Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 24, Episode 5 - Episode #24.5 - full transcript
- In the criminal
justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered
especially heinous.
In New York City, the
dedicated detectives
who investigate these
vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special
Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
- Come on, you guys wanna
be lifeguards or what?
Almost there. Finish strong.
That's what I'm talking
about. Let's go!
Come on, Worsley,
don't gas out now, man!
You're so close!
Every second counts!
- That's what I'm talking about.
Here. Cover yourself up.
- Oh, thanks.
- Nice swimsuit.
- Thanks.
- What's your name?
- Martina Rodriguez.
- Martina, nice to meet you.
Now wait...
Don't tell me you're
this guy's little sister.
- I met you last year
when I came to pick
Diego up from the beach.
- Oh. Yeah, right.
Damn, son.
Been hitting the gym
since last year, huh?
- Started doing jujitsu.
- Well, I haven't seen
your sister's times,
but she looks like a
real fish in that pool.
- All right, people, listen up.
Chief's gonna handle the
CPR portion of the exam.
- Hey, Rodney, have you
seen that prop dummy?
- It wasn't in the
storage closet?
- No.
- Those Water Rescue
guys from Queens
must have packed it in
the van by accident.
- All right, I'm gonna
need a volunteer.
Uh, what's your name again?
- Martina.
- Martina, right.
Hey, can you... You
lay down right here?
- Thanks.
- Here you go.
- Like this?
- Perfect.
- Okay.
- Just lay back. Good.
All right, guys, today,
we're gonna be
graded on our ABCs:
Airway, Breathing, Circulation,
which means I'm gonna be looking
for the proper head
tilt, rescue breaths,
and the timing of
your compressions.
Got it?
- Hey, Rodney, can you
ask Rodriguez's sister
to come in for a second, please?
- Yeah, sure.
- Thank you.
- You wanted to see me?
- Yeah, Martina.
Come on in.
Close the door.
- So what's up?
- Well, technically, you
did great with your CPR,
but it's your times.
You're on the bubble.
- What? I didn't qualify?
- Relax.
I'm gonna give you a chance
to do it again next week.
But listen, it... it's not about
how often you practice but how.
And if you don't mind my
asking, who's training you?
- My brother.
- That's the problem.
Kid's too easy on you.
Come here.
Let me show you something.
Give me this.
All right.
Put your arms up,
all the way up.
There we go. Imagine
you're in the water.
Speaking of the water,
you're too flat in the water.
You got to move your
hips, all right?
There we go. There we go.
That's the one
move. That works.
And move, and
move. There you go.
You feel the difference?
- Mm.
- Yeah. Feel the water.
All right. That's it.
- Martina, hey.
What were you doing in there?
- Greco just wanted
to go over my scores.
- Hey, yo, Chief.
- Hey. What'd I do?
- Diego! Diego!
- Yo, yo, chill! D,
get off. D, get off.
- Get away from me!
- That's enough!
- I mean it!
- That's enough, bro.
- If I ever see you here
again, I'll kill you, bro.
- Stop! Stop!
- I swear to God.
Let's go.
- What is wrong with you?
Dude, what's your problem?
- What were you
doing in his office?
- I told you.
Said he'd help me pass, but
not after what you pulled.
- Diego, what'd I say about
drinking under my roof, huh?
- Whatever, Ma. I'm
out of here then.
Qué?
- Mira!
You better not
walk out that door.
You better not leave.
No. You better not leave.
- You got plans for tonight?
- Yeah, gonna put
the girls down,
eat my feelings on the couch,
wait for Carisi to come over.
- You two don't
live together yet?
- He has a drawer.
- It's a waste of
gas, if you ask me.
And by the way, I got
something for you.
- Hmm?
A bullet?
- Same caliber as the
one you got shot with.
You have to own your trauma,
or your trauma will own you.
- Hey, guys.
Just got a call from the 1-1,
asking for somebody
to go down there.
You guys take it?
Thanks.
- Why don't you go home?
- No.
I got this.
But, um, I'm driving.
- Diego Rodriguez, 19, picked
him up in a bar in Midtown,
drunk, picking fights,
talking about some guy
who had a run-in
with his sister.
- What kind of run-in?
- How the hell would I know?
Sergeant had me call you guys.
- Heard that before.
- Hmm.
Hey, there. I'm
Detective Rollins.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
- So what's going on, man?
What happened with your sister?
- You know, when my...
My pops was dying,
he said to look out for her.
And I was just trying
to protect her.
- Protect her from what?
- From Paul Greco.
He's the head of the lifeguards.
- So what, he raped your sister?
- No.
He raped me.
- Am I under arrest?
- Your arrest was voided.
- Good, because I
want to go home.
I didn't have dinner last night.
- You're free to leave,
but I got you a sandwich,
something to drink.
Have this first.
- We wanted to talk to you.
Diego, do you remember
telling us last night
that your boss
sexually assaulted you?
- No, no, no, no, no.
I was just wasted
last night, man.
Greco's going after my
sister, Martina, okay?
- Martina's a lifeguard too?
- She wants to be.
Greco has the power to
make it happen or not.
- Okay, yeah.
Can you tell us more about that?
- At the pool yesterday,
we both took the
qualifying test.
Later, I saw her coming out
of Greco's office upset,
and I snapped.
- And what did she say
happened in that office?
- Nothing. She's innocent.
Martina doesn't see Greco
for what he really is.
- And you do.
- Of course.
- Where's my brother?
- What do you think Greco is?
Do you know that girl?
- Diego!
- Martina!
- Are you okay?
- What are you doing here?
- Hey, hey.
- I told her not to come.
She don't listen, apparently.
- You know what?
- Are you okay?
- Martina, what are you doing?
I told you not to come.
- I'm gonna go talk to
her. Everything's okay.
Come with me. Come
with me this way.
- Look, man.
- She don't listen. I'm sorry.
- Your sister's got your back.
- Can you just tell her that
I'm all right, that I'm okay,
everything's good?
- Look, man.
I know how hard it is to talk
about this, but what happened?
- Nothing happened.
You don't understand
that, or what?
- Even if something did,
doesn't make you
any less of a man.
- I heard lifeguards make bank.
I needed money for
college, so I test.
- With Greco?
- Yeah, with Greco, last year.
He called me into his office
after, said I didn't qualify,
that I picked up some bad
habits on the school team.
I could pass if I
let him retrain me.
- It was craziness yesterday.
I came out of Greco's office,
eyes leaking because I
didn't qualify, and...
Diego saw the tears.
He flew into a roid rage.
Why?
Did Greco press charges?
- No.
- Then why is my brother here?
- One day, Greco
says the only reason
he hooked me up with the
job was 'cause of my...
This was before I started
learning how to fight.
- It's okay, man.
- He forced me down on
his desk, face down.
And he...
He did it to me.
After that, I cleaned up.
From that point forward,
I got all the posts
and all the OT I wanted.
And he never tried
nothing again.
- You ever tell anyone?
And when your sister
wanted to be a lifeguard,
you never warned her?
- Nah, man.
I didn't even realize it.
I just thought he was into guys.
- So talk to me about
this Chief Greco.
- He works for the
lifeguard division
of Parks and Recreation,
Bronx County, administrator.
- He oversees all the
public pools in the Bronx,
some of the beaches.
He's been there for ten years.
- Okay, any priors?
- Not in the system.
- The job pays double
the average salary
for teens and
20-somethings, plenty of OT.
- You get paid a lot
to sit on a beach.
- Sign me up.
- We called around
the Parks Department.
They all say Greco's
friendly, smart, single,
got a bit of a rep as
a player but nothing
like what Diego's saying.
- All right, so what
do we know about Diego
and the sister Martina?
- Good kids from the
projects, straight A's.
Diego had a massive
stress reaction
when he told me what happened.
He's got no reason to lie to me.
- Well, that's not good.
But no outcry at the
time and no rape kit.
- You want us to keep digging?
- It's a bit of a risk, right,
having Greco find out
that we're onto him?
- Yeah.
So we'll go straight to
him, see if he blinks.
- Diego said that I
sexually assaulted him?
- He did.
We're here to get your
side of the story.
- So, did you?
- Of course not. No.
Diego was upset yesterday
because I was talking
with his sister.
- It's retaliation?
- Why didn't you report
the physical assault?
- Because I like the kid.
He was so sweet last year.
Then this year, he comes in.
He's all jacked up.
He wants to start a fight.
I don't know.
It's none of my business.
But honestly, I
wouldn't be surprised
if the kid's on some kind
of steroids or something.
- Those muscles are armor.
- Armor for what?
- You tell me.
- So what exactly happened
between you and Martina
in your office?
- She didn't qualify.
I told her. She cried.
I felt bad.
These are... These
are hardworking kids
from a really poor family.
She got so close, so I
offered to train her.
You can ask my
second-in-command, Ronnie Volpe.
He's at Jonas Bronck
Beach today...
With Diego.
- So you're telling
me Diego went to work?
- I care about the kid,
and I'm short-staffed.
Diego was a little late today.
So now I understand why.
I'm sorry. None of
this makes any sense.
If I assaulted the kid, why...
Why would he come to work?
- So you never had any
sexual contact with Diego?
- No.
- I had to pull Diego off Greco.
Look, I don't know what happened
between last year and now,
but the kid's like a
totally different person.
- You sure nothing happened
to his little sister?
- Oh, I'm sure.
- All right.
So when he showed up
for work this morning,
what was that like? Were
you surprised at all?
- After he tried to kick
the chief's ass, yeah.
But to be honest, I
was more taken aback
by how he looked
when he clocked in.
I could smell the booze.
- Where is he now?
- Out swimming laps
between the buoys.
Pinsky's rules.
Any time one of
these kids shows up
after a late night of partying.
Quick way to sober up.
- Thank you.
Say what you want
about Fin and Benson.
At least they don't
make us swim laps.
- What do you think this
little trip to the beach is?
- What, you think kid's lying?
- I mean, you hear Volpe.
The kid came to work
like nothing happened.
- Maybe Diego figures
if he acts normal,
everything might
actually be normal.
- Would you go out partying
in... in the same day
you accused somebody of rape?
- No, but I'd sure
as hell be drinking.
- You Pinsky?
- Yeah. Who wants to know?
- NYPD.
- What can I do for you?
- Pretty far out there, no?
- Yeah, he'll be all right.
- You sure?
Sure looks like he's in trouble.
- Diego!
Diego!
Diego!
- Yo, you gonna go in?
- Give it a minute.
- What are you doing?
What are you doing?
Hey, Velasco!
Diego!
- They're gonna take
him to Montefiore.
- Maybe he's got a chance.
- Velasco, they just did
CPR on him for 30 minutes.
- We just watched a kid drown.
- No, you didn't.
That lazy scumbag did.
- Hey, look, I understand
I had a duty to act.
But I stepped in,
I observed that
the conditions had changed
and there was now a rip current.
I feared for my life and safety.
- Captain.
Trauma docs just called it.
- Oh, Fin.
I'm so sorry.
- Me?
Velasco.
Muncy said Diego
was limp in his arms
when he pulled him
out of the water.
- Are you thinking
what I'm thinking?
- That Diego was
sent into the water
to teach him some other
lesson that had nothing to do
with the hangover?
- Yeah.
- After we told Greco
about Diego's allegations?
Yeah, that thought
crossed my mind.
- Means the
allegations are true.
- We can't prove it.
Our only witness is dead.
Even Carisi couldn't
make that stick.
- A predator like Greco just
doesn't pop out of nowhere.
He's had that position
for ten years.
- Find his other victims.
- Diego loved the water,
even as a young boy.
All the swimming he
did, it healed his heart
after losing his father.
In the Bible, it says,
"When you pass
through the waters,
God is with you."
And now they're
together at peace.
- We're so sorry for your loss.
- Mami, why don't
you go lay down?
- Okay.
Thank you.
- I drove Diego to
work this morning.
He told me what Greco
did to him last year,
but he made me promise our
mother would never find out.
- We understand.
She doesn't need
to know about it,
at least not right now.
- You're gonna arrest Greco
for raping my brother.
- That's what we're
trying to do, Martina.
- Greco suggested
he mentored you.
That's called grooming.
With all the other
candidates, he had to make
that same offer to someone.
- Maybe last year?
- I might know someone.
- Please come in.
I heard Diego drowned.
- How'd you two meet?
- From the neighborhood.
He was my first love.
I was his too.
Guess now his last.
- Daniela, we're investigating
something Diego told us,
and we think that happened
while you two were together.
- Is this about Paul Greco?
- Diego mentioned that he
was inappropriate with him?
- What? No.
They were really close.
Diego viewed him
as a father figure.
- Just curious, why...
Why would you think that
we were here to
talk about Greco?
- Because Greco raped me.
I never told Diego, but I
suspected he might have known.
That's why I broke up with him.
I needed to be held.
Diego didn't even
want to touch me.
I thought he was
just loyal to Greco.
- Daniela, I hate
to say this, but...
it's likely Diego didn't
want to be touched
because the same
thing happened to him.
- I thought Greco
was just into girls.
I mean, there was always
rumors about him being a dog.
On the beach, I'd
hear them at parties.
Diego pulled some
strings and got me
an interview with Greco
halfway through summer
when I got laid off.
Greco said it was offseason,
so he'd have to
qualify me privately.
He took me into his
office and pinned me down.
I had no business being
a lifeguard anyway.
- Why is that?
- Because I can barely swim.
- Did you tell anyone about
what Greco did to you?
- I reported it to the
precinct here in the Bronx.
- Did you do a rape kit?
- Yeah, but they
never called me back.
- Pool's closed.
- Paul Greco,
you're under arrest
for the rape of Daniela Cruz.
- I have no idea who that is.
- She knows you.
- Paul Greco, on the charge
of rape in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- People on bail?
- We request $75,000.
The defendant is
facing serious charges,
and he has the
resources to flee.
- Chief Greco is a
well-regarded civil servant,
no record, who only wants
to defend his reputation.
We request ROR.
- Sorry, Counselor
Carisi, I'm granting ROR.
Bailiff, next case.
- Docket number 1625A366.
Please approach.
- Braun's being a prick.
He flat-out refused to
even discuss a deal.
- The eighth floor really
wants to plead this out?
- And the mayor's office.
Nobody wants a long-term
city chief on trial.
It shows incompetency
on their part.
It makes them look
bad, dirty laundry.
- Oh, please.
McGrath's been chewing the
end of my phone for days.
- Counselor, Captain,
can I have a moment?
Assemblywoman Diane Garcia.
- How can we help you?
- I just wanted to put
in a word for Paul Greco.
He's a decent man.
- Well, we have evidence
of rape one, Miss Garcia.
We're going to the grand jury.
- I'm just asking that
you think about it
before you ruin a respected
city official's reputation
and put the city in danger
of civil litigation.
- Thank you for the heads up.
- You just made a friend.
- Well, she just oversees
judicial appointments,
bail reform, court procedure,
and district attorney budget.
So yeah, nothing to worry about.
- How much you
want to bet Greco's
a campaign contributor?
Ah, good news.
Daniela's rape kit came back.
DNA's a match.
- The Bronx actually
came through?
- Well, kicking, screaming.
- Well, the Bronx doesn't
do anything by the book.
- Yeah, especially their SVU.
- Daniela's still not here?
- No, she's not.
The grand jury convenes
in five minutes.
I thought you prepped her.
- I did.
She knows when and where.
Let me give her another call.
- Yeah.
- Daniela, it's
Detective Rollins.
We're at the court,
waiting for you.
Please give me a call back.
- Don't tell me
that we're getting
ghosted by our star witness...
By our only witness.
- I'll send Muncy and Velasco.
- I'm sorry I didn't tell
anyone, but I can't do it.
I can't testify.
- What's going on, Daniela?
- My father's on parole.
Greco must have
gotten to his officer
because he threatened to
have my father violated.
- We can get the
DA to call his PO.
We can get it all
straightened out.
- No, I can't risk my
dad going back to Rikers.
- Daniela, Greco's the one
who sent Diego into the ocean.
I went in after him.
I pulled him out.
He died right in front of me.
You're gonna let Greco
walk around free?
- I hate Greco, too,
for what he did to me.
But Diego's dead.
Nothing's bringing him back.
I have to protect my father now.
I'm sorry.
- Diego...
- I'm assuming you
asked us here to tell us
you're dropping the charges.
I understand you lost
your only witness.
- Yeah, because your
client used political clout
to have someone threaten her.
- I have no idea what
you're talking about.
- Would you like us to open
a witness tampering case?
- Without the
girl's cooperation?
- We're also investigating
the circumstances
around Diego's death.
- Hold on.
- No.
I am devastated
by Diego's death.
Any drowning is a tragedy.
But a lifeguard, that's a
supervisor's worst nightmare.
Yes, Diego and I had our issues,
but I never wanted
this to happen.
- And yet it did.
And a 19-year-old is dead
directly because of you.
- I did not give that order.
- There were two qualified
lifeguards on duty.
Why don't you talk to them?
- Trust me, we will.
- I'm not the monster
you think I am.
I've devoted my entire
career to saving lives,
not destroying them.
- You know, men like you
become so good at lying,
they even start to believe
the ones they tell themselves.
You cannot let this
bastard back on the job.
- Yeah. I agree.
But we don't have a
rape case anymore.
There were two
lifeguards on duty
when Diego drowned, right?
- Velasco had to go in.
The way Muncy tells it,
Daniela admitted to not
even knowing how to swim
when Greco tried to hire her.
- If Greco knowingly hired
unqualified lifeguards
in exchange for sex...
- We may have a
manslaughter case.
- The first step, let's find out
how many drownings
happened at that beach
with lifeguards Greco qualified.
- They all drowned at
Jonas Bronck Beach.
- All involving lifeguards
qualified by Greco,
no other risk factors, no
drugs, no intoxication.
- Well, what about
these lifeguards?
Are any of them willing to talk?
- Not without a subpoena.
- They all lawyered up
'cause they're all
afraid of Greco.
- What about Volpe,
the one who takes the timings
for the qualifications?
- You think he might
have helped fake them?
- Greco is facing manslaughter.
Let Volpe know that if
he's complicit, he is too.
- Manslaughter.
Wait, what?
- Ten counts, including Diego.
- You were there. I
went in after Diego.
- It's not about you
not going in the water.
- It's about these lifeguards
and Greco fixing their scores
with help from you.
- Why don't you talk
to us about Pinsky?
You took his initial
timings, right?
- Yeah.
- Greco had you
doctor his score?
- I came in to talk to you guys
because I felt sick about Diego.
But maybe I need a lawyer.
- That's up to you.
But if you get a lawyer,
we can't help you.
- And you'll sink or swim right
next to your boss in court.
- Look, I only
became a lifeguard
to pay my way through college
and meet chicks, all right?
I'm not an accomplice
to anything.
- So you're saying,
it's all Greco?
- Yeah, he changed the scores.
- And you went along with it?
- I didn't even
notice it at first.
I'd write down the scores.
Then when I put
them in the system,
I saw that they changed by a
few seconds here and there.
So I started taking
pictures on my phone.
Look, it's all right here.
- You didn't report it?
- No.
I like my job.
- Have you heard enough?
- Forget manslaughter.
If Greco knowingly hired
incompetent lifeguards
in exchange for sex and money
and then those lifeguards
failed to save drowning victims,
that is depraved
indifference to human life.
That's murder two.
- Take him down.
- Can you state your
name and title, please?
- Anna Callas.
I'm an investigator
for the New York City
Department of Health.
We analyze drowning
incident reports
for all public beaches.
- Can you identify
these ten people?
- Victims of drownings
at Jonas Bronck Beach
under Chief Greco's tenure,
all cases involving
a lifeguard attempt.
- Lifeguard attempts
that failed?
- That's correct.
The ME report
showed none of them
had alcohol or drugs
in their system.
- Now, the lifeguards that
made the failed attempts,
what did they all
have in common?
- They were all
qualified and hired
by County Administrator
Paul Greco.
- Thank you.
- The drownings were
ruled accidental?
- Yes, but that's standard...
- So there was no conclusion
that lifeguard incompetence
was the cause?
- No, that's beyond our purview.
- I see.
Thank you.
- I served as chief lifeguard
for the City of New York
for 25 years before I retired.
During that time, I evaluated
thousands of rescue cases,
most of them successful.
- Now, I am going to draw
your attention to some
that unfortunately were not.
Julio Vela, 14 years old,
drowned July 16, 2012.
Lifeguard on duty
was Mariel Kemp.
Now, witnesses
reported that Kemp
was slow to enter the water
and then was unable to reach
the victim in time.
Now, in your expert opinion,
with conditions calm and flat,
as they were that day, would
that ever have happened
with a qualified lifeguard?
- No.
- No.
Alea Shihabi, age 26,
drowned August 8, 2016.
Lifeguard on duty
was Dylan Marks.
He was observed on his
phone, which delayed him
in sounding the
submersion signal.
- In my opinion, that
would not have occurred
with a qualified lifeguard.
- Greg Turner, age 28,
drowned July 5, 2015.
Lifeguard on duty
was Sean Davis...
- Who was observed
heading into the water
and turning right around.
- As head lifeguard
at Jonas Bronck Beach,
I report directly
to Chief Paul Greco.
I supervise all
on-duty lifeguards,
distribute bay assignments,
and I also administer
qualification tests.
- How do you take the timings?
- I use a stopwatch,
then write the results
on an application form for
Chief Greco to evaluate.
- How does he evaluate them?
- He looks them over.
But I came to realize that he
sometimes changed the scores.
- And what did you do
when you realized that?
- I took screenshots
of my initial timings
on my cell phone.
- People's exhibit three.
Can you read the initial timings
for ocean qualification, please?
Frank Pinsky, 7:42.
Mariel Kemp, 7:50.
Marks, 8:20. Davis, 8:35.
- And since none of these
four made the required timing,
how did they all end up assigned
to Jonas Bronck Beach?
- Greco adjusted their scores,
said he had requalified them.
- Meaning what?
- He had sex with
the candidates,
or they kicked back
10% of their salary.
He called it pay or lay.
- And you know this how?
- He told me when
I confronted him
and recorded the
conversation on my cell.
- People's exhibit four.
Hell yeah, she requalified,
on her knees.
Come on, what do you care?
Come on, you want a
crack at her, too, huh?
- Who is the defendant
referring to?
- Mariel Kemp.
Her score changed from
7 minutes, 50 seconds
to 6 minutes flat,
enough to qualify to be
a lifeguard at the beach.
- Nothing further.
- Mr. Volpe, you knew about
the scores being changed
and said nothing?
- I did.
And it is with deep
regret I didn't...
- Did that regret start before
or after the DA's Office
offered you a deal to testify?
I thought so.
Nothing further.
- Hey.
- Hey. You headed home?
- Yeah.
How's it going?
- It's a lot of data
for the jury to absorb.
- I think you're
getting to them.
I saw tears.
- Want a job as a
jury consultant?
- Sure, less chance
of getting shot.
- You know, you slept
like a baby last night.
It's the first time in...
In a while that you
didn't wake up at all.
- Mm.
Fin.
When he retires, maybe
he should be a shrink.
You gonna be late then?
- Yeah, very late.
Greco testifies tomorrow.
- Okay. Good night.
You got this, Counselor.
- Being a lifeguard takes
discipline and integrity.
It's a hard job.
But I'm damn proud
of the work we do.
- Do you consider yourself a
man of integrity, Chief Greco?
- I do.
Now, have I had
sexual involvements
with lifeguards underneath me?
Yes, all consensual.
But I have never hired someone
who was unfit for the job.
- You were sure that your
lifeguards could do the job.
But in these ten drownings,
they underperformed,
didn't they?
- Even the most experienced
lifeguard can lose a swimmer.
It's always a tragedy.
- A tragedy?
Let me ask, do you
lose sleep over it?
- Objection. Relevance.
- A little latitude,
please, Your Honor?
- I'll allow, but
move this along.
- I'm understaffed.
My budget is cut, and
every year, it gets worse.
I got drunks on the beach,
people letting their
kids wander around,
people with no business
getting in the water.
And you know what happens?
Then we need to get in,
we need to risk our lives.
- Yeah, but that is
your job, isn't it?
- Oh, look at you,
your suit and tie.
You have no idea what it's like
to have people's lives
in your hands, do you?
Well, people don't think
about it like this.
The ocean is a wilderness.
And men like me
are the breakwater,
the only single barrier
between a fun day at the beach
and some out-of-shape
stupid person becoming
a part of the food chain.
And rarely... rarely do
those life-or-death moments
come down to a
matter of seconds.
Most of the time, it's IQ
points and common sense.
- Is that why you
sent Diego Rodriguez
into the water that day?
Because you thought he
lacked common sense?
- Objection.
- Sustained.
- Diego was a drunk
who showed up hungover,
and I can't have
that on my beach.
- And so you gave the
order to send him out
to swim laps to and from a buoy
a quarter mile out
in a rip current?
- Your Honor!
- You're damn right
I gave that order.
But I didn't know
there'd be a rip
any more than I
wanted that kid dead.
But that beach and the lives
on it are my responsibility.
All mine.
It's my ass on the line.
I'm the boss,
and all my lifeguards know it.
- So Pinsky was on the
beach when Diego drowned.
- Yeah, he dipped his toe in.
It's hard to say what
he was scared of more,
the riptide or Greco.
- Find out.
- What's up, Frank?
- My lawyer says I
shouldn't talk to you.
- Well, you're not a suspect.
Let me ask,
why have you been
coming to court?
- Show support for Chief Greco.
He made it clear we
all needed to show up.
I... I didn't know Diego
was gonna go under.
I thought he'd be okay.
He was a strong swimmer.
- And you're not.
- I'm all right, but...
That's not why I didn't go in.
Greco told me not
to, no matter what.
- You listened.
- I should have gone in.
- What does Greco
have on you, Frank?
Whatever it is, it's not on you.
You know what he
did to other guys.
- He's got pictures
of me and him and a couple
of the other guys doing...
stuff.
And he sent them to
me, and he said that
if I didn't do what he
said, he was gonna show them
to everybody, you know, my...
My family, my... my girlfriend.
He's right, what
he said in there.
He's the boss.
He's got all the power.
- So take it back.
- That coward Pinsky is lying.
- When I put him on the stand,
the jury will have to decide.
- Hold up. Let's
slow this down.
- What am I paying you for?
- To tell you when to shut
up and accept you've lost.
- Where's all that
common sense you were
bragging about having, huh?
- Jury's never gonna convict.
If they do, I'll just appeal.
- No, no, no. It's over, Greco.
The political clout you
bought, that has limits.
Pinsky's got the photos
you used to blackmail him.
Now, I'm giving you a chance
to serve out your time
without everybody knowing
the truth about you.
- Oh, yeah?
What's that?
- That you are a
manipulative, little big man,
with a fiefdom built on sand,
and it's all coming down.
- What are you offering?
- Thank you, Carisi.
Yeah.
Greco will plead to ten
counts of manslaughter.
- Served consecutively,
he'll be in prison till he's 70.
- Yeah, good work, both of you.
- We'll tell Martina.
- There's a memorial
for Diego at the beach.
- Yeah. I'll send
my condolences.
Velasco.
You lost someone, and it's
easy to take that personally.
So you feel sorry,
but not for yourself.
You did everything right.
- Thank you.
- Mean it.
justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered
especially heinous.
In New York City, the
dedicated detectives
who investigate these
vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special
Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
- Come on, you guys wanna
be lifeguards or what?
Almost there. Finish strong.
That's what I'm talking
about. Let's go!
Come on, Worsley,
don't gas out now, man!
You're so close!
Every second counts!
- That's what I'm talking about.
Here. Cover yourself up.
- Oh, thanks.
- Nice swimsuit.
- Thanks.
- What's your name?
- Martina Rodriguez.
- Martina, nice to meet you.
Now wait...
Don't tell me you're
this guy's little sister.
- I met you last year
when I came to pick
Diego up from the beach.
- Oh. Yeah, right.
Damn, son.
Been hitting the gym
since last year, huh?
- Started doing jujitsu.
- Well, I haven't seen
your sister's times,
but she looks like a
real fish in that pool.
- All right, people, listen up.
Chief's gonna handle the
CPR portion of the exam.
- Hey, Rodney, have you
seen that prop dummy?
- It wasn't in the
storage closet?
- No.
- Those Water Rescue
guys from Queens
must have packed it in
the van by accident.
- All right, I'm gonna
need a volunteer.
Uh, what's your name again?
- Martina.
- Martina, right.
Hey, can you... You
lay down right here?
- Thanks.
- Here you go.
- Like this?
- Perfect.
- Okay.
- Just lay back. Good.
All right, guys, today,
we're gonna be
graded on our ABCs:
Airway, Breathing, Circulation,
which means I'm gonna be looking
for the proper head
tilt, rescue breaths,
and the timing of
your compressions.
Got it?
- Hey, Rodney, can you
ask Rodriguez's sister
to come in for a second, please?
- Yeah, sure.
- Thank you.
- You wanted to see me?
- Yeah, Martina.
Come on in.
Close the door.
- So what's up?
- Well, technically, you
did great with your CPR,
but it's your times.
You're on the bubble.
- What? I didn't qualify?
- Relax.
I'm gonna give you a chance
to do it again next week.
But listen, it... it's not about
how often you practice but how.
And if you don't mind my
asking, who's training you?
- My brother.
- That's the problem.
Kid's too easy on you.
Come here.
Let me show you something.
Give me this.
All right.
Put your arms up,
all the way up.
There we go. Imagine
you're in the water.
Speaking of the water,
you're too flat in the water.
You got to move your
hips, all right?
There we go. There we go.
That's the one
move. That works.
And move, and
move. There you go.
You feel the difference?
- Mm.
- Yeah. Feel the water.
All right. That's it.
- Martina, hey.
What were you doing in there?
- Greco just wanted
to go over my scores.
- Hey, yo, Chief.
- Hey. What'd I do?
- Diego! Diego!
- Yo, yo, chill! D,
get off. D, get off.
- Get away from me!
- That's enough!
- I mean it!
- That's enough, bro.
- If I ever see you here
again, I'll kill you, bro.
- Stop! Stop!
- I swear to God.
Let's go.
- What is wrong with you?
Dude, what's your problem?
- What were you
doing in his office?
- I told you.
Said he'd help me pass, but
not after what you pulled.
- Diego, what'd I say about
drinking under my roof, huh?
- Whatever, Ma. I'm
out of here then.
Qué?
- Mira!
You better not
walk out that door.
You better not leave.
No. You better not leave.
- You got plans for tonight?
- Yeah, gonna put
the girls down,
eat my feelings on the couch,
wait for Carisi to come over.
- You two don't
live together yet?
- He has a drawer.
- It's a waste of
gas, if you ask me.
And by the way, I got
something for you.
- Hmm?
A bullet?
- Same caliber as the
one you got shot with.
You have to own your trauma,
or your trauma will own you.
- Hey, guys.
Just got a call from the 1-1,
asking for somebody
to go down there.
You guys take it?
Thanks.
- Why don't you go home?
- No.
I got this.
But, um, I'm driving.
- Diego Rodriguez, 19, picked
him up in a bar in Midtown,
drunk, picking fights,
talking about some guy
who had a run-in
with his sister.
- What kind of run-in?
- How the hell would I know?
Sergeant had me call you guys.
- Heard that before.
- Hmm.
Hey, there. I'm
Detective Rollins.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
- So what's going on, man?
What happened with your sister?
- You know, when my...
My pops was dying,
he said to look out for her.
And I was just trying
to protect her.
- Protect her from what?
- From Paul Greco.
He's the head of the lifeguards.
- So what, he raped your sister?
- No.
He raped me.
- Am I under arrest?
- Your arrest was voided.
- Good, because I
want to go home.
I didn't have dinner last night.
- You're free to leave,
but I got you a sandwich,
something to drink.
Have this first.
- We wanted to talk to you.
Diego, do you remember
telling us last night
that your boss
sexually assaulted you?
- No, no, no, no, no.
I was just wasted
last night, man.
Greco's going after my
sister, Martina, okay?
- Martina's a lifeguard too?
- She wants to be.
Greco has the power to
make it happen or not.
- Okay, yeah.
Can you tell us more about that?
- At the pool yesterday,
we both took the
qualifying test.
Later, I saw her coming out
of Greco's office upset,
and I snapped.
- And what did she say
happened in that office?
- Nothing. She's innocent.
Martina doesn't see Greco
for what he really is.
- And you do.
- Of course.
- Where's my brother?
- What do you think Greco is?
Do you know that girl?
- Diego!
- Martina!
- Are you okay?
- What are you doing here?
- Hey, hey.
- I told her not to come.
She don't listen, apparently.
- You know what?
- Are you okay?
- Martina, what are you doing?
I told you not to come.
- I'm gonna go talk to
her. Everything's okay.
Come with me. Come
with me this way.
- Look, man.
- She don't listen. I'm sorry.
- Your sister's got your back.
- Can you just tell her that
I'm all right, that I'm okay,
everything's good?
- Look, man.
I know how hard it is to talk
about this, but what happened?
- Nothing happened.
You don't understand
that, or what?
- Even if something did,
doesn't make you
any less of a man.
- I heard lifeguards make bank.
I needed money for
college, so I test.
- With Greco?
- Yeah, with Greco, last year.
He called me into his office
after, said I didn't qualify,
that I picked up some bad
habits on the school team.
I could pass if I
let him retrain me.
- It was craziness yesterday.
I came out of Greco's office,
eyes leaking because I
didn't qualify, and...
Diego saw the tears.
He flew into a roid rage.
Why?
Did Greco press charges?
- No.
- Then why is my brother here?
- One day, Greco
says the only reason
he hooked me up with the
job was 'cause of my...
This was before I started
learning how to fight.
- It's okay, man.
- He forced me down on
his desk, face down.
And he...
He did it to me.
After that, I cleaned up.
From that point forward,
I got all the posts
and all the OT I wanted.
And he never tried
nothing again.
- You ever tell anyone?
And when your sister
wanted to be a lifeguard,
you never warned her?
- Nah, man.
I didn't even realize it.
I just thought he was into guys.
- So talk to me about
this Chief Greco.
- He works for the
lifeguard division
of Parks and Recreation,
Bronx County, administrator.
- He oversees all the
public pools in the Bronx,
some of the beaches.
He's been there for ten years.
- Okay, any priors?
- Not in the system.
- The job pays double
the average salary
for teens and
20-somethings, plenty of OT.
- You get paid a lot
to sit on a beach.
- Sign me up.
- We called around
the Parks Department.
They all say Greco's
friendly, smart, single,
got a bit of a rep as
a player but nothing
like what Diego's saying.
- All right, so what
do we know about Diego
and the sister Martina?
- Good kids from the
projects, straight A's.
Diego had a massive
stress reaction
when he told me what happened.
He's got no reason to lie to me.
- Well, that's not good.
But no outcry at the
time and no rape kit.
- You want us to keep digging?
- It's a bit of a risk, right,
having Greco find out
that we're onto him?
- Yeah.
So we'll go straight to
him, see if he blinks.
- Diego said that I
sexually assaulted him?
- He did.
We're here to get your
side of the story.
- So, did you?
- Of course not. No.
Diego was upset yesterday
because I was talking
with his sister.
- It's retaliation?
- Why didn't you report
the physical assault?
- Because I like the kid.
He was so sweet last year.
Then this year, he comes in.
He's all jacked up.
He wants to start a fight.
I don't know.
It's none of my business.
But honestly, I
wouldn't be surprised
if the kid's on some kind
of steroids or something.
- Those muscles are armor.
- Armor for what?
- You tell me.
- So what exactly happened
between you and Martina
in your office?
- She didn't qualify.
I told her. She cried.
I felt bad.
These are... These
are hardworking kids
from a really poor family.
She got so close, so I
offered to train her.
You can ask my
second-in-command, Ronnie Volpe.
He's at Jonas Bronck
Beach today...
With Diego.
- So you're telling
me Diego went to work?
- I care about the kid,
and I'm short-staffed.
Diego was a little late today.
So now I understand why.
I'm sorry. None of
this makes any sense.
If I assaulted the kid, why...
Why would he come to work?
- So you never had any
sexual contact with Diego?
- No.
- I had to pull Diego off Greco.
Look, I don't know what happened
between last year and now,
but the kid's like a
totally different person.
- You sure nothing happened
to his little sister?
- Oh, I'm sure.
- All right.
So when he showed up
for work this morning,
what was that like? Were
you surprised at all?
- After he tried to kick
the chief's ass, yeah.
But to be honest, I
was more taken aback
by how he looked
when he clocked in.
I could smell the booze.
- Where is he now?
- Out swimming laps
between the buoys.
Pinsky's rules.
Any time one of
these kids shows up
after a late night of partying.
Quick way to sober up.
- Thank you.
Say what you want
about Fin and Benson.
At least they don't
make us swim laps.
- What do you think this
little trip to the beach is?
- What, you think kid's lying?
- I mean, you hear Volpe.
The kid came to work
like nothing happened.
- Maybe Diego figures
if he acts normal,
everything might
actually be normal.
- Would you go out partying
in... in the same day
you accused somebody of rape?
- No, but I'd sure
as hell be drinking.
- You Pinsky?
- Yeah. Who wants to know?
- NYPD.
- What can I do for you?
- Pretty far out there, no?
- Yeah, he'll be all right.
- You sure?
Sure looks like he's in trouble.
- Diego!
Diego!
Diego!
- Yo, you gonna go in?
- Give it a minute.
- What are you doing?
What are you doing?
Hey, Velasco!
Diego!
- They're gonna take
him to Montefiore.
- Maybe he's got a chance.
- Velasco, they just did
CPR on him for 30 minutes.
- We just watched a kid drown.
- No, you didn't.
That lazy scumbag did.
- Hey, look, I understand
I had a duty to act.
But I stepped in,
I observed that
the conditions had changed
and there was now a rip current.
I feared for my life and safety.
- Captain.
Trauma docs just called it.
- Oh, Fin.
I'm so sorry.
- Me?
Velasco.
Muncy said Diego
was limp in his arms
when he pulled him
out of the water.
- Are you thinking
what I'm thinking?
- That Diego was
sent into the water
to teach him some other
lesson that had nothing to do
with the hangover?
- Yeah.
- After we told Greco
about Diego's allegations?
Yeah, that thought
crossed my mind.
- Means the
allegations are true.
- We can't prove it.
Our only witness is dead.
Even Carisi couldn't
make that stick.
- A predator like Greco just
doesn't pop out of nowhere.
He's had that position
for ten years.
- Find his other victims.
- Diego loved the water,
even as a young boy.
All the swimming he
did, it healed his heart
after losing his father.
In the Bible, it says,
"When you pass
through the waters,
God is with you."
And now they're
together at peace.
- We're so sorry for your loss.
- Mami, why don't
you go lay down?
- Okay.
Thank you.
- I drove Diego to
work this morning.
He told me what Greco
did to him last year,
but he made me promise our
mother would never find out.
- We understand.
She doesn't need
to know about it,
at least not right now.
- You're gonna arrest Greco
for raping my brother.
- That's what we're
trying to do, Martina.
- Greco suggested
he mentored you.
That's called grooming.
With all the other
candidates, he had to make
that same offer to someone.
- Maybe last year?
- I might know someone.
- Please come in.
I heard Diego drowned.
- How'd you two meet?
- From the neighborhood.
He was my first love.
I was his too.
Guess now his last.
- Daniela, we're investigating
something Diego told us,
and we think that happened
while you two were together.
- Is this about Paul Greco?
- Diego mentioned that he
was inappropriate with him?
- What? No.
They were really close.
Diego viewed him
as a father figure.
- Just curious, why...
Why would you think that
we were here to
talk about Greco?
- Because Greco raped me.
I never told Diego, but I
suspected he might have known.
That's why I broke up with him.
I needed to be held.
Diego didn't even
want to touch me.
I thought he was
just loyal to Greco.
- Daniela, I hate
to say this, but...
it's likely Diego didn't
want to be touched
because the same
thing happened to him.
- I thought Greco
was just into girls.
I mean, there was always
rumors about him being a dog.
On the beach, I'd
hear them at parties.
Diego pulled some
strings and got me
an interview with Greco
halfway through summer
when I got laid off.
Greco said it was offseason,
so he'd have to
qualify me privately.
He took me into his
office and pinned me down.
I had no business being
a lifeguard anyway.
- Why is that?
- Because I can barely swim.
- Did you tell anyone about
what Greco did to you?
- I reported it to the
precinct here in the Bronx.
- Did you do a rape kit?
- Yeah, but they
never called me back.
- Pool's closed.
- Paul Greco,
you're under arrest
for the rape of Daniela Cruz.
- I have no idea who that is.
- She knows you.
- Paul Greco, on the charge
of rape in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- People on bail?
- We request $75,000.
The defendant is
facing serious charges,
and he has the
resources to flee.
- Chief Greco is a
well-regarded civil servant,
no record, who only wants
to defend his reputation.
We request ROR.
- Sorry, Counselor
Carisi, I'm granting ROR.
Bailiff, next case.
- Docket number 1625A366.
Please approach.
- Braun's being a prick.
He flat-out refused to
even discuss a deal.
- The eighth floor really
wants to plead this out?
- And the mayor's office.
Nobody wants a long-term
city chief on trial.
It shows incompetency
on their part.
It makes them look
bad, dirty laundry.
- Oh, please.
McGrath's been chewing the
end of my phone for days.
- Counselor, Captain,
can I have a moment?
Assemblywoman Diane Garcia.
- How can we help you?
- I just wanted to put
in a word for Paul Greco.
He's a decent man.
- Well, we have evidence
of rape one, Miss Garcia.
We're going to the grand jury.
- I'm just asking that
you think about it
before you ruin a respected
city official's reputation
and put the city in danger
of civil litigation.
- Thank you for the heads up.
- You just made a friend.
- Well, she just oversees
judicial appointments,
bail reform, court procedure,
and district attorney budget.
So yeah, nothing to worry about.
- How much you
want to bet Greco's
a campaign contributor?
Ah, good news.
Daniela's rape kit came back.
DNA's a match.
- The Bronx actually
came through?
- Well, kicking, screaming.
- Well, the Bronx doesn't
do anything by the book.
- Yeah, especially their SVU.
- Daniela's still not here?
- No, she's not.
The grand jury convenes
in five minutes.
I thought you prepped her.
- I did.
She knows when and where.
Let me give her another call.
- Yeah.
- Daniela, it's
Detective Rollins.
We're at the court,
waiting for you.
Please give me a call back.
- Don't tell me
that we're getting
ghosted by our star witness...
By our only witness.
- I'll send Muncy and Velasco.
- I'm sorry I didn't tell
anyone, but I can't do it.
I can't testify.
- What's going on, Daniela?
- My father's on parole.
Greco must have
gotten to his officer
because he threatened to
have my father violated.
- We can get the
DA to call his PO.
We can get it all
straightened out.
- No, I can't risk my
dad going back to Rikers.
- Daniela, Greco's the one
who sent Diego into the ocean.
I went in after him.
I pulled him out.
He died right in front of me.
You're gonna let Greco
walk around free?
- I hate Greco, too,
for what he did to me.
But Diego's dead.
Nothing's bringing him back.
I have to protect my father now.
I'm sorry.
- Diego...
- I'm assuming you
asked us here to tell us
you're dropping the charges.
I understand you lost
your only witness.
- Yeah, because your
client used political clout
to have someone threaten her.
- I have no idea what
you're talking about.
- Would you like us to open
a witness tampering case?
- Without the
girl's cooperation?
- We're also investigating
the circumstances
around Diego's death.
- Hold on.
- No.
I am devastated
by Diego's death.
Any drowning is a tragedy.
But a lifeguard, that's a
supervisor's worst nightmare.
Yes, Diego and I had our issues,
but I never wanted
this to happen.
- And yet it did.
And a 19-year-old is dead
directly because of you.
- I did not give that order.
- There were two qualified
lifeguards on duty.
Why don't you talk to them?
- Trust me, we will.
- I'm not the monster
you think I am.
I've devoted my entire
career to saving lives,
not destroying them.
- You know, men like you
become so good at lying,
they even start to believe
the ones they tell themselves.
You cannot let this
bastard back on the job.
- Yeah. I agree.
But we don't have a
rape case anymore.
There were two
lifeguards on duty
when Diego drowned, right?
- Velasco had to go in.
The way Muncy tells it,
Daniela admitted to not
even knowing how to swim
when Greco tried to hire her.
- If Greco knowingly hired
unqualified lifeguards
in exchange for sex...
- We may have a
manslaughter case.
- The first step, let's find out
how many drownings
happened at that beach
with lifeguards Greco qualified.
- They all drowned at
Jonas Bronck Beach.
- All involving lifeguards
qualified by Greco,
no other risk factors, no
drugs, no intoxication.
- Well, what about
these lifeguards?
Are any of them willing to talk?
- Not without a subpoena.
- They all lawyered up
'cause they're all
afraid of Greco.
- What about Volpe,
the one who takes the timings
for the qualifications?
- You think he might
have helped fake them?
- Greco is facing manslaughter.
Let Volpe know that if
he's complicit, he is too.
- Manslaughter.
Wait, what?
- Ten counts, including Diego.
- You were there. I
went in after Diego.
- It's not about you
not going in the water.
- It's about these lifeguards
and Greco fixing their scores
with help from you.
- Why don't you talk
to us about Pinsky?
You took his initial
timings, right?
- Yeah.
- Greco had you
doctor his score?
- I came in to talk to you guys
because I felt sick about Diego.
But maybe I need a lawyer.
- That's up to you.
But if you get a lawyer,
we can't help you.
- And you'll sink or swim right
next to your boss in court.
- Look, I only
became a lifeguard
to pay my way through college
and meet chicks, all right?
I'm not an accomplice
to anything.
- So you're saying,
it's all Greco?
- Yeah, he changed the scores.
- And you went along with it?
- I didn't even
notice it at first.
I'd write down the scores.
Then when I put
them in the system,
I saw that they changed by a
few seconds here and there.
So I started taking
pictures on my phone.
Look, it's all right here.
- You didn't report it?
- No.
I like my job.
- Have you heard enough?
- Forget manslaughter.
If Greco knowingly hired
incompetent lifeguards
in exchange for sex and money
and then those lifeguards
failed to save drowning victims,
that is depraved
indifference to human life.
That's murder two.
- Take him down.
- Can you state your
name and title, please?
- Anna Callas.
I'm an investigator
for the New York City
Department of Health.
We analyze drowning
incident reports
for all public beaches.
- Can you identify
these ten people?
- Victims of drownings
at Jonas Bronck Beach
under Chief Greco's tenure,
all cases involving
a lifeguard attempt.
- Lifeguard attempts
that failed?
- That's correct.
The ME report
showed none of them
had alcohol or drugs
in their system.
- Now, the lifeguards that
made the failed attempts,
what did they all
have in common?
- They were all
qualified and hired
by County Administrator
Paul Greco.
- Thank you.
- The drownings were
ruled accidental?
- Yes, but that's standard...
- So there was no conclusion
that lifeguard incompetence
was the cause?
- No, that's beyond our purview.
- I see.
Thank you.
- I served as chief lifeguard
for the City of New York
for 25 years before I retired.
During that time, I evaluated
thousands of rescue cases,
most of them successful.
- Now, I am going to draw
your attention to some
that unfortunately were not.
Julio Vela, 14 years old,
drowned July 16, 2012.
Lifeguard on duty
was Mariel Kemp.
Now, witnesses
reported that Kemp
was slow to enter the water
and then was unable to reach
the victim in time.
Now, in your expert opinion,
with conditions calm and flat,
as they were that day, would
that ever have happened
with a qualified lifeguard?
- No.
- No.
Alea Shihabi, age 26,
drowned August 8, 2016.
Lifeguard on duty
was Dylan Marks.
He was observed on his
phone, which delayed him
in sounding the
submersion signal.
- In my opinion, that
would not have occurred
with a qualified lifeguard.
- Greg Turner, age 28,
drowned July 5, 2015.
Lifeguard on duty
was Sean Davis...
- Who was observed
heading into the water
and turning right around.
- As head lifeguard
at Jonas Bronck Beach,
I report directly
to Chief Paul Greco.
I supervise all
on-duty lifeguards,
distribute bay assignments,
and I also administer
qualification tests.
- How do you take the timings?
- I use a stopwatch,
then write the results
on an application form for
Chief Greco to evaluate.
- How does he evaluate them?
- He looks them over.
But I came to realize that he
sometimes changed the scores.
- And what did you do
when you realized that?
- I took screenshots
of my initial timings
on my cell phone.
- People's exhibit three.
Can you read the initial timings
for ocean qualification, please?
Frank Pinsky, 7:42.
Mariel Kemp, 7:50.
Marks, 8:20. Davis, 8:35.
- And since none of these
four made the required timing,
how did they all end up assigned
to Jonas Bronck Beach?
- Greco adjusted their scores,
said he had requalified them.
- Meaning what?
- He had sex with
the candidates,
or they kicked back
10% of their salary.
He called it pay or lay.
- And you know this how?
- He told me when
I confronted him
and recorded the
conversation on my cell.
- People's exhibit four.
Hell yeah, she requalified,
on her knees.
Come on, what do you care?
Come on, you want a
crack at her, too, huh?
- Who is the defendant
referring to?
- Mariel Kemp.
Her score changed from
7 minutes, 50 seconds
to 6 minutes flat,
enough to qualify to be
a lifeguard at the beach.
- Nothing further.
- Mr. Volpe, you knew about
the scores being changed
and said nothing?
- I did.
And it is with deep
regret I didn't...
- Did that regret start before
or after the DA's Office
offered you a deal to testify?
I thought so.
Nothing further.
- Hey.
- Hey. You headed home?
- Yeah.
How's it going?
- It's a lot of data
for the jury to absorb.
- I think you're
getting to them.
I saw tears.
- Want a job as a
jury consultant?
- Sure, less chance
of getting shot.
- You know, you slept
like a baby last night.
It's the first time in...
In a while that you
didn't wake up at all.
- Mm.
Fin.
When he retires, maybe
he should be a shrink.
You gonna be late then?
- Yeah, very late.
Greco testifies tomorrow.
- Okay. Good night.
You got this, Counselor.
- Being a lifeguard takes
discipline and integrity.
It's a hard job.
But I'm damn proud
of the work we do.
- Do you consider yourself a
man of integrity, Chief Greco?
- I do.
Now, have I had
sexual involvements
with lifeguards underneath me?
Yes, all consensual.
But I have never hired someone
who was unfit for the job.
- You were sure that your
lifeguards could do the job.
But in these ten drownings,
they underperformed,
didn't they?
- Even the most experienced
lifeguard can lose a swimmer.
It's always a tragedy.
- A tragedy?
Let me ask, do you
lose sleep over it?
- Objection. Relevance.
- A little latitude,
please, Your Honor?
- I'll allow, but
move this along.
- I'm understaffed.
My budget is cut, and
every year, it gets worse.
I got drunks on the beach,
people letting their
kids wander around,
people with no business
getting in the water.
And you know what happens?
Then we need to get in,
we need to risk our lives.
- Yeah, but that is
your job, isn't it?
- Oh, look at you,
your suit and tie.
You have no idea what it's like
to have people's lives
in your hands, do you?
Well, people don't think
about it like this.
The ocean is a wilderness.
And men like me
are the breakwater,
the only single barrier
between a fun day at the beach
and some out-of-shape
stupid person becoming
a part of the food chain.
And rarely... rarely do
those life-or-death moments
come down to a
matter of seconds.
Most of the time, it's IQ
points and common sense.
- Is that why you
sent Diego Rodriguez
into the water that day?
Because you thought he
lacked common sense?
- Objection.
- Sustained.
- Diego was a drunk
who showed up hungover,
and I can't have
that on my beach.
- And so you gave the
order to send him out
to swim laps to and from a buoy
a quarter mile out
in a rip current?
- Your Honor!
- You're damn right
I gave that order.
But I didn't know
there'd be a rip
any more than I
wanted that kid dead.
But that beach and the lives
on it are my responsibility.
All mine.
It's my ass on the line.
I'm the boss,
and all my lifeguards know it.
- So Pinsky was on the
beach when Diego drowned.
- Yeah, he dipped his toe in.
It's hard to say what
he was scared of more,
the riptide or Greco.
- Find out.
- What's up, Frank?
- My lawyer says I
shouldn't talk to you.
- Well, you're not a suspect.
Let me ask,
why have you been
coming to court?
- Show support for Chief Greco.
He made it clear we
all needed to show up.
I... I didn't know Diego
was gonna go under.
I thought he'd be okay.
He was a strong swimmer.
- And you're not.
- I'm all right, but...
That's not why I didn't go in.
Greco told me not
to, no matter what.
- You listened.
- I should have gone in.
- What does Greco
have on you, Frank?
Whatever it is, it's not on you.
You know what he
did to other guys.
- He's got pictures
of me and him and a couple
of the other guys doing...
stuff.
And he sent them to
me, and he said that
if I didn't do what he
said, he was gonna show them
to everybody, you know, my...
My family, my... my girlfriend.
He's right, what
he said in there.
He's the boss.
He's got all the power.
- So take it back.
- That coward Pinsky is lying.
- When I put him on the stand,
the jury will have to decide.
- Hold up. Let's
slow this down.
- What am I paying you for?
- To tell you when to shut
up and accept you've lost.
- Where's all that
common sense you were
bragging about having, huh?
- Jury's never gonna convict.
If they do, I'll just appeal.
- No, no, no. It's over, Greco.
The political clout you
bought, that has limits.
Pinsky's got the photos
you used to blackmail him.
Now, I'm giving you a chance
to serve out your time
without everybody knowing
the truth about you.
- Oh, yeah?
What's that?
- That you are a
manipulative, little big man,
with a fiefdom built on sand,
and it's all coming down.
- What are you offering?
- Thank you, Carisi.
Yeah.
Greco will plead to ten
counts of manslaughter.
- Served consecutively,
he'll be in prison till he's 70.
- Yeah, good work, both of you.
- We'll tell Martina.
- There's a memorial
for Diego at the beach.
- Yeah. I'll send
my condolences.
Velasco.
You lost someone, and it's
easy to take that personally.
So you feel sorry,
but not for yourself.
You did everything right.
- Thank you.
- Mean it.