Target: The Corruptors concludes by examining police corruption. Long before it was tackled by hard hitting movies such as Serpico in the 1970s.
Paul Marino once came into contact with hero cop Officer Grauer (John Ericson.) A young policeman who apprehended a villain who shot dead his partner.
Now Grauer has been charged with burglary and theft. It is a long fall to shame for the hero cop.
Marino wants to interview Grauer to find out why he became crooked. Grauer tells him that he became a cop with the best of intentions. However low pay, money worries led him to become corrupt in a department where many others were even more crooked.
Even when Grauer caught crooked cops red handed, his superiors did not want to know. Eventually he relented and stole money as well.
The extent of the such widespread corruption in the police would had shocked audiences at the time. There was little doubt about Grauer's guilt. At first I thought he might have been set up.
Target: The Corruptors was a little ahead of its time as it tackled social issues. I can only recollect the late 70s medical crime series Quincy which did something similar in its later seasons. Much of that was led by actor Jack Klugman.