Snitches Get Stitches: The Frank Serpico Story
REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana
Audible | Ballen Studios
4.5 • 929 Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1960s New York, cop Frank Serpico discovered a brutal truth: his fellow officers were on the take. Gambling dens and drug rings were being secretly protected by the NYPD. When Serpico refused to join in, he became a marked man. His attempts to expose corruption hit wall after wall. Finally, he went public and sparked the biggest police scandal in NYC history. His sacrifice exposed decades of corruption – and nearly cost him his life.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Redacted, declassified mysteries early, and ad-free right now. |
| 0:07.0 | Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:11.5 | This episode contains depictions of violence and is not suitable for everyone. |
| 0:16.5 | Please be advised. |
| 0:20.2 | Wondry. Thank you. be advised. |
| 0:31.9 | On the bitterly cold night of February 3rd, 1971, three men crept into a rundown building in Brooklyn and headed upstairs towards the home of a notorious heroin dealer. |
| 0:37.4 | They were undercover cops. |
| 0:39.3 | They wore street clothes and planned to catch the dealer in a sting. |
| 0:43.3 | One of them would pretend they wanted to buy drugs. |
| 0:47.3 | Officers Gary Rotman and Arthur Cheseray knew the third man on their team would play that part best. |
| 0:53.3 | His name was Frank Serpico. |
| 0:56.0 | Serpico was 35 and easily blended in as a drug user. He wore hip clothes, had shaggy hair, |
| 1:04.0 | and was known for being a good actor. But he wasn't exactly well liked by his fellow officers. |
| 1:10.0 | A year earlier, Serpico helped expose corruption in the New York Police Department. |
| 1:15.6 | He'd been the main informant for a New York Times story that revealed a vast network of cops who took bribes from criminals. |
| 1:23.6 | Ever since, other officers branded him as a traitor. |
| 1:28.3 | Serpico had to constantly watch his back, but he didn't let fear get in the way of doing his duty. |
| 1:34.3 | As the officers approached the dealer's apartment, Routman and Cheseray ducked into the shadows. |
| 1:40.3 | Serpico ruffled his hair and reached into his old army jacket to make sure he had his revolver. |
| 1:46.0 | Then he knocked on the door. |
| 1:48.0 | The peephole opened and an eye stared out. |
| 1:51.0 | In slurred Spanish, Serpico said he needed a fix. |
... |
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