Mired in the racial conflicts of a divided city, Lehr, coauthor of the bestselling Black Mass, details one of the most controversial cases in the annals of the Boston Police Department, involving a brutal assault on a black plainclothes officer by his fellow cops and the resulting 1998 civil rights trial against the police force. Not only does Lehr paint the racial and political turbulence of Boston at the time, but he explores the cultural backgrounds of the black officer, Michael Cox; his attacker and fellow officer, Kenny Conley; and Robert "Smut" Brown, a drug dealer involved in the killing that started it all. Cox, who responded to the murder and chased after the car carrying the suspects, was beaten very severely by his overzealous colleagues, waited for an administrative apology and got only a coverup by the department. What followed was a sensational trial with all of the key ingredients of police brutality and a "solid blue code of silence," with no winners. Jolting, nightmarish and potent, this true cop yarn bests any bogus reality show or overblown tabloid tale with its hard-boiled spin. 8 pages of b&w photos; 1 map. (July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Far too often we hear about racial bias and undue violence on the part of a city's police department against the very citizens they are legally bound to protect. Here the Boston Police Department is taken to task. Lehr argues that the city of Boston itself has a well-established racial divide and that the police department reflects this partition. He tells the true story of an African American plainclothes police officer, Michael Cox, who was brutally beaten by his fellow officers in a case of mistaken identity. Subsequently, the beating was covered up by the police department, an example of the "Blue Law of Silence" wherein police officers remain silent about police matters that make the department look bad. Lehr provides an excellent review of the incident, the background of Officer Cox, the cover-up, and the ultimate trial. The result is an intriguing read that provides an admirable, in-depth description of police corruption.
—Tim Delaney
From former Boston Globe reporter Lehr (Journalism/Boston Univ.; co-author: Judgment Ridge: The Truth Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders, 2003, etc.), a somber tale of police corruption, racism and violent crime in Beantown. Think Serpico translated to Boston, where Mike Cox, a plainclothes police officer, and his partner were tracking criminals. One, the story's antihero, was a street thug known as "Smut," a 23-year-old with a lengthy police record. Their paths intersected with violent results at a hip-hop club on a January night in 1995. As Lehr notes, "plainclothes" isn't exactly right, for "it was unrealistic to think street-smart gang members would not spot them or their unmarked car." The gangbangers did better than certain of Cox's fellow officers in the Boston PD, who beat him senseless, apparently confusing him for a suspect. The cops, and others who arrived on the scene, concocted a tale: Cox "hit his head on the ice," they said, and they coached witnesses to say the same. None of the officers stepped up to tell the truth, erecting the well-known "blue wall of silence" that surrounds allegations of corruption and misconduct. Higher-ups in the BPD took a nonchalant approach to the case, "hoping the department's low-key response to the beating would result in a quick and quiet resolution that kept the matter largely in-house." To his great credit, Cox would not let it go. Having "realized long ago he could not depend on the police department for the truth," he embarked on a long legal odyssey for justice that resulted in victory-at least of a kind. A cautionary tale about the abuse of power and a timely civics lesson on the virtue of standing up to authority.
This could be a case study in the perils of profiling. It isn’t so much forgotten history, as buried. Perhaps this outstanding book can fix that.” — Adrian Walker, Boston Globe
“The Fence is a monumental account of an urban travesty. Dick Lehr’s depiction of one of the darkest chapters in recent Boston law enforcement history and the savage injustices perpetrated on two hero cops—one black, one white—has all the earmarks of a classic.” — Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River
“Dick Lehr gets inside the heads of cops, criminals, prosecutors and politics better than anyone I know. The Fence is a revealing expose of the blue wall of silence that endangers us all.” — Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law School
“Jolting, nightmarish and potent, this true cop yarn bests any bogus reality show or overblown tabloid tale with its hardboiled spin.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“As gripping a tale as “The Fence” is, it should be mandatory reading for anyone looking to be a cop in Boston . . . or anyplace else.” — Peter Gelzinis, Boston Herald
“Think Serpico translated to Boston. . . . A cautionary tale about the abuse of power and a timely civics lesson on the virtue of standing up to authority.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The Fence should be required reading in . . . expanded integrity training courses for Boston Police supervisors.” — Boston Globe
“Intriguing . . . an admirable, in-depth description of police corruption.” — Library Journal
“Gripping. . . . Tackles a broad issue with the zeal of a seasoned investigative newspaper reporter.” — Lynet Holloway, Black Voices
“The Fence makes a compelling case . . . [it] is more than an account of crime, punishment and the blue wall. Lehr weaves the life stories of several key characters into the book.” — Bay State Banner
“Lehr has vividly rendered two tragic stories, exposing a police culture of silence that victimized one of its own while also showing the “by any means necessary’’ mentality of federal prosecutors that destroyed another innocent officer’s reputation. Still missing here are truth and accountability.” — Chuck Leddy, The Boston Globe
This could be a case study in the perils of profiling. It isn’t so much forgotten history, as buried. Perhaps this outstanding book can fix that.
Dick Lehr gets inside the heads of cops, criminals, prosecutors and politics better than anyone I know. The Fence is a revealing expose of the blue wall of silence that endangers us all.
Gripping. . . . Tackles a broad issue with the zeal of a seasoned investigative newspaper reporter.
The Fence makes a compelling case . . . [it] is more than an account of crime, punishment and the blue wall. Lehr weaves the life stories of several key characters into the book.
The Fence should be required reading in . . . expanded integrity training courses for Boston Police supervisors.
The Fence is a monumental account of an urban travesty. Dick Lehr’s depiction of one of the darkest chapters in recent Boston law enforcement history and the savage injustices perpetrated on two hero cops—one black, one white—has all the earmarks of a classic.
As gripping a tale as “The Fence” is, it should be mandatory reading for anyone looking to be a cop in Boston . . . or anyplace else.
Lehr has vividly rendered two tragic stories, exposing a police culture of silence that victimized one of its own while also showing the “by any means necessary’’ mentality of federal prosecutors that destroyed another innocent officer’s reputation. Still missing here are truth and accountability.
