The Seven Five

NYC has a long and storied history of policing through many eras and generations. The police department is huge, probably up to about 30,000 now. In the 80s NYC was a cesspool. Years of democratic government destroyed the city. Police officers were stuck in the middle of absolute chaos and anarchy. This story about officer going bad certainly tarnishes the badge and our faith in POLICE. But as a story that's being told firsthand, it is great! It is intriguing, compelling, and above all first hand accounts of what was going on at the time. So if you're looking for real crime stories and in this case involving police as the criminals, look no further. This is a great depiction of that type of subject matter, as unsavory as it might be to most of us. My thanks go out to all officers who hold the line, do the right thing, and are there when we need them.

Michael Dowd took the oath to uphold the law and protect the citizens of New York. He was assigned to precinct seven five and, at the time, it was the toughest the city had to offer. He soon found that his small pay check was far from adequate recompense for the life he was leading and so helped himself to some dirty money. After that there was no turning back.

This film features archive footage of the trials and the scenes of the time through the 1980's up to 1993. We also have more recent interviews with the main players. This includes his erstwhile partner Kenny Eurell and even some of the gangsters who 'worked' with these dirty cops.

It is disturbing to think that so many cops could be so blatant in their breaking of the laws they were supposed to uphold. It was also not an isolated incident or two but seemingly endemic with a culture of collaboration with other so called 'good' cops. Being 'good' meant not 'ratting' on your fellow cops and thereby allowing their criminal activities to flourish. There are some stunning black and white still photography of the time and some of these photos look like they belong in a gallery – absolutely stunning. This is a documentary that shows how powerful films can be and how fiction is often far behind where truth actually is – absolutely recommended.

Precinct Seven Five refers to the 75th precinct located in Brooklyn New York which was the location of extraordinary police corruption back in the 1980's. In this decade the streets of New York really were crime addled and the 75th precinct had a reputation as one of the very worst areas of this dangerous city. Cops from the NYPD felt it necessary to pragmatically back each other up in order to survive life on the front line of serious crime; this led to them turning a blind eye to certain practises. This film looks at the extreme end result of this culture. The New York streets at this time were awash with crack cocaine and well organised gangs protected their interests with violence. Entering into this maelstrom was rookie cop Ken Eurell, who was given a partner Michael Dowd, who was an experienced police officer with a reputation for shady practices. At first Eurell was extremely reticent about this partnership but before long he was joining Dowd in a downward spiral of corruption which began with taking bribes, moving on to actual thieving, then protecting the interests of a big league drug dealer, leading onto to dealing themselves and even winding up with the facilitation of murder. It's an incredible story of cops bowing to temptation in a pretty bad way and is an alarming example of the police acting like gangsters.

Starting with footage of Dowd answering questions at a commission, the story intermittently returns to this as he gives very candid answers while we go back to the start of the story and work our way forward through the 80's and gradually learn about the increasing levels of corruption this group of cops let themselves become party to. It's a fascinating tale, very well told; including some disturbing crime photographs. The level of danger on the streets of Brooklyn really comes through in this, with a particularly incredible segment where the cops are actually chased by the criminals! Dowd himself is obviously an interesting character for the very fact that he got away with such significant levels of corruption for such a long while. His eventual downfall did ultimately lead the NYPD to significantly improve its internal affairs to more pro-actively try to prevent such wrong-doing; whether or not it has been successful in this I really have no idea. But whatever the case, this is a very good and eye opening documentary about a bad chapter in American law enforcement.

Cop gets badge. Cop tries to stem the flow of crime. Cop gets hit HARD with the hammer of reality. Cop gets frustrated,& disillusioned. Cop sees opportunity to make actual money. Cop says 'f$&k it',& life will never be the same.not a unfamiliar story,&/or plot line of many movies.....but this aint no movie,it's real life,& it will shock you,Amaze you,and have you wanting the 'bad guy' to get away with it. I work for the Chicago PD,& the first time i heard this story,was in audiobook format,& i just started it over,as soon as it was finished. Ok,first,Mike was bad dude with a badge...sort of. Kenny was a rookie cop,wet behind the ears type of guy.a good dude,& slowly but surely gets sucked in the 'life'.as a cop,i can't hate Mikey,and i can't love Kenny.he's a rat. He could not ever be trusted. Mikey,on the other had,i suit up,& ride with him right now.it's a cop thing,& i don't expect you to get it. Ok,the film was done well,edited well,all boxes checked,yadayadayada. Justbtry not to be shocked too much,by remembering this.....police corruption has been the standard.it has gone on forever,& will continue.this was quite a while ago,&, trust me,it continues to this very day,& this is only the beginning of the start of the tip of Mt. Everest!!

A Wake-up Call

The Seven Five is a documentary about corruption in the NYPD during the 1980s. A police precinct in the East New York Section of Brooklyn, the seven five is located in a notoriously dangerous section of the borough known for drug dealing and a gamut of other crimes. The film is a retrospective accounting by Police Officer Mike Dowd, and others, as they recount their corruption, criminal conduct and other out of control behaviors before getting caught and thrown in jail. What makes this film so riveting, is the candidness in which Dowd and other former officers talk about how they stole money from drug dealers, accepted bribes and established their own criminal enterprise within the NYPD. While the movie goer can appreciate gaining insight in the misconduct of NYPD police officers, we cannot help but feel violated by their conduct and betrayal of the public trust. The seven five is exhibit "A" as far as making the case against police recruitment trends - to recruit individuals from outside of the 5 boroughs to police the city dwellers.

What we learn from the Seven Five is that people in power and authority can abuse it to such an extent as they exploit and feed off the troubles and social ills of poor neighborhoods, and neighborhoods where they have little investment, other than a paycheck. However, what truly makes this movie compelling is that it provides insight into the minds and psychology of corrupt officers as they justify their actions in furtherance of personal gain. This movie should leave you sick to your stomach as you come to terms with your own ignorance of the subject at hand and extrapolate the full extent of possible outcomes with every police interaction. Dowd may no longer be a police officer stalking the streets of NYC, but rest assured corruption exists in many police departments, and the potential for corruption exists in all.