21st precinct, Sergeant Klein. Where is it? 3361? How many shots? How many hold up men? Just one. You're in the muster room at the 21st precinct, the nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that call from now until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st precinct. All right, you just stay there. Yes sir, that's right, just stay there. You'll have assistance immediately. Yes sir, right away. 21st precinct. Thought to you transcribed by Plymouth. With an invitation for you to see the big, bright, beautiful new 1954 Plymouth coming Thursday. 21st precinct. Just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the nine tenths of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the East River wouldn't know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security of their persons, their homes, and their property is my job. My job and the job of the 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants, and four lieutenants of whom I'm the boss. My name is Cannelli, Frank Cannelli. I'm captain in command of the 21st. Now to 21st precinct and Captain Frank Cannelli. Although the East River is one of its boundaries, the 21st is not in the technical sense a waterfront precinct. Most of our waterfront is park and parkway. The few docks are confined to the unloading of fuel intended for various power plants and the loading of garbage scouts by the Department of Sanitation. But a waterfront emergency is a citywide emergency, and although I was scheduled to be off duty, I came directly from a meeting of all commanding officers in the line-up room at Police Headquarters, 240 Center Street, to the 21st. It was 10.45 p.m. when I walked into the muster room. Sergeant Klein was on duty on the telephone switchboard. Lieutenant Gorman was desk officer. Oh, hello, Captain. Sergeant. How's it going, Lieutenant? Pretty quiet tour, Captain. Keep your fingers crossed for me, will you, Captain? Why, Sergeant? He heard that the commissioner is making five captains, 12 lieutenants, and 23 sergeants tomorrow. Where did you hear that? A friend of mine in the chief clerk's office. I hope it's 12 lieutenants. I'm number 11 on the list. Just my luck, you'll only make 10. Then you'll be number one on the list. That's an honor in itself. Well, worry about it tomorrow, Sergeant. We've got other problems tonight. The emergency chart is going in. The waterfront situation? Yeah. There'll be an order coming through any minute now. You better get out the emergency coal cards, yes? We'll be going on two platoons, 12 on and 12 off. That could be it. That is it. Here are the U.S. 73 card. How many notifications have we got to make? 38, Captain. All right. Get the sector cars in here and distribute them to the men on post. We'll dismiss the third platoon at midnight with instruction to return to duty at noon. Yes, sir. We'll turn out the first platoon at midnight and they'll patrol until noon. Members of the second platoon will be held in reserve here at the house until we get instructions regarding what precincts are to be temporarily assigned to. Yes, sir. Oh, excuse me. 21st precinct, Sergeant Client. Where is this? 3361? How was he shot? How many? Just one? Where'd he go? Where? All right. There'll be assistance there right away. I'll bring shooting, Captain. Okay. Get a car to take me there. Yes, sir. Hello, CB. Sergeant Client, the 21st. At 3361 Lexington Avenue now, as well as the citywide emergency, there was an emergency within my own precinct. The communications bureau dispatched sector cars three and four to the scene of the shooting and sent an ambulance from Metropolitan Hospital. Sergeant Client on T.S., as he was required in such cases, notified the 21st detective squad. He was told that Lieutenant Matt King, commander of the 21st squad, was on patrol with two detectives and had undoubtedly responded to the radio signal. While I waited for sector car number one to come by the station house for me, I gave my instructions regarding the distribution of the U.S. 73s to the 38 members of the force residing in the 21st. These notification to report cards would be given to the sector men and men on post for delivery to the homes of members of the force attached to other commands. A car came by and drove me to the scene of the robbery and shooting, a small all-night luncheonette. Despite the lateness of the hour, a considerable crowd had been attracted by the presence of three police cars and an ambulance. Come in, Captain. What have we got, Sergeant? A stickup. One man. He shot and killed a counterman. The victim's name is Van Teller, Louis A. The holdup man went around behind the counter to get the money. Van Teller started to fight with him. Two shots and he fell. He was dead when the ambulance got here. I notified the M.E.s on his way. After he shot him, the stickup man threw the gun down and ran out. He had legs. Who are those people Lieutenant King is talking to? Witnesses, Captain. They were in the place when it happened, the three of them. The Lieutenant was out on patrol and heard the radio call. Well, you don't need all of these men here, Sergeant. Get some of them back on patrol. The emergency charges, in effect at midnight, the notifications have been made. Yes, sir. Specter car number three, white. All I'm asking you to do is tell them... Oh, hello, Captain. Van? Are you a captain? Is a captain higher than a lieutenant? Sarah. I make a perfectly straightforward statement, Captain, and this lieutenant won't believe me. Now, Sarah, dear. Don't worry, Sarah, I mean... We'll go over it again in a minute, Mrs. Treseder, if you'll just sit down in that booth for a minute. Well, that's the way it is. Sarah, please. That's a lot of thanks you get for your cooperation. How many witnesses was that, man? That's Mr. and Mrs. Treseder and that fellow there. Did you talk to him? I'm afraid he's not in a talking condition, Captain. You think you can tell me your name now, Mr.? What's my name got to do with it? Oh, I want another cup of coffee, black. That's all I want. What's your name? My name is Arthur J. Bookum. The J. believed in us for January. Yeah, that's right. I was born in January, so my mother... Did you see what occurred here tonight? Yeah, why? Did you see what occurred here tonight? Well, yes and no. No and yes, that is. All I wanted was a cup of coffee, black. All right, Bookum, just sit here a minute. Well, he's going to be a big help. Well, where's my coffee? Yeah, he sure is. All right, Mr. Treseder, now we can talk. It's taking me about time. Sarah. I told you not to stare at me. Well, Mr. Treseder, how old would you say this man was? Oh, I couldn't say exactly. Somewhere between 25 and 35. Close to 25. You told me he was five foot eight or nine inches tall. Who told you that? Not me. I distinctly said he was at least six feet. My husband said he was five foot eight or nine. That's all he was, Sarah. He was six feet if he was an inch. He weighed about 160. I couldn't say what he weighed. I'm not a judge of that. About 160, blond hair. Yeah, sort of balding, very thin on top. Oh, Sarah, it was my impression. He had a full head of hair. Why'd you get that impression? Well, I saw him when he went behind the counter. He wasn't that far from me. He was balding. I made a distinct point of remembering. But, Sarah... Well, get it straightened out, folks. Let's not worry about that point now. Matt, can I see you for a minute? Yeah, sure, Captain. When I say he was balding, why? Oh, the victim was going to be more help. Listen, Matt, you know the emergency charges in. Yes, I heard. We've got about 40 notifications to make. Wouldn't hurt you any here if I pulled off Sergeant Collins and his operative and got them back on patrol. That'll leave you two of my men. All right? Sure, that's fine, Captain. Good. Well, looks like you've got a rough job here, Matt. Those witnesses aren't going to be much help. Well, not much. At least they agree on one thing. We're the men. Before I left, two detectives from Manhattan East Homicide arrived to aid the 21st squad in their investigation. Also on hand in another few minutes were an assistant district attorney, a deputy medical examiner, single-appointed ballistics experts from the police laboratory, and a police photographer. The investigation was well underway when I was called to a meeting at division headquarters. At 2.40, I returned to the 21st and went on patrol. When I returned to the station house, I went to sleep on the couch in my office. At 7.30, the attendant woke me up according to instructions I had left. Brought in a cup of black coffee from the sergeant's locker room and the morning papers. The two tabloids played the homicide very big. I drank the coffee, then I went to the wash stand to shave. Well done! I was bilibны documents. It was hard to get any place with you from the food stick you have, but it was disk full of documents. Your mother came to life every moment. Ah! Mr. and Ms. revisited all these properties and provided them with ten thousand pounds of business Take from the연ey found in the necessities department. coming in today, all of them. Well, how about fingerprints? Oh, the gun. No fingerprints that could help us, but there might be something to the gun. Yeah? It was purchased and registered by a machine shop in Yonkers. Tonight Watchman is a retired cop. He carries it on the job. The gun was stolen out of his locker last week. Any address of the stolen? Yes, sir. A fellow quit his job and was shot that same day. A fellow named Joe Aragge. He's the one I'd like to talk to. Any reason outside of the fact that he quit his job? Yes, sir. He did a bit once before for armed robbery. Oh, sounds good, man. You got an address on him? He's got an address, Captain. He's not there. Hasn't been for a week, excuse me. All right, first briefing, Captain Cannelly. Sergeant Klein on T.S., Captain. Yes, Sergeant. There's a man calling in who insists I'm talking to you. He says it's very important, but he won't give his name. Well, what's it about? Would he say that? I'll suggest that it's very important, and he won't talk to anyone else. All right, Sergeant, put him on. Yes. Go ahead. This is Captain Cannelly. Are you Captain of the precinct? That's right. Are you sure? I told you I was. What is it you want? I want to give myself up. I killed that restaurant man last night. What's your name? I don't know. You let me do the talking. All right, you do the talking. Matt, get on it. OK. Where are you now, mister? Never mind where I am now. You said you wanted to give yourself up. You go to Central Park and sit on the bench that faces 64th Street outside the walls. Where? Central Park West or on Fifth Avenue? On Fifth Avenue. You sit on the bench that looks down 64th Street. And? And I'll meet you there in an hour, give myself up. Yes, but listen to me. Now, you won't listen. If you want me to give myself up, you'll be there. And be there yourself. I know who you are. Hello? Hello? They couldn't even get started, Captain. I tried to keep him on the phone. Who was it? The man says he's the killer. Wants to give himself up. I have to meet him in an hour. Well, that's the way it goes. He can break your back on these things and they walk in the front door. What difference does it make, man? As long as they walk in. You know, there's very little that surprises a police officer. If a man calls in and says he's a killer, you believe him until you learn differently. I was on the bench facing 64th Street just outside the Central Park wall five minutes early. Lieutenant Matt King had planted detectives behind the wall in automobiles on both Fifth Avenue and 64th Street and on the sidewalk. The weather was fair. The street full of strollers. I watched the approach of every pedestrian coming from either direction. They all passed. Finally, a carelessly dressed and hatless man who looked in his middle 30s turned off the walk and came toward the bench. Excuse me. Yes? Do you mind if I share this bench? Well, if you're that captain, I'm the man you're waiting for. Oh? May I? Yes, go right ahead. Thank you. Beautiful day. Just beautiful. But I still want to give myself up. I couldn't sleep a wink last night. My conscience. I think of that helpless soul lying in a pool of blood. What's your name? My name is Audley. Selwyn Audley. I don't know how I could have done it. I came from such a fine old family. It must have been a compulsive reaction. What did you do with the knife? What knife? The knife you stabbed him with. Oh, that knife. I threw it down the sewer. I don't remember where. I haven't any idea. You remember how many times you stabbed him? Several times. Again and again and again and again. I don't know. You should remember. Who were you waving to, please? Oh, just some friends of mine. I stabbed him again and again and again. I was covered with blood from head to foot. Everything OK, Captain? Yeah, just fine. How do you do? Matt, this is Mr. Selwyn Audley. How are you? He says he stabbed that counterman to death. In cold blood. I belong in jail. Oh. Well, we have a nice jail for you, Mr. Audley. You do? Of course. I know where you're sending me. You're not sending me to jail. You're sending me to Bellevue. Well, we can go talk it over, Mr. Audley. I proved to them I was all right. I proved to them I was fine. You can't fool me. I've been there before. Oh, that's great, Mr. Audley. You know your way around. The police are always interested in help from citizens. But sorting the useful information from the irrelevant often takes hundreds of man hours of investigation. On the way back, Lieutenant King told me he had obtained mug shots of the principal suspect, Joe Erridge, from the Yonkers Police Department and had sent for the three witnesses in the case for a further interview. Detectives of the Homicide Squad and the 21st Squad had paired off and were now at work trying to locate the suspect. At the station house, I walked around behind the desk to sign the blotter. How long do you think they'll keep the emergency chart in, Captain? Until the trouble gets settled. Thank you, Captain. Did those promotions come through yet, Sergeant? No, sir, not yet. Well, I'm sorry. You don't think they'll hold them up because of the emergency, do you? Never mind. You got any idea where you'll be attached if you're made? No, sir, I haven't any idea. Put in the Bronx someplace, I hope. I could save 20 or 25 minutes traveling time each day. That'd be a help. Hey, listen, where am I supposed to go? What do you mean, where are you supposed to go? My wife, she told me a detective called. She said I was supposed to come down here. I was supposed to, uh, But Mr. Bookham, you were a witness to a homicide last night. Why didn't you do the decent thing and sober up so you could help the detectives out this morning? My dear sir, if I was like this then and I was sober now, how could I remember what happened when I was like this? Ah? Would you answer me that? Shall I call upstairs and have them come get him, Captain? Come get me and take me away. Don't lean on the desk, can't you read the sign? Read it? Ah, I can't even see it. All right, I'll take him upstairs, then. Oh, play us up. I keep asking you that question and I cannot get a satisfactory answer. I just simply cannot get a satisfactory answer. Well, Mr. Bookham, that puts us both in the same boat. Neither can we. I took the witness through the back room and helped him negotiate the narrow and worn stairs to the second floor. Inside the office of the 21st Squad, I walked him straight to Lieutenant King's door. Yes? Captain Cannelli. I'm friend, Captain Cannelli, I'm friend. Hello, Captain. Well, here's your witness, man. Good morning, Mr. Bookham. Good morning, good morning. Yes, a wonderful morning. Oh, oh. It was, Mr. Bookham. Now, what did I do, huh? Tell me what I have to do and I'll pitch right in. I'll just pitch right in. I think you oughta go home and pitch right in bed. That just got up. How is him, Novak? See that Mr. Bookham finds a comfortable place to wait until we need him. Go sit over there, Mr. Bookham. Oh yeah? This way, that way, everybody puts you in the gun. Too bad, man. I've got Mr. and Mrs. Chessager inside, Captain. I think they'll be helpful. You got time to come in? Yeah, sure. Mr. and Mrs. Tressa there, do you remember Captain Cannelli from last night? Yes, of course. Good morning, Captain. Good morning. Captain, I've told Mr. and Mrs. Tressa there that we have a suspect in mind in connection with what happened last night. Got him in mind? You've got him in jail. So far, just in mind. That's two different things. I know. I have a half dozen photographs here. I'd like you to look at them and see if you can identify the man who held up the restaurant and shot Mr. Van Tuller. You have his picture there. I'll identify him. All right. Richard? Oh, Sarah. You know what you said. Oh, I, you remember that last night there was some question between Sarah and myself. I thought the man had a full head of hair, and she said he was balding. Yes, I remember. You remember too, Captain? Yes, I remember. Well, after we got home, we had some discussion on the subject, and I came to the conclusion that Sarah was right. She was balding. Well, we'll see about that. Now, Mrs. Truster, I'm going to ask you to look through these pictures and see if you can identify the man. Would you please? Yes. No, not this one. This is not at all like him. No. Well, this one has a full head of hair. That couldn't be him. Well? This one. As sure as I'm sitting here, this is the one. Richard. We'll get to him. You're positive, Mrs. Truster? I told you. I'm sure as I'm sitting here. Yes. All right, thank you. May I have the pictures, please? Yes. Thank you. Now, Mr. Truster, I'm going to shuffle these. Yeah. Richard, now don't make a fool out of me. Mr. Truster, would you please look through these pictures and see if you can identify the man who shot Mr. Vantella? Yeah. Here you are. Well, it's not that one. He wasn't even here. He got a good look. Yes, I was. No. Have you been in the police department very long, Captain? Yes, ma'am. Quite a long time. No. Do you enjoy your work? This is him. This is the man. Which one? Let's see, Mr. Truster. This one. Thank you. Well, I see we agree, Richard. At last, we agree on something. I just picked out the man that did it. That's all. Well, I thank you both. You've been very helpful. Helpful? The murder's solved. It's all over. Not quite, Mr. Truster. We've still got to find the man. After the identification of the suspect photographed by two witnesses, Lieutenant King assigned four additional detectives to the job of tracing Joe Herridge. He told me that with the help of Yonkers' detectives, his men were checking on all the known friends and acquaintances of the suspect in that community just beyond the New York City limit. A few minutes later, I returned to the muster room. The teletype was clattering away. Both Sergeant Klein and Sergeant Collins were reading the communication as it found it out. The promotions are coming through, Captain. Oh? What'd they make? Five captains and so far six lieutenants. Calm down, you're in. I'll believe it when I see it. Pope, that's a friend of mine. We were partners in the 10th for a while. What did the order say? Expoed signal 19. The following sergeants have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Transferred and assigned as indicated to take effect immediately. All are instructed to report to the office of the chief clerk at 9 AM for the issuance of Lieutenant Shields and swearing in the family. All right, Stalin. I'll take it, sir. He's like waiting for a baby. One of the first three, Sergeant Stalin. That's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. All right, he takes it in. Go ahead. That's another friend of mine. He got what he wanted. What? Did they get to you yet? No, not yet. This is number 10 coming. Oh, there you are. Congratulations, Lieutenant. Oh, thanks. Now, let's see what the job is. Signed to 11th Division headquarters. That's plain clothes work. Oh, I, uh, I don't know what I wanted that. You've got it, though. Well, at least the job's near home. Congratulations, Lieutenant. Thanks, Captain. I'm, uh, sorry to leave this job. Really sorry. The teletype machine continued to pound out promotions and went through a list of 23 patrolmen made sergeants. One patrolman from the 21st, Glass, was made and transferred to the 44th. As is customary, both men were relieved of their duties for the rest of the day in order to secure the uniforms and insignia of their new rank in time for the swearing-in ceremonies. Late that afternoon, Lieutenant King told me they had located a girlfriend of the homicide suspect and were questioning her in the hope of learning the whereabouts of Joe Erridge. She insisted she had not seen him, but she gave the detectives the name of another friend, a man. A man was found at his work in Long Island City. He admitted knowing Joe Erridge and told the detectives the suspect had recently taken a room on East 63rd Street in the 21st precinct. The detectives located the house. It was 10 PM, not 24 hours after the homicide, when I met Lieutenant King on the street nearby in response to a call from him for assistance from the patrol force. Hello, man. Captain. Thanks for the men, Captain. We know this boy is in. The neighbors have heard him. I don't know what he's got up there. He lost a gun last night, but he might have another one. So we better get the street covered before we go up. Yeah, sure. Get set. OK. I've got men around in back and two went up to the roof of this building. They'll have the street covered. All right. Let's go. OK, Lieutenant. Captain. Thanks. Second floor front, Captain. Clang got made a lieutenant. Yes, sir, I heard. I hate to lose him. He's a good man. This is it. Who is it? We've got this. Open up. Get away from there. Open up. Get away. Stay away. All right, I'll kick it in. Get away. Stay away from me. There he goes. Don't fire, escape. Hold up there. Come on down, Joe. I'm on your way. Stay still, oldie. Stay right there. Come on down. Stay away. Get him, man. I'm on your way. You'll hit him. Come on. Yeah. He's down, all right. Joe. What do you want? What do you want from me? Where are you going? Where are you going? Where are you headed for? Inside. Right inside. What a deal. How'd I ever get into such a deal? Sergeant Collins. Yes, sir. Bring in the ambulance. Yes, sir. Don't pay. Just don't pay. Yeah, you're right. The only trouble is, you found it out a little late. Twenty-first precinct, Sergeant Collins. Who's missing? Is that your wife? What's your name? How do you spell that? I-N or A-N? Where is it you live? 502? What floor? Come on down. And so it goes, around the clock, through the week, every day, every year. A police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood miracle round. Anyone can catch the brass ring. The brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone. This precinct, transcribed in New York, a factual account of the way the police work in the world's largest city, is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, an organization of more than 20,000 members of the police department city of New York. Everett Sloan in the role of Captain Kennelly, Ken Lynch as Lieutenant King. Features in tonight's cast were Lawson Zerby, Jack Orison, Edgar Staley, Bob Dryden, Joe DeSantis, and Barbara Weeks. Written and directed by Stanley Miff. Produced by John Ives. Zerby speaking.
