Original subtitles

This is the city...

Los Angeles, California.

I work here.

I carry a badge.

It was Wednesday, May 12th.

It was fair in Los Angeles.

I was working out of Foothill Division

as community relations officer.

The boss is Captain Shannon.

My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

We were attending a meeting

of a recently organized citizens group.

Part of my assignment as the division community relations officer

was attending meetings such as this.

Our objective... to gain community support.

The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

And try to remember this.

It's not my police department.

It's not Chief Reddin's police department.

It's yours. It belongs to all of you.

What can we do, Sergeant Friday?

We're only a small group of people.

There are countless things you can do.

One of our biggest problems besides crime is rumors.

Somebody talks about a bum beef they got

from a policeman, and it spreads and distorts

until we have hundreds believing something that really didn't happen.

What can we do about something like that?

You can stop it.

You can stop it by not spreading the rumor,

and by getting the straight story.

Pick up your telephone, give me a call.

I'll find out what happened, and I'll let you know.

Tell your friends to do the same thing.

There's a community relations officer

in every police division in this city.

There'll always be somebody there to listen.

What happens if it's not a rumor and it turns out the cops were wrong?

What do you do then, cover up?

No, sir, nothing's covered up.

We want a clean department just like you do.

If you call, and we learn there's been misconduct on the part of an officer,

you can be sure he'll be disciplined.

But the important thing is that you call us.

That's the only way these rumors can be stopped,

and believe me, rumors can be deadly.

That's understandable, Sergeant,

but there's one thing that's bothered me for a long time.

You always hear someone talking about police brutality.

What is police brutality? Does it exist?

Police brutality.

A coined term that's been worked to death.

It's run the gamut from physical brutality to rudeness,

and it's a damaging term.

People like yourself, Mr. Andrews,

you hear the term police brutality used,

and you attach some gruesome picture to it.

It's a label applied to just about everything a policeman does,

and I don't like labels.

When the police do something that's objectionable,

call it what it is... Rudeness, undue force,

neglect of duty or whatever...

But not police brutality.

It can't be defined.

It's just a label that some factions of our society

use to destroy public faith in constituted law and authority.

The police.

Whatever you call it, the fact remains

that policemen do get out of line sometimes.

Yes, sir, they do.

Our department has approximately 5,400 policemen.

That's about 1.8 policemen for every 1,000 people.

We're spread pretty thin.

As long as we hire human beings,

we'll have some that get out of line once in a great while.

Policemen are supposed to be impartial and professional.

At the same time, let's remember,

they're not machines.

They're men who have a job to do.

They have families to take care of, and they have emotions.

You know, it takes a pretty strong man to hold his temper

when he's spit on or assaulted.

But we expect our officers to do just that.

Control their tempers.

Sometimes they don't, and we have to sit on them.

Every policeman is subject to the same laws

as anyone else, but on top of that,

the department has strict rules of conduct.

Any time anyone makes a complaint

alleging misconduct on the part of an officer,

the department requires a thorough investigation.

Man, I've been sitting here for 30 minutes now

listening to all this jazz.

I came here to see how to help my people,

not to listen to some cop tell lies.

They're the Gestapo, man.

They ain't got nothing more to say to me.

If you'll sit down and listen for a while, maybe you'll learn something.

Let's listen to what the officers have to say.

They got nothing to say to me, man.

If you fools want to sit here and listen to

some fuzz tell lies, that's your bag.

I'm a black man, and I don't have

nothing to do with the white man's laws.

I'm splitting this fool scene, man.

Who's coming with me?

You're all fools!

I'm sorry for that outburst, Sergeant.

I'm sorry, too.

Sorry that he left.

Thursday, May 13th, 8:30 a.m.

Bill and I checked in for work.

Joe, got a couple out here.

They want to see the community relations officer.

- They're hopping mad. - About what?

Don't know. Said they'd only talk to you.

My guess, it's a personnel matter.

Okay. Send them in.

When did Olsen switch over to day watch?

Today.

The roster shows him working nights.

Got to get that Doris on the ball.

Sergeant Friday, Mr. and Mrs. Erickson.

Ms. Erickson, Mr. Erickson, I didn't expect to see you so soon.

I didn't either. The only reason I came

was because of talking with you at the meeting last night

I think this is just a waste of time.

We should've gone straight to a lawyer

or to the police malpractice center.

What's the problem?

- The problem is... - I'll do the talking, Elsa.

You just keep the notes.

Would you be good enough to sit down?

All right.

I just want you to know, Sergeant Friday,

we're not going to take this kind of treatment.

The problem is the way you cops operate.

We're law-abiding citizens, not criminals.

That's right.

We're not the kind of people

to be treated like criminals, either.

Suppose we try to settle down.

Please tell me what's on your mind.

- It happened last night. - We were just driving...

Elsa, let me tell it.

We were going home from the meeting.

That ought to be example enough

for our standing in the community.

Yes, sir. Go ahead, please.

Well, out of the clear blue sky,

these two cops turned red lights on us and pulled us over.

I knew I didn't commit a traffic violation.

Did they write you a citation?

No. They pulled us over for nothing.

Shining their flashlights around, asking questions,

treated us like common criminals.

What did they do? Did they use offensive language?

Offensive language? Yes, I was offended.

Talked to us like we were criminals.

Asking all those questions.

If you mean did they swear or call us names,

no, they just asked personal questions.

What kind of personal questions?

Where you going, where you been,

where do you live... Those kind of questions.

Where did all this happen?

Five blocks from my house.

I live out on the south side north of Roscoe

on Terrace Place.

What time was this?

About 7:00.

We were coming from the meeting, like John said.

Yes, from the meeting, but that was none of their concern.

It's our business what we do, not some cop's.

I told them so, too.

Here's the names.

I made sure they gave us their names.

Jeffries and Braven.

Excuse me a minute.

Chuck, this is Friday.

Bring me Jeffries' and Braven's log from last night, will you?

Thanks.

Did the officers furnish their names willingly?

Well, yes, I guess they did,

but they questioned us like common criminals.

All they were interested in was our TV.

A television set?

Yes. One of them kept shining his light

in the backseat where the TV was,

asking me what kind it was,

how long I'd had it. Just on and on.

How long did the officers detain you?

About five minutes.

I gave them my driver's license,

and he wrote my name on a little white card.

- Last night's logs. - Thanks, Park.

That burned me, too.

What business do they have taking down my name?

Well, it's all here.

This paper is the activities log

that our officers keep.

This one is Jeffries' and Braven's,

the officers that stopped you.

7:05 p.m., Roscoe and Laurel Canyon.

Do you drive a green '66 Mustang, Mr. Erickson?

Yes. I guess they have it all down there.

They made a big deal about my car, too.

Mr. Erickson, this is a list of the top-ten wanted vehicles in this city.

Will you tell me something?

What kind of a vehicle is number one there at the top?

A green Mustang. So what?

There must be 1,000 green Mustangs in this city.

The occupants of that vehicle are wanted for burglary.

- Residential burglaries. - Yeah.

This map is prepared daily for us

by our analytical officer.

The red marks here show residential burglaries.

This is the area where you live.

Look at this, Elsa.

Five red dots right around our neighborhood.

Are you trying to say you think we're burglars, sergeant?

Elsa!

Not at all, ma'am. What I'm driving at is,

we should try to look at this from the officers' standpoint.

How's that, sergeant?

The officers have a job to do,

and a big part of that job is protecting the public,

and that includes protecting people from thieves.

The particular area that you were driving in

has had a rash of residential burglaries lately,

and in most cases, TV sets were taken.

Your car matches the description of the one that's wanted,

and you had a TV set in the backseat.

But we just had the set repaired yesterday.

The officers didn't know that until they talked to you, right?

Well, I guess so.

We don't look like burglars, do we?

Can you tell me what a burglar looks like, ma'am?

Point's well taken, sergeant.

I guess all burglars don't wear little black masks, do they?

No, ma'am. If they did, we wouldn't have such a hard time catching them.

I can understand all that,

but that doesn't explain the way they started off...

Suspicious, moving around like they'd shoot me if I moved a muscle.

Look at it this way, Mr. Erickson.

Our officers stop and talk with hundreds of people every day.

In your case, they thought they had felony suspects when they first stopped you.

They have to maintain control.

It can save them or somebody else from getting hurt.

They never know what they're getting into when they stop someone.

Most of the time, it just takes a few questions

like you were asked to resolve things.

I can see how important it is,

especially after seeing that map.

Imagine five burglaries in our neighborhood.

You've both cleared up a lot of things in my mind.

I guess the officers were doing everything right.

- No, sir, not everything. - No?

No. They made one mistake.

- That's why you're here. - What's that, sergeant?

They didn't tell you why...

Why they stopped you.

3:35 p.m.

Bill was holding a training session

for the division Explorer Scouts.

I had just returned to the station

after attending a police community council meeting.

I spotted Officers Jeffries and Braven having coffee.

I took the opportunity to talk with them.

Hi, Sarge. How's it going?

Good. Mind if I join you?

Sure. Have a chair.

How are things on the street?

Really jumping. We've got a burglar carrying away our district.

Say, do you remember stopping a couple named Erickson last night?

Yeah. How did you know?

They were in this morning.

They bring a beef with them?

That guy was mad before we stopped him.

Ron here hardly opened his mouth

before the guy let us have it.

Police brutality, prejudice, the whole bit.

What's he say we did?

Verbal abuse or excessive force?

No. None of that. He just didn't know why you stopped him.

Why we stopped him?

We've got a burglar carrying us away in his neighborhood...

TV's, color TV's, that's all they're taking.

I can't understand why we can't dig them out.

What's their M.O.?

Between 9:00 and 1:00 in the morning.

Usually pry a rear window and go out the back door.

If we only had more time to work the area.

Ten minutes' patrol and zap, we get a call.

Yeah, radio calls coming out our ears.

We're only averaging about two hours patrolling time a night.

Every bit of it's going into looking for those TV burglars.

You have any description?

I've got a good idea it's that green Mustang

wanted by North Hollywood division.

We talked to one of their units three nights ago.

They have a witness that saw two suspects burglarize a house down there.

Rear window, color TV. Same M.O. as ours.

Is that the Mustang on the top-ten wanted list now?

Same one. North Hollywood had the same problem we're having with them.

Almost carried them away until they got a few extra Metro cars

patrolling the area.

But they didn't catch them. Metro got the area so hot,

I guess they just shifted operations into our district.

It's like a ping-pong game sometimes.

It's going to take a real break to catch them.

I thought for sure we had them last night.

That's when you stopped the Ericksons?

Yeah. They were driving a green Mustang

right in the middle of the problem area,

and there was a TV set in the backseat.

Their TV?

Yeah. He had it repaired.

I told him we were just checking him out.

Couldn't hardly talk to him, he was so mad.

Whether he beefed or not, Sarge, I'm telling you,

we played it straight down the line.

What did you find out about him?

They were clean, lived in the area, both of them employed.

Good I.D. Just boiled over 'cause we stopped them.

Did you ask them if they'd seen a green Mustang

driving around their neighborhood,

or explain what kind of problem you had

with burglars in the area?

I figured the less we had to say, the better off we'd be.

I found out what I had to, and cut it off there.

Any more conversation, and the guy probably would have just gotten more upset.

But the fact is, they were clean, right?

Yeah. What's your point?

You were through asking questions,

and he was through giving answers.

What most likely irritated him was giving answers.

Does that make sense?

Sure. Nobody likes to be stopped and questioned.

I don't think people mind being questioned,

as long as they know the reason for it.

If you tell them the reason, you've got a few more eyes and ears on the street

doing some of the looking for you.

You think if we tried to tell Erickson, he would've calmed down?

He did when I told him this morning.

That's one. What about all the others

that are so anti-everything every time they talk to a policeman?

You think telling them will calm them down?

Some, yes, some, no.

But we still have an answer for those that don't.

- What's that? - We tried.

You don't buy that, Ron?

Now that you ask, no.

I figure that's your job.

You're the community relations officer.

My job's enforcing the law and keeping crime down.

If I step on a few toes doing that, I guess it's too bad.

That's my whole point.

Stepping on toes isn't the best way of enforcing the law.

You said it. You're out there in that car.

You're the one that needs the cooperation from the public,

and stepping on toes, as you put it,

is not only making it tough on you,

but on every other policeman on the street.

Let me ask you something, Ron.

Are you proud of the number of arrests you're turning?

I'd say so. I do my job.

You're wrong. You only do half of it.

How many friends do you make in the field?

You know as well as I do, an arrest or a citation

can often be a corrective measure.

Treat it that way.

Antagonizing people doesn't make any sense,

and bucking department policy doesn't either.

I guess I just don't think the way you do.

I'm going to tell you something, boy.

You keep thinking your way, and I wouldn't want to bet

how much of a future you've got on the job.

Friday, May 14th, 8:25 a.m.

We checked in with the captain.

The personnel complaints are down.

Maybe that's not a good measure, but it's a fair indication.

Yes, sir. Assaults on officers are down, too.

That's one that really means something.

I just hope we can maintain it that way.

If we can't, we'll try something else,

but right now, we have to keep the community

relations training going full steam.

The men are doing a good job,

but I want it better.

I've arranged for that new training film, Cap.

It's got a pretty good message.

I've seen it. When's it coming.

Some time next week.

I thought I'd hit the day watch roll call today.

I got a few things to say to them.

- You got a problem? - No, sir.

I just want to get some of them to handle a few speeches.

Anything else, Joe?

I talked to an officer yesterday.

He had an attitude problem.

I want to see that it doesn't spread.

Is that so? Is he a hard nose?

If he is, we don't need that kind of a problem.

I think he'll come around.

If he doesn't, I want to know about it.

- Yes, sir. - From you.

8:30 a.m.

We attended the day watch roll call.

Each day, 15 minutes is set aside

for roll call training.

Part of my job is providing part of that training.

The subject... Community relations.

Like I said, there are a few guys who still think

their job is strictly throwing hoodlums in jail.

That's a big part of it, but in this day and age, it can't stop there.

We have to sell the public on the job we're doing,

and gain their full support.

Selling them should be on your mind every minute.

Every time you write a ticket, make a field interview,

or settle a family dispute,

let them know what you're doing and why.

That gets support, and without it, we're just not effective.

What does this support mean to you,

to you as an individual?

It means your job gets done a little easier.

Sometimes it can mean your neck.

Yes, your neck.

You ever have a suspect in custody

with a hostile crowd gathered around,

and nobody would even call the station and get help for you?

It's happened to me.

It wasn't a very comfortable feeling, I'll tell you.

That kind of thing used to be the rule rather than the exception.

It doesn't happen much these days.

And why?

I like to think it's because we're making some headway

and becoming more understanding.

You ever work with a partner that could start a war

just by opening his mouth?

Usually, he says nothing wrong.

It's just his tone of voice.

You've all heard it.

"Yes, sir," or "Yes, sir."

Or they use the terms that are offensive to some people.

For example, we all know

a Negro resents being called boy.

So would I, for that matter.

If we use that term,

he's probably going to get mad and probably want to fight.

What's the sense in antagonizing somebody

when you know how to avoid it?

Leave them with a good taste in their mouth,

and don't forget who you're working for.

It's the people's laws you enforce, not yours.

Now like I said, we've made headway with the program,

and we'll continue to.

It's tough enough as it is to enforce the law,

but every time one of you leaves your cool at home

instead of taking it to work with you,

we lose four times what we've gained.

You risk making an enemy.

You hurt every other officer on the job.

Well, it's about time for you to hit the field.

There's one more thing you can do,

those of you that got the message.

We haven't got any money, Sarge.

No, no, not money, but something worth a lot more.

Your time, your off-duty time.

Off-duty time. What's that, huh?

That's the time when you're not in the radio unit,

on special assignment, or in court.

Okay, Sarge, what's the pitch?

You all know about the Foothill police community council.

They're a solid support behind all of us, and trying to get more.

But naturally, they can't talk police work as well as a policeman.

That's what the community wants to know about... police work and policemen.

So, as they say in the army,

I'm looking for volunteers...

Officers to give speeches and participate in community panels.

We don't have enough people or money to fill all the requests

on an on-duty basis.

How much time will that require, Sarge?

Right now, I got 15 requests I can't fill.

If enough of you volunteered

just once or twice a month at the outside, that ought to do it.

For those of you interested, I've brought along a sign-up sheet.

But what'll all that get us?

Maybe not a vacation in Paris,

but it will give you an understanding of how people think and feel.

We ride around in a car.

That car is a shell that isolates us from the community.

We're on the inside, the public's on the outside.

We have to try and reestablish the kind of personal relationships we had

when a policeman used to walk a beat.

These speeches and panels will be a substitute for that kind of public contact.

What'll it do for you?

When you understand how people think and feel,

you're in a better position to know how they'll react when something goes down.

You're able to judge the situation just a little better.

When you can anticipate a situation or avoid one,

it'll save one more policeman from going to the hospital, or maybe the morgue.

So by attending some of these sessions, you'll be selling your job,

and at the same time, learning how the community thinks and feels.

- One question, Sarge. - Go ahead.

Do you think we can be effective doing that sort of thing?

You be sincere, honest, and tell it like it is.

- Yeah? - You'll be effective.

Now, how many of you red-blooded volunteers are going to come forward?

4:30 p.m. We had just finished a training session at the police academy,

and we were headed for the station.

Any unit in the vicinity, 16841 needs assistance.

253 South Dotson. Code two.

That's only two blocks from here.

Better swing over there, see if we can help.

4:32 p.m. We arrived at 253 South Dotson.

I'm trying to get a uniformed sergeant on the air, but they're all tied up.

What's gone down?

Got a warrant suspect holed up in his apartment.

Says we'll have to kill him to get him out. My partner's covering the rear.

Is he armed?

Don't know. That's why I didn't kick the door.

He ran inside screaming he wouldn't go to jail alive.

- The guy doesn't make sense. - What kind of warrant?

That's why it doesn't make any sense, him splitting that way.

It's a traffic warrant. $50 bail.

Let's see what we can do before the whole neighborhood turns out.

That's it, number 22. His name's Billy Jones.

Here's his driver's license.

Yeah, that's the same man

who walked out of that meeting the other night.

Great. This guy's about as objective as a wet towel.

We pulled him over for running a stop sign.

License was expired, so I ran him for warrants.

Any record?

No record, just a traffic warrant.

He was irritated about getting stopped,

but didn't really blow up until I told him we had to go to the station.

That when he split?

Yeah. I told him we had to make a weapons search.

He started screaming no white cop is going to touch him,

and took off like a rabbit.

Shall we take him now?

He's not going anywhere.

Let's try it the easy way first.

Jones, this is Sergeant Friday.

I want to talk to you.

I'm not coming out, man.

I know how you cops treat people.

You ain't gonna get me down to the station.

Jones, what are you getting so worked up about?

You didn't pay a ticket, so you got a $50 traffic warrant.

Is that worth all of this?

That warrant's from the white law, man.

You get me down there to that jail, and I get beat up.

- That's all I know. - Now listen, Jones,

I want you to think about it for a minute.

A traffic warrant's an order of the court.

You get booked on it, you can bail out in five minutes.

That's just more of the white man's lies, man.

You gotta get me down there and keep me locked up.

I don't know how I'm going to convince you, Jones.

Look at it this way.

We can't just walk away and leave you in there, now, can we?

I don't know, man. That's your bag.

No, it's your problem. You know if you don't come out, we come in.

- I lose either way. - Not quite.

If you come out, it'll be the easy way.

If we come in, how are you going to stop us?

Just don't try it, man.

In other words, I can assume you got a gun.

- I got no gun. - I don't know that.

I'm telling you I got no gun.

Then you might as well make it easy on yourself and come out of there.

Wait a minute. If I come out,

how do I know I can trust you?

I guess you don't.

You got to take a chance.

We have no reason to hurt you.

No matter what somebody's been feeding you about the police,

you've been told wrong.

We're hired to protect everyone,

and whether you believe it or not, you're included.

There's a dozen of your neighbors standing outside,

waiting to see how you're going to act.

If you got any pride in yourself or your community,

you'll walk out of that room on your own.

Man, how can I believe you?

You're the Man. That's all I've been told.

- The Man is bad. - That's what you've been told.

It's about time you started finding out things for yourself, then, isn't it, Jones?

Man, I just don't know. I just don't know.

All right, we'll make it easy for you.

You walk out of that room on your own with your hands in plain sight.

Will you do that?

- And if I don't? - Try it our way.

Come on, Jones.

Come on.

Just keep those hands where we can see them.

Didn't mean no trouble, man.

- I was scared. - It's all right, Jones.

Turn around.

Okay, but I ain't got no gun.

I tell you, I ain't got no gun, man.

I ain't got no gun.

All right, I walked out of the room on my own.

What's that buy me?

What did you think it'd buy you?

I guess I've got a resisting charge now for locking myself in there.

Well, you walked out on your own.

I did.

That's the way we'll put it down.

- Just that way? - Just that way.

I want to tell you I still don't believe you.

I know cops.

How well do you know them?

Well, now, what do you know about that?

The suspect pled guilty to 21801 V.C.,

illegal left turn, and was fined $12.50.

On the recommendation of the arresting officers,

the charge of 148 P.C., resisting arrest, was dismissed.

In a moment, the chief of police of the city of Los Angeles,

Thomas Reddin.

What you have just seen on this program

in no way purports to pose all of the problems

and only a small part of the solutions

to police community relations.

But what you have witnessed is true.

The incidents were taken from many we have on file.

If your police department is to do an effective job of serving you,

there must be mutual understanding and tolerance

between the citizens and the police.

Join in the community relations programs in your city.

Get to know your police officers better.

Let them get to know you.

You'll be helping your city, your country, and yourself.