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Fascinating is the only word I can use to describe this. I am by no
means a fan of modern day crime books which go into the details of the
lives of petty crooks and bent cops, but this book falls more into the
category of investigative journalism, and I found it utterly
compelling.
The whole thing begins with the mysterious shooting at an
intersection in North Hollywood, California, in March 1997, when white
guy in a battered Buick Regal with a Fu Manchu moustache and long grey
hair pulled into a ponytail, noticed a Montero stop beside him. A
black man began to shout at him, calling him a variety of names, and
demanding that the white man pull over. A few minutes later, the black
man was dead, shot by the white. And then the white man, who happened
to be a cop, called up assistance.
Except this case was not just a black man verbally abusing a white
and then being shot. The black man was also a cop, but he was
bent. Kevin Gaines was an LAPD officer for the past seven years when
he was killed by Frank Lyga, a white undercover narcotics cop. They
hadn’t met before.
This is the beginning of a really compelling story. It involves
corruption from the highest post in the LAPD down to the lowest, it
encompasses a number of criminals from the west to the east coast of
America, the vicious gang fights, the brutality of the rivalry between
different record labels involved in Rap music, and the whole history
of a generation of Americans.
I knew nothing of this period and the lives of these people before
this book, but since reading it, I’ve been intrigued by the
interplay between the different figures. The politics of the LAPD and
the lack of protection to the staff of proven integrity, the
assumption of innocence for those who come from minority groups, and
the presumtion of guilt of white police, was startling in the extreme.
Also startling, though, was the conclusion, which showed that the
story was not yet at an end. The court cases are continuing. Not only
those which involved Lyga and Gaines, but the others, the ones which
revolved about the music business.
It also shows how easy it is for a whole society to be held up by
politics and the evil of gangs who hold power or money. And how one
man can actually make a bit of a difference, because the main theme of
this book is how Russell Poole, an ordinary but meticulous officer in
the Robbery-Homicide Division, grew so concerned at the way that
evidence was being ignored or intentionally lost, the way that leads
were left alone, and clear proofs treated cavalierly, that he was
forced to resign and then sue the LAPD. The cases have yet to be
resolved.
Yes, I’d say you ought to read this. It’s very compelling.
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