Introducing: The Set

0:29Let me tell you what I've been hooked on. But instead of protecting New Yorkers from drug dealers, some police officers became them. When a commission was formed to investigate police misconduct, it discovered Harlem's 30th precinct had been overrun with corruption. But even worse, the NYPD had been turning a blind eye. In total, 33 officers were arrested and even convicted of corruption and the precinct became known as the Dirty 30. In the set, we hear never-before-told stories shared directly by the dirty cops who were convicted. the undercover internal affairs officer who blew the whistle, and the investigators, the prosecutors, the police commissioner who exposed the truth about what happened when the world's largest police department failed to police itself.

1:11If you like this preview, be sure to search for The Set, available now wherever you get your podcast. Um, you know what? After fucking 30-some-odd years, you would think that, like, you gotta get over it. But apparently not. I just, I'm not a bad guy, man. I made a mistake and I fucking went down the wrong path. I'm not a bad guy. But, Zach, I mean, the story should be told. From Odyssey Originals, I'm Zach Levitt, the creator of Root of Evil, Gangster Capitalism, and Relative Unknown. And this is a story about a time that New York City would like to forget. Dangerous times in New York City. The biggest city in America is on the ropes.

2:07On the streets of New York, it's called crack, and the deals go down quickly. It was the most violent year in the city's history, the height of the crack era. There were no opportunities. You got into the game back then. Yo, you had no choice. But if you're moving coke, you're making money hand over foot, baby. Entire neighborhoods had been transformed into open-air drug markets. But for some criminals brazen enough, even the dealers became marks. Was it a common practice to break into apartments which were suspected drug locations? Yes. Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there.

2:48Weren't you ever afraid of getting caught at doing this? No. Who's going to catch us? We're the police. We Americans have an endless fascination with police stories. Well, there's a police story being told here in New York that is so shocking, you couldn't make it up. The New York City Police Department was keeping a secret. Instead of locking up drug dealers, some cops were out on the streets competing with them. I would suit up in my uniform, and you're going out on fucking patrol. What are we going to do tonight? Well, we're going to rob some drug dealers. And I know how to do it really well.

3:36But even worse, the NYPD knew and allowed it to happen. They saw their role as protecting the department, not rooting out corrupt cops. A special commission was formed to investigate the police department itself. and what it uncovered would shake the city to its foundation. It was a Banana Republic precinct operating in the city of New York. It was unbelievable. In New York City tonight, a major scandal for the nation's largest police force. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all. We told them that we wanted them to wear a wire.

4:20They only got them on a few things. They didn't get them on every time. And he said okay. All told for the first time by the people who lived it. Did you consider yourself a rat? 100%. I saved my soul just like everybody else does. I'm not a bad guy, man, but I can't explain it. I loved being that dirty motherfucker. Welcome to The Set, an Odyssey Originals documentary podcast series. Listen and follow on the Odyssey app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. It's a fucked up world and a fucked up department.