A Necessary Evil

‘One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock…’ The year was 1956 and the world was in the grip of rock ‘n’ roll. Sydney’s youth flocked to the local dance halls and juvenile crime rocketed out of control. Teenage gangs like the Overlords ruled the streets, forcing the NSW Police Commissioner to form 33 Division, an elite group of tough plainclothes cops presided over by none other than George Arthur Everard, feared by the criminal world, and known to all as The Prince of Darlinghurst. Within a year the problem was solved and, as a reward, 33 Division was placed in charge of State Gaming and Vice. It was a licence to print money. Corrupted from within, the cops of the ‘Dirty Tree’, as the division became known, ruled the streets and the city and created the biggest crime syndicate Sydney had ever seen. A NECESSARY EVIL traces the lives of three generations of policemen, from George the uncompromising grandfather; to Harold, the weak, psychotic father; to Shayne, the new breed of cop. Three men living in the shadows of justice, inextricably bound by blood and the unique code of honour that rules them.