It takes a certain courage for a person to take an
unflinching look at their life’s work, a cold, forensic, unwavering look. Most
people simply don’t have the guts to do so, perhaps fearing that they might
come up wanting. Neil Woods is not most people. Neil spent fourteen years
infiltrating drug gangs as an undercover police officer; he put his life on the
line many a time, he was responsible for the capture, prosecution and
conviction of numerous dangerous criminals. And yet when he took that critical
look at his life’s work he could only conclude one thing: that it was a
complete waste of time. That the war on drugs had failed, that his part in it
had failed.
Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh. Reading Good Cop, Bad War,
it’s clear that more than a few of the people he helped convict needed to be
taken off the street. These were dangerous and deeply unpleasant people.
Throughout his deployments in towns and cities across the UK he dealt with
psychopaths and villains who preyed on addicts, torturing, maiming and killing
those who crossed them. The violence these people displayed was gratuitous and
ugly, the contempt they showed their victims heartless and inhumane. And Neil
did take them off the streets, and was very effective at doing so. But herein
lay the problem: no matter how often he knocked a villain off his perch (I say
“he” for they most often were men), no matter how many he took down, there was
always another to take their place.
Right from the beginning of Good Cop, Bad War, Neil comes
across as an idealist. He joined the police wanting to “fight the good fight”,
to help the downtrodden. He writes about being appalled by the casual racism he
encountered, first at training college and later in various deployments, and
the attitudes some officers held towards addicts, down and outs, and other
vulnerable communities. Throughout his accounts of his various deployments he
writes with compassion for the addicts he encountered, describing their
characters and personalities. This is a man with real empathy for the people he
was trying to help, an outlook that is seriously at odds with most books penned
by former police officers.
In fact, this is something that sets apart this remarkable
work. I’ve read numerous police biographies, not a few by undercover officers,
and none show such sensitivity to the people they met. Many such accounts
demonstrate a jaded cynicism, combined with a macho posturing. There is little
of that here and it’s a refreshing change. This ability to emphasise with the
underdog might explain how the doubts started, it is certainly the case that
Neil found it difficult when the very addicts he felt for were rounded up with
the hardened gangsters when an operation came to a close. The powers that be
saw little difference between an addict dealing to fund their habit and the
gun-toting thugs a rung above and would charge them both just as happily. And
unlike many of his colleagues, this stuck in Neil’s craw.
But it’s the sheer illogicality of the war on drugs that
finally broke him. As a former current affairs journalist I can sympathise. For
facts are facts and prohibition isn’t working. This is demonstrable on any
measure. ON average street prices have fallen year in year, a clear
demonstration that interdiction isn’t preventing drugs from reaching our
shores. The population of addicts is rising. Violence in our inner cities is as
bad as ever - while crime rates as a whole are falling, knife crime and gun
crime is hardly a thing of the past on the sink estates that dot British
cities.
What’s most alarming is the point Neil demonstrates with
painful clarity: that police action drives much of this. Gangs have learnt the
lessons of undercover policing, informants, etc. During his career he witnessed
increased brutality, violence meted out to addicts who spoke out, or even who
introduced a stranger to their dealer. Corruption within the police is also
driven by the huge profits generated by drugs. Neil recounts how at one point,
while chasing a major league dealer in Manchester, he came into contact with a
secret squad of twelve police officers. This squad had been specifically set up
to pursue this gangster in utmost secrecy, so fearful was the Commissioner of
the Greater Manchester force that corrupt officers might tip the man off. How
have we come to such a situation, Neil asks? That a secret squad has to be set
up to guard against corruption.
It will be tempting for those in favour of prohibition to
paint Neil Woods as a limp-wristed, bleeding-heart liberal. But this couldn’t
be further from the truth. Throughout his career he got results, got the job
done, locked up some really bad people. Indeed, there is no doubt that some of
those involved in the drug trade are vicious bullies and would be whatever the
case, after all a bully is a bully, no matter what walk of life he or she is
found. But it’s equally evident that drugs are the most profitable aspect of
criminal behaviour, that without prohibition the money gangsters could make
would be much reduced. In fact, I would argue that Neil’s stance that something
has to change, as well as being personally brave in that it calls into question
much of his former achievements, is actually tougher on criminality than the
prohibition brigade. For what hurts criminals more than an attack on their
wallets? Find a solution to the drug problem, rob the villains of their
incomes, and one does more damage to organised crime than any number of
convictions. Less money from drugs means less money to invest in other criminal
activity, too.
To be clear, Neil doesn’t argue for simple legalisation,
he doesn’t want to see crack and heroin sold in Tesco’s. In fact he’s honest
enough to admit to not knowing all the answers. He points to Portugal where
simple possession of drugs has been decriminalised (not possession with intent
to supply, e.g. dealing) and states in America where Cannabis has effectively
been legalised, as pointing to possible solutions. But what he does insist on
is a debate. For make no mistake, as this book abundantly makes clear, current
policy has failed.
A painfully honest and touching memoir, this books is a
must read for anyone even remotely concerned by the issues raised.
5 Stars
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