“THE YEAR OF DANGEROUS DAYS” – Review By Marshall Frank

General

“THE YEAR OF DANGEROUS DAYS” – Review By Marshall Frank

by Marshall Frank September 21, 2021

“THE YEAR OF DANGEROUS DAYS”
Riots, Refugees and Cocaine in Miami, 1980
By Nicolas Griffin

This is a powerful read for people, especially law enforcement personnel, judges, prosecutors, and prison staff who survived Miami in the era of boundless crime, 1979-1980. Penned by a first-class Miami writer, Nicholas Griffin brings the reader into the most difficult era in law enforcement history when Dade County became the murder capital of the nation for four consecutive years.

Published 2020 by Simon & Shuster

This book includes a graphic account of:

The overwhelming infestation of drugs and traffickers
Police corruption
Deploying investigative units with only half the personnel available.
The Arthur McDuffie Case in which multiple cops, after a long chase, took turns beating a man to death for speeding.
A trial that rendered a “Not Guilty” verdict, sparking the worst race riots in Florida history, with eighteen innocents brutally murdered, and many more injured.
The impact on South Florida from the Mariel Boatlift 1980 which, over a four-month period, brought 125,000 refugees, many unidentified, to the Miami area from jails, hospitals, psyche wards, crippled, insane, or infirmed. And, yes, drug smugglers.
That also impacted the Medical Examiner’s office whose daily dead body count nearly doubled, requiring a refrigerator truck to handle the overflow.
For weeks and months, bodies were floating up everywhere, in canals, cars, trucks.

Yours truly is mentioned in a number of incidents and scenes. I feel honored to have been of assistance to the author. We also interviewed many other Miami-Dade cops who worked, along with others, around the clock on these cases. This includes my good friends, most notably Frank Wesolowski, Al Singleton, Raul Diaz and Lonnie Lawrence. A full list is mentioned in the book.

Nicholas Griffin is a first-class interviewer, and I’ve known many. Also mentioned are numerous other officials from various agencies in South Florida

The book is available via Amazon or at bookstores everywhere.

It’s a very good read.

4 comments

Don Gilleland September 24, 2021 at 1:52 pm

This is a bit of a slower read because it is absolutely fascinating. I highly recmmend it. Once you pick it up to read, you will be glad you did. Marshall is mentioned throughout the book, in very interesting and positive ways!

Bob James September 24, 2021 at 4:48 pm

Marshall,

Many thanks for the “head’s up” on this book. I was living in Miami during this era and will start reading it as soon as I can procure a copy. Sounds like a great read, especially for Miamians who lived and worked in Miami and Dade County back then.

Who can ever forget Democrat President Jimmy Carter and the warm welcome he gave to 125,000+ completely unknown immigrants to Miami’s Dade County, many of whom were previously convicted violent criminals and patients from Cuban mental institutions. They were released from captivity by Fidel Castro to become part of the “boat people” in the Mariel Boatlift. Times have changed, but when it comes to politics, the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree, does it?

I have several friends and family members who were in City of Miami and Miami-Dade County law enforcement before, during and after this era. I will forward your e-mail book review to them.

Bob James

Joe September 24, 2021 at 7:19 pm

Marshall, I listened to the audio book at the beginning of the summer while on our road trip to the mountains, and found it to be a fascinating book. In spite of the fact that I worked for PSD during those days, attended the academy with one of the supervisors, and had previously supervised a few of the indicted officers, I learned MANY facts that were previously unknown to me! As for the significant increase in homicides resulting from the massive influx of illegal aliens, I hope we’re not looking at a similar disaster under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas.

Dorothy E.Miller September 25, 2021 at 11:01 am

Frank just send a good comment, I went to put my name and it went to anonymous, I want my
name to be where anonymous is, that email is not anonymous, Thank Frank

Dorothy E.Miller

Frank welcomes intelligent and insightful responses to commentary, especially from folks with contrary points of view and other insights to offer. Please keep comments pertinent to the title issue. Though some issues may draw passionate reactions, Frank insists on maintaining respectful decorum and will take the liberty of deleting foul language or an entire comment if it's deemed outrageously inappropriate. He would appreciate responders who leave their names, city of residence and, if possible, e-mail address.

Frank has been writing and publishing commentary since 1994. His articles have appeared in various newspapers in North Carolina and Florida, along with short stories in many magazines. True to his moniker "Frankly Speaking,"(the title of one of his books) Frank wastes no words in presenting his message as he hits sharp and hard but above the belt. No one would ever call him politically correct. His critics are hard pressed to pigeonhole him as a liberal or conservative, as his views vary depending on the issue. Because he is not running for office nor seeking a job, the muzzle is off. One critic said, "I don't always agree with Mr. Frank, but he sure makes you think."