All the Centurions

May 17, 2004
Ex-cop Leuci presents an unflinching if familiar tale of the ravages of drug-related police corruption in New York City. The broad aspects of his story were previously treated in Robert Daley's Prince of the City
, later adapted into a Sidney Lumet movie starring Treat Williams as Leuci. Here the author traces in detail the incremental steps that turned him from a naïve and idealistic beat cop into an arrogant dirty one, who easily rationalized ripping off drug dealers and playing along with rampant graft. To his credit, Leuci doesn't sugarcoat or paper over his lies, his betrayal of the public and his family, or pretend that he was unaware at the time that what he was doing was wrong. These flaws make him a classic tragic figure, especially when he begins to make a belated effort to redeem himself by cooperating with the Knapp Commission. Though Leuci still lectures to police departments around the country, and presumably continues to follow the NYPD, his failure to comment on more recent scandals or offer insights as to how corruption could be minimized is unfortunate. Still, for those new to his story, this will be an eye-opening look at some of the wages of the war on drugs during the 1960s and '70s. Agent, Esther Newburg at ICM.