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Blue on Blue  By  cover art

Blue on Blue

By: Charles Campisi,Gordon Dillow - contributor
Narrated by: Danny Campbell,Charles Campisi - prologue
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Publisher's summary

One of the most authentic and consistently illuminating portraits of police work ever, Blue on Blue describes the fascinating inner workings of the world's largest police force and Chief Charles Campisi's unprecedented two decades putting bad cops behind bars.

From 1996 through 2014, Charles Campisi headed NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, working under four police commissioners and gaining a reputation as hard-nosed and incorruptible. When he retired, only one man on the 36,000-member force had served longer. During Campisi's IAB tenure, the number of New Yorkers shot, wounded, or killed by cops every year declined by 90 percent, and the number of cops failing integrity tests shrank to an equally startling low.

But to achieve those exemplary results, Campisi had to triple IAB's staff, hire the very best detectives, and put the word out that bad apples wouldn't be tolerated.

While the early minutes of Campisi's absorbing account bring us into the real world of cops, showing, for example, the agony that every cop suffers when he fires his gun, later chapters spotlight a harrowing series of investigations that tested IAB's capacities, forcing detectives to go undercover against cops who were themselves undercover, to hunt down criminals posing as cops, and to break through the "blue wall of silence" to verify rare - but sometimes very real - cases of police brutality.

Told in an edge-of-the-seat way by a born storyteller, Blue on Blue puts us in the scene, allowing us to listen in on wiretaps and feel the adrenaline rush of drawing in the net. It also reveals new threats to the force, such as the possibility of infiltration by terrorists. Ultimately, the book inspires awe for the man who, for almost two decades, was entrusted with the job of making sure the words "New York's Finest" never rang hollow.

A truly revelatory account, Blue on Blue will forever change the way you view police work.

©2017 Charles Campisisi. All rights reserved. (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

What listeners say about Blue on Blue

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    5 out of 5 stars

Citizens of New York Should Read this....

It was interesting to read how law enforcement polices itself and the steps that have been taken to ensure the quality of personnel they have among the ranks. This day in age we hear enough about police officer killings that becomes increases tension and creates division among the population. Any time someone is killed by law enforcement is a tragedy - regardless of innocence. However, police are humans in a dynamic situation that is not black and white. I found it refreshing to hear how the NYPD IAB does "integrity" checks on cops who are under suspicion and those who are not. I think that form of prevention goes a long way in keeping cops honest.

I know this book was written by a former IAB chief who is proud to have served the city of New York. Some people might think he has a bias. I think you will find Campisi quite unbiased in fact when it comes to cops breaking any laws. He makes a great case for the job that the police are doing by presenting solid statistics and explaining details that the lay person can understand.

I would recommend this book for its content as well as the narrator whom I have always enjoyed.

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3 people found this helpful

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Must have

I'm a retired police officer and this is dear to my heart.
Great history, narration, research, first hand police stories.
Loved it and was informed a lot.

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    3 out of 5 stars

And on. And on. And on.

First, note that that audio sample is deceptive. Mercifully, the actual narrator does not that that dull-witted Niw Yawk accent that only Bronx residents can tolerate. The actual narrator (Danny Campbell) is awesome.

About half of this book is the life and times and opinions of Charles Campisi. That's unfortunate. The first third is about his upbringing, entering the force, etc. and it went on way too long. There are some chapters on police politics and why they are all tangential to his internal affairs career, to be honest I don't care about Charles Campisi's career. The meat of the book is the entertaining stories of police corruption and how these crooked cops were taken down. Like most listeners, I'm here be entertained and perhaps informed a bit. Campisi's biography is just not that entertaining, nor is an organizational analysis of the internal affairs reorganization.

Campisi also feels his must defend cops from the noxious lies of progressives, liberals, BLM terrorists, and other Communist fruits. I suppose if I was in his shoes I'd feel the same way but when I picked up this book I didn't think there would be several chapters on "excessive force" (har!) cases. Again, I wanted to read about sting operations, blackmail, extortion, underworld tie ups and sophisticated criminal cops and the clever ways they were caught, not some 1-in-a-million cop who got Democrat panties in a wad because he didn't say please and thank you to a drug dealer.

Between his bio and defenses against the nation's nuts, there's a number of interesting stories which I enjoyed, so overall it was worth the purchase price. I just wish there were more of those stories and less of the other stuff. Just know what you're getting into and feel free to skip to the next chapter if you find yourself in narrative quicksand.

BTW, when you listen, keep track of how often the author says "And on...and on...and on." It's his favorite phrase.

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Well written behind the scenes account

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an interesting account of 'the other side of the story'. A little slow in spots, but I appreciated the author's back story that made him human and not just a cop.

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Great story but...

Gripping story. A series of man-on-the-scene first hand accounts of NYPD tales ranging from Sean Bell to Louima to 9/11.

My quibble is Mr. Campisi's incredible lack of empathy for the victims of police violence. He stresses its wrong, a disgrace to the uniform. He points out the thin blue line of silence isn't any more real than doctors protecting doctors or lawyers protecting lawyers.

But tgen, he cant seem to understand why people objected to stop-and-frisk (he dismisses a 200 page federal decision as "a court case") and dismisses Eric Garner's death by noting he had been arrested 30 times. Nothing about how Garner died as a result of an illegal chokehold. If zero tolerance works for citizens, should work for police too.

He dismisses liberals, lawyers, politicians as anti-cop.

I came away liking Mr. Campisi. He is no doubt a dedicated public servant, and would be a pleasure to have a meal with. He also tells a great story. But some of his views (though he disclaims this, the epilogue seems to suggest excluding Muslims from the NYPD-and his account of 9/11 doesn't mention that Muslim officers killed that day were initially suspected of being involved till their bodies were recovered) give me pause.

But it is a great book. Glad I bought it, and hope he writes more.

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Well done

The book was well written. It provided enough explanation for those who are/were not involved in police work to understand the jargon involved in the work.

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Ten hours too long!

This whole book could have been five hours or less. It's the same thing over and over. The narrator is also annoying. Don't bother.

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GOOD INSIGHT.

As a retired police officer I found the book slow reading at times. Campsite had to explain in details very expression, procedure, policy, law, historical background, and cops insight throughout the book. OK for non officers but great for civilians . I do have a better insight into the IAB. I would like to buy him a cup of tea sometime.
.

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  • 07-17-17

enjoyed it

Good story with a lot of information fascinating stuff of very bright man thankful that he was part of the system that made New York a much better place to live .

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Okay book


Marred by the wrong reader and a story that dwell too long police politics at the expense of interesting cases of corrupt cops

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