Brotherhood of Corruption: A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling

by Juan Antonio Juarez

A former Chicago cop exposes shocking truths about the abuses of power within the city’s police department in this memoir of violence, drugs, and men with badges. Juarez becomes a police officer because he wants to make a difference in gang-infested neighborhoods; but, as this book reveals, he ends up a corrupt member of the most powerful gang of all—the Chicago police force. Juarez shares the horrific indiscretions he witnessed during his seven years of service, from the sexually predatory officer, X, who routinely stops beautiful women for made-up traffic offenses and flirts with domestic violence victims, to sadistic Locallo, known on the streets as Locoman, who routinely stops gang members and beats them senseless. Working as a narcotics officer, Juarez begins to join his fellow officers in crossing the line between cop and criminal, as he takes advantage of his position and also becomes a participant in a system of racial profiling legitimized by the war on drugs. Ultimately, as Juarez discusses, his conscience gets the better of him and he tries to reform, only to be brought down by his own excesses. From the perspective of an insider, he tells of widespread abuses of power, random acts of brutality, and the code of silence that keeps law enforcers untouchable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Police

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Greg Talbot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't take from the cookie jar, and wag your finger at others. Juarez's cutting stories of witnessed police brutality primarily against minorities is sadly lacking in responsibility for his own actions. Rather than face opprobrium or backup charges with facts or historical evidence, there's just a lot of saber rattling and irresponsible behavior. Discussing personal exploits with women, drugs and misuse of power, and to guise it as some sort of big-banner tell-all corruption book is completely misleading.

Police brutality is a serious topic. The disproportionate rates of incarcerated men with regard to race is alarming, and the U.S.'s approach to drug abuse offenses is hardly compassionate. There are books and approaches that can present this in a much more honest and thoughtful way.

[Steven Van Den Berghe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would have given this book two stars for the relatively unsurprising account of what happens when you give a bunch of random people too much power, a badge and a gun, but the sordid tales of semi-forced abortions, genital warts, erectile dysfunction and the cringe-inducing poetry cost it another star. Also, I did not find a single redeeming quality in the author. Terrible person, terrible poetry, terrible book.

[Brian Payan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love police work and things like that, especially when it focuses on the corrupt aspects. It gives good examples of where Chicago cops are corrupt and how they essentially do as they please, avoiding responsibility and obviously abusing their powers. ACAB.

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting information about cop culture, why good cops stay, and why sometimes shady characters are drawn to police work. There is decent info on abuse and profiling, but not nearly enough when considering the book's title. It was more of a biography of the author, which didn't interest me enough.

[catechism · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a semi-successful research read for me in terms of the petty ways cops suck, but I was expecting more about the systemic issues than I got. I was also expecting fewer coerced abortions and genital warts, but the author was a real piece of shit.

[Madison Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juarez, a former Chicago narcotics officer, opens up about the brutality that some of the police officers committed in the non-fiction book Brothers of Corruption. The crime rate in Chicago is one of the highest in the country, but the law enforcement isn’t always the most truthful either. The situations that he encountered while on duty with the Chicago Police Department could be described as “disgusting” or ironically “illegal.” His co-workers became known for stopping women for inaccurate traffic violations and would gawk at their bodies. Another associate of his would brutally beat any gang member that he had an encounter with. Juarez was doing all the he could to focus on his duties, but soon he began to cross the line and abuse his official powers, which was what most of the officers were doing. Throughout the book, Juarez describes many incidents when he encountered this brutality with his co-workers, and even sometimes with himself. Juarez claims that he joined the police force to assist in decreasing the amount of gangs in Chicago, but he comes to realize that he is a part of one, the Chicago Police Department. The racial diversity got the best of the officers and they began to profile many individuals based on their ethnicity. This kind of behavior continued over a period of seven years for Juarez, until he finally decides that he has had enough. Brothers of Corruption was a very difficult book for me because of the police officer's actions. When I think of a law enforcement, I think of individuals that are protecting my community or myself, not someone who is betraying the duties and being hypocritical towards individuals that they are charging. I would recommend this book to an individual who is seeking the truth about the connection between law enforcement and the use of excessive force within a specific community.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. I liked the sections of this book that actually expose the corruption of Chicago cops and the police system. You definitely get some inside looks at the perks cops have and the injustices that they get away with. At one point in the book, a cop says the police are the biggest gang in Chicago. The author, a former cop, shows how the War on Drugs was really a war on blacks. Throughout his seven years on the force he grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way poor people and minorities are profiled and cops are held unaccountable.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book is about his failed relationships and drug and alcohol problems. He was pretty much a low life womanizer who recounts his "conquests." In a way the book is a big confession. It reads like Confessions of an Economic Hitman in this way. It has the same sensationalized style as My Bloody Life (they are both Published by Chicago Review Press) and makes me wonder if they do this just to sell more books. I would have preferred that he focus on the flaws of the police system, the topic of the book, rather than his own flawed relationships.

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

When any and all drug busts planned in white neighborhoods were quashed by superiors while the same busts in black neighborhoods were encouraged, the author quit the police force in disgust. Also details his own inability to resist the temptations of sex and drugs accepted in such a corrupt world and his withdrawal from that world.

[bookreader_nix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked how Juarez talked about ethical dilemmas in law enforcement. It's important because we are faced everyday with police officers who are corrupt and use their power of discretion in inappropriate ways. The fact that Juarez could come out of his corruptible and unethical ways was phenomenal to read about.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real career of a Chicago cop. A must read for all prospective big city police officers and anybody involved in big city criminal justice.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking.

[Ietrio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. It gave me a new look on the War on Drugs.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the account of a dirty cop trying to blame others for his lack of integrity.