Summary Of Serpico By Peter Maas

Peter Maas in “Serpico” tells a story of the officer Frank Serpico, an officer in a police department who tried hard to fight corruption and injustice pervasive in the enforcement system. Two chapters cover the officer’s first successful career steps in the precinct and his service in Bureau of Criminal Identification.

The story begins in 1960, when young graduate of the Police Academy begins working as patrolman in the 81st precinct of New York City. The narration continues to show how the work in the precinct is organized: the shifts the officers serve, the way they communicate with each other and how the system works in general. The author goes on to tell about the duties that every officer has to accomplish along the day, such as listing the certain number of missing people or stolen cars. Serpico dives into this routine and is given a post as a patrolman in one of the spots in the district. However, the most urgent preoccupation of the officers appears to be where one can find a cheap or free snack during the shift. The system of getting a free meal is entirely corrupted, as the owners want favors for the service they give to police officers. When Serpico tries to pay for his meal, he is met with confusion and opposition, but he comes to compromise with the owner and starts leaving bigger tips instead of getting his food for

For example, he finds out about cooping, which is sleeping during the shift after the sergeant on patrol has checked the officers on their posts. This practice appears to be ingrained into police culture, but Serpico decides to restrain from it, and patrol around the streets instead. It leads to his first serious case, as he manages to detain a man who is trying to steal a TV set. As he has a knife with himself during the robbery and has been convicted of previous felonies, Serpico expects him to be put in jail for a considerable period of time, but the system fails to do