How Did Frank Serpico Create Corruption In The New York City Police Department

As New York City crept closer to bankruptcy in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the New York City Police Department along with many other major city organizations started to partake in bribery, embezzlement, blackmail, and other forms of corruption. With many officers benefitting from this extortion, the chances of someone exposing this corruption seemed extremely miniscule. The corruption finally came to light when officer and detective Frank Serpico disclosed the rampant crime of the NYPD in 1971. While NYPD officials were not happy with the whistleblowing, it led to an abundance of praise for Serpico from outsiders and even a film made about him. After experiencing illegal actions of the NYPD firsthand and a suspicious near death experience with a criminal, Frank Serpico exposed the New York City Police Department’s graft of the 1960s and 1970s and continues to speak on issues concerning the NYPD today.

Born on April 14, 1936 to Italian immigrants, Serpico was raised in Brooklyn. Once he turned eighteen Serpico joined the United States Army in Korea, serving for two years total. After his time with the Army, he attended Brooklyn College and then the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, staying true to his New York City roots. At twenty-three years old Serpico began his tenure as a NYPD officer with the 81st Precinct in 1959. First a patrolman, Serpico also worked with the Bureau of Crime Identification for two years before becoming a plainclothes officer where he dove into and uncovered the multitude of suspicious activity of the NYPD at the