Corrupt Cities

Much of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Turkey was the result of widespread corruption between the construction industry and government officials. Corruption is part of everyday public life and we tend to take it for granted. However, preventing corruption helps to raise city revenues, improve service delivery, stimulate public confidence and participation, and win elections. This book is designed to help citizens and public officials diagnose, investigate and prevent various kinds of corrupt and illicit behaviour. It focuses on systematic corruption rather than the free-lance activity of a few law-breakers, and emphasises practical preventive measures rather than purely punitive or moralistic campaigns.

Taking a hard look at the unprincipled lives of political bosses, police corruption, graft payments, and other political abuses of the time, the book set the style for future investigative reporting.

Meet Donald "Lucky" Gibson, an African-America detective. He was considered one of the best, until he joined his last unit. He quickly became corrupted. Instead of catching criminals, these cops were acting like one. They were labeled legal thugs with guns. After years of abusing his badge which led to an out of control coke habit, losing his family and falling in love with a young runaway prostitute. Lucky had enough. One night after an innocent Blackman was killed by his white partners, he testified in court. He used the media to expose his dirty team including his Captain and the Commissioner. After that, he became a marked man. Even the Mayor wanted him dead, Welcome to Corrupt City This crime filled drama places you in the middle of the belly of the beast. Grab hold of your seat because this action packed, page-turner will have you falling off the edge with anticipation. Every twist is unexpected and every character is a suspect.

In this gripping and action-packed sequel to Corrupt City, the aftermath of the assassination is explored, revealing what happened to everyone involved. With trickery in each chapter, this book will have you cheering for the bad guys, while wondering who can be trusted, who is behind the foul events that unfold, and where the corruption will end. You won't be able to put this book down until you unveil all the clues.

Meet Donald "Lucky" Gibson, an African-America detective. He was considered one of the best, until he joined his last unit. He quickly became corrupted. Instead of catching criminals, these cops were acting like one. They were labeled legal thugs with guns. After years of abusing his badge which led to an out of control coke habit, losing his family and falling in love with a young runaway prostitute. Lucky had enough. One night after an innocent Blackman was killed by his white partners, he testified in court. He used the media to expose his dirty team including his Captain and the Commissioner. After that, he became a marked man. Even the Mayor wanted him dead, Welcome to Corrupt City This crime filled drama places you in the middle of the belly of the beast. Grab hold of your seat because this action packed, page-turner will have you falling off the edge with anticipation. Every twist is unexpected and every character is a suspect.

Meet Donald “Lucky” Gibson. He’s considered one of the best detectives around, until he joins his new unit, a team of corrupt cops who are just as bad as the criminals they are supposed to be catching. Lucky soon falls into the trap and becomes one more thug with a badge. Years of abusing his position have led to an out of control cocaine habit, the loss of his family, and a love affair with a young runaway prostitute, but Lucky has had enough. After an innocent black man is killed by his white partners, Lucky testifies against them. He uses the media to expose his dirty team, including his captain and the commissioner. Now Lucky is a marked man, and even the mayor wants him dead. Corruption does not begin to describe what the law enforcement and government officials represent. With trickery in each chapter, this must-read novel will have you cheering for the bad guys, while wondering who can be trusted, who is behind the foul events that unfold, and where the corruption will end. You won't be able to put this book down until you discover all the answers. Welcome to Corrupt City Saga, where you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys, and every character is a suspect. Tra Verdejo is entering the street lit scene with a raw style that will quickly put him on top.

Corruption is a chronic public concern affecting America's cities. Greed, ethical lapses and lack of accountability have drained untold millions in tax dollars. Corrupt practices range from embezzlement, graft, bribery, kickbacks, extortion, nepotism and patronage to the misuse of funds, vehicles, equipment, supplies and other public resources. Court proceedings to investigate and prosecute perpetrators add to the cost. Media exposes have magnified the spectacle of abusive and unethical government. This book investigates the reasons behind corruption and imparts guidelines for better accountability.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • The astonishing true story of “one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation” (The New York Times), from the Pulitzer Prize–nominated reporter who exposed a gang of criminal cops and their yearslong plunder of an American city NOW AN HBO SERIES FROM THE WIRE CREATOR DAVID SIMON AND GEORGE PELECANOS “A work of journalism that not only chronicles the rise and fall of a corrupt police unit but can stand as the inevitable coda to the half-century of disaster that is the American drug war.”—David Simon Baltimore, 2015. Riots are erupting across the city as citizens demand justice for Freddie Gray, a twenty-five-year-old Black man who has died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. Drug and violent crime are surging, and Baltimore will reach its highest murder count in more than two decades: 342 homicides in a single year, in a city of just 600,000 people. Facing pressure from the mayor’s office—as well as a federal investigation of the department over Gray’s death—Baltimore police commanders turn to a rank-and-file hero, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, and his elite plainclothes unit, the Gun Trace Task Force, to help get guns and drugs off the street. But behind these new efforts, a criminal conspiracy of unprecedented scale was unfolding within the police department. Entrusted with fixing the city’s drug and gun crisis, Jenkins chose to exploit it instead. With other members of the empowered Gun Trace Task Force, Jenkins stole from Baltimore’s citizens—skimming from drug busts, pocketing thousands in cash found in private homes, and planting fake evidence to throw Internal Affairs off their scent. Their brazen crime spree would go unchecked for years. The results were countless wrongful convictions, the death of an innocent civilian, and the mysterious death of one cop who was shot in the head, killed just a day before he was scheduled to testify against the unit. In this urgent book, award-winning investigative journalist Justin Fenton distills hundreds of interviews, thousands of court documents, and countless hours of video footage to present the definitive account of the entire scandal. The result is an astounding, riveting feat of reportage about a rogue police unit, the city they held hostage, and the ongoing struggle between American law enforcement and the communities they are charged to serve.