Weekend Buff

Dragnet (1967-1970)

Dragnet! (1967-1970)

“Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” An iconic line. It is the opening to the TV show Dragnet (1967).

The introduction and the theme song are well known to every cop buff. Every week Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon would take on a new crime in the city of Los Angeles. Always professional, always on point, they went about their jobs in a stoic, proficient way. Dedicated and disciplined, the duo always got their man.

Jack Webb starred as Sergeant Joe Friday and Harry Morgan taking on the role of Officer Bill Gannon. I didn’t know it, but this was actually the third iteration of Dragnet. There was a long running radio show, and a TV show that ran from 1951-1958.

Webb created all three shows and later a made-for-TV movie. Webb was a lifelong police buff. He created Dragnet with the mission of showing cops in the best light possible. He often decried the poor treatment the cops got from politicians and the public. (He must be rolling over in his grave these days!)

Webb’s Joe Friday embodied the professionalism and dedication that he wished people saw in their cops. Friday was single, knowledgeable, and wholly dedicated to his work. “Just the facts ma’am” was not just a tag line for the character – it was his essence in the show. He and Bill Gannon tried to remain calm and impassive in the face of any obstacle – and just like real cop partners, they would reign each other in when emotion started getting the better of them.

Dragnet often took on the issues facing the rapidly changing society of the day – drug addicts, hippies, radical terrorism, and racism in addition to the more mundane cons, swindles, robberies, and burglaries. The show often portrayed the stress of policing both in the streets, but also with the hierarchy of the police department, which any cop will tell you can be worse than dealing with the horrors one witnesses on the job. Webb used his show as a vehicle for commentary on societal and police matters.

This is one that Hollywood got right. Webb knew lots of cops and paid attention to detail in every episode. Many of the stories were real. The LAPD jargon was real. The dedication shown by many cops was real. Of course, cops were not always as stoic as Joe Friday, and corruption and brutality existed, but this was the LAPD that good cops strived for.

Webb dedicated most of his career to helping cops. He even fought for stronger labor rights for LA’s Finest. And the cops appreciated it. When he died of a heart attack in 1982, the LAPD gave him a full inspector’s funeral and Chief Darryl Gates retired Joe Friday’s badge number 714. Flags across Los Angeles were flown at half-staff in a testament to his service to the city.

There were 103 episodes of this iteration of Dragnet. Each one runs about 25 minutes and wraps up a serious crime with a combination of good detective work and moral correctitude. You can catch the episodes on YouTube for free. If you are tired of watching Hollywood malign cops or seeing fantastical shows where the cops are cowboys rampaging through the streets, this is the show to watch. A dedicated police procedural with a pro-cop message.

“This is the city. I work here. I carry a badge.” It still kind of gives me chills.

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!