[Music] I never took any money I just did my job and just because you had a uniform and a badge it didn't mean that you had special privileges he just wasn't gonna play the game that's all and he hoped that it would go away it was a courageous cap he was a concerned [ __ ] Frank Serpico was a cop who wouldn't take bribes wouldn't just look the other way and wouldn't keep quiet about corruption in the New York City Police Department going up against a big bureaucracy like that in choirs incredible bravery and resourcefulness and not many people have it [Music] [Applause] [Music] Serpico chose a lonely path he never knew who he could trust one day on a drug bust Frank's partners failed to back him up I turned around to say to my partners what are you waiting for give me a hand they didn't the suspect shot Serpico in the face Frank survived but the NYPD would never be the same I believed in my profession I was proud of it I was proud of the oath that I took and I was going enforce it Frank Serpico was born in 1937 in Brooklyn the youngest of four children his parents vincenzo and maria struggled when they moved from italy to america to raise a family her first job was in a fur factory but it was very confining and she left that and then she went to work in the candy place called Fannie farmers where they rolled hand rolled lollipops Frank's father a skilled shoemaker took great pride in his repair shop he toiled long hours there just blocks away from the Serpico home in a working-class neighborhood Frank's home was Coldwater flat the only heat they had in the entire house the apartment was a wood-burning stove in the kitchen and being very frugal people hard-working immigrants instead of using coal they would burn all the scraps from the shoe repair shop leather and stuff like that that would ignite and just glow for a long periods of time a close-knit family the children grew up speaking Italian as their first language they learned to be independent honest and resourceful my dad was a very gentle kind of person stood up to Authority believed in himself in the sense I say gentle because he used to raise his own Canaries and it always amazed me to watch his hands that had these cut from cutting leather but yet he would have these little Canaries that were just born out of an egg the size of a jellybean and he would nurture them and feed them the Serpico's lived in a modest carriage house where Vincenzo cultivated an unlikely urban garden I would call that organic farming because all the waste from the kitchen during the winter was thrown on the ground in the backyard and was buried they'd have Tomatoes they'd have peppers corn I recall arugula in addition to that I used to call it the little farm because they had also Lea had chickens while all the children help garden it was Frank who developed a deep connection with nature he had a natural affinity for birds and animals he loved playing outdoors with his friends or sister I played with my brother in the streets with a broomstick repayed replayed stickball and he played with marbles we didn't have toys often Frank would make his own toys of which he was fiercely protective I had found a gene autry cap pistol in the garbage can and I I put it together with little pieces of wire Frank's bride turned to anger when a few neighborhood bullies stole the pistol from him at knifepoint instinctively he went after them I actually chased them beyond my limitations I went around the corner chased him to the next block where the there was a lot of traffic and to me it was like the traffic opened up like the Red Sea and they got swallowed up in it and they kept pointing back at me and going bang bang bang bang he didn't get the bad guys instead Frank learned early on that justice wasn't easy to come by street crime made an indelible impression on him from watching a pie wagon robbed to spying a dead body out his window Frank saw the cops as the good guys he thrilled to watch them pursue criminals from early childhood he wanted to be a police officer and he loved the idea of service to others as he saw it through the police role but he didn't see the role as being force fast guns he saw it as befriending and protecting the weak and and the people frank was crushed when he realized some policemen abused their authority it happened one day when a cop came into his father's shop for a shoeshine Frank polished them to a high gloss the cop walked out without paying this made no sense to Frank and he never forgot it when he was 14 his mother took Frank his brother Sal and sister Tina to a small village in Italy to meet their grandfather Frank's spirit of adventure took over and he fit in immediately he did what all the other kids did he went barefoot he just walked barefoot narrow through the streets and he just we didn't do that but he did when Frank came back he knew a whole world outside Brooklyn waited to be explored but school came first he entered the st. Francis Preparatory Academy its application asked for career goal he filled it in plainclothesman Frank had chosen his future he was influenced by his favorite cops and robbers radio program gangbusters and I remember all the lights would be out and then it'd just be this little dim light from the radio and it would be very exciting because you'd hear these police sirens and screeching cars and machine-gun fire and and they were saying now another thrilling episode of gang busters growing up Frank refused to back down when confronted with situations he didn't like and I would have to say to me Frank get home what's cooler than what gets herself in trouble now he would go up to the individual and say what are you doing he just had that instinct if something didn't set right in his mind he would question it a tough streetwise kid Frank hung out at amusement parks with his own neighborhood gang he became a crack shot a camera will take his picture when he hit a bull's-eye he also hustled to earn money at part-time jobs he worked as a hawker and sold produce off a fruit and vegetable truck he shined shoes in his father's shop and along the Parkway outside the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens the gardens were his personal haven where he could escape from the noise of the city in 1954 after Frank graduated from high school and turned 17 he did what his older brother had done he enlisted in the Army during his two years in Korea he absorbed Asian culture he already spoke fluent Italian French and Spanish and now he learned Japanese when Frank returned to America it was with the ambition to become a cop he entered Brooklyn College to study police science and took the New York City Police Department exam to get first-hand experience he worked as a private investigator and for the city's youth board then in September 1959 came word that he had passed the police exam he was sworn in as a probationary officer one of New York's finest but Frank Serpico was naive about police culture there were long-standing ways of doing business patterns of behavior that Serpico was about to learn and reject he wore what that the dirty job he wanted to do the job in the right manner he wanted to be a cop he wanted his job to be an honorable job his first lesson is a cop would teach him about a subject he hadn't studied in the academy corruption Serpico was on an unavoidable collision course that would change not only his life but the entire structure of the New York City Police Department when Frank Serpico joined the New York City Police Department in 1960 it was like many others conservative the department still had a large percentage of officers who were were grew up in the depression World War two who had a traditional attitude towards towards life cops were part of a loyal fraternity and Frank didn't know the unwritten House Rules some cops were honest many others were known to be corrupt taking regular payoffs to protect criminals as a new recruit Frank wasn't yet aware of the seamy side of police work he focused on one thing being a good cop he believes that the role of the police is a critically important role that they are the peace giver and the peace keeper and that they above all have the duty of absolute rectitude integrity truthfulness and courage as a cadet in the police academy Frank got his first taste of the Brotherhood he and a partner were sent to guard a synagogue that had been vandalized they arrested two suspects we were under the illusion we were gonna get the mayor's trophy for the best arrest in the Academy but didn't turn out that way we found out now that was my first experience it doesn't work like that their actions were worthy of a citation but only if they slipped a few dollars to the clerical officer on duty to do the paperwork Serpico quickly learned that corruption paved the way for advancement in 1960 the 23 year old Serpico worked the 81st precinct in Brooklyn the gung-ho patrolman hit the streets to keep the community safe there were two ways to climb the police ladder one was to make arrests fill the solid record and be recommended for detective the other way up was through high test scores Serpico's choice was to go after the bad guys every time I would make an arrest I found I was annoying the lieutenant because he was busy studying for captain and so like sometimes I would make two or three arrests in one night and usually if you make an arrest you're off for the rest of the night because you have to go to court the next morning I wanted to go back out in the street and finish my tour so I didn't hit it off but with my bosses Frank started to seriously question the brass when after making an off-duty arrest his superiors grilled him as if he were the criminy I got called in on the carpet and they wanted to know first question what were you doing in your precinct when you weren't working there I had explained that I was bringing my girlfriend home was she married you know are you married Serpico had thought he'd be praised instead of attacked for his always on-the-job attitude other cops didn't like him enforcing the law when he was off the clock Frank didn't play by their rules it made the other cops look bad but Frank didn't care while his actions upset his fellow patrolman his looks were even more disturbing I think yeah yeah I think what cinema pod was his personality his appearance no in them days nobody had long hair nobody grew a beard you know or anything like that in the mid-60s jeans fatigues a scruffy look was involved in addition Frank's unit often patrol out of uniform so the more he looked like everyone else Serpico believed the more invisible he became then there was his bohemian lifestyle witty engaging friendly Frank wrote poetry read philosophy went to the ballet and foreign films his constant companion was a big sheepdog named Alfie Serpico traveled extensively in Puerto Rico he picked up the nickname Paco Spanish for Frank on his own time he took college courses in criminal justice you'd never think he was a police officer he didn't talk like one he didn't have the values of one he was a very dramatic dynamic person who cared about life who cared about art who cared about a lot of things that's not what you normally think of when you think of police officers Serpico lived in Greenwich Village stomping grounds for hippies and the drug culture he hid the fact that he was a cop he said he it was a tour guide and gave bicycle tourists to African tourists coming over when I first saw his apartment and it was almost like a a respite a cave from New York it was a place that had classical music and things hanging on the wall there was a garden living in the middle of the city he always had many animals a cricket a rabbit a cat a dog a fish I mean and all in this tiny little basement apartment I was often surprised when he would relate some incident to some mythology or some opera or something you know he's largely self-taught in that respect and but he realizes what's important in life Serpico may have been unorthodox but he was thoroughly committed to upholding the law in 1966 while still a patrolman in Brooklyn Serpico got an offer to transfer to a plainclothes squad in the 90th precinct a step towards a gold detective shield Frank had heard that many of these cops were dirty he voiced his concerns to his captain and I said two plainclothes everybody knows plain clothes it was a known fact plainclothes was corrupt and he said Frank no one could make you do what you don't want to do so I thought good enough soon Serpico spheres became reality he witnessed his partners taking payoffs to protect illegal gambling and prostitution rackets he wanted no part of it but they were insistent and wanted to cut Serpico in on the action an extra couple of hundred dollars a month they wouldn't let me do my job they wouldn't let me arrest the bad guys I even told him hey you want to take payoffs that's your thing I don't take any money so it was just a matter of you know being true to yourself the code of silence prevailed even otherwise honest cops didn't turn the corrupt ones in there were reprisals Serpico's adamant refusal infuriated his corrupt partner if Serpico wasn't in on the deal none of them was safe so they turned on Frank and set him up leaving work one day in 1966 Serpico walked into his precinct garage an officer stopped him handed him an envelope and walked away inside was three hundred dollars and he wasn't going to take the money that would that would have been something elementally impossible for him to do and the idea that this group of policemen with whom he was thrust were corrupt or violating the law was something that he just couldn't accept it was just so conjured everything he believed in and what he was trying to accomplish the situation forced Serpico's hand he could keep the money and be thought of as a crooked cop or turn in his partners and be considered a traitor Frank reported the incident he was sickened as he realized the captain whose support he sought and other ranking officers not only knew what was going on they sanctioned it he was told get out of here well you're gonna be found in a river phew there's something about that had that been fury at Frank too undeterred Serpico went to his sergeant told them how he had received the envelope and handed it over the sergeant put the money in his pocket and thanked him and discussed Serpico walked away I don't think he really wanted to become involved because he wanted to be a cop for the rest of his life and he didn't want to be ostracized by people he worked with he was very proud of being a placement Serpico believed that cops on the take disgraced the force yet other cops treated him as if he was the one doing something wrong he could no longer stand by and watch the corruption spread he made a decision one that not only put his life on the line but placed the reputation of every other cop in New York in jeopardy by the end of 1966 29 year-old Frank Serpico stood apart from the plainclothes men he worked with in the New York City Police Department he refused to take bribes he wanted to avoid corruption by transferring to a new command in the Bronx he had heard it was clean as a hounds tooth he soon found out this too was a lie the men in Serpico squad were on the take his partner didn't want the others to know Serpico was clean so he pocketed Serpico's cut and then when he got transferred that money disappeared and then when I got a new partner and he wanted to give me the money I I told him I don't take money and he was shocked a year goes by and it's found out that he hasn't been taking this money and that scares everyone who has been and they say you we must he has to take the money in order for the rest of us I supposed to be the safe and he refused to do that the officers were furious they had been cheated out of Serpico share worse he posed an inherent danger to them he might expose them Serpico couldn't be trusted he just wasn't gonna play the game that's all and he hoped that it wouldn't go away he hoped that if he resisted they might stop but then he saw that it was getting rougher because they were becoming more insistent he wasn't about to become a part of it the pressure came from what do you do when you're slammed against the wall and he was definitely slammed against the wall there are whistleblowers for almost professional whistleblowers Crusaders that's not Frank Frank wanted first and foremost to do his job as a police officer he wanted to be a policeman he wanted other people to be honest he did not see his role as changing the system he just wanted the system to be right Serpico needed help he contacted a cop he trusted David Dirk a crusader for reform connected with the politically powerful he wanted Frank to come forward and he saw in Frank but other people saw it right namely unwalkable person but one who had had the experiences of corruption and dealing with corruption the David personally did not have so he was pushing Frank with great trepidation Serpico went with dirt to officials in the police department City Hall and the District Attorney's Office time and again Serpico recounted his stories and then heard promises that action would be taken I kept waiting for the good guys to show up I was told just keep your eyes and ears open and we're sending somebody there you know to help you and but they never did but this was a culture where somebody who had long hair and wore sandals and a beard was not considered reliable and Frank had to overcome that and that was part of the reason why he had problems in getting people to take him seriously when he reported corruption the nightmare of being bounced from official to official went on for two years finally in 1968 the Bronx district attorney's office prosecuted one case corruption involving eight plainclothes men the DA wanted Frank to testify he knew if he did he'd be a marked man within the police force this was no simple matter for him he was getting death threats you know he was hearing this he could feel it and police officers were subtly but clearly threatening him with he killed that I mean it was it was a terrible situation for him but Serpico ignored the threats testified and corroborated the charges the superior officers called before the grand jury denied any wrongdoing only low ranking officers were punished two went to prison the rest were forced to resign from the department their careers destroyed it made him angry because he wanted it to go higher than that and and to take the responsibilities higher than that and because that is where it should start if you're gonna clean this up it has to start there Serpico had broken the code of silence he was alone ostracized distrusted by other cops because he was honest he never went anywhere unarmed there was a time when I would say quit because it was scary very scary life threatening me scary it was trouble they haven't spent a lot of time just going for walks sitting on the edge of a Hudson River pier with his dog Alfie he just he was under terrible strain in early 1969 Serpico transferred to Manhattan North his reputation preceded him he's not on the take he rented out other cops the die had been cast with Frank everybody knew what Frank done in the Bronx while they turned over the frying pan and put him right in a fire still hopeful he might someday make detective Serpico accepted an assignment with the vice squad in Times Square he took the job seriously and often made many arrests in a single night I wasn't a cop anymore I was I was an actor and I would you know spray my hair and I would change my beard and I use accents change my clothes Serpico only arrested women who solicited him rather than picking up any girl walking the streets showing a lot of leg again he upstaged other cops who were satisfied with filling the quota of one arrest per shift no one wanted to be his partner until he met commanding officer inspector Paul Dilys I got the impression from the expression on his face he was carrying a tremendous amount of weight on the shoulders you know and he looked a little how would you call it for long you know but he had the most sincere eyes you know that I you you could imagine well the first thing that occurred to me I know now that I got this was a new command for Dilys an honest cop whose nickname was st. Paul he too had heard that 20 of its officers were on the take Dilys offered to partner with Serpico what was unheard of at the time yeah I finished my administrative work you know and he'd wait for me and then I'd go out with him I got with him and which doesn't making arrests and the irony of it is every time when we went out the first thing we had to do was lose our police tail that put a tail on us which means following you to see where we're going in case we're gonna screw up any of their operations Frank decided not to suffer in silence any longer he and his politically connected friend David Dirk exasperated with the runaround they were getting at every turn took their story to the most powerful outlet they could imagine the New York Times their charges of widespread corruption would make headlines destroy careers and forced the NYPD to clean house for the first time in decades the turbulent 1960s were coming to a close so to an era of corruption in the New York Police Department in the fall of 1969 Frank Serpico's friend David Dirk arranged for a clandestine meeting in a restaurant with a crime reporter he knew the story that they they told me that first time was so full of anecdotes and back and forth and everything that it didn't it was not a coherent thing it didn't make sense with a lot of police jargon but I got the impression that these were two serious guys and that they were talking about something that was real reporter David Burnham also recognized that dilemma Serpico was in because Frank refused to violate his principles course he was a good cop he was imaginative he was smart he didn't live by the book that made him dangerous though you know cause he did the bureaucracy Serpico and Dirk were apprehensive they had nowhere else to turn yet were skeptical of the outcome I went with him to the New York Times and I now know I had no idea about the enormity of it at the time and we went in there it was a it was a fairly long table and there were many people was sitting around that table waiting to hear his story they were interested which was a different reaction from the other people that he had tried to tell this story to I talked to a lot of other policemen who assured me that throughout the city the plainclothes squad including the one that Frank worked for was in fact the sort of regulatory agency of gambling they controlled the territories that they operated the police de venise that the gamblers operated in they charge money for how many customers the gamblers had if you had a lot of customers you paid more the money was distributed in a very regular way to the plainclothesmen and this had been going on for you know a hundred years this is a absolutely established thing still something more was needed to crack the blue wall of silence a ranking officer for credibility Serpico asked his boss Paul Dilys to back him up I said you realize what this is going to do as far as my career is concerned but I wouldn't be able to face myself if there are two men that I worked with and had such a loyalty to the integrity of the department and anyway we weren't there to do something about it now they were closing doors on himself I decided to go with him four cops including inspector Dilys went to the times to meet Burnham and a city editor and we talked about corruption and the things that they had seen in the failure of the police department to deal with it until about one or two o'clock in the morning and it was a remarkable meeting and I don't think many City editors have ever sent them with a whole bunch of cops including you know high-ranking one and had them spill their guts about what they had seen bribes going to high-ranking police officials it pained them because they they loved their department with an explosive story that threatened the lives and careers of the cops who came forward secrecy was imperative the reporter operated with a code name and kept all his taped interviews and notes under lock and key we really had the feeling of being under siege the new york city police department at that time seemed like a a very scary massive bureaucracy I mean it was sort of like the CIA in in the city it was a very tough operator and it didn't play games and it didn't like this kind of stuff finally on April 25th 1970 the time story broke graft paid to police into Millions officials failed to act corruption had become front-page news and police brass were tarnished by the reports good and bad cops alike suffered honest men didn't like what Serpico did because he he created a an image about the department that they didn't like to be part of in the wake of the scandal the police commissioner resigned the mayor appointed a special task force the Knapp Commission to investigate and Serpico his courage to come forward brought no reward no gold detective shield only another transfer to narcotics animosity towards Serpico rose to an all-time high they should have put the men in a position where he wouldn't he wouldn't have to take these offensive remarks and things like that being broadly by other officers and things like that I told maybe it cooled down and then maybe put him back out in the field again there was no welcoming committee for Frank Serpico in narcotics he kept to himself On February 3rd 1971 Serpico went on a drug bust with two other cops after watching the suspect make a sale Serpico knocked on his door and speaking in Spanish pretended to be a drug buyer the dealer kept the door chained but cracked it open Serpico wedged himself in I had the suspect covered I had the gun was cocked that the slightest amount of pressure on the finger on the trigger would make it go off and that's what happened I had him covered but I was stuck in the door and I turned around to say to my partner's what are you waiting for give me a hand and when I turned back flash I fired shot him in the hand he left the blood trail the suspect had fired first the single shot hit Frank in the face sending him reeling backwards where he lay bleeding his feet wedged in the doorway Frank's two partners were still in the hall they did not call for help [Music] in the hallway of a Brooklyn apartment building amid screaming and chaos Frank Serpico lay bleeding shot in the face he was cradled in the arms of a tenant who had called the New York Police Department after hearing the gunfire Serpico was taken to a nearby hospital the policeman came to my mother's home and they took her to the hospital where she saw him and he was all full of blood she's I didn't know way to kiss him and she said I took his hand and kissed him on his hand and he said to hurry quietly I'll be all right bullet fragments were lodged in Serpico's head his hearing permanently damaged he never felt sorry for himself he always was hopeful he he would encourage us and I remember him asking a friend for gum and they would bring it in to him bubblegum and he would chew it and that's how he restored the muscle in his mouth because his mouth was actually drooping the dream Frank had nurtured since childhood of chasing the bad guys had been shattered my most negative experience was my most positive and that's when I got shot and I heard this voice that it was it was like thunder this voice and that after seeing my life in review telling me that it was all a lie Serpico went on medical leave but in fact his police career was over in May 1971 he received what he'd always wanted the gold detective shield for Frank it came too late it felt meaningless [Music] Serpico became an overnight hero the David who stood up to the Goliath of the police department Frank started to help the Knapp Commission in their investigation of police corruption Frank had had a wonderful way to describe the department at the time he said 10% of the department is absolutely honest and 10% of the department is absolutely corrupt and the other 80% they wish they were honest Serpico agreed to testify at the Knapp Commission hearings near the end of its sessions in December 1971 from the moment I met him on who didn't obey the ordinary attorney-client relationship and that it's arm's length because he's the embraceable guy you know and he just he's so genuine and he doesn't he doesn't operate at formal levels Serpico feared for his life he was still getting death threats so he and Clark decided to maintain a low profile and take a subway to the hearings he had to stop and get his shoeshine right on the street because that's the way he was brought up you know he believed it I said you don't you know you don't go out to an important event without having shot Serpico answered questions at the hearings for nearly three hours he informed me about the pad now the pad what what is a pad how do you define it pad is a systemized pickup of monies from gamblers in order to give them immunity from arrest he then read a short moving statement we must create an atmosphere in which the dishonest officer fears the honest one and not the other way around I hope that this investigation and any future ones will deal with corruption at all levels within the department and not limit themselves to cases involving individual patrolmen I thought it was a very good witness he was he was honest he came forward he came across as being honest I did kid him a little bit because he showed up at the hearings having cut his hair and trimmed his beard and I thought that was a bit of a cop-out joke with him about it and he could admit it that even he cleaned up a little different fur for television the Knapp Commission concluded that there was widespread corruption in the police department and major reforms were needed over the next ten years the NYPD made sweeping changes to clean up the force and repair its tarnished image a chapter in Serpico's life closed he resigned from the NYPD in 1972 a book about Serpico's career led to a feature film without Pacino in the title role Frank made a strong impression on the film's original director here was the the perfect guy to be a cop he loved being a cop he was honest he was passionate about it and society wouldn't let him do it and I thought you know there's a tragedy and his sense humor was the counterpart to the tragedy in Frank's mind the portrayal was fair but he was tired of all the attention so he took his dog Alfie and sailed to Europe first stop Italy then on to Switzerland wherever he happened to be he's always knows that the characters in town and the and the lovely ladies and the goings-on and the gossip and he integrates himself immediately and befriends everybody and everybody responds very positive positively to him in 1974 Serpico returned briefly to the u.s. for the premiere of Serpico the film for the reporter who had helped bring the story to light all the publicity was somehow bittersweet i sat there alone one afternoon playing hooky from The Times with tears running down my eyes because I realized I would never ever ever ever have as much fun in my life again I mean it was really terrific fun sort of being instrumental in making that kind of change Frank had also come home to support Ramsey Clark who was running for the US Senate from New York at the convention Serpico was the center of attention bigshot politicians in and out senators and governors and Canada snore and they'd almost break off of an interview with the biggest politician there Frank walked into the place we had to keep him out for a while because it was distracting Serpico went back to Europe and in the mid-70s bought a farm in Holland he fell in love with a young divorced woman Mariana she and her two children moved in with him theer years together ended in sorrow when she died of cancer at age 29 in the early 80s Serpico returned to live in the United States he criss crossed the country in a camper dropping in on friends for days weeks sometimes months he has described his life back in America as a long vacation learning and observing he went to visit his film director friend who was building a beach home on Long Island Frank stayed for three years and took care of the property sort of a Renaissance man who's constantly looking for the unusual and esoteric and amusing and sweet and gentle things of life [Music] the great appreciator of life in the and the various of vineyards that you can go and sit from Serpico went on to build his own home a cabin in the woods where he lives frugally off his police pension and savings he's always on the lookout for something new I'll get an interest in something you know I'll focus on that and like right now it's learning how to play the didgeridoo which is a very primitive instrument and it has to do with breathing and it's a very good exercise I do what I want to do rather than just talk about it I'm retired I write I sculpt I do a little community volunteer work and time seems to go pretty fast I don't but every day is different I don't care if it's raining the sun is shining it's snowing you're breathing it's a wonderful day Frank is fiercely private but not reclusive he's an active popular figure and his integrity drove him to take on 30-some thousand member police department and he virtually brought that police department to his knees we brought in mr. Frank Serpico I never had such a captive audience of police officers before that time Serpico speaks to cadets about police work it's an honorable profession and if you do it on it if not the uniform isn't going to change you it's what you bring into that uniform that's going to make the difference if I could encourage them fine but I'm not responsible for the choice that they take you know there are ramifications to walking a certain path Frank Serpico has become a folk hero a man who risked his life and career to stand up for what was right the kind of behavior our society tends to belittle the focus is always on punishing the wrongdoer rather than rewarding the good doer and I think that's what we need more of we need more encouragement for the good guys because the good guys are out there they just are too frustrated and they see that you know sometimes in order to do good you have to actually go against the system and how are you going to do that it's insurmountable you know there's a romantic quality to him because most people don't live lives of principle and so here's what is this person that does things that are costly to himself because he believes is the right thing to do keep in mind that Frank really made a difference he made a difference and very few people who are live their lives of honesty and there are many can look back and say gee I made a difference Frank was one of them [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music]