Brotherhood of Corruption: A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling [Hardcover]

Juan Antonio Juarez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

A former Chicago cop exposes shocking truths about the abuses of power within the city’s police department in this memoir of violence, drugs, and men with badges. Juarez becomes a police officer because he wants to make a difference in gang-infested neighborhoods; but, as this book reveals, he ends up a corrupt member of the most powerful gang of all—the Chicago police force. Juarez shares the horrific indiscretions he witnessed during his seven years of service, from the sexually predatory officer, X, who routinely stops beautiful women for made-up traffic offenses and flirts with domestic violence victims, to sadistic Locallo, known on the streets as Locoman, who routinely stops gang members and beats them senseless. Working as a narcotics officer, Juarez begins to join his fellow officers in crossing the line between cop and criminal, as he takes advantage of his position and also becomes a participant in a system of racial profiling legitimized by the war on drugs. Ultimately, as Juarez discusses, his conscience gets the better of him and he tries to reform, only to be brought down by his own excesses. From the perspective of an insider, he tells of widespread abuses of power, random acts of brutality, and the code of silence that keeps law enforcers untouchable.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Juarez, a Chicago cop for seven years, offers a harrowing inside look at the corrupt practices used by police in enforcing drug laws and the blue wall of silence that insulates them. No angel as a youth, Juarez jumped at the chance to become a cop, like his father, and the opportunity for stability, job security, and maybe a chance to correct some social ills. As a member of an elite narcotics unit, what he found instead were glaring inequities--repeated busts of street-corner dealers but a blind eye toward the dealing and use of drugs in more rarefied circles. He witnessed police abuse of power, beatings of suspects, sexual abuse of female suspects, and repeated use of racial profiling in arrests and prosecutions in the war on drugs. He succumbed to temptation and joined his colleagues in abuse and corruption. Disillusionment and his own personal demons eventually led to his downfall. This is a starkly revealing look at how urban policing oversteps the bounds of the law in the so-called war on drugs. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Gripping page-turner."  —NEA Today
 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556525362
• ISBN-13: 978-1556525360
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #753,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, July 3, 2008

By 

Monica Green "mickey1st" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Brotherhood of Corruption: A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling (Hardcover)

This book was a page turner. Goodness, at times I didn't know if I was more interested in this guy's personal or professional life. I really would like for him to have gotten back with Ana though...... But I do think she stayed way to long and put up with too much of his crap.

Nonetheless, this guy is just a guilty as the people he was around. I'm glad he is not on the force, settled down, and became a teacher and got married. I do think he exaggerated some of the stories though. I also don't think he is as innocent as he claims to be.

Lastly, I really couldn't put this book down. It was that good!

5.0 out of 5 stars SAMPLES OF WHAT REALISTS SEE--POLICE ARE OUT OF CONTROL, November 19, 2011

By 

James Schaller "Physician" (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Brotherhood of Corruption: A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling (Hardcover)

Growing up I was very impressed with the peace officers in my various locations.

And while I still see classy sheriffs and police, I am connected to a wide range of law enforcement and others who are fed up with law enforcement's sadistic and corrupt abuse of power. Here are only a sample, and anyone reading this book, knows some % of sheriffs and police do these and worse things.

1) You are not liked, so they lie on report and add felonies.

2) You let them know you are going to report them to someone, and find child protective services on your doorstep in 24 hours for nonsense.

3) You annoy them and they throw you into a wall or lift you up and do a full body slam into blacktop.

4) They harmonize reports so any lie is not detected.

5) They allow serious crime to get a pass if someone is connected to the department.

6) They accept very expensive "gifts" of all types.

7) You are shot because you were not fully compliant.

8) For easy routine issues, 4-8 cars come which are not needed, to have an arrest party, as people in need in other locations are ignored, and a dangerous assault is responded to in over 15 minutes.

9) Slowly they compromise to the point they are criminals.

AGAIN, I KNOW SOME POLICE, SHERIFFS AND PROSECUTORS WHO ARE REASONABLE AND GOOD PEOPLE. THEY DESERVE HONOR FOR REAL SERVICE.

BUT THE SADISTS, HUNTERS AND THOSE WHO LIVE FOR ARRESTS AND WHO ABUSE POWER AS OTHERS WITH A BADGE SIMPLY WATCH--A SIGN OF THE END OF USA FREEDOM.

Read a police magazine and it is really a marine magazine. I do not feel that is the best type of policing. It is one part of the pie, but not the entire thing.

We have 1/4th or 25% of the earths inmates. Gee, I wonder who starts this shame in the so called "land of the free?" It is sheriffs and police who are the main starting gateway.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, August 5, 2005

By 

P. Kilian (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brotherhood of Corruption: A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling (Hardcover)

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first-hand account of behind the scenes Chicago Police narotics work.

Being a Chicago resident (and having known two Chicago cops personally) the story rang true to me in many ways. Other Chicago dwellers will recognize many of the locations and sights and sounds of the city.

At times intimately revealing - at times utterly disgusting with sordid accounts of police abuse and corruption - this book is a great read.

Surely, some of the facts have been filtered (we all describe our experiences through our own personal filters, right?)or exaggerated, but I've yet to see any of the nay-sayers write a book exposing the POSITIVE side of the CPD.

I'm sure there are both good and bad in the line of duty. Jaurez goes so far as to make that perfectly clear throughout the context of his story. His purpose here was to pull back the curtain and reveal the ugly side.

Reading the narrative - I could clearly understand his passion for police work - wanting to do good and make a difference in his community and his admiration of all the many good men and women who serve on the force.

Those who think this book is purely negative may want to read it again.

Well written, engaging, thought provoking, at times hard-hitting. I highly recommend it. A quick read.