Police have always been major players in true crime stories, as both heroes AND villains. So what’s real and what’s just “copaganda”?

A modern Jack the Ripper haunted Long Island for decades, targeting sex workers while authorities failed to act. Discover how Rex Heuermann evaded capture for so long despite leaving victims along Ocean Parkway. From corruption within Suffolk County PD to public apathy toward the victims, this chilling case exposes how prejudice and incompetence allowed a killer to continue his reign of terror until a DNA breakthrough finally brought him to justice.

These cases involved plots that went beyond police bias and coercive interrogation. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most controversial instances where law enforcement officials fabricated evidence or illegally influenced investigation outcomes to implicate innocent people.