Kerr Publishing

The problem with bent pollies is that it's all too easy to forget the excesses, the nasties, the downright corrupt.  BENT POLLIES is a book that in John Kerr's inimitable style reminds us, all too clearly, to keep an eye on all levels of society.

This book covers some of the stories that seemed to have dropped a bit from public conscience - Milton Orkopoulos from NSW was a sexual predator.  Full stop, nothing more to be said really, although Kerr gives us the background of how he managed to get himself into the position he did.  Rex Jackson was a Prison Minister, who ended up in Prison corruption - gambling got him in the end.  Sir John Bjelke-Peterson was tried, but never convicted, and the story of what happened on his jury is frankly gobsmacking.  From there we go to Crime Bosses, and whilst many of these "characters" have been covered in other books, again, it's Kerr's ironic, wry tone that makes this compelling reading.  The final part of the book is then about Drug Runners.

This book (and the smaller individual ones that make it up) are designed as "Commuter Crime" - small, pointed, interesting and revealing little snippets to read when you have a few moments.  Probably just as well I can't catch public transport. I'd be guaranteed to miss my stop.

Bent Pollies, and the most recent book A Pack of Bloody Animals are available for purchase from Kerr Publishing:  (http://www.kerrpublishing.com.au)

(Disclaimer:  I work on the Kerr Publishing website - which gives me an opportunity to hear about these books as they arrive...  the opinions I voice are my own and Mr Kerr isn't even aware if / when I am likely to review one of his books).

As Roger Rogerson puts it on the blurb to the book 'All that people know about me is that I'm a corrupt cop, shot three men, and was a mate of Neddy Smith...'.  He's probably right, but he's also probably acutely aware that his is a very Sydney story.  In the other states, particularly if you're not old enough to remember the events of Roger's colourful police career as they occurred, he could also be somebody whose name seems to vaguely ring a bell.  Didn't Richard Roxburgh play him in a movie on TV once (and wasn't that the first of the banned in the state it was made about sort of TV movies)?  Isn't he somebody who did a bit of commentary on Underbelly 2 recently?

THE DARK SIDE isn't so much biography as it is memoir, some yarn telling of the good old days.  Readers who come to this book expecting a detailed expose of the events that made Rogerson so notorious are destined to be disappointed.  Whilst there are some brief mentions of issues from Roger's point of view towards the end, the focus of THE DARK SIDE has much more a story-telling / outline of cases about it.  (Mind you, it could very well be that some of these cases are part of the build up of notoriety but you'd be hard pressed to pick the details / understand the context if you came to this recounting without prior notice as I did).  

On face value, what Rogerson has done is use the book to describe a series of selected cases from his policing days, from the days when investigating murders and robberies was a lot more hands on and pounding the streets, without the aid of computers, mobile telephones, email and elaborate surveillance techniques.  I particularly liked an investigative method employed frequently - called something along the lines of "annoying the players" - which I "think" is probably a euphemism for being up close and personal in a lot of faces until somebody finally...   Even if it isn't - it's still an entertaining idea - just annoying known associates and likely prospects until something happens.

THE DARK SIDE does tell a good old-fashioned yarn well.  There's also a sneaking sense that there is some honesty in the recounting.  An unapologetic retelling of events from a different time - without gloss or overt reputation massaging going on.  Perhaps that's one of the messages being sent with the book - methods change / standards alter / policing has changed / perspectives can shift / events blur.   It seems that the move from a "force" to a "service" particularly sticks in the craw of more than just the author - an interesting perspective shift I'd not necessarily noted before.

But on the question of whether or not Roger Rogerson is a corrupt cop / the cop who was a mate of notorious known criminals - the book didn't seem to be overtly telling this reader what to think one way or the other.  THE DARK SIDE did leave me with a vague yearning to be leaning against a bar somewhere listening to a few tall tales and true.  

More on the book (and online orders) at:  http://www.crimedictionary.com.au