The Seven Five: Michael Dowd

The Seven Five, also known as Precinct Seven Five, is a 2014 documentary directed by Tiller Russell, and produced by Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, and Sheldon Yellen. The film looks at police corruption in the 75th precinct of the New York Police Department during the 1980s. The documentary focuses on Michael Dowd, a former police officer of 10 years, who was arrested in 1992, leading to one of the largest police corruption scandals in New York City history. The documentary uses footage from the Mollen Commission investigation in 1992 and also provides in-depth commentary from Dowd, Ken Eurell, and Adam Diaz, among others. The documentary premiered at DOC NYC November 14, 2014.  In 2015, Sony Pictures purchased the rights of The Seven Five documentary in an auction.

Plot

The 75th Precinct today, located on Sutter Ave., East New York, Brooklyn.

In the 1980s, Brooklyn, New York was suffering from a crack epidemic. Michael Dowd worked in the NYPD's 75th Precinct in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, which was considered to be one of the most dangerous precincts in the United States at the time. The 75th Precinct had one of the highest murder rates in the country during the late 1980s. Dowd describes being under-appreciated for the amount of work he put in and hurting for money as the reasons for taking money from drug dealers. He initially began taking bribes from drug dealers on the streets before moving on to protecting a drug cartel leader and robbing other drug dealers at gunpoint. Dowd and his then-partner Henry "Chicky" Guevara recount the first time walking into a domestic dispute in an apartment and seeing bags of marijuana, a duffle bag filled with approximately $20,000 in cash and two guns. Dowd communicated that he and his partner would take $8000 from the duffle bag and both guns. Dowd continued to rob drug dealers for thousands of dollars. Guevara resigned shortly after multiple police officers were arrested in the 77th Precinct for corruption related offenses.

Ken Eurell, a police officer at the 75th Precinct, was then assigned as Dowd's new partner in June 1987. Eurell had a drinking problem and frequently drank on the job. Dowd and Eurell met a Dominican gang leader named Adam Diaz. Diaz ran The Diaz Organization, a gang that was responsible for countless murders and drug trafficking throughout New York City. He used several supermarkets in East New York as fronts to traffic drugs, mainly cocaine. Dowd and Eurell began a working relationship with Diaz, where they provided protection and inside information about raids.

After a prolonged investigation, the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Dowd and Eurell on drug trafficking charges (in addition to their work for Diaz in the city, the men had begun distributing cocaine through a friend who lived in the county). Dowd and Eurell were released on bail. While out on bail, Dowd was approached by a friend in a Colombian gang who wanted a woman kidnapped over an unpaid drug debt. Dowd's plan was to hand the woman over to the gang and for him and Eurell to take the hundreds of thousands of dollars at the woman's house and flee the United States. Eurell agreed to Dowd's kidnapping scheme but instead of following through with the scheme contacted Internal Affairs through his lawyer. Shortly after, in July 1991, Dowd was arrested and sent to trial. He was the main focus of the 1992 Mollen Commission that investigated police corruption in the NYPD.  In the wake of Dowd's arrest, Mayor David Dinkins appointed the Mollen Commission to investigate police corruption within the NYPD. As a result, dozens of officers across the city's precincts were arrested.

Convictions

Dowd was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1994, serving 13 years.  Prior to trial, Dowd agreed to testify before the Commission but he refused to implicate any NYPD officers other than himself.  Eurell did not serve any time due to his cooperation with the investigation. Adam Diaz, after serving eight years in prison, was deported to the Dominican Republic.

Reception

The film was well received and has an 85% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 22 out of 26 reviews being positive.

Michael F. Dowd (born January 10, 1961) is a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, drug distributor, and associate of the Diaz organization who was arrested in 1992 for running a drug ring out of Suffolk County, Long Island, New York.  He is the subject of the 2014 documentary film The Seven Five directed by Tiller Russell and produced by Eli Holzman.

Early life and education

Dowd was born on January 10, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York City, the third of seven children in an Irish Catholic family.  He grew up in Brentwood, Long Island, on a block mostly populated by the families of police officers and firefighters.  According to Dowd, he was a good student in high school.

Career

According to Dowd, he was advised to become a physician, lawyer, or an accountant after high school, but he also took the police test and the firefighter test.  Dowd graduated from the New York City Police Academy in 1982 and was assigned to the 75th Precinct, which at that time was one of the most violent in the country.

Prison sentence

In the course of his career, Dowd committed a "host of crimes," including conspiring with drug traffickers to distribute cocaine, warning drug dealers about upcoming raids, providing them with guns and badges, planning to abduct a woman in Queens, and stealing food meant for the needy at a church. Dowd located a man who robbed the Diaz drug cartel and instead of arresting him turned him over to Diaz.  He pocketed several thousand dollars a week as a result of corrupt arrangements.

Dowd was arrested in 1992. After investigations by the Suffolk County Police, the DEA, and NYPD's internal affairs, Dowd was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics and sent to prison for his crimes. He cooperated with the Mollen Commission, which investigated allegations of corruption in the NYPD.

In the 12 years and 5 months he was in prison, Dowd claimed he worked as a peer counselor, worked out, read, and ran the addiction and suicide prevention programs.

Recent career

Dowd has been featured on podcasts, periodicals, broadcast radio and television programs, and was the subject of the documentary film The Seven Five.  A narrative feature adaptation by Sony Pictures is being produced by John Lesher and Megan Ellison.