In the early 1980s the New York City Police Department received a number of civilian complaints about the conduct of its officers. Among those complaints was one that had to be the most infuriating, embarrassing and heartbreaking even the toughest street cops had ever heard. The complaint came from a woman who said that while she was pregnant she felt faint and collapsed to the sidewalk in the streets of New York’s Greenwich Village, then subsequently became unconscious. This brought attention from a police officer who was on foot patrol nearby. From there the story was picked up by a...