The Seven Five (2014) User Reviews

Incredible story of police corruption

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 30 August 2015]

Precinct Seven Five refers to the 75th precinct located in Brooklyn New York which was the location of extraordinary police corruption back in the 1980's. In this decade the streets of New York really were crime addled and the 75th precinct had a reputation as one of the very worst areas of this dangerous city. Cops from the NYPD felt it necessary to pragmatically back each other up in order to survive life on the front line of serious crime; this led to them turning a blind eye to certain practises. This film looks at the extreme end result of this culture. The New York streets at this time were awash with crack cocaine and well organised gangs protected their interests with violence. Entering into this maelstrom was rookie cop Ken Eurell, who was given a partner Michael Dowd, who was an experienced police officer with a reputation for shady practices. At first Eurell was extremely reticent about this partnership but before long he was joining Dowd in a downward spiral of corruption which began with taking bribes, moving on to actual thieving, then protecting the interests of a big league drug dealer, leading onto to dealing themselves and even winding up with the facilitation of murder. It's an incredible story of cops bowing to temptation in a pretty bad way and is an alarming example of the police acting like gangsters.

Starting with footage of Dowd answering questions at a commission, the story intermittently returns to this as he gives very candid answers while we go back to the start of the story and work our way forward through the 80's and gradually learn about the increasing levels of corruption this group of cops let themselves become party to. It's a fascinating tale, very well told; including some disturbing crime photographs. The level of danger on the streets of Brooklyn really comes through in this, with a particularly incredible segment where the cops are actually chased by the criminals! Dowd himself is obviously an interesting character for the very fact that he got away with such significant levels of corruption for such a long while. His eventual downfall did ultimately lead the NYPD to significantly improve its internal affairs to more pro-actively try to prevent such wrong-doing; whether or not it has been successful in this I really have no idea. But whatever the case, this is a very good and eye opening documentary about a bad chapter in American law enforcement.

Chilling Documentary on the most corrupt New York Cop ever

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 8/10 · 10 January 2016]

Michael Dowd took the oath to uphold the law and protect the citizens of New York. He was assigned to precinct seven five and, at the time, it was the toughest the city had to offer. He soon found that his small pay check was far from adequate recompense for the life he was leading and so helped himself to some dirty money. After that there was no turning back.

This film features archive footage of the trials and the scenes of the time through the 1980's up to 1993. We also have more recent interviews with the main players. This includes his erstwhile partner Kenny Eurell and even some of the gangsters who 'worked' with these dirty cops.

It is disturbing to think that so many cops could be so blatant in their breaking of the laws they were supposed to uphold. It was also not an isolated incident or two but seemingly endemic with a culture of collaboration with other so called 'good' cops. Being 'good' meant not 'ratting' on your fellow cops and thereby allowing their criminal activities to flourish. There are some stunning black and white still photography of the time and some of these photos look like they belong in a gallery – absolutely stunning. This is a documentary that shows how powerful films can be and how fiction is often far behind where truth actually is – absolutely recommended.

Chilling

[mattyhavok · 8/10 · 21 April 2019]

I couldnt stop watching this documentary when I first came across it. It's absolutely chilling to see and hear what these cops did.

The true story of NYPD cops turned outlaw drug dealers.

[joebolton-39426 · 10/10 · 6 March 2015]

Ken Eurell is a young married NY police officer patrolling the streets of Brooklyn and living in the suburbs of Long Island. Hired in 1981 at the young age of 20 he is quickly introduced to a darker side of the NYPD. He manages to stave off temptation and stay true blue for six years until he meets Michael Dowd the dirtiest cop ever as coined by the NY Post.

By the mid 1980s cocaine and crack are running rampant and Eurell falls to the temptations of the street. For six years Eurell and Dowd go unchecked protecting major drug organizations and eventually becoming drug dealers themselves until 1992 when the Suffolk county PD stumble onto a low level drug dealer that leads to Eurell and his former partner. Suffolk county in cooperation with the NYPD internal affairs unit arrested all of the officers involved and 49 civilians. The probe included undercover drug buys and electronic surveillance. Twenty-five vehicles were seized also seized was an undisclosed amount of cash and drugs.

Eurells admitted involvement to the US Attorneys office Southern District (which he later cooperated along with the DEA and Internal Affairs Department in an ongoing undercover probe of his former partners and Colombian drug lords) were purchases of up to one kilo when he broke away and began dealing himself.

Investigators are stunned when Eurell explains how they were protecting and assisting narcotics traffickers for weekly payoffs of $8,000.00.

While out on bail Eurell needed to explain to the DEA that his former partner Dowd wanted to continue their crime spree with a kidnapping/murder scheme and then a Butch Cassidy style escape to Nicaragua. Eurell then becomes a CI for the DEA going back out on the streets wearing a wire to save the life of the intended victim.

These true events spawned the Mollen commission and is the NYPDs biggest scandal since Serpico and the Knapp commission.

Outstanding Documentary

[lozmillar · 10/10 · 11 March 2018]

I found this gripping from start to finish, an amazing insight into outrageous police corruption, I can't recommend enough, well worth a watch.

How Dowd became the dirtiest cop on the NYPD

[bettycjung · 16 March 2018]

3/15/18. A decent documentary about the dirtiest cop on the NYPD. As Dowd says in the end, he didn't start out wanting to be a bad cop. Who starts out that way? With easy money on one side and temptation on the other side one can see how easy greed can grease those wheels that will just slide right through that tunnel to hell. Worth catching.

Mixed feelings about this story

[silverton-37959 · 7/10 · 6 October 2023]

The ones being interviewed range from the cops themselves to DEA agents and IA "cops". It's easier to believe the crooked cops than it is the others. One part has an IA investigator saying that when he looked at Dowd, he "saw perp", meaning that he saw Dowd as a perp. Nonsense. This is an employee of the police department whose only contact with perps is hearing cops describe things that have to do with perps. He's no more a cop than the police Commissioner or any of the brass is.

The skinny, bald DEA agent doesn't know anything that he didn't hear from some informer. I take whatever he has to say with a grain of salt. Hearing the cops tell what they did is more believable to me since it's more likely at least part of the truth. This documentary leaves me wondering what isn't being told that would be enlightening.

SHOCKING??!!!! REALLY??!!??

[joebf-04456 · 10/10 · 8 January 2023]

Cop gets badge. Cop tries to stem the flow of crime. Cop gets hit HARD with the hammer of reality. Cop gets frustrated,& disillusioned. Cop sees opportunity to make actual money. Cop says 'f$&k it',& life will never be the same.not a unfamiliar story,&/or plot line of many movies.....but this aint no movie,it's real life,& it will shock you,Amaze you,and have you wanting the 'bad guy' to get away with it. I work for the Chicago PD,& the first time i heard this story,was in audiobook format,& i just started it over,as soon as it was finished. Ok,first,Mike was bad dude with a badge...sort of. Kenny was a rookie cop,wet behind the ears type of guy.a good dude,& slowly but surely gets sucked in the 'life'.as a cop,i can't hate Mikey,and i can't love Kenny.he's a rat. He could not ever be trusted. Mikey,on the other had,i suit up,& ride with him right now.it's a cop thing,& i don't expect you to get it. Ok,the film was done well,edited well,all boxes checked,yadayadayada. Justbtry not to be shocked too much,by remembering this.....police corruption has been the standard.it has gone on forever,& will continue.this was quite a while ago,&, trust me,it continues to this very day,& this is only the beginning of the start of the tip of Mt. Everest!!

Good Netflix Crime Doc

[mikayakatnt · 7/10 · 13 January 2020]

A Netflix crime doc that had highlighted police corruption at the peak of the crack cocaine era

Gave a lot of insight into an area I knew little about. Scenes were well edited and stories were larger-than-life.

Yet, this is not ground-breaking in its genre or present anything new. The documentary did not resonate well with me long after watching.

3.5/5. 4/5 on a good day. Though a good documentary. I cannot honestly give a higher rating.

Great

[paulkaderli · 10/10 · 18 July 2018]

Fantastic Doc, definitely recommend. I don't know how long this has to be but this isn't enough

Gave me goosebumps

[jim-anderson-238-608184 · 10/10 · 7 March 2018]

Gave this documentary 10 stars but I would have to give the American Government and NYPD 0 after seeing this. If you want to be a gangster it is painfully obvious what step one should be. That being said, if you can get over the depressing reality of this documentary, this was an incredible watch and a very eye opening film. It was like The Departed but in real life.

Who are the villains in this piece?

[CinePhile-istine · 5/10 · 4 April 2021]

The filmmakers appear to have about the same moral compass as their subjects, showing them as very sympathetic figures.

Scathing account of police corruption

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 5 January 2016]

File this one under amazing, but true: Coming across like the most extremely lurid and outrageous kind of crime fiction, this sordidly fascinating documentary relates the extraordinary tale of fearless, amoral, and unrepentant cop Michael Dowd, who organized a band of fellow dirty cops who ran happily amok in the downtrodden 7th precinct located in Brooklyn in the bad ol' days of the 1980's at the height of dismal poverty and the toxic crack epidemic. Director Tiller Russell's unflinching pull-no-punches approach to the seamy subject matter vividly captures the greed, danger, and lawlessness of the period as Dowd and his loyal, yet reluctant partner Ken Eurell live the high life on their ill-gotten gains after forming an unholy allegiance with ruthless, but magnetic drug kingpin Adam Diaz. Eventually Eurell ratted Dowd out in order to avoid doing any jail time, but in a true travesty of justice Dowd wound up serving a mere twelve year sentence in prison. It's the smugness that Dowd, Eurell, Diaz, and fellow crooked police officers Chickie and Walter Yurkiv display about their heinous misdeeds which in turn gives this documentary an extra devastating impact: Obviously more concerned about making a bundle of cash through any means necessary and strictly looking out for their own slimy hides (that old code about cops watching out for each other's backs apparently only goes so far after things take a turn for the worse), these guys are truly nasty pieces of rotten work. Surprisingly, this documentary proves to be wickedly funny in spots, especially when Down starts driving around in a flashy Corvette that he clearly could never afford on an honest cop's pay and the end with Eurell claiming he betrayed Dowd in order to prevent a woman from being kidnapped. A total powerhouse.

A wake up call - Sickening

[parkerrodney · 10/10 · 29 July 2018]

A Wake-up Call

The Seven Five is a documentary about corruption in the NYPD during the 1980s. A police precinct in the East New York Section of Brooklyn, the seven five is located in a notoriously dangerous section of the borough known for drug dealing and a gamut of other crimes. The film is a retrospective accounting by Police Officer Mike Dowd, and others, as they recount their corruption, criminal conduct and other out of control behaviors before getting caught and thrown in jail. What makes this film so riveting, is the candidness in which Dowd and other former officers talk about how they stole money from drug dealers, accepted bribes and established their own criminal enterprise within the NYPD. While the movie goer can appreciate gaining insight in the misconduct of NYPD police officers, we cannot help but feel violated by their conduct and betrayal of the public trust. The seven five is exhibit "A" as far as making the case against police recruitment trends - to recruit individuals from outside of the 5 boroughs to police the city dwellers.

What we learn from the Seven Five is that people in power and authority can abuse it to such an extent as they exploit and feed off the troubles and social ills of poor neighborhoods, and neighborhoods where they have little investment, other than a paycheck. However, what truly makes this movie compelling is that it provides insight into the minds and psychology of corrupt officers as they justify their actions in furtherance of personal gain. This movie should leave you sick to your stomach as you come to terms with your own ignorance of the subject at hand and extrapolate the full extent of possible outcomes with every police interaction. Dowd may no longer be a police officer stalking the streets of NYC, but rest assured corruption exists in many police departments, and the potential for corruption exists in all.

Excellent first hand account of policing in New York City at that time.

[colonel-13070 · 8/10 · 7 January 2022]

NYC has a long and storied history of policing through many eras and generations. The police department is huge, probably up to about 30,000 now. In the 80s NYC was a cesspool. Years of democratic government destroyed the city. Police officers were stuck in the middle of absolute chaos and anarchy. This story about officer going bad certainly tarnishes the badge and our faith in POLICE. But as a story that's being told firsthand, it is great! It is intriguing, compelling, and above all first hand accounts of what was going on at the time. So if you're looking for real crime stories and in this case involving police as the criminals, look no further. This is a great depiction of that type of subject matter, as unsavory as it might be to most of us. My thanks go out to all officers who hold the line, do the right thing, and are there when we need them.

Awesome Production of this Documentary

[music4ever58 · 10/10 · 29 May 2017]

I loved this documentary it was made so well......Wow such an awesome production team......It was what it was. And I believe Michael Dowd didn't plan on his career going the way it did. It was just the times back then and it was what it was. My grandfather was a Dirty Police Officer and Long Shoreman on the West Coast in the late 1940's and 1950's.

Depressing portrait of human slime

[jake_fantom · 3/10 · 24 October 2015]

If you enjoy watching unrepentant psychopathic "cops" have a giggle over the horrendous crimes they committed while working as uniformed NYC police officers, this documentary will be right up your alley. The main subject of the film, Michael Dowd, has a blast recounting his sordid adventures for the camera, and the interviewer never gets in the way of the fun by asking a probing question. The great documentarians manage to either confront their subjects, or coax them into revealing themselves. The director of this lame excuse for a film does neither. He just lets the idiots talk about their brilliant exploits — ripping off robbery victims and drug dealers alike, and eventually hiring out to drug kingpins to protect their territories. Ultimately, Dowd actually becomes a drug dealer and kidnapper, turning his victims over to the drug cartels. As superficial as it is, I have to say that this documentary is also watchable, and delivers a couple of unintentional insights: the first is that virtually all the cops interviewed in this film seem to abide by the same code as criminals do: never rat on a fellow cop. The other is the single bit of sorrow that Dowd evinces late in the film: it's over the fact that his longtime partner (a tattooed goofball with the brains of a bivalve) eventually "rolled over" on him and wore a wire for the internal affairs investigators who put Dowd away for 12 years. Dowd's tears at the recollection of this betrayal are hysterically funny, and worth the pain and suffering of sitting through this badly paced, badly shot, badly cut film.

A bit boring

[clairelouise5 · 5/10 · 18 April 2020]

Saw lots of reviews saying 'chilling' and 'outstanding' but I didn't find it that riveting. The main bent copper comes across as cocky and it's basically him and some drug dealer (who swears every other word) as well as a few others (who also swear every other word), talking about their lives which they seem to believe was like an action movie gone wild. Maybe an interesting tall story for them to tell over a beer but on screen it fell flat. Much preferred Flint Town, now that's a look at a real, tough police force that you can actually respect. Not these fools.