Katrina Brownlee: The Good Cop | Full Episode | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] [Music] as an undercover I spent approximately 18 months walking the streets of Queens
doing prostitution the only difference was that I was working undercover and this was their
actual life but we had a lot of similar stories to hear their stories and not able to
talk to them about my story and how I survived it was heartbreaking a lot of the times
my name is Katrina cook Brownlee and when I was 22 years old I lived with my ex-fiancee in a house of horror
I don't remember not having a black eye whether it been the right one the left one it was a busted lip
it was always something that's why Shades became a signature for me I called the police on him several times
he was at New York City correction officer then every time he would flash that badge and every time he flashed that
badge they would walk away that badge was much more important than my life she got to the point where she feared
for her safety and the safety of her kids and that's when she decided no more but
when the decision was made to leave the risk factor for Katrina went through the
roof my name is Carrie Herzog in January of 1993 I was an assistant district attorney
I don't think she in any way could have foreseen what was going to happen to her when she came through that
door [Music] he opened the door and he just had like a weird look on his face of a strange
and he pointed a gun to me and said this is the day you die [ __ ] and he shot me in my stomach
and then he shot me again and he emptied the gun after the first five reloaded and proceeded to shoot her
again five more times each time he would say to Katrina are you ready to die Katrina bang is this
the day you're going to die Katrina Bang you know you deserve this Katrina Bang this was a man on a mission and he was
armed and deadly this could have easily been a homicide but because of Katrina's will to live
and will to survive it wasn't God had a whole different plan for me my story starts from a very dark place
and it becomes a story of Grace story of love and a story of Hope [Music] why did you want to become a cop I
wanted to become a good cop there's a difference yeah a good cop has empathy a good cop cares
about people that they have to protect and have to serve I was a great cop [Applause]
[Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] this is the photograph that says suffering to me
forget opening the case File this shows a path of blood through the living room and bleeding into the adjacent room it
literally took my breath away Carrie rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital on Long
Island as soon as she learned the victim was still alive there was a horror show
unfolding right before my eyes the first thing that came to my head is how did this woman even survive
in the afternoon of January 9 1993 a car came screeching up to brookhaven's emergency room entrance the driver
hurriedly put a woman in a wheelchair and pushed her in the door then sped off that woman was Katrina cook Brownlee
barely conscious and riddled with bullets the 22 year old mother of two somehow managed to tell authorities who
did this to her and where he lived that's the house that's the house right there
lead detective Raymond blasko raced to the house where a man calmly opened the door and said I was expecting you
it was Katrina's ex-fiancee Alex Irvin I proceeded to arrest him at that point the crime scene indicated a
violent brutal attack and that the victim during it was moving around from room to room trying to get away during
the attack the floor of the bathroom there's a lot of blood on everything in the bathroom that shows extensive
bleeding because of the blood loss I did not believe she would survive neither did the Young assistant EA
Kerry took a dying declaration from Katrina at the hospital to use his evidence for a grand jury
her voice was just above a whisper each breath took a certain amount of labor on her part but she was able to do
what we needed to have her do I didn't think I'd ever see her again but Carrie didn't know just who she
Trina had been beating the odds most of her life right there that was my bedroom right
there Katrina was a killing 18 year old projects in thought would get her the house with a
white picket fence she'd always dreamed of a correction officer on New York's notorious Rikers Island
it was Alex Irvin so when I get into this relationship with this person it's a way out to where
was in survival mode and he had a car wasn't used to riding around in a fancy car
he was a correction officer he had a job he had a great a good a career a gun so
to me it was like okay my man got a gun he got a good job I'm from the projects and look at me
you thought you escaped correct right that's what I'm thinking like I'm winning when actually I was losing
Katrina says he showed his violent temper almost immediately I swear began here out in those streets
and yeah he would beat you in the street oh yeah Katrina knew she should end it but says
her grandmother the only adult in her life she trusted convinced her to stay my grandmother said to me you know this
man has a job and he can provide for you and you have a daughter and he's willing
to take on your daughter and to take care of you and I think that this is something you should try to consider
so when your grandmother tells you that then you think well maybe you know what maybe I should do this this is knowing
that he had physically assaulted you [Music] how do you see that now was the worst advice that I could have
ever got they soon had a baby together a girl Katrina's second daughter but Katrina
says it didn't stop the beatings what would spark his anger um maybe it was just a bad day at Rikers
Allen maybe I didn't want to have sex with him maybe the baby was crying maybe I had on something he didn't like
to see me in he was that abusive yeah it was that abusive Katrina says she called 9-1-1 several
times every time that I called the police on him they either would come and tell us to work it out or he would have
a separate conversation either outside or in the room with them and they would walk away she called it the blue wall of
Silence the minute they saw his badge she says they left after a while Katrina says she
stopped calling I had no respect for cops I had no respect for them at all in 1992 Alex Irvin moved Katrina and the
two girls from Brooklyn to a small house in Medford Long Island but she says the abuse continued and
only got worse finally after five years of getting beaten black and blue Katrina said
enough I was pregnant and I said to myself I'm not bringing another child into this toxic violent
relationship with this man and that I am going to save my money get some strength from somewhere somehow
and get out of this relationship and that's what I did Katrina and her daughters moved to a
local motel but after a month she ran out of money desperate she called Alex Irvin Katrina says he was like a
different person and even offered to help her get back on her feet we talk and were friendly with one another
something that I had never experienced with him ever you were hopeful yeah and I didn't think he was clever enough to
like try to set me up on January 9th Katrina says she walked straight into a trap she left her older daughter with a
neighbor and went with her younger daughter to Irvine's house this is what she told us happened next a
warning you may find it disturbing he opened the door and he just had like a weird look on his face of a strange
I went to place my youngest daughter in her bed because she was asleep and as soon as I came out
he shot me in my stomach and then he shot me again fell back on our couch and I looked down
and my stomach had flattened and I wasn't like bleeding and I said to him I'm like why am I not bleeding
and I remember him saying shut up and down I remember trying to get up and crawl
and he shot me in my arm here I remember picking up the phone and trying to call 9-1-1 the phone lines
were cut you're in the living room they're crawling on the floor like a dog remember I looked up to him and
he took his foot and he kicked me in my face this man tortured me fortunately tortured me
foreign [Music] this was an angry angry man Alex Irvin didn't just want Katrina dead
says Carrie Herzog he wanted her to suffer you can almost hear the defendant saying it ain't over
till I say it's over he was mocking her as he was firing on her is this the bullet that's going to do it
Katrina and he was in no hurry says Katrina when she could no longer crawl he put
her in the bed and covered her gunshot wounds with Band-Aids at one point he carried her to the
bathroom leaving behind a blood-stained blueprint of the attack this didn't happen like within light
20 minutes or 30 this was like a long period of time that he's torturing me and shooting me
over the course of an hour and a half the correction officer emptied his service revolver two times at the
pregnant mother of two and ultimately he shot me 10 times Alex Irvin had planned for everything
says Katrina the locked doors and windows the cut phone line everything but a knock on the door
as Katrina lay bleeding on the floor There Was An Unexpected visit by a family friend of Katrina's fiancee and
upon entering the home he looked at something which can only be described as something out of the Texas Chainsaw
Massacre according to the friend statement to police Alex Irvin told him he had shot
Katrina and then he flipped out Irvin then LED his young friend only 20 at the time to the bathroom Katrina was
lying face down on the bathroom floor Panic the young man picked her up and carried her to the car Irvin helped him
put Katrina in the back seat the two men headed to the hospital with the friend driving
the entire way Katrina was in and out of Consciousness and he was begging her to
hold on that they were close to getting help don't go Katrina don't go it was the young man who put Katrina in the
wheelchair that day her wounds still covered with Band-Aids if he hadn't come by that house I wouldn't be talking to
you I would not be talking to you Katrina was rushed into surgery as soon as she got to the hospital after the
attack multiple operations followed in the days ahead the doctors were unable to remove six of
the bullets that it entered her body says Carrie the placement removal could have been more dangerous to her than
leaving the bullets in place after days of drifting in and out of Consciousness Katrina finally woke up
the first thing I wanted to know where was my baby that I was having with my children that was the first thing I said
there she was having been brutalized and her first concern was for her children it made me want to cry it makes me want
to cry right now Katrina was told her two daughters were safe and staying with a relative sadly
Katrina says the baby she was carrying a boy didn't make it most of the injuries
were concentrated between her chest and her pelvis and it became evident that future children were were not going to
be in the cards for for Katrina that wasn't all says Carrie she was very limited in her Mobility there were
concerns that she might not be able to walk again Katrina remembers the day the doctor
delivered the Grim news I said what when you say that and I'm not gonna walk again and never have a normal life like
what does that mean and he said you know you you're gonna be confined to a wheelchair
and you'll have people to have to take care of you and then I said to him I don't have
anybody to take care of me I'm homeless I don't I don't have a place to live I said I didn't have a place to live
before I came here and you're thinking what am I going to do was it fear desperation at your Wood's end or
all of that wrapped up into one yeah I mean I'm now I'm really all alone I really am
Rock Bottom I'm at the lowest place that I think a human being can be in at that
point sun is murdered can't take care of your children you have nowhere to live you have no family it doesn't get no
worse than that [Music] Alex Irvin's mother let Katrina move into her house in Brooklyn
unoccupied at the time Katrina had round-the-clock care and daily sessions with the speech and physical therapist
but deeply depressed she refused to work at her therapy Katrina fell into a hole
that was so deep and so wide that she couldn't see bottom and she couldn't see side to side then one day her physical
therapist gave her hope that she would fully recover he said I believe something tells me that you're going to
walk again and I don't know what it was that day gave me the will gave me the hope that it
would be done and I started from the wheelchair then I went to the Walker and then I went to a
cane and then I started to walk so that was a process Katrina devoted her entire
being to showing the doctors she could get better so what were the things they said you couldn't do I wasn't going to
walk again I wasn't going to have a normal life again so you went check right it was like check check
check check she also checked off another box self-esteem I started to believe in
myself I started to build up who I was as a person but the fates weren't done with Katrina
cook Brownlee he was about to be tested yet again [Music] there were many stops along the way that
could have derailed Katrina cook brownlee's Journey out of Darkness Katrina says that getting thrown out of
Alex Irvin's mother's house in Brooklyn while still recovering was one of them she asked me to write a letter stating
that I shot myself 10 times so that her son did not go to jail when Katrina refused she says the mother
booted her to the street I became even more homeless I don't know how much homeless you could be but then I really
became homeless I am standing in front of a shelter and where I used to live Katrina who by then
had her two girls back ended up in this homeless shelter on the Lower East Side of New York rats were there roaches was
there it was really really bad here really bad what is going through your head as you were looking at your two
daughters I'm in survival mode everything for me at this point is survival stay alive
just stay alive protect my girls protect my girls because I felt like I had already failed
they didn't choose him I chose him you know Katrina says the shelter was so filthy she wouldn't use
the bathroom I remember putting my youngest daughter in the sink in McDonald's to bathe her and me as a
grown woman having to wash up and at a thing while Katrina and her girls were struggling to survive
[Music] Carrie Herzog was methodically building a strong case against Alex Irvin I was
going to do everything in my power to bring Justice to Katrina I fought for her tooth and nail
operating with the prosecution started backing away Kerry discovered that Alex Irvin against court orders had been
calling and threatening Katrina from jail I wanted to rain down on him with the white hot intensity of a thousand
suns the arrogance for him to be having this conversation with her from inside the jail was outrageous
he needs to pay but then the defense presented this letter to the judge purportedly written
by Katrina herself I Katrina cook the victim in this case has decided that I don't want to press charges due to
duress at the time of my accident this is a woman who had been shot 10 times and here she's portraying it as an
accident and then the icing on the cake if I am subpoenaed to court I will testify on the defendant's behalf
I was horrified but I wasn't necessarily surprised Katrina had already been placed in the position of nearly seeing
her life ended if she showed any cooperation with me or the court it could be worse for her years later
Katrina would tell Carrie she did not write that letter but at the time Carrie was convinced she had she got Katrina on
the phone she said I'm not coming in I'm not going to talk about it in fact I'm going to disappear and
you're never going to find me rage was starting to build up inside of me I let out this Bellow and said
Katrina I will hunt you down like a dog if I have to and then she hung up on me Carrie didn't expect Katrina to appear
in court but even without her star witness Carrie believes she would win a conviction
in April 1994 one year and three months after the attack jury selection began they were on day four when suddenly the
courtroom door flew open I turn around and I I see her she's in a brightly colored dress and her presence that day
actually made me gasp out loud I never ever expected her to appear but there she was I had decided that I'm
gonna walk in this courtroom and whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen I didn't even look at him
I wasn't giving him that power because at that point I had got back my power and got back my control so I wasn't even
gonna look at him he didn't even matter to me I think that the defendant saw the
whites of her eyes that day and knew that the game was over and she was going to
do whatever she needed to do to take him down it was back she was back with a vengeance
soon after Alex Irvin pled guilty to all charges attempted murder in the second degree assault in the first degree and
criminal use of a firearm there would be no trial his sentence was now in the hands of the judge I was very angry that
he took the plea she was a little angry I think than I was she lost her mind I was
calming her down because I told I said I've been through this already ain't not gonna happen to him he got that Shield
is nothing gonna happen to him Carrie made an impassioned plea to the judge to give Katrina's abuser a minimum of 20
years behind bars but the judge did not heed Carrie's pleas he gave Alex Irvin the lightest sentence possible 5 to 15
years after hearing that it was almost a Blind Fury that that took over me I gathered up my belongings and returned
to my office and I kicked my garbage can from one end of the office to the other
and I actually kept that garbage can for the rest of my career with this huge dent in its side
Carrie couldn't deliver the sentence they both wanted but she did deliver something perhaps even more important
nobody of a kid enough to fight for me she fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself she gave me hope when I
didn't have hope for myself I'm grateful to her [Music] thank you what do you think of the prison sentence
that Alex Irvin received go inside the case at 48hours.com [Music] would be killer in prison
Katrina cook Brownlee focused on her future a future that included a job at a very unlikely place the New York City
Police Department [Music] so the criminal justice system failed you they failed me and then you go and
enter the criminal justice system yeah that was logical for you yeah I was like nope I'm doing it you could have
knocked me over with a feather no one was more surprised than Katrina's former Advocate and now friend Carrie
Herzog Katrina and I actually talked about why she would join the police department
and one of the things she mentioned that you know the best way to change a system is from the inside
out a system that Katrina says repeatedly turned its back on her when she'd call 9-1-1 after being beaten in
the years before she was shot Katrina wanted to become what she says she needed all those years ago a good
cop [Music] why not why wouldn't I want to help protect and serve just because I didn't
receive it um it doesn't mean that I shouldn't want to help others [Music] in July 2001 eight and a half years
after her brutal attack Katrina was one of 1600 new recruits sworn in at the nypd's police academy they would go on
to be known as the 911 class when just two months into training Katrina and her fellow police Cadets became First
Responders on September 11th that was like one of the times where I was like uh maybe I don't think I can do this
[Music] other people that was in the academy also you know we always feeling the same
and I think we just basically was going off of each other's strength as Katrina started a new life within the
criminal justice system Alex Irvin the correction officer turned convict was released from prison after
serving 10 years Carrie recalls Katrina's reaction it was almost a sigh of of resignation when the time finally
came up I was at the beginning of my career and I wanted to really just put the energy
into that and not into him coming out from the start Katrina sought out a tough assignment going undercover in
Brooklyn and Queens even adopting this cigar smoking Persona to catch drug dealers
anything that would eat entailed undercover I did it anything anything so it puts you in some dangerous
situations oh absolutely I asked myself why would would someone who's been through what Katrina has been
through put herself into that situation and then I think what can anyone do to scare her at this stage of her life
she was right at death's door and came through right now we are on a strip that I used
to work when I was in Vice doing undercover work and this was kind of like home to me
many days many nights though the mission was to arrest pimpson those soliciting prostitution Katrina felt a connection
to the women she encountered being out there um in the streets I realized that each and every one of these young ladies
were or me in some form or fashion it allowed me to realize how it was important for me to do my work to the
best of my ability while I was out there [Music] after five hard years working Undercover
on the streets Katrina took to the streets again as a Community Affairs officer I just felt that I had so much
that I could give back being a police officer despite being the good cop she had
always wanted to be Katrina worried that the secret of her past would hurt her career so you're on your dream job
you're doing a great job and yet you're living with always the fear of being discovered correct your
past my past coming back to haunt you yeah every single day I went to work I always
thought that you never shared the secret so it was painful not to be able to [Music]
painful because Katrina believes that the traumas she suffered would have made some at the NYPD question if she was fit
to serve I don't want her on this job she's a domestic violence she may go off and kill somebody she might not be
mentally stable though still in fear of being outed Katrina forged ahead becoming a
detective first grade the nypd's highest investigative rank it wasn't many women that were first
grade detectives [Music] no one handed anything to Katrina what Katrina has done she has earned
it's still amazing to me now to think about progress that she made and not not just progress success
she and I have talked about it that success is the best revenge and Katrina wasn't done yet
[Applause] never ever ever give up on yourself I don't care who's against you believe in yourself
[Music] Katrina cook Brownlee had spent a lifetime defying the odds climbing out
of poverty surviving a near fatal attack walking after believing she would never
walk again and in the final years of her NYPD career she would Buck the odds once
again when you were growing up in Brooklyn did you ever expect you would be working at
the mayor's Mansion oh enough not even even remotely close in 2014 Katrina became one of the few
black women in NYPD history assigned to protect a New York city mayor when she was chosen to serve on Mayor Bill De
Blasio's Advanced security detail you're just one step ahead I'm just one step ahead if I if I'm walking into a
ditch he's gonna follow me into that dish right if I'm walking into the sunset he coming in that sunset
in 2021 after 20 years on the force Katrina retired from the NYPD in our last meeting with the mayor she
finally opened up about something she had been hiding for decades her past [Music]
and I said um well Mr Mayor I wrote a book and he said well what is the book about and I said well um Mr may I got
shot 10 times and he took a deep breath and he was like but you never said anything and I said
he wasn't I wasn't supposed to she was carrying around a secret and now she has been unburdened
I think people looking at you would never have an inkling that you had lived the life you've lived I often wonder and
ask myself that do I look like this has happened to me you know and I have scars right
um so for a long time the scars used to bother me so I put tattoos on my stomach so that when I
looked in the mirror when I'm getting dressed I didn't see it if I may be so bold to ask what are your
tattoos roses there's a bunch of roses and flowers because that's why I feel like that's
what I became Katrina has also found a way to let go of the emotional scars in spite of
everything that has happened to me Ryan I forgive [Music] I forgive you forgave your assailant
your abuser yeah ah I had to I had to forgive you so I can get back my control so I can
get back my power and so that I could have a peace Within Myself there's no peace when you Harbor in
Anger when you're mad there's no peace in that you remember when she was young yes I
remember her we went back with Katrina to the projects where she had grown up I remember when you was growing up with
your grandmother she's moved away but not so far that she has forgotten all the other katrinas who
are now where she once was um what's next for you um just to tell my story and um
to continue to work on my organization with my girls young ladies of our future Katrina's organization has been
mentoring young ladies for the past 10 years you don't want any other girl or woman
to ever ever ever have to go through five percent of what I went through [Music]
if you build and you teach and give young people these tools you save them every single time oh you
know I'm checking report cards she has that helping Gene in her this is what I have to give to
these girls is love oh God she is offering help that surpasses what she had how does the Katrina sitting here today
differ from that 22 year old Katrina oh wow the 22 year old Katrina was lost broken
forgotten violated at the lowest point that a person can be and now today I feel like I am a
beautiful black Queen that fought the fight [Music] a young woman vanishes her missing phone
could provide critical Clues just one problem a needle in a haystack and a huge moving body of water how can police
do what seems impossible I think I got the phone 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
thank you

Her ex-fiancé — an officer with a badge — nearly killed her. She says police failed to protect her, so she got her own badge. "CBS Saturday Morning" Michelle Miller reports for "48 Hours." Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Katrina Cook Brownlee shares her survival story after being shot ten times by her abuser and her journey to becoming a police officer.

Key points

Katrina's Undercover Life. Katrina spent 18 months undercover, experiencing the harsh realities of prostitution.
The Attack. Katrina was shot multiple times by her ex-fiance, leading to a fight for survival.
Katrina's Fight for Justice. Despite threats from her attacker, Katrina found the strength to testify against him.
The Sentence. Alex Irvin received a light sentence for his crimes, leaving Katrina and Carrie frustrated.
Katrina's Journey to the NYPD. Katrina Cook Brownlee defies the odds to become a police officer after a brutal attack.
A Secret Unburdened. Katrina reveals her past to the mayor, shedding years of hidden trauma.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This was a man on a mission and he was armed and deadly.

Describing the attacker's intent and danger.

3:07WatchApr 18, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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