As a plainclothes officer, Cox was mistaken for a suspect and briefly beaten while still in training, and once purposefully hit by a police vehicle and pinned to a wall.

Cox continued the chase on foot, but was again mistaken for a suspect and this time badly beaten by four officers and hospitalized, suffering a serious brain injury.

Cox began receiving harassing phone calls from other officers even before he had decided whether to file a complaint.

Following the battle in court, three of the officers were eventually fired, but one, Dave Williams, successfully sued for unjust termination and was returned to the service in 2006.

[5] Cox's story was the subject of the book The Fence, written by author and former reporter Dick Lehr of The Boston Globe.

[3] By 2019, Cox had advanced to Superintendent, the second highest rank in the BPD, serving as leading the Bureau of Professional Development and the Police Academy.