Left Noir 3: “You Talkin’ To Me?”

Cops, Corruption and Capitalism in Crime Fiction
S.A. Solomon, Ken Wishnia and Steven Wishnia

The depiction of cops by American crime writers ranges from the hopelessly corrupt (James Ellroy) to the heroic (Michael Connelly) to the conflicted (Richard Price). Recent high-profile cases such as the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in Staten Island, as well as the wholesale use of “stop and frisk” tactics in black and Latino neighborhoods, have thrust the ages-old issue of discriminatory policing fully into the public eye. Some people argue that police exist solely to enforce order for the ruling capitalist powers; some question whether we even need cops. Yet, we expect police to come quickly when we call, and ask them to put themselves between us and danger when our bodies or property are threatened. Should we turn our backs on cops when they crack under the strain? Aren’t bad cops just a mirror of our corrupt society? Writers Kenneth Wishnia, Steven Wishnia, and S.A. Solomon take on these questions and more in a panel on cops, corruption, and capitalism in crime fiction.

S.A. Solomon has published crime fiction and poetry in New Jersey Noir (Akashic Books), Grand Central Noir (Metropolitan Crime), Jewish Noir (PM Press), The Five-Two Crime Poetry Weekly, and Heroes: Stories to Benefit PROTECT, Vol. 2. She’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America, New York chapter, a freelance writer on legal topics, and an attorney licensed in New York and Florida. You can find her on twitter @sa_solomon.

Kenneth Wishnia’s novels include 23 Shades of Black, an Edgar Allan Poe Award and Anthony Award finalist; Soft Money, a Library Journal Best Mystery of the Year; Red House, a Washington Post Book World “Rave” Book of the Year; and The Fifth Servant, an Indie Notable selection, a Jewish Press Best Mystery of the Year, winner of a Premio Letterario ADEI-WIZO, and a finalist for the Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Award. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Queens Noir, Long Island Noir, Send My Love and A Molotov Cocktail!, and elsewhere. Most recently, he edited the anthology Jewish Noir for PM Press. He teaches writing, literature and other deviant forms of thought at Suffolk Community College on Long Island.

Steven Wishnia is author of the rock’n’roll novel When the Drumming Stops (Manic D Press); the short-story collection Exit 25 Utopia; and The Cannabis Companion, which has been translated into six languages. His fiction has also appeared in Jewish Noir and Long Island Noir. As a journalist, he’s won two awards for reporting on New York housing issues; covered urban politics, labor, drugs, and civil liberties; and written and edited for publications from High Times to Junior Scholastic. He works as a reporter at LaborPress and editor of Tenant, and freelances regularly for Gothamist and The Indypendent. Bassist in the ‘80s punk band False Prophets, he currently plays guitar in Blowdryer Punk Soul and bass in the Brooklyn Klezmeroids and the multimedia shows of artist Mac McGill.