Percy Whitman Knapp (February 24, 1909 – June 14, 2004) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...

. Previous to that service, he led a far-reaching investigation into corruption in the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

from 1970 to 1972.

Early life and education

Born on February 24, 1909, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York, Knapp was the son of Wallace Percy Knapp, a wealthy lawyer in New York. His mother was killed in a

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

accident in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

when he was only three years old. He attended The Browning School, graduating in 1927,

The Choate School Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private hi ...

(now Choate Rosemary Hall), graduating in 1927, and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, graduating in 1931 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. He went on to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, where he was editor of the

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

, graduating in 1934 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. He married Elizabeth Mercer shortly after graduation.

Legal career

After his graduation from law school, he started working with the law firm of

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (known as Cadwalader) is a white-shoe law firm, and is New York City's oldest law firm and one of the oldest continuously operating legal practices in the United States. Attorney John Wells founded the practice ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He remained there until 1937, when he left to become an

Assistant District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a lo ...

in Manhattan under the newly elected racket-busting

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

. In 1941, Knapp returned to private life and joined the law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Lumbard. Within a year Frank S. Hogan, Manhattan's new District Attorney, persuaded him to return to public service and he served as an assistant district attorney of the Indictments and Frauds Division, from 1942 to 1944, and as an assistant district attorney of the Appellate Division, from 1944 to 1950. In 1950, Knapp left Mr. Hogan's office to again enter private practice until his appointment to the federal bench in 1972. Concurrent with his private practice, he served as a special counsel to Dewey, who had become governor of

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, and was a member of the commission that revised the state's criminal code. Knapp served during 1953 to 1954 as special counsel to the

Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor (WCNYH) is a regulatory agency in Port of New York and New Jersey in the United States. The bi-state agency was founded in 1953 by a Congressional authorized compact between New York and New Jersey "for t ...

, which looked into corruption on the waterfront.

Knapp Commission

In 1970, Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed Knapp to head a five-member commission investigating corruption in the

later known as the

Knapp Commission The Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (known informally as the Knapp Commission, after its chairman Whitman Knapp) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption wit ...

. The probe was sparked by revelations from two police officers, Patrolman

Frank Serpico Francesco Vincent Serpico (born April 14, 1936) is an American retired New York Police Department detective, best known for whistleblowing on police corruption. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a plainclothes police officer working in B ...

, and Sergeant David Durk. Looking back on the work of the

, Knapp said that the relatively few convictions did not matter as much as his work did, for he felt his work had changed the culture of the police so that they took the charge of corruption in their midst more seriously.

Federal judicial service

Knapp was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on June 15, 1972, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Walter R. Mansfield. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 28, 1972, and received his commission on June 30, 1972. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on November 23, 1987. His service was terminated on June 14, 2004, due to his death in New York City.

Notable cases

In 1986, Knapp presided over the racketeering case against

Bronx County The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Yor ...

Democratic leader Stanley M. Friedman. In 1993, Knapp joined with Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, S ...

, based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, in declaring that they would no longer preside over drug trials.

Death

On June 14, 2004, Knapp died at the age of 95 at the Cabrini Hospice in

. He served on the bench up until his death. He was survived by his third wife, Ann Fallert Knapp, a son, Gregory Wallace Knapp, and by three children from his first wife, Elizabeth Mercer Nason; a son, Whitman E. Knapp, and two daughters, Caroline Hines and Marion Knapp; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

References

MRS. MARROW WED TO WHITMAN KNAPP – New York Times article: November 4, 1956

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/25/archives/graft-paid-to-police-here-said-to-run-into-millions-survey-links.html Graft Paid to Police Here Said to Run Into Millions; Survey Links Payoffs to Gambling and Narcotics Some on Force Accuse Officials of Failure to Act Graft Payments to Policemen Here Are Reported to Run Into the Millions Annually Some Members of Force Say Officials Fail to Act – New York Times article: April 25, 1970]
Mayor's Committee Investigating Police Corruption Here Meets Tomorrow to Determine Procedures – New York Times article: April 26, 1970

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/22/archives/lindsay-appoints-corruption-unit-subpoena-power-asked-for-2d-panel.html LINDSAY APPOINTS CORRUPTION UNIT; Subpoena Power Asked for 2d Panel to Study Police – New York Times article: May 22, 1970]
Graft-Inquiry Head; Percy Whitman Knapp – New York Times article: May 23, 1970

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/17/archives/41-policemen-are-subpoenaed-by-knapp-unit-in-betting-inquiry.html 41 Policemen Are Subpoenaed By Knapp Unit in Betting Inquiry- New York Times article: February 17, 1971]
PERJURY LAID TO 2 IN POLICE INQUIRY; Patrolmen in Meat Incident Are First to Be Accused in Knapp Investigation Perjury Charged to 2 Policemen In Knapp Inquiry on Corruption – New York Times article: June 9, 1971

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/19/archives/knapp-unit-tells-of-police-bribery-as-hearings-open-reports.html KNAPP UNIT TELLS OF POLICE BRIBERY AS HEARINGS OPEN; Reports 'Extensive' Problem in Corruption Here--Tape Evidence Is Presented DETAILS OF VICE GRAFT 2 Patrolmen and a Lawyer Linked to Payoffs to Help an East Side Madam Knapp Panel Tells of Police Bribery as Hearings Begin Here – New York Times article: October 19, 1971]
Patrolman Says 'All But 2' Of Colleagues Got Bribes; Numbers Runner Tells the Knapp Panel That He Paid Off a Detective Monthly With Money From Social Security Patrolman Says 'All But 2' Colleagues Took Bribes – New York Times article: October 23, 1971

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/25/archives/knapp-urges-a-permanent-body-on-police-corruption-to-succeed-his.html Knapp Urges a Permanent Body on Police Corruption to Succeed His Panel – New York Times article: October 25, 1971] * [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/30/archives/knapp-witness-to-tell-of-lindsay-officials-apathy-witness-will-tell.html Knapp Witness to Tell of Lindsay Officials' Apathy; Witness Will Tell Knapp Panel Lindsay Officials Ignored Graft – New York Times article: October 30, 1971]
Leary Agrees to Be Knapp Witness – New York Times article: December 14, 1971

* [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D13FC3C59107A93CBA9178AD85F468785F9 The Knapp Commission Didn't Know It Couldn't Be Done; The Knapp Commission – New York Times article: January 9, 1972]
Phillips, a Knapp Witness, Indicted in Two Murders; Phillips, Knapp Witness, Is Indicted – New York Times article: March 21, 1972

* [https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/27/archives/knapp-panels-recommendation-a-touchy-problem-for-mayor-and-governor.html Knapp Panel's Recommendation a Touchy Problem for Mayor and Governor – New York Times article: August 27, 1972]
KNAPP PANEL SAYS WALSH AND OTHERS IGNORED TIPS BY U.S. ON POLICE CRIMES; KRIEGEL IS SCORED – New York Times article: December 28, 1972

* Hon. John F. Keenan, A MAN FOR ALL DECADES, ''Fordham Urban Law Journal'', Vol. 26, pp. 1407–1410 (May 1999).

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Percy Whitman People from Manhattan Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Yale University alumni Harvard Law School alumni American people of German descent New York (state) lawyers New York (state) state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges History of New York City 1909 births 2004 deaths People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Browning School alumni