Original subtitles

This is the city.

Los Angeles, California.

I work here.

I carry a badge.

The story you're about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was Thursday, October 10th.

It was cool in Los Angeles.

We were working the day watch

out of Internal Affairs Division.

The boss is Captain Bradley.

My partner is Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

When any member of the Los Angeles Police Department

is accused of misconduct,

it's the job Internal Affairs Division

to conduct an investigation.

We checked in with the acting commander of Sunset Division.

An accusation had come from a man in custody at the division.

His name was John Meadows.

His charge against the arresting officer,

police brutality

You're the men from IAD?

Yes, sir.

Bill Gannon and Joe Friday.

The captain's off sick.

I'm acting commander.

How do you want to handle this?

Some place we could use for an interview room?

- My office would be all right? - Yes, sir, fine.

Do you have the complainant's statement, Lieutenant?

Being typed up now.

Have you had a chance to check Hillier's personnel file?

Only briefly, sir. Brought it along with us.

Let me save you some reading time.

Ed Hillier has been assigned here

since he graduated from the academy.

His personnel rating reports put him in the top 10%.

I just put through a commendation

that should earn him the medal of valor.

Served in Vietnam, wounded, decorated.

Military service record reads as good

as the one he's piled up here.

College man, two years. Happily married.

Sounds like you've been keeping an eye on him, Lieutenant?

How do you mean that?

Well, you seem to have made a special study of this Hillier.

No more than the other 200 men at this station.

I make it my business to know about them.

And that's what's gnawing at me inside.

Yes, sir.

In my book, Ed Hillier adds up

to an intelligent, dedicated policeman.

Now, if the charge against him is true, the question is this,

Did Hillier fail us, or did we fail him?

Is there something I'm not giving my people at roll call?

Is it the training program or did we simply misjudge this man

when we said he was good enough to wear a badge?

Well, that's part of what we're here to find out, sir.

While you're at it, maybe you can find this out.

Is it possible the department

expects too much of these young officers?

- How do you mean, sir? - How long has it been

since either one of you have been out on the street?

It's been a while.

I don't get out there much, either.

I'm nailed to this desk.

But I hear it and see it every day...

The name calling, the verbal abuse,

the days a policeman has become the symbol

of the so called establishment,

the visual target for practically

every gripe society has these days.

I don't mean to sound like a bleeding heart,

but it's true isn't it?

It seems to be. Yes, sir.

I'm sorry.

I'll climb out of my box now.

I didn't mean to put you two through all that.

We understand sir.

- You ought to talk to Reed and Malloy of the backup team. - Yes, sir we will.

I told him to wait before they go off watch.

Yes, sir that will be fine.

- I'd hate to lose Hillier. He's a good man. - Yes, sir.

But if he's turned sour, he's no good to the department.

9:30 am.

Bill picked up the complainant's statement

and the arrest report.

I examined Officer Ed Hillier's personnel record.

We asked the jailer to bring the complainant,

John Meadows, to the office.

- All right. You want to sit down there? - Okay.

He's Sgt. Friday, my name's Gannon.

- We're from Internal Affairs Division. - What's that?

Well among other things, Internal Affairs investigates complaints

against police officers and you filed a complaint.

It's a pretty good deal, isn't it?

Oh? How's that sir?

Policemen investigating policemen.

Let me explain it to you.

We're here because the Chief of Police

cares about your complaint,

so does the Police Commission.

When we've completed our investigation here,

the chief or a board of accused policeman's

superior officers will weigh the evidence and make a decision.

Now, Officer Hillier,

the man you've accused could be reprimanded,

suspended for up to six months without pay, or fired,

or he could be cleared of the charges.

But it's still policemen passing judgment on a policeman.

Regardless of what decision the department makes,

you're still entitled to file whatever legal action you might

care to bring against the arresting officer.

- Is that clear? - I see.

Now as far as policemen passing judgment on policemen,

wouldn't it be a good idea to wait and see the outcome before

you make up your mind it's one-sided?

Maybe. We'll see.

All right, sir, state your true name.

John Everett Meadows Jr.

Your address please.

221 Garland Street.

Have you ever been arrested before?

Yeah, four times.

You want to give us the circumstances?

1951, back in Omaha, Nebraska.

I was 12 years old.

I liked ball games.

I had a big thing for the left field fence.

The management couldn't see it.

All right Mr. Meadows,

will you tell us what happened at 221 Garland Street

at approximately 1:47 am this morning, October 10?

I told it all once to that Sergeant.

- We'd like to hear it again if you would, please. - All right.

But first, I want to make one thing abundantly clear.

Yeah, sir. Go ahead.

I'm no cook.

I work for a living.

I don't burn draft cards, pick at politicians or smoke pot.

I pay my bills and I pay my taxes.

I just want to get the record straight, understood?

Perfectly. That makes four of us.

Yeah? Who's the fourth?

Officer Hillier.

More power to him.

Okay. It's on the record.

Now, you want to tell us exactly what happened?

There wasn't much to it really.

Not to start with anyhow.

We were having a few drinks, six of us, three couples.

We'd work late at the store, Cliveden's over on Wilshire.

I'm a buyer there, men's furnishing's.

They were the people I work with.

You've got their names and addresses.

Good people, all of them.

You say you were drinking?

Well, yeah. Not heavy. Just to unwind.

Go on Meadows.

Well, I guess we got a little noisy.

The old gal next door called the cops.

Did she tell you she called?

Yeah. So we broke it up.

Started to anyway.

Well how do you mean?

Well, the first couple left, Ted Nichols and his fiancé.

Their names are on your list.

- Nichols? Wasn't he the 502? - 502?

Drunk.

Hillier said he was drunk. That's his opinion.

In my opinion, he was a long way from it.

All right, what happened then?

Ted and his gal got in the car.

Just then, Hillier and his partner came around the corner.

Ted pulled away from the curve.

His foot slipped on the gas pedal

and he banged into a station wagon.

It was parked maybe 20 feet in front of him.

Hillier was just in time to see it.

- Go on. - We heard the noise and came outside.

Hillier was already giving Ted a bad time.

- In what way? - What do you mean?

Well, in what way was Officer Hillier giving Nichols a bad time?

Oh, you know, bugging him for his license, shaking him down,

accusing him of being stoned... The whole stupid bit.

And Teddy is not even feeling good.

- What happened then? - I asked this Hillier for his badge number.

He told me to read it for myself.

Well, I reached for his badge and he jumped back.

And what happened next?

Now this is when I goofed and I'm the first guy to admit it.

Hillier's partner had Teddy in the police car.

I knew they were going to take him in

and that really burned me up. I started for him.

I guess Hillier thought I was going to try and get him loose.

- Were you? - Come on Sergeant, be serious.

With two cops around and more on the way,

I'm going to try and spring a guy from out of a police car?

It's happened before.

Well, I guess that's what Hillier must have thought.

But I hadn't committed murder you know.

So how does Hillier react?

Like, I just machine gunned City Hall man.

I don't mean maybe.

He was all over me.

And then wham down I went.

Well exactly what do you mean by, "down I went"?

Exactly what it sounds like.

Hillier slugged me.

Where did he strike you?

Right here on the jaw.

Did you request medical attention?

Well you bet I did.

It felt like that cop tore my head off.

What did Officer Hillier strike you with?

- His fist. - His fist?

And you say you went down?

That's right on both knees.

Tell me, are those the same trousers you were wearing

when you were arrested this morning?

- That's right. - No damage to the material is there?

It was on the parkway. It's all grass.

Light colored material, no grass stains.

You two just playing detective with me or

are you doing what I strongly suspect?

Trying to whitewash this whole affair.

Well you said it yourself Mr. Meadows.

Oh yeah? What's that?

Just want to get the record straight.

10:10 am.

I called Cliveden's the clothing store

where John Meadows worked.

I spoke to the four witnesses.

You get a hold of them?

- Yeah, they all said they'd be in to give us their statements. - What about Hillier?

On his way in. He should be here in about an hour.

Back up team, Reed and Malloy

are waiting for us in the Roll Call Room.

- Did you talk to them? - Only to say hello. Malloy is the senior man.

- Been on the job seven years, Reed's the probationer. - Yeah.

I don't know you take a look at that Reed.

It seems to me they're getting younger all the time Joe.

Or we're getting older.

Here's my partner, Sergeant Friday.

- Pete Malloy. - Malloy.

- My partner, Jim Reed. - Reed.

- Sit down. - Reed, I might have to ask you before,

your dad in the department?

- No sir, wrong Reed. - Oh.

- Sergeant? - Yeah?

What's going to happen to Ed Hillier?

Depends on whether the complaint against him is justified.

What happens if it is?

He can draw a suspension of up to 30 days without pay from

the chief or he may have to face a trial board.

Now, you know what that is?

Not too much, no sir.

Good try to keep it that way.

The trial board has three other ranking officers,

captain or above.

The board can suspend him for up to six months

without pay or fire him.

- It's kind of rough. - So is a punch in the jaw.

Ed Hillier is a good man, smart, conscientious,

works hard, and he likes people.

All right. Let's talk about last night.

There's not a whole lot to tell.

We were the backup unit.

If Hillier punched anybody in the jaw,

it was before we got there.

When you arrived, what was going on?

Hillier had Meadows up against his unit.

He was shaking him down.

His partner Pollack had the 502 suspect in the backseat.

That was Nichols?

Ted Nichols, that's right.

What were the other people doing?

They were drunk and loud.

Any name calling going on?

The usual. Giving all of us a bad time.

Hillier's partner Pollack got out of the car and asked if we'd

make the TA report and take the 502 down at the station.

Said they had to drive the other guy to Central Receiving.

- Did he say why? - He said he'd been hurt resisting arrest.

- Who said? - Hillier.

What did you do then?

We cleared the area then went back on patrol.

This Nichols, did he appear drunk to you?

He was definitely under the influence.

He registered 0.2 on in the BA. It was a good arrest Sergeant.

All right, we'll go over all this again

when you make your individual statements.

But I want you to think carefully

about what I'm going to ask you now.

Did Hillier seem upset?

Did he do anything out of the ordinary? Reed?

Not that I noticed.

Malloy?

He said something.

Maybe it's important, maybe it isn't.

Everything's important.

When I first walked up to him,

he turned his head toward me and kind of whispered.

What did he say?

"I'm sick," he said.

"I'm so sick I could vomit."

10:30 am.

We talked with Officer Ed Hillier's partner,

Tom Pollack in the Sunset Division coffee room.

11 am, the 502 suspect Ted Nichols was brought from his

jail cell to the watch commander's office.

Nichols managed the men's sportswear department

at the same store where Meadows worked.

He had put up bail and was technically free to go.

Rough night Sergeant, really rough.

So we understand.

I don't know what you understand,

but I'm telling you my part of it was real rough.

I drink too much, you know that?

Mr. Nichols, you know why you're here?

Some kind of mix up that has to do Johnny Meadows. Is that it?

Yes, sir, we'd like you to tell us what happened over

on Garland this morning.

You've got to believe I was out of it most of the time,

at least from 9 o'clock on.

That's when we started hitting the juice.

Just tell us what you remember.

Beginning when?

At the beginning as best you can recall.

Well, we were in Johnny's apartment.

The stereo was going full blast.

Everybody was laughing at Patsy.

She's a real kick, you know.

She does a great imitation of an opera singer.

A real talented girl Patsy is.

Yes, sir. Go on, please.

Well there's a knock on the apartment door,

Johnny opened it.

I saw this heavy set lady.

She said she'd had it with all the noise

and the cops were on the way. That was all I had to hear.

As soon as the woman left, I grabbed Alice by the arm and took off.

We ran outside and jumped in the car.

I couldn't get it started though.

I was nervous, I guess.

Just as it did fire up, I looked in the rearview mirror

and a police car was pulling in behind us.

Well, now why were you nervous Mr. Nichols?

Simple, I'm scared to death of cops.

Don't ask me why. I just am.

Ever been arrested before?

No, sir. I was raised to believe anybody that

had ever been arrested was a bum.

I'm no bum.

A drunken bum maybe but not an ordinary bum.

What happened after you saw the police car pulling in behind you?

I was looking in the rearview mirror at

that black and white car and I stepped on the gas.

There was a crash and the next thing

I knew somebody's helping me out of the car.

Would you go on, please?

I've gone on just about as far as I can go on.

I remember looking at a policeman.

I remember walking in the police station.

I remember blowing into some kind of gadget.

I remember being here right now and that's it.

Do you recall any kind of altercation?

- What do you mean? - Anybody hit anybody.

It sure wouldn't have been me. I couldn't find the sidewalk.

Somebody hit somebody? Who says?

- One of the cops claimed Johnny hit him? - The other way around.

- Johnny says he got slugged by one of the cops? - That's what he says.

- I don't know about you, but I believe him. - Is that right?

I've known Johnny Meadows for over 10 years

and I've never known him to lie about anything.

11:40 a.m.

Officer Edward W. Hillier reported in for his interview.

He told us substantially the same story that we had gotten

from his partner and from the backup team,

Officers Reed and Malloy.

Hillier had been removed from field duty

and placed on station duty

pending the outcome of the IAD investigation.

We asked the suspect and his passenger

to get out of the vehicle.

They complied.

My partner started to interrogate the woman passenger.

I asked the suspect for his driver's license.

His name was Ted Nichols.

We didn't try to give him the field sobriety exam.

He was so drunk, we were afraid

he might fall down and hurt himself.

At this point, I heard loud voices,

and I observed four people, two men and two women,

approaching from the duplex at 221 Garland.

The person doing all the talking was a man named John Meadows

who we later booked for interfering due to the fact that

he grabbed my partner's arm and tried to prevent him from

placing the 502 suspect in our unit.

You say Meadows was doing all the talking.

Exactly what did he say?

- The usual things, you know. - Tell us.

He called us the Gestapo, fuzz, storm troopers,

the usual things you hear.

Said we had no right to shove his friend around,

that he... Nichols, didn't do any damage to the Ford wagon.

- Was there any damage? - Yes, sir.

The rear bumper guards were sheared off and

the left rear tail light was smashed.

All right, Hillier, go on.

Well, this Meadows asked me for my badge number.

I put my thumb behind the shield and turned my light on.

He reached out to grab the badge.

I told him not to touch it but to take down the number if that's what he wanted.

And he made a grab for it. He got the fingers of his right hand around the badge.

I twisted away to my left breaking his hold.

I heard my shirt rip. That's when he said it.

- Said what? - Called me a pig cop.

He said all cops were filthy pigs

and their wives were sowbelly pigs.

Those were his exact words?

Yes, sir, his exact words.

Sergeant, before I put that uniform on,

nobody ever called me a pig before...

Nobody... my wife, either.

And I'm tired of hearing it.

What happened then?

I told him I was taking him in

for interfering with an arrest.

He said, "Try it, pig."

And that's when it happened.

When what happened?

- I backhanded him. - Show us how.

I'm like this with the back of my right hand.

- Where did you hit him? - Across the right cheek, lower portion of his right jaw.

- Did you cut him? - No, sir, I didn't.

He said he was hurt so we drove him over to Central Receiving.

You can check his MT slip.

No visible injury.

All right, Hillier, anything else you want to add?

What else is there to say?

I'm cooked, and I know it.

- Let me ask you something, Hillier. - Yes, sir.

Why do you think you struck that man?

You're a good policeman, outstanding record on the job,

and you know better, don't you?

- I guess. - You guess or you know?

I'll tell you what I know, Sergeant.

Lately I've taken everything from verbal abuse and threats

to being hospitalized by a guy with the DTs.

In the last eight months I've had two windshields

busted out of my unit.

First time, it was a 30-aught-6 slug.

The guy who fired it just didn't like cops.

Second time, it was a brick.

Kid who threw it had to take time out from what he was doing

burning the American flag.

I've lost count how many dents we've had

to roll out of the unit.

Rocks, bottles, chunks of lumber.

You name it, they throw it,

the people who we're hired to protect and serve.

You guys tell me.

I can't pull up an answer.

Would you say that this Meadows could have been

the last straw, maybe, is that it?

Maybe.

When that guy was clawing at my badge

and screeching at me,

all I could seem to see were the faces.

The angry mouths of everybody

I've come in contact with the last few months.

I guess that's who I was backhanding...

Every one of them, not just Meadows.

Hillier, your personal history card

lists a whole string of commendations

from those angry citizens you have to serve.

But if it didn't list one, so what?

You pick up your check, don't you?

You get paid to be a policeman, not to be loved.

Well, you don't buy that 100%, do you, Sergeant?

No. I'd like a kind word now and again.

When they don't come, I write it off as part of the job.

When you first put that uniform on nobody every told you you'd

be running in a popularity contest, now did they?

No, sir, they didn't.

Your PRR puts you in the top 10% of the department.

Now to me, that indicates a trained, capable,

disciplined police officer not a back alley brawler.

You were riding with a young partner.

What kind of example do you think you set for him?

And worse, you committed

one of the cardinal sins in our business.

You struck a man.

And I'll use your words,

a man you're hired to protect and to serve.

Now one last thing, Hillier, and maybe

this is the most pregnant issue of all.

These are tenuous times we live in.

The young people in this country are groping, searching for a

direction and they're having trouble finding it.

The older people in our society are not much better off.

They seem to have lost or misplaced one of our great

American commodities, a true sense of the real values.

The values that built this country

into the great one that it is.

I'll tell you I never thought I'd live to see the day that it

had become stylish to shout down constituted law injustice, to

scream police brutality at almost every opportunity.

There's the key to this, Hillier.

When you lost control this morning at 2 a.m.

out there on Garland Street, you laid another bruise

on every man who wears a uniform and a badge.

Your newspaper story will give credence to those whose sole aim

is to kick authority right in the groin.

And you've shaken the confidence of those who

believe in order with justice.

A lot more went down out there on Garland Street

this morning besides a man being struck by a policeman.

But is it asking too much Sergeant?

- What's that? - The people.

What about them?

Can't they see there are two sides to it?

12 noon, Officer Ed Hillier's wife asked

if she could talk to us.

Can I get you a cup of coffee, Mrs. Hillier?

No thank you.

I'll make this as brief as possible.

I know you men are busy.

Take your time. We're not that busy.

Thank you.

I'm scared to death, I really am.

There's no need to be, Mrs. Hillier.

I feel that Ed's whole future is at stake.

Please don't let him be fired. Please.

Well it isn't up to us, but he'll be given a fair hearing.

I brought this.

I thought it might help prove Ed's story.

He thinks it's a blouse I'm taking back to the store.

Open it, please.

That's why I wanted to talk to you.

Ed said he didn't think it would make much difference

but I hope it will.

Ed's shirt?

Yes, the one he wore last night.

- You can see it's torn there where he wears his badge. - Yes, ma'am.

Well, that proves he's telling the truth, doesn't it?

We're not questioning his truthfulness Mrs. Hillier.

- Ed's a good policeman Sergeant. - Yes, ma'am.

He's never made a mistake before.

This was a big one.

He mustn't lose his job.

It's his life, his whole life.

That's all there is to it.

6:30 p.m.

We interviewed the first of the four witnesses who were in

Meadow's apartment the night of the incident.

Look, there's no question about it, that cop cuffed Johnny.

What do you mean cuffed him?

Like this it was with the back of his hand

right across the face. He gave him a good whack.

Was there any provocation for Officer Hillier striking Meadows?

- How do you mean? - Was there any name calling?

Not a word. That cop just hit him for no reason.

The next witness was a clerk at the store.

Her name was Patsy Cronin.

Well, I should say so.

They always seem to get a kick out of

my opera star impersonations.

- Yes, ma'am. - You say you heard some name calling?

I sure did.

Johnny Meadows is a pain when he gets tanked.

Called that policeman a pig... His wife, too.

Want to know what I think?

Yes, ma'am, what do you think?

I don't blame that officer.

I'd have knocked Johnny's head off.

The third witness was Mary Kay Morton.

She worked as a secretary in the store.

I guess the reason the cop hit him was

because Johnny grabbed for his badge.

Did you see anything else, Miss Morton?

- No, but I heard something. - What did you hear?

The sound of fabric being ripped, you know torn?

Have you any idea where that sound came from?

- I know where it came from. - Yes, ma'am.

When that bonehead Johnny grabbed the policeman's badge,

he tore his shirt.

The fourth and final witness was Alice Jenkins,

the girlfriend of the 502 suspect, Ted Nichols.

Teddy told me he's sorry about that man's station wagon,

but he's going to pay for the damage.

All right, now, have you told us everything

you can remember about this morning?

Yes, everything.

I'll tell you how this entire mess looks to me.

All right, Miss Jenkins, go ahead.

No matter what anybody calls a cop,

he's no right to hit anybody.

8:37 p.m.

We concluded our investigation of the incident

involving Officer Edward Hillier.

Tomorrow morning, we would reduce it all down to paper

and submit the reports to the Captain for processing.

How's it look, Friday?

Well, my guess is that he'll be sat down.

How hard, I don't know, Lieutenant.

What's the bottom line?

As far as answers go,

the kind you're looking for,

I'm afraid we didn't come up with many.

I suppose not.

You know, we had a pretty good chief

that you served under and so did we.

Bill Parker.

Maybe he said it best.

We'll always have incidents like this

because we have one big problem

in selecting police officers.

What's that?

We have to recruit from the human race.

John Meadows was given a 30-day sentence

in the Los Angeles County Jail.

Since it was his first offense,

the sentence was suspended.

The accused police officer Edward Hillier

waived his right to a hearing

by a board of his superior officers.

In the judgment of the Chief of Police,

he was considered to have used excessive force

in the apprehension of John Meadows.

He was suspended from duty for 30 days

with complete loss of pay and benefits.