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Are some of the crooked cops actually just fake cops?

posted 8 years ago by dmcreif
3 replies | jump to latest

In "Condemned," after Matt wipes out the ESU cops that corners him and Vladimir in the tunnel, he says "There are five more coming. All working for Fisk. Probably not even real cops." Was Matt implying that some or all of the ESU team that entered that building weren't actually cops but just Fisk henchmen disguised as cops? Not that it really changes the outcome, but still...

[–] haxemon 8 years ago

I think if I were Fisk, I would have "real cops" on my payroll for sure but it would boost my numbers to have fake cops as well. Especially when talking about an ESU team where they often wear masks etc. There's a risk here of course, but I'm assuming Fisk has people in high enough places that an ESU team that would normally be say 8 cops might have 3 dirty ones and they help make sure 5 non-cops join some missions. The 5 real cops are told these are guys on loan from somewhere or some such story.

I also think that if there's as much corruption as we've seen, the "real cops" that are honest are used to not questioning things. Sort of like Jim Gordon (not the Gotham version, ugh) being an honest cop but being aware of dirty cops and not doing much about it since he's be trying to take on an entire corrupt system.

Reading my signature constitutes admission that I am correct. (Too late)

[–] dmcreif 8 years ago

I think if I were Fisk, I would have "real cops" on my payroll for sure but it would boost my numbers to have fake cops as well. Especially when talking about an ESU team where they often wear masks etc. There's a risk here of course, but I'm assuming Fisk has people in high enough places that an ESU team that would normally be say 8 cops might have 3 dirty ones and they help make sure 5 non-cops join some missions. The 5 real cops are told these are guys on loan from somewhere or some such story.

I think that would explain why all of the team members shown have their helmets on and goggles lowered - it's so that the "real cops" can't tell them apart, and hides their identities. Why else does the sniper that guns down Detective Blake have his goggles lowered and helmet on even though the conditions don't warrant them? To hide his identity. Consider that a helicopter sweeps over the scene right after he opens fire - wearing the helmet and goggles makes it impossible for the helicopter crew to identify the shooter, and at that distance, they probably wouldn't be able to see the ESU shoulder patches on him either.

[–] dmcreif 8 years ago

The 5 real cops are told these are guys on loan from somewhere or some such story.

Could just be something as simple as "These guys are on loan from ESS-6". The NYPD has ten ESU patrol squads. And with over 35,000 members across five boroughs, the NYPD is not a police department where every cop will be acquainted with each other.

I also noted that some of the ESU members at the standoff being phonies would allow some of them to be the mercenaries that participate in Fisk's attempted jailbreak from the prison transport.

The one ESU member that's definitely not a cop would probably be the sniper that takes out Detective Blake. He's implied to be Bullseye given the Ace of Spades in his backpack when he's assembling the rifle. In other words, while the ESU elements did as functioned and killed off the rookie cop and Vladimir, they were also a smokescreen meant to allow Bullseye to infiltrate the scene unnoticed.