All language subtitles for Dragnet S01E04

This is the city— Los
Angeles, California.

Nearly three million
people live here now.

A little over 5,200 of
them are policemen.

I'm one of 'em. I carry a badge.

It was Wednesday, November
1 6. It was chilly in Los Angeles.

We were working out of Internal Affairs
Division. The boss is Captain Colwell.

My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

Internal Affairs, an administrative
division of the police department...

whose sole purpose is to
maintain internal security.

The story you are
about to see is true.

The names have been
changed to protect the innocent.

I'll turn on the
machine. In here, Culver.

In here.

Is this off the record, Sergeant?
Nothing's off the record.

Everything that's said in
here will be recorded. I see.

Is it okay if I smoke?
Yeah. Go ahead.

- All right. State your name.
- Paul R. Culver.

- It's our duty to inform you
of your constitutional rights.
- There's no need for that, is there?

You have the right to remain
silent, and any statement

you make may be used
against you in a court of law.

You have the right to the
presence of an attorney.

If you cannot afford one, one will
be appointed before any questioning.

- Do you understand that?
- I'll tell you anything you wanna know.

- Do you understand your rights?
- I do.

All right. We want to talk to you about
an armed robbery up in Hollywood tonight.

Herbie's Liquor Store. The
radio car officers told me.

We'd like you to tell us where
you were, what you were doing,

anybody who might have
seen you from 8:00 on.

I was up in Hollywood, circulating
around, hitting some of the joints.

- Did you do any drinking?
- Yes, sir.

How many? Couple
of beers. That's all.

How long ago? Two, two and a half hours
ago. I didn't even finish the second one.

Are you under the
influence of alcohol now?

How could I be?

- Are you under the influence?
- No, sir.

All right. Go ahead.

I don't mind telling
you. I'm pretty nervous.

I feel kinda sick.
It's understandable.

- You know, I didn't have anything
to do with that stickup.
- Do we?

- You should, yeah.
- Why? Because you're a police officer?

Full name: Paul Robert Culver.

Badge number:
35 10, serial 14584,

age: 23, height: 6'2
and one-half inches,

weight: 185, blood type: "O."

Length of service in the police department
of the city of Los Angeles: 1 14 days.

Present assignment: undercover
out of Narcotics Division.

I met Lieutenant Stephenson
and Sergeant Appier in

this parking lot on
Figueroa at 7:15 p.m. tonight.

I told them yesterday I thought I
could make a controlled buy—marijuana.

That's what I've been
working the past three

weeks, since I graduated
from the academy.

Go on. You know how it goes.

They gave me $110 in a brown paper bag.
Marked bills, serial numbers all listed.

We have it. It'll be
returned to Narcotics.

Then I put the money in
the glove compartment,

and I drove up
Sunset to Hollywood.

- I parked on Selma, this side of Cahuenga.
- What time was this?

- A little before 8:00.
- Go on.

Well, I circulated around,
hit some of the joints.

I was looking for this fellow, Kinks.
Real name's Lou Gonners. Got a record.

My setup with him was
pretty loose. He said if I was

interested, I could find
him up in Hollywood tonight.

So I made the Red Fox, the Apex and
this pool hall down the street, Cooley's.

- You talk to anybody?
- Well, let's see.

At the Red Fox, there
was this guy John.

What did he look like?
Male Cauc., about 25.

5'10", average build,
long, brown hair,

mustache, goatee,
wearing a sweatshirt.

Got a little gold
earring in his left ear.

Then there was Barstow, male
Cauc., about 30, 6'1 "— real heavy.

Must weigh 220. I
had one beer with him.

Wearing a jacket like mine.
Has a tooth missing in front.

He's a cycle hound. You find a chrome
bike up there, and he won't be far away.

Then I bumped into a couple
of girls out on the street.

Vangie and Chickie. Hair
out to here. You know the bit.

Yeah.

Then at the Apex, I don't
remember anybody in particular.

Went on down to Cooley's.

This guy T-Bone,
Little "T." Maybe 35, 40.

About 5'7", maybe
130. He looks Mexican.

Wearin' some kind
of a red sweater.

- You gonna check these people out?
- That's right.

Wish I could give you
more to work on. You can't

push for information
with these characters.

Last name, that
sort of thing. Go on.

Then I went back down
the street to this place called

the Absolute. I spotted
Kinks standing outside.

I didn't go in. Told him I was
interested in a couple pounds of pot.

He said, did I have the
bread? I said, "Yes, in my car."

He told me to go on back
there and wait. He'd come by.

I told him where the
car was and took off.

- What time was this?
- 9:06.

When you check these people out, I've
been using the name Jacobs, Bob Jacobs.

- Right. Go on.
- I went back to my car and waited.

I was still sitting there
when the black-and-white

unit came by and
put the light on me.

I showed 'em my I.D. and
told 'em what was going on.

They took me to the Hollywood
station. You know the rest.

- You sat in your car the whole time?
- That's right. I never left it.

The radio car officers said they
found you looking into the trunk.

Oh, that. Well, I'd put my gun and
my I.D. back there, under the spare tire.

I was sitting there,
and I got to thinking.

This Kinks— I'd seen
his record, and he's a

hardnose. I was reaching
in the trunk to get my gun.

I was gonna put it
under the seat. Thought

I'd better have it handy.
That's all that was.

Now, these places you went
to— you went from the Red

Fox to the Apex to Cooley's
Pool Hall to the Absolute.

- Yes, sir.
- In that order.

Yes, sir.

- That means you passed
Herbie's Liquor Store.
- I could have.

Then from Cooley's,
you went to the Absolute.

You passed that liquor
store again. Isn't that right?

- That's right,
but I didn't go in the liquor store.
- Are you sure?

Yes, I'm sure.
You know I'm sure.

We're ready for the show-up.

- Show-up? For what?
- Granousky, the man who was robbed.

- Let's go.
- I didn't have any part of this,
and you know it.

The only thing we know is we want
the truth, a straight story that'll wash.

I've told you the truth.
I've told you all I know.

You haven't told us who pulled
that 211 in that liquor store.

- It wasn't me. How many times
do I have to tell you?
- Till we believe it.

- If this doesn't tear it.
- What do you mean by that?

- They don't preach
this kind of stuff at the academy.
- What's that, Culver?

All that jazz about the force—
The teamwork, working together.

This is a fine
example of it, isn't it?

I'm on the same team as you. I'm
no two-bit punk suspect. I'm a cop.

Then think like one. You
know you're gonna walk out

of this room totally
innocent or totally guilty.

There's no in-between for you or
any other man in this department.

If you're clean, we'll do
all we can to help you prove

it. If you're guilty, we're
gonna lean on you hard.

One officer to another—my word?
That oughta mean something.

- It does, but just like anybody else.
- Yeah?

It's not enough.

1 1:47 p.m. The
show-up was over.

We returned Officer Paul
Culver to Interrogation Room "D."

Go on in. Sit down.

Those names he gave us?
Narcotics is checking them out. Yeah.

Better fill the
captain in. Right.

All right, Culver. Sit down.

- This Granousky— He made me, didn't he?
- That's right.

We wouldn't be back here
otherwise. How good was it?

Positive identification.

Sure.

- Anything you'd like to say?
- Eyeball witnesses aren't always reliable.

Poor eyesight, tricky memory,
bad lighting conditions.

Most all-night liquor stores
are well-lighted. Doesn't

seem to be anything wrong
with Granousky's eyesight.

He said the bandit was no more than
four feet away from him. He made a mistake.

Let's go over it again.

7:15, I got $110
in marked money...

from Lt. Stephenson and Sgt.
Appier in that parking lot on Figueroa.

- That part oughta check.
- It does.

We talked to Captain
Trembly in Narcotics. The

money, your assignment—
All that checks out.

Wait a minute. Something just
came to me. I can prove I didn't do it.

I don't care what this
Granousky says. I can prove it.

Go ahead.

- How much money was stolen?
- Eighty-seven dollars.

I had 110 in the glove
compartment. That checks out.

I had six dollars and
change of my own money.

Where's the 87? It wasn't
on me and it wasn't in the car.

Where were you from
the time you left this Kinks

character until you
were picked up at 9:22?

- You think I stashed it someplace.
- Suppose you pick it up
from the time you parked.

On Selma, just off
Cahuenga, a little before 8:00.

I cruised around
looking for Kinks.

I made the Absolute,
the Apex and Cooley's

Pool Hall. Do you want
the people I saw again?

- Only if you can come up
with some new ones.
- No, I can't.

- We're running down the ones you gave us.
- I spotted Kinks in front of the Red Fox.

We set it up. I told him I'd wait
for him in the car, and I took off.

That was after 9:00
going on till a quarter after.

I was at the car, waiting, when the
black-and-white came by. That's it.

- Let's go over a couple of points here.
- All right.

What time did you
say you left this Kinks?

I just told you.

- Tell us again.
- I told him I'd meet him at my car.

- What time did you tell him that?
- A little after 9:00.

- Pin it down.
- Around a quarter after 9:00.

- You're sure?
- I'm sure.

- You sure it wasn't six minutes after?
- It was 15 after.

You told us before it was
9:06. Well, I could be wrong.

Which is it—9:15, 9:06?

- I guess I don't remember for sure.
- Try.

- All right! I'm not sure about
nine minutes worth of tonight.
- Get sure.

Why do you keep pushing me? What's
so special about nine lousy minutes?

I'll tell you what's so special
about those nine minutes.

Tonight at approximately
9:05, a liquor store was held up.

That store is in the immediate
vicinity of your undercover assignment.

The joints you hit are
located all around that store—

The Red Fox, the Apex,
Cooley's, the Absolute.

In order to hit those
places, you had to walk

directly past that liquor
store twice tonight.

One of those times you could have
entered the store, pulled the 211 at 9:06.

We've got an eyeball
witness that says you did.

You could've walked one block,
stashed the money along the way

and been there at your car when
that black-and-white rolled up.

You could've done all
that in those nine lousy

minutes. That's what's
so special about 'em.

- You don't believe that.
- Don't keep telling us
what we believe, Culver.

That won't prove
up for eight cents.

It's not what we think. It's what
you did with those nine minutes.

Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe
it was 9:06 like I said before.

Maybe you were in that liquor store.
Maybe you pulled your gun on Granousky.

Maybe you walked out with 87 of
his dollars. I didn't, damn it! I didn't!

- Where did you say you met Kinks?
- In front of the Red Fox.

- You sure it wasn't the Absolute?
- I said, the Red Fox.

- You also told us the Absolute.
- Did I?

- Which was it?
- What's the difference?

The difference is, the Red Fox is four
blocks farther away from that liquor store.

- Maybe that was it.
- What was it?
- It was the Red Fox!

Not according to what
you told us the first

time around. You said
it was the Absolute.

That's a block from
where you parked. All right.

It was the Absolute, if
that's the way you want it.

- We want the truth.
- Sure, you do. Your kind of truth.

You got a 211 on your hands. You
gotta pin it on somebody. I'm handy.

You know better
than that, Culver. Do I?

You keep twisting everything I say. I told
you the straight story the first time out.

You make me repeat it over and
over. Anybody's liable to get mixed up.

You're a police officer. You've
been trained not to get mixed up.

How would you feel if you were
sitting in this chair right now?

The two of you trying
to hang something on me

I didn't do. What kind
of police force is this?

A clean one, Culver, and you're
gonna help us keep it that way.

All right. Put me
on the machine.

Thursday, November
1 7, 12:02 a.m.

A t his own request, Officer Paul
Culver was given the lie detector test.

Bill and I met with Lieutenant Lee Clingan
of the Scientific Investigation Division.

We laid out the key questions
to be used in the examination.

12:20 a.m. Lieutenant Clingan began
the Keeler polygraph examination.

Thursday, November
1 7, 1:53 a.m.

You want to go in and sit down?

What do you think
now? I don't know.

Seven runs. They all
come out the same.

Did you pick up any coffee? An
hour ago. It's cold. Place is closed now.

Cold.

Sit down, Culver. What for?

I could tell from the line of
questioning. You could tell what?

I flunked the test,
didn't I? Let's go over it.

Why? The machine says I'm a liar, so
what's there to go over? Sit down, Culver.

Come on.

You know that Lieutenant Clingan
spent a long time getting a norm on you.

It was my idea to take the test.

You'd have taken it eventually.
It's the usual procedure.

Let's get to it. Show
me how big a liar I am.

What makes you so sure the
machine showed you up bad?

I just know, that's all.

The way things have been going
tonight, I wouldn't be surprised

if you tried to pin the St.
Valentine's Day Massacre on me.

There's some definite
reactions throughout all the runs.

- All bad.
- Nobody said that.

You don't have to.

I figured if I volunteered
to take the test, that

must show you something.
I'm not lying about tonight.

I've told you the
truth, the best I can

remember it. I don't care
what those graphs say.

- Go on.
- This whole thing's so damned unfair.

How's that, Culver?

I worked my tail off up at the academy.
I really wanted to be a police officer.

I hit the books day and night,
finished ninth in my class.

I'm a four-dollar shooter.
I make 641 a month.

I owe the police credit union 50
bucks, and that's it—the whole ball of wax.

I take a job the department asks me to
do, and I end up with my head in my lap.

Now you tell me,
what's it all worth?

You volunteered for that undercover
assignment, Culver. You know that.

All right. So I did. I didn't know
it was gonna turn out like this.

Being accused of something
I might expect from that

ruck and scum I've been
dealing with the past two weeks.

Yeah. I go there trying to do a job for
the city, and I end up in the hot seat.

Well, I've had a gut full.

You can have the badge, the uniform
and all that goes with it. I've had it.

Tell me something, Culver.

Why? So you can twist it
around? You've got me made.

You've got that eyeball witness, the
machine, nine minutes I can't account for.

- You don't need anything else.
- What's eating at you, Culver?

Now, that's a
brilliant question.

Never mind the smart answer.
Just give us a straight one.

Something's giving you a
problem besides this mess tonight.

- You don't think this is enough?
- I didn't say that. Now, what is it?

What is it? Trouble at
home? I'm not married.

We know that.
Something's bothering you.

- What makes you so sure?
- You've got a personal problem
kicking around somewhere.

- You wouldn't be interested.
- Try us and see.

It's something you
couldn't arrest me for.

Come on, Culver. Let's have it.

It's not gonna make
any difference here.

You're engaged to
be married, aren't you?

Who told you that?
That's not in my package.

- That's right, isn't it?
- You two really dig into
a man's personal life, don't you?

No, but these
graphs do sometimes.

Maybe that's a lie too.

- Tell us about your girl.
- You want her phone number?

Listen, this is the
last time I'm gonna tell

you to save the cute
answers. You understand?

If it’s that personal, and you
don't wanna talk about it, all right.

But if not, it might be best to
put it right here on the table.

What's the difference?

You might as well know.
She told me two days ago.

- Told you what?
- We broke up.

- You're not gonna get married?
- No.

Haven't even finished
paying for the ring.

- She give you a reason?
- Yeah.

- Feel like telling us what it was?
- I've been expecting it.

Yeah.

Ever since I took the
first exam for the job.

I think she thought
I might fail. I didn't.

- What's the problem?
- She doesn't want to be married to a cop.

She says I can do better.

In other words,
you're a college man.

She'd like to have seen you land a
job with a little more status attached,

- I guess that's part of it.
- But not all of it.

I think maybe I can understand how
she feels, and maybe she's right, Culver.

It's awkward having a
policeman around the house.

Friends drop in, a man
with a badge answers

the door, the temperature
drops 20 degrees.

You throw a party, and
that badge gets in the way.

All of a sudden, there isn't a straight
man in the crowd. Everybody's a comedian.

"Don't drink too much," somebody says, "or
the man with the badge will run you in."

Or "How's it going, Dick Tracy? How
many jaywalkers did you pinch today?"

And then there's always the one who
wants to know how many apples you stole.

All at once, you
lost your first name.

You're a cop, a flatfoot,
a bull, a dick, John Law.

You're the fuzz, the heat. You're
poison. You're trouble. You're bad news.

They call you everything,
but never a policeman.

Maybe she's right.

It's not much of a life unless you
don't mind missing a Dodger game...

because the hotshot phone rings,

unless you like working
Saturdays, Sundays, holidays...

at a job that doesn't
pay overtime.

Oh, the pay's adequate.
If you count your

pennies, you can put
your kid through college.

But you better plan on seeing
Europe on your television set.

And then there's your
first night on the beat,

when you try to arrest a
drunken prostitute in a Main

Street bar, and she rips
your new uniform to shreds.

You'll buy another one
out of your own pocket.

And you're gonna rub
elbows with all the elite...

Pimps, addicts,
thieves, bums, winos,

girls who can't keep an
address and men who don't care.

Liars, cheats, con men.

The class of Skid Row.

And the heartbreak.

Underfed kids, beaten
kids, molested kids, lost kids,

crying kids, homeless kids,

hit-and-run kids, broken-arm
kids, broken-leg kids,

broken-head kids, sick
kids, dying kids, dead kids.

The old people that nobody
wants— The reliefers, the pensioners,

the ones who walk
the street cold...

and those who tried to
keep warm and died in a

three-dollar room with
an unvented gas heater.

You'll walk your beat and
try to pick up the pieces.

Do you have real adventure
in your soul? You better

have, 'cause you're gonna
do time in a prowl car.

Oh, it's gonna be a thrill-a-minute
when you get an unknown

trouble call and hit a
backyard at 2:00 in the morning,

never knowing who you'll meet— a
kid with a knife, a pill head with a gun...

or two ex-cons
with nothing to lose.

You're gonna have
plenty of time to think.

You'll draw duty in a lonely car
with nobody to talk to but your radio.

Four years in
uniform, you'll have the

ability, the experience
and maybe the desire...

to be a detective.

If you like to fly by the seat of
your pants, this is where you belong.

For every crime
that's committed,

you've got three million
suspects to choose from.

Most of the time you'll have
few facts and a lot of hunches.

You'll run down leads
that dead-end on you.

You'll work all-night stakeouts
that could last a week.

You'll do legwork
until you're sure you've

talked to everybody in
the state of California.

People who saw it
happen, but really didn't.

People who insist they
did it, but really didn't.

People who remember.
Those who try to forget.

Those who tell the
truth. Those who lie.

You'll run the files
until your eyes ache.

And paperwork? Ah, you'll fill
out a report when you're right.

You'll fill out a report
when you're wrong.

You'll fill one out when you're
not sure. You'll fill one out

listing your leads. You'll fill
one out when you have no leads.

You'll make out a report
on the reports you've made.

You'll write enough words in
your lifetime to stock a library.

You'll learn to live with
doubt, anxiety, frustration,

court decisions that tend to
hinder rather than help you.

Dorado, Morse, Escobedo, Cahan.

You'll learn to live with the
district attorney, testifying in court,

defense attorneys, prosecuting
attorneys, judges, juries, witnesses.

And sometimes you're not
gonna be happy with the outcome.

Maybe your
girlfriend's right, Culver,

but there's also this...

There are over 5,000
men in this city...

who know that being a
policeman is an endless,

glamourless, thankless
job that's gotta be done.

I know it, too, and I'm
damn glad to be one of 'em.

- Sergeant?
- Yeah, Culver?

Nothing.

Joe, see you a minute?

That was the old man. Yeah?

Guy by the name of Michaelson. Hollywood's
booking him now. What about him?

He's practically a double for Culver.
Even wearing a black navy watch cap.

Blond, 6'2", the works. Knocked
over another liquor store an hour ago.

They have a show-up?

Granousky says he
still doesn't believe it.

Says he's sorry, but anybody
could make the same mistake.

According to Hollywood, Culver
and Michaelson are dead ringers.

- Michaelson cop out?
- All the way.

Admitted four other
liquor store 211s besides

Herbie's and the last one
where they grabbed him.

Well, sometimes it's not
such a sour racket, is it?

I'm buying dinner
tonight for both of us.

You mean breakfast.

- Go on home.
- Huh?

You got a twin, Culver. They
tell us he's practically identical.

Even dressed the same—
Navy watch cap, jacket.

- They caught the guy?
- Granousky says it was
an easy mistake to make.

Good night. Good night.

Either one of you have
change for a quarter?

Just made it.

Thanks. Gotta make a phone
call. What are you gonna tell her?

What he told me.
Sergeant, one thing.

- What's that?
- The lie detector.

How'd I really do? The truth.

- You passed.
- How come you didn't tell me?

You didn't ask us, Paul.

The story you have
just seen is true.

The names were changed
to protect the innocent.

Internal Affairs Division concluded
the investigation of Officer Paul Culver.

In a moment, the
results of that conclusion.

Officer Paul Culver successfully
completed his undercover assignment.

As with all Police Academy graduates,
he was given a regular tour of duty.

Six months later, while
on routine patrol duty,

Officer Culver
distinguished himself...

in the highest tradition of
the Los Angeles police service.

Together with his partner, he
subdued an armed bank bandit...

and was wounded
in the encounter.

He was given the Medal
of Valor for his bravery.