ON THE PAD: The Underworld and Its Corrupt Police, Confessions of a Cop on the Take

by Leonard & William Phillips Shecter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1973

William Phillips was the cop who became the star witness of the Knapp Commission. William Phillips squealed; he told the Commission in great and specific detail all about the extracurricular activities of New York copdom -- graft, extortion, ""scoring"" off junkies, hookers, bookies, Mafiosi -- just about anyone who was hard pressed and in need of a little police protection. And who should know better than Phillips? He was, after all, as corrupt as they get. He squealed to save his own ass; a high-flying macho who liked fast broads, fast cars and a fast buck. A real hustler. For his pains his fellow cops along with the DA's office arranged to have him put on trial for murder -- the sensational murder of a pimp and a nineteen year-old prostitute in a posh East Side pad on Christmas Eve 1968. Phillips was framed, Shecter tells us, ""in the classic sense. . .he was prosecuted to destroy his credibility."" Just how it all happened is the subject of this tough-as-nails biography by Shecter whose previous collaboration was with the infinitely more likable Jim Bouton (Ball Four). Unlike Peter Maas' Serpico (""Mr. Clean"" to the Knapp investigators), this is a book without a hero. Shecter renders Phillips with brutal truthfulness. To read the book is to know that the man was the scum of the earth. It's precisely this hard-line realism which gives the story its stunning impact and its chilling authenticity. An honest cop like Serpico would never have access to the ""real inside stuff that a guy who's dishonest would have."" It's a rough, dirty story which reaches into the top echelons of the police department and DA Hogan's office -- a story that shows just how far down and up the rot has spread. It's also the behind-the-headlines story of the Knapp Commission. Read it with fear and loathing for the condition of our cities, our law, ourselves. It'll knock you on your ass.

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION