Crossing the Line of Duty: How Corruption, Greed and Sleaze Brought Down the Flying Squad - Softcover
The Metropolitan Police of the mid-twentieth century, in particular The Flying Squad and Obscene Publications Squad, has been described as 'the most routinely corrupt organisation in London'. Larger-than-life characters such as Ken Drury and Alfred 'Wicked' Bill Moody routinely fraternised with underworld figures, paid off witnesses and struck dodgy deals to get their man regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty. And the problem went far beyond a couple of 'bent' coppers: in the end, fifty officers were prosecuted, while 478 took early retirement.
Using Metropolitan Police files obtained under Freedom of Information, which have not been accessed since the 1970s, author Neil Root can finally tell the real story of how the Met became systemically corrupt, and how Sir Robert Mark, who became commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 1972, finally cleaned it up.
Using Metropolitan Police files obtained under Freedom of Information, which have not been accessed since the 1970s, author Neil Root can finally tell the real story of how the Met became systemically corrupt, and how Sir Robert Mark, who became commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 1972, finally cleaned it up.
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Review:
"Root demolishes the excuses of corrupt police; that they cut corners for the greater good, to bang up criminals. As for sources, Root has gone to the National Archives for the Met's files on the investigations of the 1970s. One of the books in Root's list of books consulted, 'The Fall of Scotland Yard', is equally worth reading, to give a sense of the press sniffing at the corrupt squads and of the smell of the Seventies, including that aura (as exploited by the likes of Drury) that British police were the best (also pushed by The Sweeney on TV) and could not do wrong." (Professional Security Magazine)
About the Author:
Neil Root is a true crime historian and the author of The Murder Gang (The History Press, 2018) Gone (Mainstream, 2016), and Frenzy! (Preface, 2012).
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- PublisherThe History Press
- Publication date2019
- ISBN 10 0750989203
- ISBN 13 9780750989206
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages208
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Crossing the Line of Duty : How Corruption, Greed and Sleaze Brought Down the Flying Squad
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Downfall explores, for the first time, how the Sweeney (the Flying Squad), the Elite Serious Organised Crime Unit and the Obscene Publications Squad (the Dirty Squad) descended to unprecedented levels of corruption in the 1960s and 1970s, leading the infamous gangster Charlie Richardson to say that 'the most lucrative, powerful and extensive protection racket ever to exist was administered by the Metropolitan Police'. Sir Robert Mark, who became commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and cleaned it up, said that it was 'the most routinely corrupt organisation in London'. During his time as commissioner, 50 officers were prosecuted, while 478 took early retirement. Using Metropolitan Police files obtained under Freedom of Information, which have not been accessed since the 1970s, author Neil Root can finally tell the story of how both the Flying Squad and Obscene Publications Squad of the Metropolitan Police became systemically corrupt in the post-war years, and how they reached a nadir in the mid-1970s. It also shows how this culture of corruption has been a blueprint for Met Police corruption today, and how the enormous near-autonomous power wielded by elite squads allowed the corruption to fester and grow. AUTHOR: Neil Root is a true crime historian and the author of The Murder Gang (THP, 2018) Gone (Mainstream, 2016), and Frenzy! (Preface, 2012). The first book to make use of police archives to tell the story of how rampant corruption led to the downfall of the Met Police's infamous Flying Squad Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780750989206
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Crossing the Line of Duty: How Corruption, Greed and Sleaze Brought Down the Flying Squad by Root, Neil [Paperback ]
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