In George Santos’ 2024 Primary, It’s Detective vs. Accused Crook
As Rep. George Santos (R-NY) faces charges of being an allegedly shameless crook as well as a serial liar, those seeking to claim his seat include a retired detective who would be the only person in Congress with working knowledge of how to actually control crime.
During his time with the New York City Transit Police and then the NYPD, Det. Mike Sapraicone was one of a tight crew assembled by policing genius Jack Maple, whose strategies transformed New York from “Fear City,” with more than 2,000 murders a year, into the safest big city in America with less than 400.
Sapraicone had known Maple since they both attended Holy Child grammar school in Queens. Sapraicone was a Transit detective. Maple became a Transit lieutenant and covered a squadroom’s walls with what he called “the Charts of the Future,” computer paper on which his cops used crayons to color-code the details of each subway crime, thereby enabling them to spot patterns. Maple combined that with a basic precept as simple as those taught by the nuns at Holy Child: Treat every crime as if the victim were your mother.