“Michael Cannell’s Blood and the Badge details the extraordinary investigation of the ‘Killer Cops’ investigation, a harrowing story of corruption and murder within law enforcement itself. Cannell misses nothing.”
ON SALE JANUARY 14, 2025
This is the true story of two corrupt cops who were secretly on the mafia payroll. For more than ten years, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa moonlighted as the mob’s early warning alert system, leaking names of mobsters secretly cooperating with the government and crippling investigations by sharing details of surveillance, phone taps and impending arrests. A crime boss called the two detectives his crystal ball: Whatever detectives knew, the mafia soon learned. Most grievously, Eppolito and Caracappa earned bonuses by staging eight mob hits, pulling the trigger themselves at least once.
“Cannell pulls back the veil to reveal law enforcement’s most lurid chapter, an entwined tale of decorated detectives on the mafia payroll ― a true account of police depravity unearthed with intensive reporting.”
“A sharp, richly detailed book that takes you deep inside the many layers of a shocking story and delights with new, surprising revelations.”
“A spellbinding story of unthinkable treachery and brutal betrayal. Michael Cannell exposes the crimes of two New York City cops who murdered for the mob as he follows the good guys who were determined to bring them to justice. A gritty and vivid underworld tale like no other.”
“Blood and the Badge is the definitive work on the subject that Brooklyn DA Charles “Joe” Hynes called the worst case of police corruption in the history of the New York City Police Department.”