In over four decades of public life legendary Brooklyn district attorney Charles "Joe" Hynes has literally seen it all, from corrupt New York cops to precincts filled with drug money, and local politicians on the take. With so many stories to choose from its no surprise he's become an author. This month his debut thriller Triple Homicide is published, taking a fictional look at stories that are all too real. A cautionary tale about the bitter harvest reaped by far too many good New York cops, the story is already on its way to Hollywood. CAHIR O'DOHERTY talks to the author.

IN his longstanding career Charles "Joe" Hynes has seen almost everything that life can throw at a man. In his role as Brooklyn district attorney he often gets closer to the latest crime story than just reading about it in the headlines.

And the thing that puzzles him, the thing that he can't explain, after decades working with the force he so obviously admires, is why so many otherwise model New York police officers have over the years succumbed to corruption, to the ruination of their career, and to the destruction of their family life and their reputation, for comparatively little gain.

"I could never understand why a cop could be corrupted for what really was just a few extra bucks," says Hynes during an interview with the Irish Voice. "What was the point of it?"

It's an ineffable question and - not for the first time - he pauses to reflect on it, before adding, "You know in any large group of people you are going to have miscreants. God knows we have enough of it in the legal profession, so there has to be a structure to root out those people before they take hold and corrupt others."

Shattering events that Hynes witnessed in his own life ultimately led to the creation of the book. One particular memory, as searing now as the day he first saw it, stayed with him for years and became a prime motivator to write. "Frankly, I had become weary seeing police officers throwing away so much - including their liberty - losing their homes and families and going to jail. And I always thought about an experience I had when I was in charge of the Rackets Bureau for the Brooklyn DA back in the 1970s.

"Late one evening I walked out of my office to see a young cop being arrested by the Public Morals Division of the NYPD. And as he was being cuffed suddenly an elevator door opened and out stepped his very pregnant wife. She saw him and burst into tears and ran across and hugged him. They both sobbed uncontrollably. It was such a horrible thing to witness and I wondered what could be done to raise the consciousness of a young cop to the truly destructive nature of corruption."

Once Hynes identified that he wanted to impart the wisdom that experience had taught him the question was, how should it be done?

Says Hynes, "I never thought I could write a textbook that any young police officer could read. I wanted to do something much more dramatic and tell it through a work of fiction."

But events on the street, as always, provided a dramatic context. Says Hynes, "My book is based on actual events. In 1992 there were two young people shot to death in Suffolk County. And for a very brief period of time there was a rumor that the shell casing found near the bodies indicated that the gun used was a .38 police special. The rumor was that perhaps some police officer had been involved in the killings.

"When I thought about the horror of the two guys shot and the horrible implications for the Police Department I began to develop a theme: what would happen if in addition to the humiliation and the destruction of the police officer involved, what if a young police sergeant was charged or even framed with the triple homicide of two civilians and a cop as a result of the work he did in rooting out corruption in the police department?"

In his book Hynes thoroughly explores that possibility. An uncle and his nephew, both honest cops dedicated to rooting out corruption, find themselves staring down a blue wall of silence, where even the good cops choose to look the other way and won't lift a finger to help them turn the bad guys in.

The book's premise is as old and as interesting as the history of tragedy itself. What makes a cop go crooked? How much do you have to offer before your bribe is taken?

"In the end I don't think it's the money so much," says Hynes. "These guys were making competitive wages, after all. I think it's really the culture that's at fault, it's the crooked atmosphere that's allowed to develop and flourish. There had to be a root and branch change within the NYPD to change the culture that was there."

"I had the book written within three years," says Hynes. "And the next 10 years turned out to be about trying to find a publisher."

Undeterred by the difficult task, Hynes persevered until Thomas Dunne, a division of St. Martin's Press, finally published it this month this month to rave reviews from fellow authors and reviewers like Dennis Hamill and Nelson DeMille.

Hynes praises New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly for his work to change that culture. Says Hynes, "Kelly was the police department's one man think tank. He had held every rank in the police department and so he realized the solution to the corruption was not terribly complicated. He immediately put in place a plan to eliminate systemic corruption.

Asked if there is still a blue wall of silence, Hynes replies candidly, "I suppose that's inevitable. But what's different now is that they have real cops in Internal Affairs. In the old days they used to be gadflies, people who didn't really fit anywhere else in the department. But now we have some very dedicated people who understand that if a cop commits a crime he or she becomes a criminal. That's a complete shift in the culture."

Hynes admits that only a small percentage of NYPD cops were ever tempted to turn bad, but there was always enough of them to prove very worrisome. Vigilance is the key, Hynes argues, suggesting that creating uncomfortable conditions for the easily tempted will stem further corruption.

As for his own book, Hynes has a modest goal. "I just hope that someday some young cop on the street will walk up to me and say, 'I read your book, it scared the hell out of me.'"

(Triple Homicide, by Charles Joe Hynes is now available from Thomas Dunne Books, $24.95.)