The Seven Five

Gave this documentary 10 stars but I would have to give the American Government and NYPD 0 after seeing this. If you want to be a gangster it is painfully obvious what step one should be. That being said, if you can get over the depressing reality of this documentary, this was an incredible watch and a very eye opening film. It was like The Departed but in real life.

3/15/18. A decent documentary about the dirtiest cop on the NYPD. As Dowd says in the end, he didn't start out wanting to be a bad cop. Who starts out that way? With easy money on one side and temptation on the other side one can see how easy greed can grease those wheels that will just slide right through that tunnel to hell. Worth catching.

I found this gripping from start to finish, an amazing insight into outrageous police corruption, I can't recommend enough, well worth a watch.

I couldnt stop watching this documentary when I first came across it. It's absolutely chilling to see and hear what these cops did.

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.