From 1995 to 2005, Leonard Levitt wrote the column "One Police Plaza" for the newspaper Newsday about the New York City police department. Before joining Newsday, he worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and the Detroit News, as a correspondent for Time Magazine, and as the investigations editor of the New York Post. His work has appeared in Harper's, Esquire and the New York Times magazine.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia School of Journalism, Levitt served two years in the Peace Corps in Tanzania, East Africa and has been the recipient of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for the Humanities.
He received an Edgar Award in 2005 for his book Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder.

His website can be found at www.nypdconfidential.com.

Blog Entries by Len Levitt

Hamlet On The Hudson

Posted November 23, 2009 | 10:52 AM (EST)


So Rudy Giuliani is apparently not running for governor and is dithering about whether to try for the Senate.

We've lived through this melodrama before.

A decade ago, after months of indecision following his battle with prostate cancer and his split from wife Donna Hanover, he backed out...

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Mayor Mike and the Imam

3 Comments | Posted November 16, 2009 | 10:21 AM (EST)


Perhaps we should be relieved the feds are handling the trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his four alleged accomplices.

If left to the locals, we might have a lapse like City Hall's invitation to a Brooklyn imam linked to the first World Trade Center...

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Bernie Kerik: The Weeper

1 Comments | Posted November 9, 2009 | 10:09 AM (EST)


Watching Bernie Kerik weep while admitting he was a crook, this reporter could not help recalling past conversations with Judith Regan, his editor, publisher and former lover.

While some may feel sympathy towards him - [Even federal judge Stephen Robinson, who chucked him into jail last month, said he...

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How Well Do You Know Bernie Kerik?

13 Comments | Posted October 26, 2009 | 10:47 AM (EST)


To see Bernard Kerik transformed into a inmate inside a White Plains courtroom, hands shaking as he silently removed his tie, his jewelry and his belt sent chills down the spine of this reporter, as it would anyone who has followed the world of the New York City Police Department.

...
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Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

1 Comments | Posted October 19, 2009 | 11:04 AM (EST)


The Daily News seems unable physically, emotionally and intellectually to place blame where it belongs when something goes wrong inside the NYPD.

Take its editorial last week, headlined, "Thrown to the wolves," about a police lieutenant who committed suicide after top police officials publicly, and unfairly, ostracized him...

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The Lieutenant's Death That Will Not Die

2 Comments | Posted October 12, 2009 | 10:19 AM (EST)


The widow of an Emergency Service lieutenant who killed himself a year ago is blaming the tragedy on Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, his spokesman Paul Browne and other unnamed top brass.

Lieutenant Michael Pigott's widow has turned her grief into a damning portrait of cowardly police higher-ups, turning their...

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The NYPD's Divisive Intelligence Division

Posted September 28, 2009 | 10:42 AM (EST)


No one in New York City, and arguably in the nation, has done more to combat terrorism than Ray Kelly.

Since returning as New York City Police Commissioner four months after the 9/11 attacks, he has made fighting terrorism his mission, creating a Counter-Terrorism Division, revamping the department's Intelligence...

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NYPD Intelligence Division: Botching Its Biggest Terrorism Plot?

8 Comments | Posted September 21, 2009 | 10:39 AM (EST)


The NYPD's so-called Intelligence Division apparently didn't live up to its name, according to Justice Department documents stemming from the arrest of three terror suspects.

In fact, the documents indicate that Deputy Commissioner David Cohen and his subordinates at Intel were clueless.

Cohen, the former CIA honcho, and...

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Cy Vance Jr. Not Ready For Prime Time

4 Comments | Posted September 14, 2009 | 11:01 AM (EST)


Whenever the Times, the News and the Post gang up to endorse the same policy or political candidate, something is amiss.

That's what happened when Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided he wanted to revoke the two-term limits law. He first visited the Times, the News and the Post, whose owners...

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Sleeping With The Gray Lady

Posted September 8, 2009 | 03:18 PM (EST)


Back in 1993, during his first term as police commissioner, Ray Kelly bought his suits off the rack from wholesaler Carmine Fabrizio.

Since returning as commissioner in 2002, Kelly prefers custom-made suits. His tailor is Martin Greenfield, who was also the tailor for Kelly's rival and...

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Police Commissioner Gets His Very Own Mouthpiece

1 Comments | Posted August 31, 2009 | 12:38 PM (EST)


Apparently unhappy with the legal advice he has been getting, Ray Kelly has hired himself a new $165,000 attorney and you, the taxpayers, will be paying for her.

She is Katherine Ann Lemire, who was a prosecutor in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney office. She worked in the Public Corruption...

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Bernie Kerik Turns To Twitter

2 Comments | Posted August 24, 2009 | 12:33 PM (EST)


You might think that with the possibility of about 150 years in prison, Bernie Kerik would spend the months before his October federal trial keeping his yap shut.

You might think that in bracing for his trial -- which is certain to expose the details behind his 15-count...

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PBA: Bratton Award No Slap at Kelly

Posted August 17, 2009 | 02:41 PM (EST)


Patrolmen's Benevolent Association spokesman Al O'Leary swore up and down last week, as well as forward, backward and sideways, that the PBA's plan next month to name former police commissioner Bill Bratton its Man of the Year signaled no disrespect to Bratton's longtime rival, current police commissioner Ray Kelly.

...
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Bratton Versus Kelly: The Real Deal

Posted August 11, 2009 | 06:40 PM (EST)


It's proving to be quite a homecoming for Bill Bratton.

Not only did he receive national headlines over retiring as chief of the Los Angeles police department and returning to New York to head a private security firm but he is to be honored next month as the Patrolmen's...

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The Demise of The Shack

Posted August 3, 2009 | 12:30 PM (EST)


More than symbolism is involved in last week's transfer -- on Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's order -- of reporters from the second-floor warren inside Police Plaza, known as The Shack.

Although reporters will remain just down the hall in another office, the move reflects a further weakening of their adversarial...

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Proud Police Chief Commands NYC's Finest

Posted July 20, 2009 | 07:55 AM (EST)


There is no shortage of egos when it comes to commanding tens of thousands as police commissioner of New York City.

And there is no shortage of sycophants trumpeting commissioners' accomplishments.

When William Bratton served as P.C., it was difficult to imagine anyone with a higher opinion of Bratton than...

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The NYPD's Hispanic Politics

Posted July 14, 2009 | 10:19 AM (EST)


Hispanic politics can be a tricky business inside the NYPD.

Last week, this column published excerpts of a love letter from the department's Hispanic Society, praising Commissioner Ray Kelly for promoting record numbers of Hispanic officers.

"Prior to 2002, no other police commissioner has been...

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Bloomberg's Safest Big City Claim

Posted July 6, 2009 | 07:26 AM (EST)


Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election campaign claims the FBI ranks New York as the safest large city in America.

That claim is false and Bloomberg knows it.

The FBI doesn't rank cities and specifically states that it's misleading to use its statistics that way.

When Bloomberg made the...

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Window Dressing And Musical Chairs

Posted June 28, 2009 | 07:52 AM (EST)


Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's promotions, touted as diversifying the upper ranks of the department following the racially charged "friendly fire" shooting of an off-duty black officer, appear to be mere window dressing.

Kelly's personnel moves fail to address the NYPD's most glaring racial problem: virtually no black officers in key...

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Law Enforcement Steel Cage Match: Ray Kelly Vs. Bill Bratton

1 Comments | Posted June 24, 2009 | 11:55 AM (EST)


In modern America's longest undeclared law enforcement feud, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has recently one-upped NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Earlier this month, Bratton made the list of those receiving the honorary title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is but a step...

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