In fifty years of prosecuting and defending criminal cases in New York City and elsewhere, Michael F. Armstrong has often dealt with cops. For a single two-year span, as chief counsel to the Knapp Commission, he was charged with investigating them. Based on Armstrong's vivid recollections of this watershed moment in law enforcement accountability--prompted by the New York Times's report on whistleblower cop Frank Serpico--They Wished They Were Honest recreates the dramatic struggles and significance of the Commission and explores the factors that led to its success and the...