The Fence - by Dick Lehr (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"The Fence is a monumental account of an urban travesty. Dick Lehr's depiction of one of the darkest chapters in recent Boston law enforcement history and the savage injustices perpetrated on two hero cops--one black, one white--has all the earmarks of a classic." -- Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River

The Boston police officers who brutally beat Michael Cox at a deserted fence one icy night in 1995 knew soon after that they had made a terrible mistake. The badge and handgun under Cox's bloodied parka proved he was not a black gang member but a plainclothes cop chasing the same murder suspect his assailants were. Officer Kenny Conley, who pursued and apprehended the suspect while Cox was being beaten, was then wrongfully convicted by federal prosecutors of lying when he denied witnessing the attack on his brother officer. Both Cox and Conley were native Bostonians, each dedicating his life to service with the Boston Police Department. But when they needed its support, they were heartlessly and ruthlessly abandoned.

A remarkable work of investigative journalism, Dick Lehr's The Fence tells the shocking true story of the attack and its aftermath--and exposes the lies and injustice hidden behind a "blue wall of silence."

From the Back Cover

The Boston police officers who brutally beat Michael Cox at a deserted fence one icy night in 1995 knew soon after that they had made a terrible mistake. The badge and handgun under Cox's bloodied parka proved he was not a black gang member but a plainclothes cop chasing the same murder suspect his assailants were. Officer Kenny Conley, who pursued and apprehended the suspect while Cox was being beaten, was then wrongfully convicted by federal prosecutors of lying when he denied witnessing the attack on his brother officer. Both Cox and Conley were native Bostonians, each dedicating his life to service with the Boston Police Department. But when they needed its support, they were heartlessly and ruthlessly abandoned.

A remarkable work of investigative journalism, The Fence tells the shocking true story of the attack and its aftermath--and exposes the lies and injustice hidden behind a "blue wall of silence."

Review Quotes

"Gripping. . . . Tackles a broad issue with the zeal of a seasoned investigative newspaper reporter." - Lynet Holloway, Black Voices

"The Fence makes a compelling case . . . [it] is more than an account of crime, punishment and the blue wall. Lehr weaves the life stories of several key characters into the book." - Bay State Banner

"Weaving mini-biographies of key players into the unrelenting police coverup and Cox's determined quest for justice, he paints a gritty portrait of urban life that reads like a crime novel--replete with plot twists and vivid, deeply flawed characters. . . . The author's solid grounding in the history and diverse cultures of Boston, which he has covered for 25 years, adds context to the unfolding events." - Dave Holahan, Hartford Courant

"The Fence should be required reading in . . . expanded integrity training courses for Boston Police supervisors." - Boston Globe

"Dick Lehr has written a long overdue assessment of the brutal attack by law enforcement officers on an African American plainclothes officer, Michael Cox, which illuminates a tragic example of the failure of our criminal justice system. You will not be able to put this down and hopefully it will compel you to make sure that incidents like this never happen again on our watch. Every police officer, judge, lawyer and citizen should read this book." - Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute For Race and Justice, and author of All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education and When Law Fails

"Like cancers that never seem to be cured, the inextricably linked ills of racism, public corruption and police misconduct continue to surface in Boston (and indeed in America). In his disturbing new book, Dick Lehr vividly presents another example of how difficult it is to face up to, let alone resolve, these conflicts." - Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton

"Lehr has vividly rendered two tragic stories, exposing a police culture of silence that victimized one of its own while also showing the "by any means necessary'' mentality of federal prosecutors that destroyed another innocent officer's reputation. Still missing here are truth and accountability." - Chuck Leddy, The Boston Globe

"Jolting, nightmarish and potent, this true cop yarn bests any bogus reality show or overblown tabloid tale with its hardboiled spin." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Think Serpico translated to Boston. . . . A cautionary tale about the abuse of power and a timely civics lesson on the virtue of standing up to authority." - Kirkus Reviews

"Intriguing . . . an admirable, in-depth description of police corruption." - Library Journal

"As gripping a tale as "The Fence" is, it should be mandatory reading for anyone looking to be a cop in Boston . . . or anyplace else." - Peter Gelzinis, Boston Herald

"This could be a case study in the perils of profiling. It isn't so much forgotten history, as buried. Perhaps this outstanding book can fix that." - Adrian Walker, Boston Globe

"Dick Lehr gets inside the heads of cops, criminals, prosecutors and politics better than anyone I know. The Fence is a revealing expose of the blue wall of silence that endangers us all." - Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law School

"The Fence is a monumental account of an urban travesty. Dick Lehr's depiction of one of the darkest chapters in recent Boston law enforcement history and the savage injustices perpetrated on two hero cops--one black, one white--has all the earmarks of a classic." - Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River