Ben Stiller May Direct Film About Infamous Crooked Cop From LI

EAST ISLIP, NY — Long Island's Michael Dowd, the notorious crooked former NYPD officer, is making headlines once again as a new feature film project based on his life appears to be in the works again. A feature film version of 2014's documentary about Dowd and other corrupt NYPD officers—"The Seven Five" —was first launched by Sony in 2014. MGM recently acquired the rights to the story, and according to the industry insider blog Collider, Ben Stiller is now in talks to direct the project.

Industry insiders report that Stiller is working on a new script about the convicted ex-cop with Tony McNamara who wrote "The Favourite." Stiller, famous as an actor, has also won awards for directing the crime series "Escape at Dannemora."

Dowd, now 60 and a resident of East Islip, made news in 2017 for being arrested for violating a protective order in Connecticut.

In the 2014 documentary "The Seven Five" by Tiller Russell, Dowd was dubbed "the dirtiest cop in NYC history." Dowd served 12 years in prison for racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics during his tenure at Brooklyn's 75th precinct. Dowd and other crooked cops confiscated drugs from Brooklyn dealers and resold it on Long Island.

Collider reports that Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Nicholas Hoult are two actors being considered for the role of the self-proclaimed "both a cop and a gangster" Dowd.

Dowd told police magazine The Blue Magazine in 2019 that "I know who I was before is not who I am now. I paid for my crimes by serving prison time. This is why I feel like the cleanest guy in the room because all my cards are on the table."

Dowd does speaking engagements hoping to counsel young police officers away from corruption.