Pubdate: Mon, 16 May 2005
Source: New York Daily News (NY)
Copyright: 2005 Daily News, L.P.
Contact:  http://www.nydailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/295
Author:  Robert F. Moore, and Nancy Dillion
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

COP'S BOOK OF SINS: LYING, STEALING & WORSE

Playing Russian roulette with suspects. Lying on the witness stand.
Stealing bags of smack from dealers and using them to bribe junkie
snitches.

Aggressive cops working on the city's meanest streets commit these
crimes and many more on a regular basis - all in an effort to stay one
step ahead of the bad guys, a controversial new book by a retired NYPD
cop contends.

"I knew these were crimes I was committing daily. But I'd do it again
and again," Robert Cea writes in "No Lights, No Sirens," published
last week by William Morrow. "It's the only way to get things done."

He claims while the rule-bending and "testi-lying" - lying on the
witness stand - weren't taught in the academy, they were tacitly
encouraged by police brass and city prosecutors looking to reduce
crime and keep their caseloads moving. "I have a quick learning
curve," Cea, 42, told the Daily News.

Cea said he "testi-lied" in more than 100 of 500 felony arrests he
made between 1982 and his retirement in 1994.

Police brass scoffed at claims in the book. "The problem with someone
who boasts about lying is that he casts doubt on the veracity of
everything else he claims," said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne in a
statement.

Cea, who doesn't name names in the book - he uses pseudonyms -
insisted his account is accurate.

In one harrowing passage, he describes putting one bullet into his gun
and spinning the chamber. Then, he writes, he stuck the gun into a
suspect's ear and pulled the trigger. It didn't fire. His partner, he
said, stopped him.

Other real "rules of the game," according to Cea, include:

Let big drug dealers walk so they can act as informants - even if the
junk they sell spurs murders.

Look the other way when any kind of marijuana is found. The paperwork
is long and tedious, and the charge is only going to get tossed or
dropped down to a misdemeanor.

Lie to suspects, allowing them to think confessing on camera will lead
to a light sentence.

Personally cook up heroin for your informants if you need information
for a bigger arrest.

Cea became a decorated cop during his 12-year stint on the streets of
Brooklyn, mostly in Red Hook and East Flatbush.

He retired in 1994 after he was investigated for the murder of one of
his informants. He was ultimately vindicated.

These days he's developing film and TV projects, and even starred in
Off-Broadway's "Tony n' Tina's Wedding."

"I'm not boasting with this book," Cea said. "I wrote this book to
show how deep into the ninth circle of hell you can fall and still
pick yourself up by the bootstraps and go on."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin