The Making of a Detective

One out of every ten homicides in the United States takes place in New York City. The job of investigating these unending murder cases and bringing their perpetrators to justice falls to the city's elite corps of homicide detectives. In the dark and violent world of police work no other group commands more respect or projects a stronger mystique. Today one of the best of them is Detective David Carbone, the hero of The Making of a Detective. Harvey Rachlin, the acclaimed author of The Making of a Cop, enjoyed literally unprecedented access to Carbone and his fellow detectives in the 75th Precinct in East New York, Brooklyn, in order to chronicle Carbone's transformation from a green but ambitious beginner into a skilled and seasoned murder investigator and hunter of men. He was allowed to follow Carbone everywhere - the squad room, crime scenes, canvasses, emergency rooms, morgues, court rooms, and interrogation rooms where Carbone perfected the special art of "jerkology" - eliciting murder confessions from suspects when there was very little evidence that would hold up in court. There was no shortage of learning opportunities for Carbone - the Seven-Five routinely logs more than one-hundred homicides a year and the New York Post has dubbed East New York "New York's deadliest neighborhood" on its front page. By the end of his five-year stint there Carbone had personally investigated more than three-hundred murders - more than most police departments will experience in a decade - and cleared ninety-two percent of them.