Frank Serpico
Francesco Vincent "Frank" Serpico (born April 14, 1936 in Brooklyn , New York City , USA ) is a former officer in the New York Police Department (NYPD) . In 1970 he testified before a committee of inquiry against corrupt colleagues within the police. He gained great fame through the film adaptation of Serpico with Al Pacino (1973).
biography
Early years
Frank Serpico was born the son of Italian emigrants from Marigliano (Province of Naples ). He had dreamed of becoming a policeman since childhood. He joined the US Army at the age of 18 and was stationed in South Korea for two years . In 1959 he went to the New York City Police Department and was initially a patrol officer on probation . On March 5, 1960 he was accepted into the police force, first worked in the 81st District of the Police, then for two years in the BCI (Bureau of Criminal Identification).
As a civil servant, he fought crime in Brooklyn and the Bronx . He experienced the dark side of police work: colleagues abused suspects , were corrupt and took bribes on a large scale . Anyone who refused to participate in this process quickly became an outsider and was put under pressure by their own colleagues.
Formation of the Knapp Commission
Serpico tried to report the grievances but his superiors obstructed him and often relocated him over a ten-year period. Serpico suffered from the constant distrust of the other officials. In his private life, too, he found it difficult to get along with other people and his changing friends; Again and again those around him suffered from his - according to his own statements - often exuberant temper. Eventually he and a few confidants turned to Mayor John Lindsay's office , but even there their leads were not followed up. That didn't change until he got help from his colleague David Durk and they both told their story to a reporter for the New York Times newspaper , which was published as the cover story on April 25, 1970. Mayor Lindsay formed a five-member investigation committee, which according to its director, Whitman Knapp as Knapp Commission was named that began with extensive investigations.
Life-threatening use
Serpico was reassigned and continued to work as a civil servant on the streets of New York City. On February 3, 1971, he was shot deadly while working against drug trafficking .
The mission came about on the basis of a tip and led to a house on 778 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg . Serpico was shot in the face while trying to break into the apartment. Serpico was actually accompanied by three policemen. The colleagues Gary Roteman and Arthur Cesare stood in front of the entrance; the third colleague Paul Halley in front of the building complex. Serpico had entered via the fire escape and had heard the dealer's slogan through two arriving customers , which was apparently necessary for the dealers to open the door.
The two buyers were arrested while leaving the building and heroin was found on them. Since Serpico knew the Spanish language, he should get involved in the deal, to get the dealers to open the door in order to be able to transfer them.
Although Serpico himself was armed, the operation went wrong. Serpico could indeed squeeze into the crack to penetrate into the apartment, but was instead of a sphere of caliber .22 hit in the head and fell back into the hallway. His colleagues had neither come to his aid, nor did they make an emergency call to headquarters. A neighbor called an ambulance to take Serpico to the hospital. A police car arrived who knew nothing about the operation and had Serpico brought to Greenpoint Hospital as a civilian victim . This led to the suspicion that his colleagues had deliberately left him in the lurch so that he would be killed in action.
consequences
He survived the wound, but retained hearing damage and slight paralysis in the face.
On May 3, 1971, New York Metro Magazine published the Portrait of an Honest Cop . On May 10, 1971, Serpico testified before a police investigative committee that revealed that an NYPD police officer of the rank of lieutenant had received bribes from gamblers.
In October and December 1971 Serpico testified before the Knapp Commission .
“Through my appearance here today… I hope that police officers in the future will not experience… the same frustration and anxiety that I was subjected to… for the past five years at the hands of my superiors… because of my attempt to report corruption. I was made to feel that I had burdened them with an unwanted task. The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist ... in which an honest police officer can act ... without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. Police corruption cannot exist unless it is at least tolerated ... at higher levels in the department. Therefore, the most important result that can come from these hearings ... is a conviction by police officers that the department will change. In order to ensure this ... an independent, permanent investigative body ... dealing with police corruption, like this commission, is essential. "
"After my appearance here today ... I hope that police officers will not have to experience the same thing in the future ... the frustration and fear I have been exposed to over the past five years from my superiors ... because of my attempts to report corruption cases . I was made to feel that I had burdened her with an undesirable task. The problem is that to this day there is no climate ... in which an honest police officer ... can act without fear of ridicule or reprisals from his colleagues. Police corruption cannot exist if it is not at least tolerated ... at the higher levels of the agency. Therefore, the most important result that these hearings may bring is ... the conviction of police officers that the service will change. In order to guarantee that ... an independent, permanently established investigative body is essential ... that deals with police corruption, like this commission. "
This made Frank Serpico the first police officer in the history of the New York City Police Department to testify against the systematic corruption in the police department.
He bitterly refused the long-awaited promotion to detective .
retirement
On June 15, 1972, Serpico resigned from the police force. A month earlier, he had received the New York City Police Department's highest honor , the New York City Police Department Medal of Honor , the medal of honor for special valor in service. It was given to him without any ceremony; "... like a pack of cigarettes," as he later said.
He went to Switzerland to relax and then lived for almost ten years on a farm in the Netherlands , interrupted by travel and studies. When the decision was made to film Serpico's life story, the actor Al Pacino , who was supposed to play the police officer in the 1973 film Serpico , asked him to move into a rented house in Montauk with him . In 2012 he said in an interview that Al Pacino played the character of Serpico “better than myself”.
Although he was exposed to hostility from police officers and customs officers, he quietly returned to New York in 1980 after the surprising death of his fourth wife Marianne from cancer.
To this day he is publicly committed to civil rights and against police violence and corruption .
Marriages
Serpico was married four times:
- Mary Ann Wheeler (1957-1962)
- Leslie Lane (1963-1965)
- Laurie Young (1966-1969)
- Marianne Serpico (1973–1980)
Adaptations
- 1973 Serpico's story was filmed by director Sidney Lumet with Al Pacino in the title role. The film is based on the book of the same name by Peter Maas . In 1976, another 15-part television series in which David Birney the Serpico played (German premiere 1983).
literature
- Peter Maas : Serpico . Viking Press. New York 1973. ISBN 0-670-63498-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cops have their say . In: intergate.com . 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
- ↑ a b Serpico Testifies . New York . 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
- ↑ a b Kathleen F. Phalen: Frank Serpico: The fate that gnaws at him . Gadfly. January / February 2001. Retrieved October 25, 2007. (English)
- ↑ David Burnham: Graft Paid to Police Here Said to Run Into Millions , The New York Times. April 25, 1970.
- ↑ Kathir Vel: Bringing the lamplighter to the limelight . In: kathirvel.com , November 6, 2005. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ↑ Larry Macshane: Despite distance and Decades, whistleblower Frank Serpico is never too far from his NYPD past. New York Daily News, December 22, 2012
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Serpico, Frank |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Serpico, Francisco Vincent |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American officer in the New York Police Department |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , USA |