Mean streets: Stark photos show behind-the-scenes life of police patrolling crime-ridden New York in the 1970s

Photos taken at time when New York City was facing near-bankruptcy and notorious for spiralling crime rates

Photographer Leonard Freed joined officers on the beat for his project - first pictured in British press in March 1973

Exhibition of impressive full collection of photos now on display at the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan




A shooting gallery is raided for drugs, cars are searched for wanted men and political protesters lie on the streets as they are cuffed and chained up.

These astonishing photos from a 1970s study give a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes working life of New York City police officers.

It was a time when the city was facing near-bankruptcy and had become notorious for spiralling crime rates and social disorder on the streets.

1972: 'New York City, Police Raid a Shooting Gallery for drugs in old Harlem Building' shows Leonard Freed's attempt to portray a city drugs bust

1979: 'New York City, Police Arrest Political Protesters' by Leonard Freed shows a young man and woman lying down on the street as they are handcuffed

1978: 'New York City, 9th Police Precinct, Man Reported Sick on City Street, Waiting for Hospital Wagon' shows NYPD cops surrounding an ill man

1972: 'New York City' is one of many astonishing photos from a 1970s study that give a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes working life of police officers

1979: 'New York City' was taken a time when the city was facing near bankruptcy and was notorious for spiralling crime rates and social disorder on the streets

1978: 'New York City' shows how Leonard Freed joined officers on the beat for his project, which went on display at the Museum of the City of New York on Tuesday

Photographer Leonard Freed joined officers on the beat for his project, which went on display at the Museum of the City of New York on Tuesday.

The pictures first appeared in the Sunday Times in March 1973 under the controversial headline of: ‘Thugs, Mugs, Drugs; City In Terror’.

The New York Daily News sued the Sunday Times for copying its style and the New York Times protested at the depiction, a museum press release said.

Even New York City Mayor John Lindsay, who was on holiday abroad, slammed the Sunday Times article as ‘a gross insult to the city’ and ‘outrageous’.

1978: 'New York City, Dectectives at Police Station' is in a set of pictures - the first of which appeared in a Sunday British newspaper five years before in 1973

1979: 'Police Station, New York City, Back Room' was one of many photos taken by Mr Freed, who lived in Garrison, New York, with his wife

1978: 'New York City' was photographed by Mr Freed, who also photographed subjects including the Ku Klux Klan in 1988 and the Berlin Wall in 1989

1972: 'New York City' was taken by Mr Freed, who said the public must know who the police really are because they are a 'symbol of society's efforts to control itself'

1972: 'New York City' is one of many photos Mr Freed did not want to offend people with - rather his intention was to perform a sociological study

1978: 'New York City, 9th Police Station Back Room used for Questioning People' shows a policeman putting together a report with a typewriter

But Mr Freed did not set out to offend people - rather perform a sociological study - and claimed he had been asked for ‘blood and gore’.

‘I was more interested in who the police were,’ he told Worldview magazine. ‘I wanted to understand what they do - why we cannot do without them.’

Mr Freed lived in Garrison, New York, with his wife, and also photographed subjects including the Ku Klux Klan in 1988 and the Berlin Wall in 1989.