What is the theme in The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T. J. English?

Corruption is another theme in the book. The New York City Police Department during the 1960's was a system of corruption, constructed of a hierarchy of criminal justice practitioners who operated under the same premise: dirty money makes the world go 'round. Extorted money was the grease for the wheel, deciding where any given person would rank on the totem pole, on and off the streets. Officer Bill Phillips was a classic example.