meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Notes from America with Kai Wright

The Secret Tapes of a Suburban Drug War

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.41.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2021

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A cop in Westchester, NY, was disturbed by what he saw as corruption. He started recording his colleagues -- and revealed how we’re all still living with the excess of the war on drugs. Following months of investigation into allegations of police corruption in Mount Vernon, reporter George Joseph of WNYC’s Race & Justice Unit brings us a story about unchecked power, policing in communities of color and our long national hangover from the war on drugs. Part of George Joseph’s story, “The Mount Vernon Police Tapes: At Least Seven Black Men Now Allege False Drug Charges Involving Controversial Detective,” was published via Gothamist last year and can be found here. Special thanks to Jami Floyd (the editor of WNYC’s Race and Justice Unit), Celia Muller and engineers Bill Moss and Wayne Schulmister. Companion listening for this episode: “The Drug War” (7/3/2017) We didn’t always respond to drug addiction with militarized policing. In this episode, a look back at the political and cultural shift Richard Nixon’s administration drove. “Revisiting Caught: ‘I Just Want You to Come Home’” (7/30/2020) The first episode in our award-winning series “Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice,” created in partnership with WNYC’s Radio Rookies program. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey everybody just a heads up before you listen to this episode there's a good bit of

0:04.2

salty language in it including at least one really offensive word so if you're

0:08.7

not in the mood for that or if you're listening with somebody you don't want to

0:11.8

expose to that then try this one later.

0:14.4

Thanks. Otherwise, enjoy.

0:17.1

This is the United States of Anxiety, a show about the unfinished business of our history and its grip on our future. A call you shall police the police.

0:32.8

Think about what it means in our community

0:34.7

to keep people safe and to hold people accountable.

0:37.2

It affects me when I see stuff like that because I've lived it.

0:40.4

But I'm not silly enough to think that you can defund that the way that doesn't go

0:45.8

That's something.

0:47.8

Something about the George Floyd murder really knocked me to my knees. I had to ask myself what was different about this.

0:53.7

And for me it was bearing witness to that officer looking right into the camera,

0:59.0

looking right into the camera as he murdered him.

1:01.2

You are hired to protect and serve and uphold the law.

1:05.6

You are not above the show. I'm Kai Wright. For huge numbers of people, George

1:19.2

Floyd's murder was either an awakening about the wanton violence and impunity that defined so much

1:25.7

police behavior in black neighborhoods or it was a reminder of the urgency of the problem.

1:30.9

The moment seemed ripe for change. A lot of that energy got subsumed in the

1:36.8

overall outrage over Donald Trump and even today a lot of people were

1:41.5

fixated on his speech.

1:42.8

He just continues to take up so much space

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.