Blue on Blue

An Insider's Story of Good Cops Catching Bad Cops

Charles Campisi, Gordon L. Dillow

• Publisher: Scribner
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781501127205
• Subtopic: Political Institutions & Public Administration
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501127212

In one of the most illuminating portraits of police work ever, Chief Charles Campisi describes the inner workings of the world’s largest police force and his unprecedented career putting bad cops behind bars. “Compelling, educational, memorable…this superb memoir can be read for its sheer entertainment or as a primer on police work—or both” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

From 1996 to 2014 Charles Campisi headed NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, working under four police commissioners and gaining a reputation as hard-nosed and incorruptible. During Campisi’s IAB tenure, the number of New Yorkers shot, wounded, or killed by cops every year declined by ninety percent, and the number of cops failing integrity tests shrank to an equally startling low. But to achieve those exemplary results, Campisi had to triple IAB’s staff, hire the very best detectives, and put the word out that corruption wouldn’t be tolerated.

Blue on Blue provides “a rare glimpse inside one of the most secretive branches of policing…and a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of what it takes to investigate police officers who cross the line between guardians of the public to criminals. It’s a mesmerizing exposé on the harsh realities and complexities of being a cop on the mean streets of New York City and the challenges of enforcing the law while at the same time obeying it” (The New York Journal of Books). Campisi allows us to listen in on wiretaps and feel the adrenaline rush of drawing in the net. It also reveals new threats to the force, such as the possibility of infiltration by terrorists.

“A lively memoir [told with] verve, intriguing detail, and a generous heart” (The Wall Street Journal) and “an expose of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureaus [that is] enlightening and entertaining” (The New York Times Book Review), Blue on Blue will forever change the way you view police work.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Author’s Note
• Timeline
• Prologue: We’re Watching
• Chapter 1: The Kind of Cop I Didn’t Want to Be
• Chapter 2: Shield No. 791
• Chapter 3: There’s a New IAB in Town
• Chapter 4: To Catch a Crooked Cop
• Chapter 5: Testing, Testing, Testing...
• Chapter 6: Officer Involved
• Chapter 7: Excessive Force
• Chapter 8: If They’ve Got the Blonde, We’ve Got a Problem
• Chapter 9: Wait a Minute—Those Guys Aren’t Cops!
• Chapter 10: Other Agencies
• Chapter 11: Cannibals in the Ether
• Chapter 12: It’s Not a Courtesy, It’s a Crime
• Chapter 13: Politics
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• About Charles Campisi and Gordon Dillow
• Copyright