Snitches Get Stitches: The Frank Serpico Story

REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana

Wondery | Ballen Studios

True Crime, History

4.3 • 668 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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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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