hewasshotin the faceandleftto die.

He clun g to life and survived.After hisreleaserom hospital he KnappCommission's nquiry into policecorruption wasortanised,with Serpico hestarattraction.He tave public testimonyabout the corruption he'd witnessed ndthe problemshe'd had tryingto fightit.Everyone istened.They evenclapped.

Then FrankSerpicodiappeared.In the interveningz5yean, rumoun

abounded as o his ate: heard he wasliving in Italy, Switzerland,Spain,Tibet,rVales,Franceand reland.

Hi s story eemedo sropdead t heen dofthatmovie.Noonehad been ble o 6l lin theblanks. ut lwanted o.I spentmonths trackinghim down. The Intemet,old phone books,dead'endcallswithcranksand weirdos.Finally I got lucky andIbund his nephew,a no-nonsenseNervYork la*,yer.He agreed o setup anreeting.But evenas boarded plane oNcw York I las still n the dark aboutwhenI rvould meet Detective Third CradeFnnk Serpico retired).

I senscdha thcrvasr ' tso uchstcppingour oi t l re h.rdo.*. .r. .v,r crrrel lg rhcm.The phce wherewe'vearanged to meetka i t t lc cstaunutn a i t t le own n NcwIorh 5t,rr , , l been old ' l l knowbinr hcnronrent seehim. "He's mind-blowinglyLrnusr:r l ," theysaid.

Tbey rvrren'nrrong, eit her.He'swearingbrown jeans, xpensive rownsportsshoes, ithtSreen, stonewashedshin and a eatherwaistcort.African beadshangaround his neck,asdoesa dragon's-headmedallion. Thewhole look is toppedoffwith a ittle ivory earringrvhichdanglesfrom his eft ear- it's ntricatelycawed andshapedike penis.He notrce.me ookrngat t. "ltalian Viagra,"he whispen. Then hecracks p laughinSathis ownjok.

At6z, he'sbuiltlike a hardcoreendurence thleteand standsabouty'9"with the thick, shoulder-length airandgreyingbeardof\gillie Nelson. His face sinstant lyengaging,annedandrveathered;eyes ike a kidwhen het smiling-penetratingandglazedwhen het angry.An old hippywith an edge.An edge n theshapeofthegvv Browning automatic henevergoesanyu,herewithout.rlfe eat unch. He quotesSocrates ndVB Yeats.Ve talk opera,cookery,whisky

202| Go

Anything it seems, uthim. Finally,we goforawalk.

Suddenlyi t t a l lover.He announcesehas o leave.Anothermeetint is arranged.A new ocation is aboriouslychosen.Then het offl drivinga new,gleaming,black, our-wheeldrive. Grinning wildly.

I'm Ieft aloneon a street-corner ith anotebook-fu l of unanswered uestions,wondering, or all my research, xactlywho the man I've ust met reallywas.Becauset sureashell wasnl Al Pacino."Thecal l thatwent n was cal lby acivilian, it wasa'Ten-Ten'- investigateshots6red.l know the man that called tin, hewasconsoling me while Iwas layingon the floor. Hewas an old Puerto ucanand he says:Don't worry, youle tonna bealr ight. I a l led ol ice, lcal led mbulance. 'Two cops esponded; nepolice car.Theylumbered up the stairsand heardone ofthem sey,'l thinkhet a nark."'

FrankSerpico ouchson the point thatstill bothershim: "1neversaidIwas setup,buttheyleftme tobleed o deathandnevercalled a'Ten-Thineen' - omcer down."

Ifthey had, theplacewould havebeenswarmingwith patrol cars n minutes.Instead heyjust rporteda "Ten-Ten",merelymeans lnvestigateshots6red".The two copswho didn'tcharSe he doorwhen the pinned-down Serpicohadpleadedwith them to do so,andwhosubsequently idn't sendout that alfinportant radio-alert, vcre alled o giveevidencebefbrea policeboard.BothweregiveDDecorationsol lrxceptionalMerit by the NYPD forthei r part n"saving"Serpico's ife.

Serpicostares ut the windowandshakes is head.It's a few daysafterour6rst meeting.We're drivingthe.Toomilesdown to NewYorkCity.

In the nt eflening days 've been owatch him pl ay in an African drumminggroup,I've beenshoppingrvith him andwe'veeaten n various estauraDtsogetLer.Sometimeshe'lltalk rvith greatenthusialm; other times,like now, he'llintroduce a britde edge o ourconversations. t onepoint I wasappalledto find myselfthreatening o throwhi,noutofthe car; f he didn'tstopbeing udeto me. He mutteredsonrethinSaboutme"having no sense fhumo ur".

The daybfore his trip to NewYork,he'd nvited me backto his secluded abinin the rvoods.He seemed ulnerableandnervousshowing me around,giving methe clear mpression hat he rarely nvitedstrangers ome. He shorvedme h's full-size,Nativ American tepee, is Buddhastatues n upturned tree-tops nd hissculptures. private place orhealing and

reflection.A placenormally well offJimitsto outsiders. wasgratefulfor his trust.

t:sk him why he vannhed or so ong."The storyof t he butterfly, you know.I went nto my cocoon. wentawaybecauseI wantedpeace nd qr.:iet.Iwashealingmyselfphysicallyand psychologically."

Heeventually had o retum to theStates o fighta paternitysuit. He hasanr8-year-old on, he resultofa relat ionshipthat flourishedaround the time that thehitmovie abouthis life wasmade.Hesems itter about that particularcourtbattle and onlyseeshi son "once in awhile". He continues, Hellike hismother.AI lhe thinks bout smater ialstufl He changes is name o Serpicowhen it\ convenient or him."

I askhim ifhe everenjoyedbeingapol lceman,"Sure,"he says. l loved he workbecausetwas h elpingpeople. t wasanhonourableprofession, t sst the kind ofcop that I wanted o bewas..- o be outthre helpingpeople n need s apublicservice. nd anybody hat doesn'twant tobe a civilservantshouldn\take this ob.Too many people ake hejob becausethey think t hey\e going to make moneywith corruption.''

Qrietness alls benveen s again.Helikes he silences.0e drive quietlythroughthe outskirtsof the city of New York.

Is he n touchwith the situationinside hecurrent New York CityPolice Departmentl He bristles t thephrase in touch"."You sound urt Jike hoseAmericanjournalistswho have riends oprotect andwant to pretend 'm out oftouch. Horv cananybody be outoftouch rvith the policedepartment? know what I went throughz5 earsago... Now] I get etters rom alloverthe country from copsrvho aresickand tired ofcorruption, and heyrvant todo somethingabout t. The honestcop istired ofbeingabused by the system."

I'm discoverinshet neverreallybeenaway.Het ahvays eenaround to quietlyhelp othercopswho neededhis supponand guidance.However,rvhenhe testifiedbeforea City Council c omn]ittee on theneed ora ner v ndependentboard omonitorpol icewrongdoingheyearbefore, e 'dchosen:r rescient;me oemerge iom ap parentobscurig. The citywas eeling rom allegations nvolving thealleged ssault y fourofiicers on a Haitianimmigrant nanredAbnerLouima whoclainred he copshad rammeda nightstickinto his ectum. nd anotherscandalinvolving the NYPD rvas lso hitting theheadlines: or ryyears, o hishrankins >

'Youdon'l[cG0mG0G100lrwncnyou[ecomeaGop.neseglly$wGleallcadudishonGsl'


6/6

F Is l lnd ,K e t r e0 t s

P e r so n I v . scec ted . e c u t i e - - ' " " " ' - )i s land ho l iday des t ina t ionsin the CARIBBEAII ,the INDIAN OCEAI' Iandthe FAR EAST.ln t i r ra tc , rnc l l i s t inc t i le hot t ls , pa lnr l r ingct lb c a c l r c s , o f t l h i t r ' s a r r r l s . bl u c s l i i . s , u . r r n r

scas. S, . l , . rc l , 'drop i t : . r lh i r l i . r rvar r i t l r\ \ ra terspo l ' ts , r 'n r . r isrDc l o l l ' . T Ianc lu i l l i t r .

l 'onlanceJ elegance' ac i\ r - , . , lax . i t ion.I s land Ret reatsExqu .st c Iocat ans. f i . i r ,1r . / r r r ii r tFor a persoual nsightRetrcatsbrochurc, plcasc our Is l . r rd01730 26s211or sctu oul iocal trar.cl agcnt.

SILK UTRAVILIATA

> of6cers rom the Midtown Southprecinct had allegedlybeenusingtheservices fcity-centreprostitutes mostofthe trysts ookplace during on-dutyhours.kwas a n eerily amiliar scenariooranyone versedn Serpico's tory.

)Thydoyou thinkthe policewere (andstillare) on the take?He thinks fora fewseconds. Becausethere{werelcriminal elements romsocietywho becomepoiicemen.You don't becomea crookwhen you become

a cop. Theseguysalreadyhad the notion ofb eing dishonest.Ifyo u don'thavethe courage o say'no' to the temptation ofcommittinga crime, vhatdifferencedoes t make fyou havea uniform on ornot?"

We park n downtown Manhattan and bolt through the dorvnpourinto thatwell-knownhotel, to that secret oa rdroom meetingbeween FrankSerpicoand detectives. or egal easons, cannotfelat e n detailwhat is specificallydiscussed uring this meeting,exceptto say hat t concer ns theme the Buestofhonour is all too fanriliarwith: poiicecorruption on a staggering cale. heolficers meet oday arr the oneswho refi:sed o go along*ith it. One tells megrimlv: "The investigationencompassed arcotics rafGcking, mbezzlement,witncx tampering,evidence ampering,money aundering...Therewereollicers nvolved thatrve bad evidence gainst."

I'm shown a photo ofone of their colleagues his hands ullofcash andflesh in LasVegas, osingwith a ocalmadam.The guywas the headoftheirdepartmenCs ice squad.

One ofthe lawyers resentat he meetingsays he conr.rptpoliceofficersarestillsent out on duty on a daily basis vith thesewhistie-biowers.So thatdoesn'tgiveyou a realsense fsecu rity knowing that thoseare hepeople youmay counton to save ourlife in a situation," he explains.

Serpico istens, ommentingthat it all sounds very familiar feelingalone,feelingvr:lnerabl e, eelingthat thesmen [corrupt of6cers]are ook ing atyouwith distrust...And, psychologically mean, vhathappened o me tookme anumber ofyears o getovi'.

The meeting Fnally breala up. The copspose orphotographs withtheirhero,like kids meeting a ootballstar. One ofthem evenproducesanancient,battered6rst'edition ofthe book, Sarprro.l'm beingpromoted todetctive omonow," he tellsSerpicoproudly.Then theyshakehandsand Serpico eaves.

Ten minutesater l 'mstanding i th him on thcstretoutsidhe hotel .Hchasanotherappointment in thc city this timc with his family. We embraceand sava hunied farewell.

I stand stilland watch him rvalkoft trackinghn fbr m for a fervsecondsamong the crorvds. hen, quite suddenly, realise ca n't seem o seehim anymore. In an instant,FrankSerpicohasbecomeunrecognisablen the throngjust anothersbape n the hurrying hordes.Er

searching for serpico

Documents