Frank Serpico
| Frank Serpico | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 14, 1936 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Other names | "Paco" "Serpico" |
| Awards |
 – NYPD Medal of Honor
|
| Police career | |
| Department |
 New York City Police Department (NYPD) |
| Badge number | 19076 Detective Shield # 761 |
| Years of service | September 11, 1959 – June 15, 1972 |
| Rank | Patrolman from 1960 to 1971; promoted to Detective in May 1971 |
| Other work | Lecturer on occasion to students at universities and police academies |
Francesco Vincent "Frank" Serpico (born April 14, 1936) is a retired American New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who holds both American and Italian citizenship. He is known for whistleblowing on police corruption in the late 1960s and early 1970s, an act that prompted Mayor John V. Lindsay to appoint the landmark Knapp Commission to investigate the NYPD. Much of Serpico's fame came after the release of the 1973 film Serpico, which was based on the book by Peter Maas and which starred Al Pacino in the title role, for which Pacino was nominated for an Oscar.
Serpico was born in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest child of Vincenzo and Maria Giovanna Serpico, Italian immigrants from Marigliano. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed for two years in South Korea as an infantryman. He then worked as a part-time private investigator and a youth counselor while attending Brooklyn College.
On September 11, 1959, Serpico joined the New York City Police Department (NYPD) as a probationary patrolman. He became a full patrolman on March 5, 1960. He was assigned to the 81st precinct, then worked for the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) for two years. He was finally assigned to work plainclothes, where he uncovered widespread corruption.
Serpico was a plainclothes police officer working in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan to expose vice racketeering. In 1967 he reported credible evidence of widespread systematic police corruption. Nothing happened, until he met another police officer, David Durk, who helped him. Serpico believed his partners knew about his secret meetings with police investigators. Finally, he contributed to an April 25, 1970, New York Times front-page story on widespread corruption in the NYPD which drew national attention to the problem. Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed a five-member panel to investigate accusations of police corruption. The panel became the Knapp Commission, named after its chairman, Whitman Knapp.
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