- 5 months ago
A look at street cops in one of Boston's busiest and most violent police districts.
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00:01Funding for Frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide
00:07and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:12Tonight on Frontline, it's not Miami Vice, it's real cops, real crime, real danger.
00:21The streets are like the jungle in a way, it's like who's gonna be clever, who's gonna like survive.
00:29It's like an avalanche that keeps coming and coming, you know, you put your finger in here and you go over here, you know, you just can't stop it.
00:37Violence, drugs, and the fight to make a difference.
00:42Tonight, Street Cop.
00:53From the network of public television stations, a presentation of KCTS Seattle.
00:59WNET, New York.
01:01WPBT, Miami.
01:03WTVS, Detroit.
01:05And WGBH, Boston.
01:07This is Frontline.
01:10With Judy Woodruff.
01:14Good evening.
01:16If your view of police work has been shaped by Miami Vice or Hill Street Blues, our story will change that.
01:24Tonight, real police, real crime, and real danger.
01:29For ten months, Frontline has been inside one special unit of the Boston Police Department, in one special section of the city where drugs and related crime are most concentrated.
01:41Tonight, you will see that film.
01:44And then, because we think it raises issues larger than just the Boston Police Force, we have asked three experts from three different cities and perspectives to analyze the film.
01:56A warning.
01:57The language in the film is the language of the streets, and it is strong and may be offensive to some viewers.
02:03And now, Street Cop, produced by Richard Kahn.
02:10Boston, Massachusetts.
02:11Last year, there were nearly 32,000 arrests here.
02:25Close to one-third of them happened in one small section of the inner city.
02:31There's an urban war zone like this in every city, where the police are the foot soldiers in the war on crime.
02:50One of them is a 26-year veteran street cop.
02:55Hey, brother.
02:57Okay.
02:59Give me a party, will you?
03:05Sergeant Stanley Philbin knows these streets.
03:08He grew up near here, and now he works in projects like this.
03:12Everybody's in business.
03:17Tough place to live, though, I'll tell you.
03:19You know?
03:20If I was poor and if I was black and I was living down here, I'd probably be out there selling drugs myself.
03:26Trying to make a buck to get out of here.
03:30You know, it's no bargain being poor and it's no bargain being black, I'm sure.
03:34And it's no fucking bargain living down here in this shithole.
03:37Imagine living down here.
03:39They call this part of the city District 2, Area B.
03:42This is where you come if you want to do real police work.
03:45Close to half the Boston area drug arrests happen here.
03:58After 14 years in more affluent sections of Boston, Philbin asked to return here
04:03to lead a group of plain-clothes police called the Anti-Crime Unit.
04:09Good morning, Lieutenant.
04:10We're going to be doing a thing today in about 45 minutes at 528 Little Avenue Apartment 9.
04:18We have a buy up there.
04:19The Anti-Crime Unit exists primarily to interrupt drug traffic on the streets.
04:22A half-dozen cops who make more than a thousand arrests a year.
04:26I know you think, Lieutenant, but he also sold to Trent two days ago.
04:31And Trent's going back today to pick up a half pound for $3.30.
04:37Philbin calls Trent the secret weapon.
04:39He buys drugs undercover.
04:41He has a little baby face.
04:44He looks like a little sheriff.
04:47People trust Trent on the street.
04:50Trent is the perfect guy to buy drugs.
04:54Oh, okay.
04:56Mark Rickards is my favorite cop.
04:58Mark, you know, give Mark a shotgun, he's not going to shoot somebody by accident.
05:02You know, he's a captain in the Army Reserves.
05:05He's a gun collector.
05:06And, uh, and he's dependable.
05:09He's not like a silly little kid.
05:13Lloyd Margo, we're going to do that.
05:16Lloyd Wizard, quality, quality young cop.
05:20Fastest guy I ever met in the job.
05:22He can chase down anybody.
05:23No one can escape Lloyd Wizard.
05:26So what's the screw?
05:28The next time you get the warrant, we're going to do it.
05:29No, I mean, what's the floor plan of the building?
05:31I'm going to give you the whole McGillivre as soon as everybody's here.
05:33Which one? He said we're going to do two.
05:37Margo Warner.
05:38She's got a tough job working with all guys in a really tough neighborhood.
05:43It's not easy for Margo.
05:45And she does the same thing we do, but we use Margo Extra for searching females.
05:49I got a throat cut.
05:51A drug user has had his throat cut.
05:54Why?
05:56The young department going in is a drug house.
06:00There is at least one murder every week in this precinct.
06:04There's a whole place problem with cops who want to cover bodies and the guy commits a murder right there and makes them all.
06:11Blood. I see a stream of blood going around the corner.
06:13Half of the murders in the city of Boston are tabulated.
06:18What's the charge of them?
06:19Certainly all the murders and most of the murders in Roxbury are.
06:22You don't know Margo may like me.
06:24All my officers, they're all black officers and we deal mainly with black people.
06:29I think black officers should work in black neighborhoods.
06:33They should work in white neighborhoods too.
06:35A lot of people disagree.
06:36The unit is getting ready for a drug bust.
06:43These two officers will cover the back door.
06:45Trent, the undercover cop, is wearing a hidden microphone.
06:48This is the third time Trent has bought drugs here.
06:51How much do I say he's coming down? Then we're going to do it.
06:54Ready? All right.
06:55Okay.
07:00Okay, 981 to Trent. Let's go.
07:03All right, he's in the building. He's knocking on the door.
07:06Hello?
07:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:08You're going to do that.
07:09Okay, they recognize him and let's show him to him.
07:25We're going to do it anyway, right now. Let's do it.
07:27Come on.
07:28All right.
07:29Okay, we are good.
07:31All we do is drugs, drugs, drugs.
07:40It's all the boss wants us to do is drugs, drugs, drugs.
07:43And that's the biggest problem in the district.
07:45It's the biggest problem in the city.
07:46It's the biggest problem in the country.
07:49Hey!
07:50Stop!
07:51Hey!
07:52Hey!
07:53Hey!
07:54Hey!
07:55Hey!
07:56Hey!
07:57Hey!
07:58Hey!
07:59Hey!
08:00Hey!
08:02Hey!
08:09Oh.
08:10Hey!
08:12Hey!
08:14Hey!
08:16Hey!
08:18Hey!
08:20Hey!
08:21Hey!
08:22Hey!
08:24Hey!
08:25If you'd, you would want to get wid, right?
08:27We're at number 2 Folsom Avenue, Apartment 3, executing a search warrant.
08:35And can you have those backdoor people come upstairs, please?
08:40They were just angry at our presence in there.
08:43They knew that we were there to lock them up.
08:46They had sold drugs twice to print.
08:48We have a search warrant.
08:50And we were there on a left legal search warrant.
08:52Listen to this, they sold drugs to a police officer.
08:59Okay, so that's why we're here, so calm down.
09:03Just be calm, be calm.
09:24They're very emotional people, Spanish brothers and sisters.
09:32We have to get their names before they leave.
09:34We don't want these people.
09:36We're going to take mother.
09:39She sold the crime.
09:40Can I let her go? Can I check her for warrants?
09:42No, let her go.
09:43Ask her, ask her, ask her, ask her where the marijuana is so we can just put it out there.
09:50Why close? You put it in your way?
09:52Ask her where the marijuana is.
09:54Ask her where it is.
09:56Ask her where the marijuana is.
09:59Where?
10:03Yeah, that's the guy in this room.
10:07She gets one phone call.
10:21She can have five phone calls.
10:23We just got the nickel, we got the coke, and we got two hand-to-hand buys.
10:33I mean, that's all the fuck we need.
10:34I mean, I don't care if we, I keep telling you, this is not, uh, it's not Miami Vice.
10:40Six police officers, four working days.
10:43No drugs are found.
10:45The 64-year-old woman and her 14-year-old stepson have been arrested.
10:49The case will rest on the testimony of an undercover cop and finding the marked money.
10:55She has so much in there, I could see it bulging out.
10:58Yeah, what we're looking for, Marie, is our 20s.
11:02You know, the trench white.
11:04The 20s?
11:05Yeah, but so far we haven't found them.
11:07We probably won't.
11:08I don't really give a shit.
11:10You know, he's already identified them.
11:12Here's the 20 right here.
11:14Yeah.
11:14These are the two numbers here.
11:17Okay, yeah, because I'm a class of five.
11:18And possession of class B.
11:20Yeah.
11:20That's it.
11:21The 64-year-old woman and her stepson were bailed out four hours later when the paperwork
11:34was completed.
11:35Is that just a wallet?
11:36Yeah.
11:36She was charged with possession.
11:38Nine months later, the case is still pending.
11:40Yeah.
11:41We should sort of have some kind of, uh, organization to our searches.
11:45Well, we tend to tear everything up and then we get confused.
11:49Well, everything we've done.
11:52I mean, we've come up with some good stuff.
11:54Margo.
11:54The Spanish people, they had us look good.
11:57I know, but Marie, I must tell you, uh, I must tell you that everything we do is on the
12:03job training.
12:03I didn't go to no goddamn school.
12:05You didn't go to no goddamn school, right?
12:07That's true.
12:07All right.
12:08So what the fuck?
12:09We do the best we can.
12:11It's hard you said that.
12:13All right.
12:13That's true.
12:23Hey, if I had to be something, this is what I want to be.
12:26Uh, a cop.
12:30Well, I wouldn't want to be commissioner if I wouldn't mind getting commissioner's pay.
12:35I'll tell you that.
12:37But I don't want to be stuck in some office shuffling papers, answering phones, going to
12:41meetings.
12:41Uh, that's no fun.
12:47Someone's got to do it, right?
12:49Uh, let, uh, commissioner Roach do it.
12:52I like this shit.
12:59By his own account, in 26 years, he's shot at 10 people.
13:03He's hit three, killed no one, and made 8,000 arrests.
13:06He's been kicked, punched, pummeled, spit on, and today, he and his team will go through it
13:13all one more time.
13:14Okay, uh, two days ago, Trent went up to 528 Blue Avenue, where he bought $50 for the grass.
13:23No big deal, right?
13:24But he went back yesterday, and he tried to make another one before we did all the search
13:27warrant.
13:28The guy says he was out at 5 o'clock tonight, which was last night.
13:32Trent made arrangements to buy a half a pound for $330.
13:35Trent's got $330 in mock money right now.
13:39Trent's going up there right now.
13:41We've got to listen to him.
13:42We have the wire.
13:43But Greg and Bob, what I like you gentlemen to do is go in the rear alley.
13:46But don't let him see you, like, when he looks out there, because he might try to flee.
13:50He can climb down, you know?
13:51But if you gentlemen can get under the porch, and you can, you know, just as he's reaching
13:55the ground level, if he tries to flee in that direction, yeah, you can grab him, because
14:00we want our $330 back.
14:01Oh, all right.
14:02Okay, ready, folks?
14:03Get up.
14:04You want to keep that, Michael?
14:07Okay.
14:09It's taken five days to put this bus together.
14:12Trent has bought drugs undercover.
14:14Stanley has used that evidence to get a search warrant from the court.
14:18It's a process that could go on day and night.
14:20There's no shortage of drugs.
14:22Grove Hall, Parker and Tremont, the Triangle, Sonoma Street, Eggleston Square, that store
14:31over there, that store there, you know, houses, corners, parks, schoolyards, gas stations,
14:39liquor stores, parking lots.
14:44Drugs, Richard, you could probably go into that store right there and ask for two
14:50nickels, and you'll come up with two bags of marijuana.
14:53You could go over that store over there and ask him for a blow of cocaine, and you'll
14:58probably get a good shot at buying it.
15:04Nothing.
15:04You don't have nothing?
15:06Nothing.
15:07Nothing.
15:08With me.
15:09But today, the unit is out of luck.
15:11The suspect is out of drugs.
15:13Yeah.
15:16Where you running from?
15:18We got seven days, no problem.
15:19We got seven days.
15:20They're just out.
15:22Can you back out down the street?
15:25Yeah, we're doing so now.
15:26We'll meet you back in the house.
15:27The day won't end here.
15:29Now they'll look for drugs on the streets.
15:32Kenny Dortch and Mark Vickers have been partners for five years.
15:36Together, they made over 700 drug-related arrests in 1986.
15:39The people on the street, when they see Mark and Kenny, they want to cross the street.
15:45But if they get stopped and they're dirty, and Mark and Kenny are going to take them in.
15:49That's no question about it.
15:52They know this neighborhood.
15:53They live near here.
15:55And on this corner, where lots of drugs are sold, they think they've just seen a sale.
16:00Kenny thinks he's found the evidence.
16:03Got something here.
16:05That ain't mine, huh?
16:06That ain't mine.
16:07Huh?
16:08For real.
16:12That shit ain't mine, man.
16:13I'm telling you the truth, man.
16:14That shit ain't mine.
16:15I'm standing against the fence, man.
16:16I ain't got a motherfucking tank, man.
16:20And I stand right here, man.
16:22And I ain't running from nobody, man.
16:24I know.
16:25You know what I'm saying?
16:25Don't do it.
16:27Don't do it.
16:28I ain't running from nobody, man.
16:30You know what I'm saying?
16:30I don't have to run from nobody.
16:34Hey, kids, go ahead.
16:35Get out of here.
16:35Go play.
16:36That shit ain't mine, man.
16:37I had a half-prime looking, man.
16:39You got that sitting on the seat.
16:40That's all I had.
16:42That's all I had.
16:43You know what I'm saying?
16:44I got my money in my motherfucking pocket.
16:46You know what I'm saying?
16:49Oh.
16:50You dropped it.
17:02It's not mine, man.
17:03You're going to have to prove it.
17:04You're going to have to unprove it.
17:06You're going to have to disprove it.
17:07Say it wasn't good.
17:08It's not mine, man.
17:09All I got in my pocket is $40, man.
17:12What I had when I came up here, man.
17:13And a half-prime of liquor, man.
17:14A pack of cigarettes, man.
17:16For a speedball.
17:17Ain't no speedball, man.
17:18For real, man.
17:18For a speedball.
17:19No, it's not, man.
17:20I don't fuck around, man.
17:22I drink liquor, man.
17:23I had a half-prime of cigam gin, man.
17:25That's all I had, man.
17:25Come on, Virginia.
17:28Okay, we have it.
17:32Benefit of the doubt, chief.
17:34This time.
17:35Next time, not so fucking lucky.
17:38All right?
17:38I don't know what I'm saying.
17:39It's your PCM.
17:41I can walk you off, man.
17:44He was dead.
17:45That shit was his.
17:48That was his.
17:51He was nervous.
17:52Oh, shit, yeah.
17:53Yeah.
17:53I ain't doing nothing.
17:54I ain't doing nothing.
17:55There ain't mine.
17:56There ain't mine.
17:59I ain't seen the droppings.
18:00We just can't see the whole picture.
18:02You know, all we see is from our level.
18:03We see, because we're right down there in the middle of the stuff.
18:06Right down there where it's all dirty and everything else.
18:09We go through people's trash cans, looking for drugs, you know, that they discard and
18:13stuff like that, knowing that if it's their first or second time, they're going to beat
18:16it in court, you know.
18:18But we go through this stuff.
18:19We go through the aggravation, looking for all of this stuff, going to these people's
18:23houses and doing all this, you know, knowing that they're not going to, if they're convicted,
18:27I mean, nothing's going to happen to them.
18:30I mean, you know, and that's a really, it's kind of like a disheartening thing at times.
18:36But, you know, the way I look at it is that you, you got to build things like a stepping
18:42stone.
18:42You have to, you got to start someplace.
18:44And if you keep chipping away at these people, you get enough arrest, you know, about the
18:49fourth, maybe about the sixth or seventh time they're convicted, they will do some time.
18:54All right.
18:54And you have another bust.
18:56Brent has bought drugs and is going out the back door.
18:59Stanley is afraid one of his cops, Carl, would be discovered.
19:03Oh, look at fucking Carl.
19:05Carl, is it Carl?
19:07Where?
19:07We're standing right there.
19:12The suspect was arrested for dealing drugs just two weeks ago.
19:16Get Carl out of here.
19:17Hey, Carl!
19:18Okay, okay, disregard.
19:21Don't let him get up in the back side.
19:23Don't open the back door.
19:24The back door's open.
19:26Okay, we're going in the front.
19:27We're going in the front.
19:28He's going up the back.
19:29We're going in the front.
19:30In the back door.
19:30In the back.
19:32Okay, we got to get in the front.
19:34Right here.
19:35We'll never get into the fucking house.
19:37Hey, Mark.
19:43What's up, Mark?
19:48Okay, get in.
19:56Get on the floor.
19:57Sit down.
19:59Sit down.
20:00Be cool.
20:01Don't move.
20:02Anybody else in here?
20:04Be cool.
20:05Don't move.
20:08Okay, you got these guns in the house?
20:10You got these drugs in the house?
20:12You got any money?
20:13Stand up.
20:14I got my money from my job, I say.
20:16Let me see.
20:19Let me see.
20:20What else?
20:21Just be cool.
20:22Huh?
20:22I'll take a little more risk.
20:24So, you sit down.
20:25Go back and sit down.
20:25You sit down, young lady.
20:29All right, Bravo 981.
20:33981.
20:34Can I have that BK1 haul and go to 7?
20:36Bravo K1 go to 7.
20:38Well, not a big squirt, but what the fuck is what the boss wants.
20:47They found $50 worth of marijuana.
20:50And we'll just keep looking.
20:51But the search warrant covers only this apartment.
20:53We got our money back.
20:54He was in the buy.
20:56You get it all back?
20:58Yeah.
20:59But there's got to be a stash around here, but he's probably got it down in the vacant apartment.
21:03Yeah, it's down there.
21:03There's no lights on down there.
21:05He had the friggin' stash in one of them vacant apartments.
21:08Yeah.
21:08Right?
21:08But we got our money back.
21:10We got two buys.
21:11So, we got a good, you know, we're going to get it guilty.
21:15There's no problem there.
21:19There's another side of being a street cop.
21:21Back in the way.
21:22It's not all flak jackets, handcuffs, and guns.
21:26It's also endless paperwork, court appearances, and office politics.
21:31Stanley spends as much time here as on the streets.
21:35Well, the Celtics are playing tonight, boss.
21:38I didn't even mention that to him, you know.
21:40I'm going to miss the game.
21:42I have all that information.
21:44Of course, I'm on a day off.
21:45Just get out of court.
21:46The boss wants Stanley's help calming residents of a housing development called Academy Homes.
21:51Stanley wants something in return.
21:54His unit has only one car, but it has been broken down for a week.
21:57They've been told to get a taxi, but the cab company won't give him one.
22:01I'll tell you something.
22:02All right.
22:03I've got some good arrests up there for you to lay on the people, but we do have further problems, boss.
22:08We have to have at least one vehicle.
22:12You know, we've been grounded, you know, for about a week.
22:14I just got a call from Lieutenant Devine.
22:16He wants to know what cab companies those were that aren't giving us cabs.
22:20The only one cab company we've been going to is Checker Taxi.
22:23Checker Taxi.
22:24And they've just been coming up with the excuse they don't have any, right?
22:27That's affirmative.
22:29Okay.
22:30I've got to call him back.
22:32Okay, I've got three things for Wilbur.
22:34One good search warrant, two arrests.
22:36They're going to court this week, as a matter of fact.
22:40These are two non-residents of the Academy Homes who go down and apply their trade.
22:46They sell drugs.
22:47So we have two going to court this week.
22:50Look, the problem is just watching the place.
22:54That's the problem, right?
22:55The problem is, boss, that the problem that they have with the Academy Homes,
22:59they have in numberless locations in the district.
23:02People are calling us, come here, come here, come here.
23:05We can only be at one place at one time.
23:08And one operation takes up a total day, usually.
23:11So the people at the Academy Homes, they have a legitimate beef.
23:14Where's the police?
23:15Where's the police?
23:16The police are working, but they just don't happen to be working at Academy Homes that day.
23:20They were at the Triangle.
23:21They were at Sonoma Street.
23:22They were at Grove Hall.
23:23They were on Oakwood Street.
23:25They were at Parker and Smith, Parker and Tremont.
23:28Drugs galore are rampant, you know, in the district.
23:32We can spend some more time at Academy Homes.
23:36It would be nice if we had an apartment up there.
23:39We don't want to say to them that drugs are rampant all over the district and we're someplace else.
23:46They don't want to hear that.
23:47We can't tell them that.
23:48So what we've got to do is, we've been there.
23:51We've made three arrests.
23:53However, we did not solve the problem.
23:55The problem still exists.
23:56The problem, you know, we're going to go to court.
23:58But all these people are going to go to court.
23:59Now, one of these people here is going to go to the can.
24:01That's part of the problem.
24:02Where are these drugs located?
24:03Drugs aren't the only problem in this neighborhood.
24:08Stanley and his anti-crime unit aren't the only kind of cops.
24:11Most of the police here wear uniforms.
24:14They ride in patrol cars, respond to radio calls, and keep the peace in the rest of the community.
24:20When they go on them radio calls, you know, to house calls, family trouble,
24:26cotton shootings, like I say, automobile accidents, robberies.
24:31They get all, they get everything.
24:34They do all the police work.
24:37They do all the police work, everything.
24:39They do that, they're the front-line troops.
24:46Spouse abuse, battering, assault with a dangerous weapon.
24:50The police call them domestic disturbances.
24:55This is the third time they've been called here.
24:58You never got the restraining order?
25:00I did, but it, it, um...
25:04We'll call the police.
25:04You call the police here?
25:05Sit down, sit down and relax.
25:10Was there any violence here?
25:11He boxed me up here, and he took me out of the kitchen.
25:14I said he's going to kill me.
25:16And he tear up my clothes and my...
25:18See, I'm not wearing my clothes.
25:23I have to go, I can't steal it here now.
25:31When are you going to cut it out?
25:33When are you going to stop?
25:34I'll put my hand on you.
25:35I want to take your check in the mail.
25:38There's my face.
25:39You can't go no way.
25:40I'm holding yourself.
25:40No, you're not letting me.
25:42You're not letting me.
25:42I've been in jail already.
25:44I know, I took it the last time.
25:46I've been in jail already.
25:47Sit down.
25:47We can arrest him for that, okay?
25:56Assault by means, rather, since he didn't strike me.
25:58But you're going to have to come to court.
26:00You're going to have to testify.
26:01You're going to say, yes, your honor,
26:02my husband chased me around the kitchen with a knife.
26:04When you're in jail, you're going to drive
26:05until you wanted to own girls.
26:06If you don't want to do that,
26:08you're going to have to run from your own house
26:09and go back to the house.
26:11I'm just going to go to my lawyer and get a divorce.
26:14That's all.
26:15I'll tell you, I don't want to come back here
26:16and find you slapped again.
26:18All right.
26:20Can you believe that he's not going to hit you again?
26:23I can't.
26:24I'm not sure.
26:25I don't believe what I know.
26:26You're going to have to come to court.
26:27All right.
26:28But I think you're only afraid of him.
26:31I am very much.
26:31Well, that's why we're here.
26:32I am very much.
26:34Well, if you let him keep it up,
26:34he's going to get away with it.
26:35Last time we gave him a break, he came back.
26:37That's why I'm talking all the time.
26:39So will you come to court?
26:41When do I have to come?
26:43We'll give you a summons.
26:44It'll be sent to you.
26:45Okay.
26:46Well, you're under arrest.
26:50All right.
26:50Just like the last time.
26:51I'm under arrest?
26:52Yeah.
26:52Because you had the knife and you're chasing with the knife.
26:54I didn't have no knife.
26:55She said you did and I don't trust you.
26:56I didn't have no knife.
26:57And I don't trust you.
26:58So give me a...
26:58Okay.
26:59No, please ring around.
27:00No, no, no.
27:00No, no, no.
27:03No nothing.
27:03No nothing.
27:04Okay?
27:05No, no.
27:06Ring around.
27:06Ring around.
27:07Swing around.
27:08Swing around.
27:09Swing around.
27:10I'm a rist for what?
27:11You're a strong bastard.
27:11I'm trying to give you a break.
27:26No, what am I going to arrest for?
27:28Did you say I got a knife?
27:30Yeah.
27:31Okay, let me up.
27:32Okay, you ready?
27:33Shit.
27:34Why don't you put your arms down?
27:35Okay.
27:36Rob 116, let me have a unit up here for a transport and arrest, please.
27:4024 hours later, her husband was out of jail and back at the house packing his bags.
27:59Since then, the couple has reconciled, and in the last six months, the police have not been called back.
28:05Family trouble drives me crazy.
28:07I don't...
28:08It's one thing to go into armed robbery and see a shooting or whatever, but, you know, violence in the family.
28:15I can't understand how people love each other and want to kick each other's butt constantly, a shooting or a stabbing or whatever.
28:21Then you get the calls where parents call on their nine-year-old kid and say, I can't handle him.
28:27It's like, you have to call the police to handle your kid.
28:30That's terrible.
28:31That's getting out of hand.
28:32And then, of course, it makes you crazy in the head because we have families, too.
28:35So you go home, after dealing with all this, it's constant, especially in Mattapan.
28:39It's about how you get is family trouble.
28:41And then you go home and...
28:43You can't go home the animal that you were at work.
28:46You have to be very sensitive in your house.
28:48You have to leave all the craziness, all the madness behind your locker.
28:54And sometimes that's difficult.
28:56Sometimes if there's a lot of traffic on the expressway, it takes me an hour to get home.
28:59I'm glad because I need that hour by myself before I go on to my own house and have to deal with what's over there.
29:06The regular everyday thing.
29:08Because you're out here, you're into everybody else's business constantly, no matter what it is.
29:13I guess it's the same probably for a psychologist.
29:15You just get so sick of listening to it that eventually it's like, I don't want to hear it anymore.
29:21Like when I go on vacation, I don't want to come to Boston if I can help it.
29:25I don't even want to see a cruiser.
29:27That's it, gentlemen, follow up.
29:29Some cops drink.
29:31Some cops kick their dog.
29:34Some cops fight with their wives.
29:37A lot of cops get divorced.
29:40And some cops shoot themselves.
29:44Some cops crack up.
29:47Some cops get in early retirement from injuries.
29:53Some cops quit.
29:55Some cops get fired.
29:56Some cops go to the camp.
29:58Not too many cops that actually finished their 32 years in this job.
30:03Bobby Flynn wants to make it 32 years.
30:08He grew up in all white South Boston.
30:11But he has served all of his seven years in this neighborhood.
30:13Some nights you come in and there's nothing to do.
30:15Everything's quiet.
30:17And that'll be on a Friday night from...
30:19You think you come in here and you're going to be running your ass ragged.
30:23Nothing's going on.
30:24Another night you come in on a Sunday night, Monday night in the last half.
30:28And you think there'll be nothing going on.
30:31It'll be raining.
30:32It'll be snowing.
30:33There'll be nobody out in the street.
30:34And all of a sudden the roof falls in.
30:36Can't tell.
30:38It's just...
30:39The madness.
30:41It's all it is.
30:42It's madness.
30:43614 Dudley Street in the hallway.
30:47There's fighting with knives up there.
30:49The radio is filled with calls about knives and guns.
30:52They pay special attention to the gun calls.
30:555-7 or something like that.
30:56Okay.
30:57Underneath the back seat, when you pull it out, there's a shotgun with all the ammunition in it.
31:01The car's just stolen.
31:03They don't know if they know the shotgun's in it.
31:06I was hoping it was on.
31:07Yeah.
31:08On this warm summer night, while there's talk of guns in the air, Flynn and his partner Carlos are called to a knife fight.
31:14They hear there are two families involved.
31:17So far, it's a routine call.
31:18Yes, bravo Pete.
31:19Do you want us to go to 7?
31:20PK-1 would like you over on Channel 7.
31:21Here we go, fucking him.
31:22Which one?
31:23In a green shirt.
31:24In a green coat.
31:25In a green coat.
31:26He's got a gun.
31:27The fight seems to have broken up.
31:28The two sisters tell them one of the men had a gun.
31:32The one with the gun?
31:33Those two?
31:34Yeah.
31:35Now the emotional equation in this car changes.
31:36Both Flynn and Carlos take out their own guns.
31:37The 411 says these down at bird's not.
31:39He'll have.
31:40Which one's?
31:41These two on the left.
31:43Okay, the 411.
31:44He's got a gun.
31:45He's got a gun.
31:46He's got a gun.
31:47The fight seems to have broken up.
31:48Carlos are right behind us.
31:49The two sisters tell them one of the men had a gun.
31:50The four-11 says these down at bird's not.
31:53Who's left?
31:54Which ones?
31:55These two on the left.
31:57Okay, the 411.
31:58The 411 says these down at bird's not.
31:59Who's left?
32:00Okay, the 411.
32:01hands on top of the car both is right now right fucking now these two here
32:11they've got the wrong suspects the two sisters have caught up with the police
32:16now the people in the house say the sisters had a knife whether there is a knife or a gun it has
32:38raised the emotional stakes for everybody in the end it won't be a knife or a gun but when this
32:59woman grows her shoes that will lead to an arrest because glenn thinks it was a rock or a brick
33:09they put a knife on me they put a knife on me they put a knife on me you want to stand me
33:24all these get up in the fights now get up there get up there
33:28come on come on come on you do it just sit tight all right
33:35now flinn decides to arrest the runner through her shoes
33:59she's going to do it
34:07come on
34:12come on
34:17come on
34:24come on
34:26come on
34:32come on
34:38come on
34:45come on
34:51come on
34:53come on
34:58come on
35:01we're standing here they start fucking throwing rocks and bottles at this house they start throwing them back
35:24if i go to grab one abroad get her on the ground she's the one i saw throw it right yeah jenny comes over to help me she put danny in the balls
35:30all right
35:32all right
35:33all right
35:34well i saw your sister i didn't see her
35:35yes you did
35:36all right
35:37now i got your sister don't tell me what i saw i don't tell you what i saw
35:39he did not throw nothing he did not have a brick in his hand and you're not going to arrest him
35:42he had a brick in his hand
35:44you didn't arrest him
35:45you didn't arrest him
35:46you don't want to take care of business
35:47guess who else was going to go in about two seconds here
35:49he had a brick in his hand
35:51he had a brick in his hand
35:53go go
35:55so she's got to go for uh assault by means she threw the fucking brick number one is to just miss me
36:02miss my fucking foot
36:03okay
36:04and then fucking i changed i'm just going to put it down as a street fight
36:06all right
36:07okay you don't want to get into it
36:09not really except for
36:10all right
36:11not really except for
36:12all right
36:13all right
36:14let's have a better thing to do
36:16he says she says
36:17yeah
36:18a gun that was a knife
36:20you know what i mean
36:21no gun no knife no brick no rock
36:24harsh words and shoes
36:27i see you raising with a fat girl
36:30i'm holding on to the other fat girl over there
36:32I'm holding on to the other fat girl over there.
36:35I know that.
36:41Danny, the K-9 guy.
36:43She better work.
36:45Get in the balls.
36:46Get in the balls.
36:48So, did you like anybody else?
36:50Yeah, a girl.
36:51Can't lose.
36:52I'll go, Pocah.
36:53She'll be charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct.
36:56Don't hate me, Donald.
36:57Have you bailed out?
36:59Nothing to get excited about the whole situation.
37:03That's okay, Mom.
37:04Six months later, her case is still pending.
37:06Just relax.
37:08No sense to get yourself all excited.
37:09You don't want to do any good.
37:11Give me attention.
37:12Send down the identification by yourself.
37:15Get your picture taken.
37:17Bring it back.
37:18I'll have a bail bond in here.
37:20I'll get you out.
37:21You'll probably leave you on a small bail.
37:23But relax.
37:26The streets are like the jungle in a way.
37:29It's like, who's going to be clever?
37:33Who's going to be cunning?
37:34Who's going to be the smartest?
37:36Who's going to, like, survive?
37:37Who's going to make the buck?
37:38I have that.
37:39Probably 104.
37:40You can disregard 104.
37:43Knowing these streets means knowing that at any given time,
37:48the police say there are 20 hot spots where drugs are sold
37:51behind these doors and on these corners.
37:54All these areas up here deal in heroin, crack, regular cocaine.
38:03You can buy any quantity you want.
38:07I must say, you don't see too much marijuana up here, though.
38:11Independence, usually.
38:13See this asshole right here talking to these guys?
38:16Everybody's asking where this shit is.
38:18That broad's dirty.
38:29I should assume so.
38:33There ain't no reason for anybody to come up here
38:35unless it is to buy drugs.
38:38Most of these cops assume everyone is lying.
38:41Lying.
38:42They call it the song of the streets.
38:44They say a good cop can spot a liar just by driving by.
38:48Come over here.
38:50If I see you again, you better come over here.
38:56What's your name?
38:58Ah.
38:58Huh?
38:59Ah.
38:59And what's his name?
39:00Eddie.
39:01Come over here, man.
39:03Where you going, Eddie?
39:04If I see him again, he's going to have a problem now, okay?
39:07Uh-huh.
39:08Eddie, you better come on, Eddie.
39:11Why is he running?
39:13Huh?
39:13He's stupid, huh?
39:14You know why he's running.
39:15He's got some dope on him.
39:17I don't.
39:18Well, you don't, but he does.
39:20I wasn't even with him.
39:21What's his name?
39:23Hmm?
39:24Mike.
39:26What is his name?
39:27Mike Smith.
39:28You just told me his name was Eddie.
39:29I mean, Eddie, I mean.
39:31Eddie, I mean.
39:31What is it?
39:32Mike or Eddie, I mean?
39:33Eddie.
39:34You want to go down to the station and we'll talk about it?
39:36No.
39:37All right, then you want to tell me his name?
39:38Eddie.
39:41Eddie what?
39:42Smith.
39:43Come on.
39:44Come on.
39:44Come on, man.
39:45Come on.
39:46That's my brother right there.
39:48Come on, come on.
39:49Eddie Smith, man.
39:50I don't want to hear Eddie Smith, okay?
39:54Why don't you go sit in the car?
39:55I'm not even going to hold you.
39:56Go sit in the car, man.
39:58Go sit in the car.
40:00The song of the streets.
40:02The big and little lies.
40:04It's a constant refrain in a world where everyone's name is Smith.
40:08What's your first name?
40:09My name is David Smith.
40:12No.
40:13Of course not.
40:14And your last name is Smith.
40:15How long has it been Smith?
40:17How long has it been Smith?
40:18Since I moved from down south.
40:20All right, where do you live now?
40:21Where do you live now, Dave?
40:21On Washington Street.
40:23What number?
40:2456.
40:24You didn't shoot Jamaica Joe?
40:27Johnny?
40:28What do you think, I'm crazy?
40:30I grew up here, too.
40:31I know who you shoot.
40:33Every time you shoot somebody or carry a gun, I know it.
40:35Who that I want to, right?
40:37BMW.
40:38That's not stable.
40:38I'm spacing.
40:40You hear what I'm saying?
40:41This is not for this guy.
40:44This here is not for this guy.
40:45To my BMW.
40:46This here is a photocopy of a registration for a motor vehicle.
40:51Right here.
40:51That's not what you are driving.
40:54You just came back from the store, right?
41:00I got a photo.
41:01Right?
41:02I didn't come back from the store.
41:04Where'd you get this from?
41:06I don't know where I got it from.
41:08Oh, you got two of them.
41:10I don't believe you, Joseph.
41:13I just can't believe that you'd be down there on Ziegler Street with all that fucking drug activity.
41:17You're not buying drugs.
41:18I was down here.
41:19That wasn't any of those animals.
41:21They sell it all over Ziegler Street.
41:22I'm not going to search you because I believe you don't have anything on you.
41:24But I wasn't here then.
41:25When was you down there, Joseph?
41:26Okay, I'm not here to give you a hassle.
41:28I'm just, it's very unusual to see a, you know, a white face down there on Ziegler Street.
41:33I just want to take a quick peruval, Joe.
41:3460, 80, 100, we're counting.
41:38You're not helping, all right?
41:39Step back.
41:4020, 40, 60, 80, 90, 200, 10, 20, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99.
42:05300.
42:05You had a busy day.
42:07A busy day.
42:08My mother's out of town without the house.
42:11This is food.
42:12I just got a little $300.
42:14You act like I robbed the bank.
42:15Did you?
42:16No, I did.
42:17Don't tell me you did then.
42:19I told you, Carlos.
42:21I got you.
42:21I trust you, man.
42:22I just got to double check.
42:23You know what I'm saying?
42:24All right.
42:24I ain't going to jam you up.
42:25You know that.
42:26You got a light on me.
42:29All right, sir.
42:29Don't let it explode.
42:36God damn.
42:38Expecting trouble, man?
42:42See this young cat here.
42:45Tell them how old you are.
42:46No, 15.
42:47All right.
42:48You know, I don't have the light.
42:49Help into the delinquency of a minor.
42:50It's a criminal offense.
42:52You understand what I'm saying?
42:53Offense for what?
42:53You hear what I'm saying?
42:54Do you understand?
42:55What did I do?
42:56Do you understand what I'm saying to you?
42:58I don't have the time for you.
43:00You understand?
43:01You got two stolen rings.
43:03Chill out.
43:05Do you understand?
43:06Do you understand that?
43:07Three, three, six.
43:08I'm going to drop this.
43:09All right.
43:09All right.
43:10He's got hot rings anyway.
43:12It's not even hot, man.
43:16Who dropped it?
43:18Hey.
43:19He planted it.
43:20Hey.
43:21I mean, shut up.
43:23Hey.
43:23Where was it at?
43:25Where was you getting it from?
43:26Shh.
43:27It's not even hot.
43:27You're giving me a headache.
43:28You understand that?
43:29You're giving me a headache.
43:30You understand that?
43:31I was going to the store.
43:33The little guy seen a 20 on top.
43:35He said, let me count it.
43:36I let him count it.
43:37My man.
43:38My man.
43:39I've been here too many years.
43:40You understand?
43:41That kid wasn't counting your money.
43:44That kid was giving you the money.
43:45You understand?
43:46Oh, I swear to God.
43:47Don't swear, man.
43:49Get your leg in there.
43:53I got him, Carlos.
43:57I got him.
43:57Get off.
43:58Get off.
44:05Take off the motherfucker.
44:06Take off him down, man.
44:07Take off him down, man.
44:08I got him.
44:09Oh, man.
44:09You broke my wrist, man.
44:11Broke my fucking glasses.
44:12You broke my wrist, man.
44:14Fuck you.
44:14You're blood stopping, man.
44:16Okay.
44:16Oh, man.
44:18Get off my wrist, man.
44:22Look at it.
44:22Oh, man.
44:23I can't even move my arms, man.
44:26I can't even.
44:28Get in.
44:29Get in.
44:30Oh, look.
44:33What's up?
44:34We're going with you, man.
44:35We're going with you.
44:37Gate two.
44:37Bravo, four, five, six.
44:44I hold my arms, my arms.
44:47Four, five, two?
44:47My arms, man.
44:48Yeah, Rick.
44:49On the way into the house to do the paperwork.
44:51I got that prisoner on board for the UK, too.
44:53Sir, sir.
44:54My hands are swelling up.
44:56I swear to God, man.
44:58Look at my arms.
44:59Look at my arms, man.
45:01My hands are swelling up.
45:02Yeah, I feel sorry for you.
45:04My arms are swelling.
45:05I can't even see you.
45:05It's like an avalanche that keeps coming and coming, and, you know, you put your finger
45:11in here, and bam, and it comes out, and you go over here.
45:13You know, you just can't stop it.
45:15Drugs are here to stay, let me tell you.
45:23We'll never stop it.
45:26Not at this level.
45:27You know, on the street.
45:30No way.
45:31And even when you get them good, you see what happens when you go to court.
45:35Everything's continued, probation, extended probation.
45:39Placed on file.
45:40I think it should be as legal as bruises.
45:48We could direct our police efforts in other directions.
45:52Well, they didn't break the windows.
45:56They cut the tires.
45:59Do what we're doing.
46:00They'll let them, they'll let them, they'll let them stats.
46:03Good score, man.
46:04Thanks.
46:04Well, we'll see you at the station.
46:17I hope you don't get mugged on the way.
46:22Get out of here.
46:30That film leaves us with some questions.
46:34Questions we decided to spend the rest of this program answering.
46:38But first, an update.
46:39Boston Police Headquarters.
46:44As a very small token of our appreciation, effective today, we're now a sergeant detective.
46:51After 26 years, Philbin has been promoted to detective.
47:02He's also been transferred from the anti-crime unit to the citywide drug unit.
47:06We showed the film to Philbin.
47:10He said he thought it was accurate and that it raised important questions about racism and drug enforcement.
47:20But he said street cops don't address those questions.
47:24So we showed the film to three people who do.
47:27People we pick because they are from different American cities.
47:31And because they view the role of the police from very different perspectives.
47:35Jonathan Rubenstein, a journalist from New York who has written extensively about the police.
47:44George Kelling, university professor from Boston and consultant to police departments nationwide.
47:52And Conrad Wuerl from Chicago, chairperson of an organization called the National Black United Front.
48:00We wanted to hear what they had to say about the role of the police in scenes like this.
48:09It's not you fellas, I'm sorry, excuse me, I'm sorry.
48:13That little incident on that family dispute was nothing.
48:26And it was just completely mishandled.
48:28And they arrested a woman because she threw a shoe and bit the police.
48:31I mean, so what?
48:32I mean, I think that that was a good indication in that particular documentation of how it was mishandled.
48:41And one of the reasons it was mishandled because the white police officer really was in a flux and didn't know how to handle it.
48:48Possibly.
48:49I mean, that's what it seemed like to me.
48:51I wonder if there is a good way to handle that street scene.
48:54In the first place, the police didn't go out looking for that incident.
49:02I'm certain they responded to a call that there were residents that were afraid.
49:07The possibility of somebody getting hurt in those kinds of events are quite great.
49:10The police come in and they walk in, whether they're white or black or even if they're from the community.
49:18Rarely are they going to know the people.
49:19You don't know who is on which side.
49:23The people are all mixed up.
49:25You can't tell who's throwing at whom.
49:27And for the police officer to try and say, who's doing what to whom for what purpose here,
49:31it's very difficult to do that kind of quick analysis.
49:36And so you start sorting these out.
49:37You tell people what to do.
49:39And you find some people are cheerleading the difficulty.
49:41Other people are goading other people on.
49:42And finally, I would guess he didn't want to arrest that woman.
49:46Finally, he decided, I've got to make a show of force to try and get control of this situation to get this to stop.
49:53See, that's just a total difference of conception, which you just described to me about my people.
50:04Well, first of all, everyone knows that when you know how to do something, it shows and that you can take command.
50:13It was clear to me.
50:15What I observed is that the white police officer was a little fearful and he acted like he didn't know what he was doing.
50:21And so it produced a kind of continuation on the part of the black community.
50:27I have seen situations like this over and over again.
50:31And if a black police officer, particularly if he's known to the community, comes in there and tells the people to cool out, they cool out.
50:38And it's not, it doesn't escalate into some kind of rhubarb like that one, which was a very minor incident.
50:44I mean, these are, these are very chaotic kinds of situations.
50:47And I don't care if the person coming in is white or black.
50:50It's chaos.
50:50You don't know who's fighting whom, why.
50:53And so you're trying to get control.
50:54And it's not in a control situation where, where it's on your stage.
51:00Police officer goes in on somebody else's stage, the street stage, if you will.
51:04And on behalf of the community, being called by the community and trying to protect people from hurting each other, has to get control of the situation.
51:13Now, I didn't, the young woman in that scene, I think really depicted the attitude of, of large numbers of African-American people.
51:21Yeah, there's no justice.
51:22There's no justice in America.
51:24Well, whether or not, whether or not, and that's a fact.
51:26There isn't.
51:27Anything you say might be true.
51:28They disagreed both about police strategy and the role race played in that incident.
51:35But they agreed these issues aren't unique to Boston, nor are the problems of street crime, domestic violence, and drugs.
51:45What are they, what are they actually accomplishing?
51:47Are they taking the drugs off the street?
51:49I don't believe they are.
51:50These guys are taking great risks.
51:52They're going into people's houses.
51:53They're breaking down doors.
51:54A lot of these people are armed.
51:56Stop.
51:58You can see in this film a tremendous amount of disorder that is accompanied by all this kind of activity.
52:14And what is it really accomplishing?
52:16What are we really actually achieving?
52:17I think skillfully used, properly supervised, with all respect for civil rights, that we can say that street enforcement of drug laws seems to have some benefit in some studies on street crime and disorder in areas.
52:38So killing would give this kind of police work the benefit of the doubt.
52:46But Rubenstein says this kind of law enforcement is not only not productive, it's probably destructive.
52:52The fact is, if you have, if you have in the city of Boston, 2,000 or 3,000 people who are dealing drugs every day, that's what they do for a living.
53:01And most of these people who are dealing drugs are drug users.
53:04They're, they're financing their habit.
53:06These people are completely replaceable.
53:08You can lock up every one of these nickel and dime dealers and there'll be another 2,000 on the street replacing them.
53:13We've had this experience over and over again.
53:17What this kind of enforcement does is create disorder.
53:22It creates, at the retail end, an extreme disorder, a sense of great violence, both police violence and counterviolence by drug dealers.
53:32And a constant movement of this, of this drug distribution from street, from one street corner to another street corner.
53:40And it has resulted over the last 30 years in the destruction of one neighborhood after another.
53:4598, 99, 300.
53:48They had a busy day.
53:49They all believe police alone won't make these problems go away.
53:54Problems which Conrad Worrell says are the fault of a basically unjust society.
53:58And we keep looking at the victim.
54:03We don't look at the victimizer.
54:05We don't look at the system.
54:06We don't look at what produces social and human conditions, particularly as it relates to the African-American community.
54:13And when we do look at it in terms of the African-American community, we generally find whites arguing with each other over what to do to solve the problem.
54:24We're sitting here in this nice living room in Newton, Massachusetts,
54:27and I'm sure people who are going to be watching this show are going to say,
54:29well, thank God we've got these guys keeping those people theirs.
54:32They're not in our neighborhood doing this kind of crap.
54:34I mean, let's be honest about that.
54:36The real issue here is how can we bring these people into our society?
54:43They're not in our society.
54:45They're kept in some kind of pocket, in some armpit.
54:47And obviously they're oppressed.
54:49They're oppressing themselves.
54:51They're drunk.
54:51They're disordered.
54:52If we have no cops doing anything, they're going to kill each other.
54:56And there are a lot of people who say, hey, that's great.
54:57Good riddance to them.
54:58But we're all going to pay a price if that's going to happen.
55:01We're paying a price for this.
55:03And we're having these same discussions, obviously, current, because we haven't done anything,
55:07haven't found any way in 25 years.
55:09First, we haven't found a way to integrate our police.
55:11Never mind deal with these fundamental questions of poverty, oppression, disorder, and dysfunction.
55:17Racism, drugs, crime.
55:24If we continue to ignore the causes of these problems, they will plague our inner cities as long as there are inner cities.
55:33And street cops, like the ones you saw tonight, will continue to fight a holding action,
55:39since it is clear that neither the police nor any other institution or individual can solve these problems alone.
55:49I'm Judy Woodruff.
55:52Join us again for Frontline.
55:56It's starting already.
55:57A process that's been called a circus, a horse race, a popularity contest.
56:02You can get awful famous in this country in seven days.
56:05I mean, it's phenomenal.
56:06A special report on how the primary process worked or didn't work in 1984 and what might happen in 88.
56:15Watch So You Want to Be President next week on Frontline.
56:19This campaign just begins tonight.
56:36For a transcript of this program, please send $4 to Frontline, Box 322, Boston, Massachusetts, 02134.
57:01Frontline is produced for the documentary consortium by WGBH, Boston, which is solely responsible for its content.
57:10Funding for Frontline was provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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57:34or write PBS Video, Post Office Box 8092, Washington, D.C., 20024.
57:41.
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