Preloading

An Undercover Officer's Take on How Bad Cops Get That Way

Aired on 12/11/1991 | CC
Before working undercover for the New York Police Department's Internal Affairs Division, Vincent Murano was an officer. The NYPD offered the detective a position rooting out corrupt officers by posing as a mobster—a job that ensured he would see his fair share of crooked cops who regularly abused their power.

In 2011, Officer Murano came on The Oprah Winfrey Show to join the conversation about police misconduct and how to end it. "I saw police officers that beat up on people. ... Police officers hired me to kill someone, thinking I was a gangster. I committed robberies with police officers while I was posing as a criminal," he told Oprah.

So who's to blame for police corruption? Other guests on the show believed that it was a systemic problem that starts at the top and spreads down the ranks. Officer Murano disagreed: "They're not corrupted or become brutal because of the police department. These people are brutal and criminals before they came on the police department."

Original airdate: December 11, 1991