10 Most Disturbing Stories Told On Joe Rogan Experience

Michael Dowd was once an officer working for the NYPD during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Whilst on the beat, he became involved in one of the most notorious examples of police corruption in history.

Stealing drugs, embezzling, and eventually selling whilst wearing a badge, Dowd had attempted to ‘go straight’ when he realised his life was spiralling out of control.

After turning a new leaf, Dowd had an altercation with an alleged big-time drug dealer, complete with a convertible Mercedes-Benz, large gold chains and two dollar-sign hooped earring wearing women in tow. It quickly transpired that the dealer was also an NYPD cop. He wasn’t undercover. He was just further in the spiral than Dowd.

Several weeks after this altercation - after which the other cop had been arrested and released on bail - Dowd had received a 3am phone call at his house from the disgraced cop, and was given a death threat.

Finding out that he now had a reputation of being untrustworthy, Dowd claims he had no choice: embrace corruption again or die. In one of the darkest moments of the episode, Dowd - who had eventually been arrested himself, serving a 12-year sentence, and became the primary focus of the outstanding 2014 documentary, The Seven Five - went on to state that at that time, the NYPD would rather corrupt officers weren’t caught as it would disgrace the entire department.