Frank Serpico
Frank Serpico
Francesco Vincent "Frank" Serpicois a retired Italian-American New York Police Departmentofficer, known for whistleblowing on police corruption in the late 1960s and early 1970s, an act that prompted Mayor John V. Lindsay to appoint the landmark Knapp Commission to investigate the NYPD. Much of Serpico's fame came after the release of the 1973 film Serpico, which was based on the book by Peter Maas and which starred Al Pacino in the title role, for which Pacino was nominated for an...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionLaw Enforcement Officer
Date of Birth14 April 1936
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
An honest cop still can't find a place to go and complain without fear of recrimination. The blue wall will always be there because the system supports it.
We need good role models, and they have to start at the top.
We can still holler and shout but we have to light the lamps that shed the light on corruption, injustice, ineptitude and abuse of power. When we do, you will see the villains scurry into the woodwork the way roaches do when you turn on the light.
What kind of a message does this send out to the honest cop?
My acting career began on the streets of New York. When I was a cop, I played many impressive roles, from derelict to a doctor, and my life often depended on my performance.
I had gone through a near-death experience, and that gives you an insight into how fleeting life is, and what's important.
I said this to the Knapp Commission over 25 years ago, ... We must create an atmosphere where the crooked cop fears the honest cop, and not the other way around.
We must hold our lawmakers accountable and our courts responsible, or democracy and freedom of speech in America will soon become extinct.
I must confess that since the first time I heard myself referred to as a whistle-blower, I cringed, and I am still uneasy with that term. It sounds demeaning. Demeaning for so noble a cause.
The whole f**king system is corrupt.
I used to think, 'How can I write my life story? I'm still living it.
The reality is that we do not wash our own laundry - it just gets dirtier.
I'm retarded - I mean I'm retired.
Today it is becoming harder to speak out, with the inception of the Patriot Act, the president has legislated free speech to be a crime.