Highway Patrol

[Opening narration]

Narrator:
Whenever the laws of any state are broken, a duly authorized organization swings into action. It may be called the State Police, State Troopers, Militia, the Rangers... or the Highway Patrol. These are the stories of the men whose training, skill and courage have enforced and preserved our state laws.

[Repeated line]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Ten-four!

Chief Dan Mathews:
21-50 to headquarters!

Chief Dan Mathews:
It isn't the car that kills - it's the driver!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol is charged with many obligations and responsibilities, including the maintenance of law and order on public highways, the detection of crime and the arrest of criminals, the protection of life and property. An example of the fulfillment of this trust occurred on June 23rd, when a newly-married couple were camping in an isolated area of the Cheroka Mountains.

[Mrs. Karney, an amnesiac, has been brought to the place where Sergeant Walters first found her wandering near a mountain road, in the hope that she will lead the Patrol to her missing husband. She starts walking toward the other side of the road, and Sergeant Walters is about to stop her. Dan Mathews stops him]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Wait a minute. Where you goin'?

Sergeant Walters:
Well, I'm gonna stop her.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Why?

Sergeant Walters:
She's going the wrong way.

Chief Dan Mathews:
How do you know?

Sergeant Walters:
When I first saw her, she was coming from this side of the road.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I got a feelin' somebody's guiding her who knows more about this than we do. I'll follow 'er and find out.

[last lines]

Sergeant Walters:
How's Mrs. Karney?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, she's awright.

Sergeant Walters:
Well, are you gonna come with us, or are you gonna go back and check on the campsite?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, I'll go with you. Send some of the other men back to camp. I'm no woodsman. I don't want a searching party looking for me.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Distance is always a factor in law enforcement, something which is sharply pointed up by the scattered and seemingly endless areas which come under the jurisdiction of the Highway Patrol. With such a large area to cover, routine inspection tours are a necessity. On April twelfth, while making such a tour, the head of the Highway Patrol came upon a hitchhiker - not an ordinary hitchhiker, for this one was a doctor. He was also on a routine tour; no emergencies except a broken down car; just a series of house calls, apparently of a minor nature. But the father of the first patient feared otherwise.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Can I give you a lift, Doctor?

Dr. Leonard:
I'd sure appreciate it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
All right. Let's go. [the doctor and Mathews exit the Bells' house and walk towards Mathews' patrol vehicle]

Dr. Leonard:
Hey, let's watch out for the holes in the road this time, eh, Dan? [Mathews looks bemusedly at the doctor, and the doctor laughs slightly] Heh heh heh.

Tiny Elton:
10 seconds - you're digging this girl's grave!

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're digging your own grave - the bluff won't work! A stretch in the pen is better than the chair!

Tiny Elton:
Move that car, or she gets it!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Take a good look at the girl. If you kill her, that's exactly how you'll feel when they throw the switch!

Tiny Elton:
Move that car!!

Chief Dan Mathews:
You'll beg for mercy, but you'll still die!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies seldom encounter armored truck robberies. The armored trucks are traveling fortresses, and the precautious operating procedures used in the pickup and delivery of monies preclude any successful robberies. However, the trucks are tempting targets, and early last July, three criminals started an elaborate plan to rob truck number 15, which made a daily stop at the Shermart supermarket. Don Brueger, an ice cream vendor, also began making a daily stop at the market. After the first few days, his presence was accepted by the guards, and Brueger was able to observe the armored truck's security routine. The first phase of the criminals' plan was in operation. Two weeks later, Rusty Schilling arrived on the scene, an itinerant photographer. He, too, was inspected by the armored truck guards. But, as time passed, he, too, was accepted. Step two of the criminals' plan was in operation. By the middle of August, both men had become boringly familiar parts of the scenery. On August 20th, armored truck guard Bill Franklin was leaving for work, It was important to the criminals' plan that Franklin work as the inside guard on this date.

Ed Wells:
I don't like it. This was supposed to be a straight heist job and now we're up to our necks in murder.

George Mills:
The job you did for me, Eddie, was a masterpiece of unparalleled bungling! The two of you are fortunate to have any necks left at all. Now, if you're wise, you'll do as I tell you!

Carter Giles:
Really, Mr. Mathews, I can't conceive of anybody going to so low as to...

Chief Dan Mathews:
What? Steal or commit murder?

Carter Giles:
I can't conceive of it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mr. Giles, there's a mathematical formula. You take what you don't wanna believe - add it to what you haf'ta believe. You come up with amazing answers.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the functions of the Highway Patrol is the safeguarding of the billions of dollars worth of goods which are transported on the public highways. On March 29th, a crime was committed involving a vehicle which did not seem to be valuable: an ordinary, unmarked panel truck.

[last lines]

George Mills:
Mr. Mathews, you certainly don't intend to link a man in my position with this common gunman.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mr. Mills, judging from your position right now, it's gonna be easy, real easy. Awright, move.

Joe Tulley:
Frankie, please help me just one more time!

Frank Tulley:
If the cops don't find that car, they'll come back.

Joe Tulley:
Not for awhile, Frank. And by that time, there's not gonna be anything left.

Frank Tulley:
It's taking an awful chance.

Joe Tulley:
Frankie, nobody's ever gonna know! Please, Frankie! If that guy dies, they're gonna kill me!

Frank Tulley:
[glumly] He's already dead.

Mr. Larkin:
I knew him pretty well, Mr. Mathews. He'd never let anybody push him around.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I know. The morgue is full that type.

[first lines]

Narrator:
To law enforcement agencies, one of the most dangerous criminals is the unpredictable, armed beginner. Because he is always nervous, often frightened, his comparatively minor crimes frequently explode into crimes of major violence. Such an explosion occurred six weeks ago, when Joe Tulley, with his wife, Gloria, attempted what appeared to be a simple holdup of a service station.

[last lines]

Frank Tulley:
My brother. He's had that comin' for years.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Where you're going, you'll have plenty of time to explain that to 'im.

Red Hammond:
Got everything?

Sue Hammond:
Yeah. I'll feel a lot better when we're a long ways from this place. Do you know what it means if they pick us up?

Red Hammond:
Don't worry, honey. Any cop tries to pick us up's gotta shoot faster and straighter than I do!

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
All right, take beauty and the beast away.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The never-ending battle of wits between the criminal and the police officer invariably results in victory for law and order. But during the struggle, all too often, innocent people are the pathetic victim. On June 9th the Highway Patrol was called upon to halt just such a savage wave of murder and robbery.

Marge:
How come you've got an army gun?

Joe White:
I took it with me when I quit.

Marge:
You quit? Quit the army? Why didn't you let them fire you? Then you'd get severance pay.

Joe White:
Fire me? Yeah, they'd fire me all right. You know how they'd fire me? They'd kick me out with a medical discharge as a psycho! Psychotic, they'd call me. Too... too unstable, you know, not normal enough to be a real hero in a uniform. So sooner or later they'd kick me out with a slip of paper telling the whole world I'm not good enough for the army!

[first lines]

Narrator:
It takes a lot of dynamite to blast a hillside off the face of the Earth. But in order to begin construction on the state's new flood-basin project, the hill had to go. Highway Division engineers were assigned to handle the explosives, and the Highway Patrol was called out to set up rigid precautionary measures. Although the community had been alerted by radio, newspaper, and television announcements, it was the Patrol's job to make sure nobody was injured in the giant blast. But in this case, the human element was bound to be more deadly than the dynamite.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
It's all over, kid. Chopper's comin' back for us.

Joe White:
Hey, you don't... you don't need that gun, I'm not gonna run away. [the chopper lands] Oh, and tell Marge, tell her I'm all through running away.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I know. And I'm gonna make sure of it.

Ray:
[pointing a switchblade to Joe Mason's face] "Walk, or bleed."

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the meanest crimes encountered by police agencies in their day-to-day enforcement of the law is that of the protection racket. Earlier this year, the Highway Patrol ran into a variation of this racket. Not the usual kind, but one in which men were forced to pay dearly, week after week, in order to keep their jobs, or face the consequences, as did Mike Richards.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Now, let me have that again, Doc.

Dr. Ronald Kincaid:
Mrs. Hoffman just told me. The child was choking, and a sailor got him to breathing again. To do it, he breathed in the baby's mouth.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well - go on, go on, go on!

Dr. Ronald Kincaid:
I'm almost sure the child has epidemic meningitis! It's highly contagious. I've just inoculated Mrs. Hoffman

Chief Dan Mathews:
You say the sailor breathed in the kid's mouth. Where's the sailor now?

Dr. Ronald Kincaid:
Mrs. Hoffman doesn't know. She doesn't even know his name.

Chief Dan Mathews:
C'mon, Doc - tick it off for me fast!

Dr. Ronald Kincaid:
Well, the sailor drove up for gas, he saw the trouble and he got the child breathing again. Then, he drove off without even giving his name.

Chief Dan Mathews:
What are his chances?

Dr. Ronald Kincaid:
Unless he receives inoculation within a matter of hours, he has no chance at all!

Chief Dan Mathews:
It isn't the car that kills. It's the driver!

Chief Dan Mathews:
[picking up Leroy's cowboy hat] Looks like a home run.

Virgil Ferrest:
That jerk! He forgot his hat a...

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'll call it in [to headquarters] as closed!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The United States has more automobiles per capita than any other nation in the world. It also has more automobile thefts. To combat this situation, our law enforcement agencies are ever busy, applying new and improved methods of crime detection. But the criminal, too, has also applied himself to devising new and improved methods. On the surface, there was nothing suspicious in the visit of Le Roy Edwards to a wrecking yard, nor in the fact that he wished to purchase a car.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The foremost concerns of every officer of the Highway Patrol are constant surveillance and caution. A single second of carelessness can well mean failure in his duty, and possibly the loss of his life. On June 10th of last year, Highway Patrol Officer Ben Willkie committed just such an act of carelessness.

[last lines]

[Buck Lester and his wife have been arrested. Buck lies on the ground, wounded. Dan Mathews finds stolen cash in their car]

Dan Mathews:
[hands the cash to Officer Larrabee] Well, take a look at that. [to the Lesters] Big spenders, aren't you.

Mrs. Lester:
[to her husband] Thought you said you had everything figured out.

Dan Mathews:
Remember that complaint you made, or you were gonna make, against one of our officers - number was twelve forty? The one you thought you killed? Well, he's alive. And now you got a real complaint. [He hands the found cash to Officer Larrabee] Here. [to the Lesters] You're gonna spend fifty years in the pen. Maybe on visiting days he might come up to see ya. [to Mrs. Lester] Awright, let's go. Move.

[last lines]

[Buck Lester and his wife have been arrested. Buck lies on the ground, wounded. Dan Mathews finds stolen cash in their car]

Dan Mathews:
[hands the cash to Officer Larrabee] Well, take a look at that. [to the Lesters] Big spenders, aren't you.

Officer Ben Willkie:
[to her husband] Thought you said you had everything figured out.

Dan Mathews:
Remember that complaint you made, or you were gonna make, against one of our officers - number was twelve forty? The one you thought you killed? Well, he's alive. And now you got a real complaint. [He hands the found cash to Officer Larrabee] Here. [to the Lesters] You're gonna spend fifty years in the pen. Maybe on visiting days he might come up to see ya. [to Mrs. Lester] Awright, let's go. Move.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Reckless driving doesn't determine who's right - only who's left!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In crime prevention, the work of law enforcement agencies is often hampered by the lack of one seemingly unimportant bit of information that could mean the difference between success or failure in apprehending the lawbreaker. Store owner Cliff Parker had neglected to report one small fact to the Highway Patrol, a fact he thought to be insignificant. On April tenth at exactly seven a.m., as he prepared to open his market for the day, this oversight brought him face to face with a criminal.

[last lines]

[Sam Cowley and his wife have been taken into custody. Dan Mathews pulls out of his pocket a mask that Cowley had worn in a series of grocery store robberies]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Crowley] When you get some time, put it back on. I think you'd look better in it.

(Narrator):
One day before Christmas. But no carols were being sung at the Brentwood Motel. For Julie Spaeth was still missing, and so far only one clue had been found. A child's handkerchief, trimmed with fairy tale decorations and blood. The Patrol car took the handkerchief to the crime lab to be analyzed. At Highway Patrol headquarters, the missing girl's father was being held for questioning

[first lines]

(Narrator):
Christmas time. The holiday season. A time of merry confusion and festive excitement, long shopping lines, and short tempers. Stores are crowded. Offices close early. Highways become congested with drivers on shopping sprees and families traveling to be with friends and relations. This Christmas, like any Christmas, the Highway Patrol went to extra lengths to curb traffic accidents and prevent holiday tragedies. But, unfortunately, all tragedies cannot be prevented with traffic controls.

[last lines]

Santa Claus:
How'd that sound, huh?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh that was fine. C'mon, get in. I'll drive you back to town.

Santa Claus:
No thanks. I've got my own means of transportation.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The day-by-day job of law enforcement agencies is the protection of the public and crime prevention. But on those occasions when trouble does flare up, they must meet violence with violence, gunfire with gunfire. Such a flareup took place last May eighth, in the small town of Marionville. As a gunfight was taking place on West Marion Avenue in the industrial section, a secretary, hearing the shots, called the Highway Patrol.

[last lines]

[Chief Mathews retrieves from his patrol car a package with stolen money]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mrs. Jordan, do you mind if I open this?

Gloria Jordan:
Yes, I do mind. That's federal mail.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, it is? Let's go talk to the postal inspector. [Sergeant Williams opens the passenger's door of the patrol car and places Mrs. Jordan in the back seat. As he gets into the back seat through the driver's door, Chief Mathews admonishes him] Oh, Williams, you're out of uniform.

Mattie:
Paul, you're not gonna go on with this racket?

Paul Gayle:
Of course! Look, this is a good racket. The investors are really comin' to me now!

Mattie:
But how long are you gonna be able to give them a hundred percent on their investments?

Paul Gayle:
As long a new suckers keep givin' me money to pay the others off! When we get a couple of hundred grand, we'll pull out and leave the state!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In protecting the community against crime, one of the most hazardous assignments law enforcement agencies are called upon to carry out is the capture of an escaped convict, because the convicted criminal at large is often incorrigible, always desperate. In this case, convict Niles Brandon killed a guard and escaped from the state penitentiary. In 12 hours he had stolen a car, armed himself, and traveled more than 200 miles. But 200 miles was not enough to ensure his desperate bid for freedom. He knew, as well as anyone, the efficiency of the Highway Patrol, that his trail had probably already been picked up. He was now close to the one person who could help cover his trail and complete his escape - his wife.

Niles Brandon:
[calling his wife from a phone booth] Don't act surprised, baby. You must have read about me in the papers. Now look. You be at the restaurant in the park with a change of clothes for me, like I toldja. Come alone, babe. Don't be late. [Brandon hangs up and his wife starts crying]

Narrator:
As Niles Brandon completed his first contact, with his wife, the Highway Patrol was picking up the pieces of his trail.

[last lines]

[Niles Brandon has just been killed in a gunfight. Dan Mathews returns to the car in which Mrs. Brandon is waiting]

Betty Brandon:
Is he dead?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yes, I'm sorry to say. He is.

Betty Brandon:
I don't know why I'm crying. He... He was so bad.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're crying for what might have been. When you feel better, you'll know this was the only finish. Slide over. I'll drive you home.

Howard Silver:
I had a decent business that I worked years to build up. It's gone. I was married to the finest woman that ever lived. She's gone. I had a beautiful home. It's gone! And my daughter has lost every chance for happiness. All this, because a man lied! Because one man couldn't be honest with himself and the rest of the world. That's why I'm going to find Jerry Reynolds. And when I do, I'll kill him!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Protection and vindication of the innocent is as important to the peace officer as is the apprehension and punishment of the guilty. On August fourth of last year, the boastful wanderings of a twisted criminal mind created an unusual situation for the Highway Patrol.

[last lines]

Jerry Reynolds:
Mr. Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Uh, what?

Jerry Reynolds:
Been quite a trip and you saved my life, and I wanted to tell you how grateful I am. But can I pull out now? I'm way behind schedule.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You sure can if I can have my 23 cents back.

Jerry Reynolds:
[counts out 23 cents and gives the coins to Mathews] My life is certainly worth more than that.

Chief Dan Mathews:
It wasn't a few minutes ago.

Jerry Reynolds:
You're so right.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[speaking to Sgt. Williams] You know, this is the first time in my life I've ever been shot at with my own gun.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the endless battle against crime, law enforcement agencies are sometimes called upon to apprehend a particularly elusive type of criminal, such as the professional check forger. The thief with a pen has one unique advantage over the thief with a gun. A worthless check is like a bomb with a delayed-action fuse. By the time the damage is discovered, the criminal is miles away. The passer of forged checks is not necessarily a glib, well-dressed con artist. In a manufacturing area, he may look like any honest factory worker. Or the forger may appear to be an average housewife, presenting her husband's paycheck to a neighborhood merchant. Late in May, the Highway Patrol became aware that a ring of highly-skilled check forgers was operating in the state. Their targets were manufacturing plants employing large numbers of workers in semiskilled capacities.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[on the telephone] Four firms have been victims in the past two months, including yours. These crooks are experts. But look, they're human. They gotta make mistakes someplace. We're gonna send the checks to our lab for the full treatment. I'll let you know.

Narrator:
Highway Patrol laboratory technicians subjected the forged checks to careful examination. The printing was identified as to type style, and paper stock analyzed by experts.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews and Officer Johnson have just arrested two men suspected of printing and passing counterfeit business checks. Mathews reaches into the inside jacket pocket of one suspect and pulls out an envelope]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Payroll checks. All set for your next job, huh?

Scovill:
Ain't a crime to print checks. In the jargon of the trade, we call them samples.

Chief Dan Mathews:
My trade we call it evidence. Awright, c'mon move.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Nowhere is the endless war between the criminal and the peace officer brought more sharply into focus than on the highways of the nation. Here, the men of the Highway Patrol work around the clock protecting the lives and property of our citizens. Last September, the law enforcement agencies of ten states were on the lookout for two unknown criminals who operated solely along the highways. Their crimes always started at service stations.

[last lines]

[Officer Dennis has killed a suspect, using a high-powered rifle]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, thanks. That's one I owe you.

Chief Dan Mathews:
If you care to drive - drive with care!

[final line]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Guns can be awful dangerous.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the major duties of law enforcement agencies such as the Highway Patrol is the prevention of any sort of panic which might jeopardize the safety of public citizens. While making a friendly call last year in May, the head of the Highway Patrol unexpectedly and unknowingly encountered a new type of killer - one just as deadly dangerous as any gun-toting criminal.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Come on - I've got a reservation for you.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the most dangerous and serious of criminal offenses against society is the illicit traffic of narcotics. Law enforcement agencies wage a constant and relentless fight against the people involved in its distribution and use. And the violators of the narcotics laws consistently devise new methods to avoid detection and continue their illegal trade. In April of last year, Dan Mathews, head of the Highway Patrol arrived at Aspen Lake Lodge for a long-awaited vacation, only to find himself involved in a large-scale narcotics operation.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Foster reported the accident. He said he was out deer hunting, heard a noise in the thicket and he fired. He thought your father was quite a distance away.

Phyllis Chadwick:
I... I can't believe it! What was my father doing out there?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, he'd gone for a walk with Foster. Foster had his rifle with him.

Phyllis Chadwick:
My father never went hunting in his life! He wouldn't even go around with anyone who carried a gun! He couldn't bear to see any living thing killed.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol deals chiefly with events that fall into two main categories: crimes and accidents. In most cases, the distinction is clear cut. In a few instances, however, pure chance or the cleverness of a criminal may mask the true character of a tragedy. Early on the morning of September eighteenth, William Foster drove to a mountain cabin, where his senior partner, Thomas Corbin, was recuperating from a long illness.

[last lines]

William Foster:
Well, what is it now, Mr. Mathews?

Chief Dan Mathews:
We wanna ask you some more questions.

William Foster:
I promised to cooperate, but honestly, this continued harassment... Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you understand I... I've been under quite a strain.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, sure. We know.

William Foster:
I came up to pick up some business correspondence and some records.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Do you mind givin' 'em to us?

William Foster:
Oh, really they're of no significance to anyone outside the firm. They're merely records I didn't want anything to happen to.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, we'll make sure nothin' happens to 'em.

William Foster:
All right, then. They're in the front seat. After all, I won't be needing them immediately. Well, is that all, Mr. Mathews? I mean, I'd like to get back to the city before dark.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yea, sure. You'll make it, and don't worry about the four grand you carry.

William Foster:
What are you talking about?

Chief Dan Mathews:
We're trying to figure out how Corbin coulda walked through the mud and kept his shoes clean.

[Foster tries to grab the gun in his jacket pocket, but he is disarmed by Mathews and taken into custody]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Leave blood at the Red Cross - not on the highway!

[last lines]

[Two murder suspects have been apprehended on a highway. Suspect Larry Gardner is being searched by Officer Dorsey]

Larry Gardner:
I've never used a gun. [He gestures toward his partner] He shot Allard.

Chief Dan Mathews:
He pulled the trigger, you mean.

[Officer Dorsey handcuffs both suspects]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, move.

[Suspects are placed in Dan Mathews' patrol car for transport]

[first lines]

Narrator:
The well-equipped car is the primary means by which the Highway Patrol achieves high-speed mobility in order to combat organized crime. A patrolman would no more abandon his car than his gun. And yet, on July 22nd, a migrant worker, proceeding along Highway 15, came upon a patrol car - engine running, keys in the ignition lock, but empty. The citizen hurried to telephone his strange discovery to Highway Patrol headquarters.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Each year, some two million people are arrested on charges ranging from vagrancy to murder; and of these two million, more than fifty percent are found guilty. The Highway Patrol is proud of its record in bringing to justice those who break the law. One Thursday in June, the Highway Patrol ran into one of its most baffling cases: a brutal murder, seemingly without plan or purpose; one whose victim's wallet carried only a single card of identification, curiously designating Henry LaFavre, no relation, to be notified in case of emergency. The Highway Patrol found Robert Wilson in a motel room far distant from his home, and sent for Henry LaFavre in the hope that he could bring some sense to a seemingly wanton killing.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Alert all units about missing girl. Age 10. Blonde hair. Name - Susan Haskell. Last seen wearing a blue skirt and a gray sweater. Use caution - she's being held as a hostage. 10-4?

Dispatcher:
10-4.

Chief Dan Mathews:
If anything happens to that kid! [shakes head grimly]

[first lines]

Narrator:
The safety and protection of those innocently caught up in the activities of criminals is as important to the law enforcement officer as is the capture and punishment of those criminals. On September 9th last year, what started out as another robbery of a store created a unique and dangerous situation for the Highway Patrol.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Susie Haskell] I'm going over and talk to your father. Do you wanna go with me?

[Susie nods. She gets into the front passenger seat of his patrol car, and Mathews goes around the front of the car as the scene fades to black]

[first lines]

Narrator:
American communities, large and small, are bound together by more than three million miles of roads and highways. It is the responsibility of the Highway Patrol to safeguard the rights of citizens to free, safe, and unrestricted use of these millions of miles of thoroughfares. To most Americans, the highways lead to jobs, to vacation spots, or to families and homes. To a very few like Stan Warren, a highway is not a means of approach - it is an avenue of escape.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm Mathews, Highway Patrol. Thanks so much for your cooperation. You've been very kind.

Truck Driver:
Glad to have helped.

[last lines]

Doc Taylor:
You know everything now, Mr. Mathews. I ask you, did we do wrong?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, you broke the law. There's gonna have to be a hearing. But the laws are made and administered by people like yourselves. They're human beings.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Much of a law enforcement officer's work is routine. On August 18th, the head of the Highway Patrol was making an ordinary inspection tour of outlying patrol stations. But the atmosphere in the isolated community of Larchmont was anything but ordinary.

Dr. Feuer:
From the hospital's standpoint, they couldn't have picked a worse room!

Chief Dan Mathews:
What do you mean?

Dr. Feuer:
Well, it's called the boiler room, but actually it's much more than that. It controls not only heat and water, but the ventilating system and all our entire electrical power. They can cut off the oxygen tents, incubators. Why, they can do a disastrous amount of damage from that room if they discover it!

Chief Dan Mathews:
They'll discover it!

(Narrator):
The erratic method of the amateur hoodlum is a serious problem to all law enforcement agencies. They have no dread so great as the amateur with a gun, coupled with a lack of knowledge that goes with it. For this combination can be a sure mixture for death.

(Narrator):
Crime is an everlating enemy. Like a disease, one never knows when it will strike or who its victims will be. It can only be controlled by the constant vigil of law enforcement.

[first lines]

Narrator:
To a man in a penitentiary, freedom is something for which he'll pay any price. A clever and ingenious attempt to free Bill Rinker, serving a life term at the State Penitentiary, took place on June 14th.

[last lines]

Joe:
Had enough flying for the day?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Not the flying that gets me. It's playing tag, especially when they're trying to make you "it".

[first lines]

Narrator:
Among the many duties of the Highway Patrol is that of protecting the delivery of money. Money is delivered in many ways - sometimes by armored car, sometimes by armed and bonded messenger. On July ninth, Henry Wigram, an employee of the Bonded Messenger Service, carrying a payroll of twenty thousand dollars, started on his way from the bank to the Western Boiler plant at Danville.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
What'dja come back for?

John Grolier:
Was a double cross all around. He didn't have it, neither did she.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You won't need it.

Sergeant Walters:
I answered the call at the Maple Leaf Motel. I wasn't needed. Headquarters sent me down here. I brought her knitting.

[Walters hands the bundle of knitting to Mathews. Mathews checks the knitting and pulls out the stack of stolen money that Grolier had searched for]

Chief Dan Mathews:
She knitted real good, didn't she? Awright, take him away.

Lieutenant Piersall:
I've been on the force for 25 years. The one nightmare I've always had was sending an innocent man to jail.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I know how you feel. But look at it this way - It's your job to find evidence, the D.A.'s to build a case, the jury to bring in a verdict, and the judge to pass sentence.

Lieutenant Piersall:
It was my evidence that built the case. Every time Thornton yelled that he was innocent, we yelled back that he was a liar. We called him "The Brain" because we could never collect the rest of the securities and the money. But now I don't know any more.

Chief Dan Mathews:
We're gonna have to find Sylvester before Thornton really becomes a murderer. C'mon!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the field of law enforcement, there are many instances in which more than one agency is needed to protect the public against a specific criminal. Thirteen years ago, Tom Thornton was convicted, in another state, of the murder of his partner, Harold Sylvester, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The motive was robbery. More than half a million dollars in cash and securities was taken from the safe and never recovered. Ten days ago, with time off for good behavior, Tom Thornton was released.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Sergeant Garvey] Help Piersall.

[first lines]

(Narrator):
In its day-to-day job of enforcing the law, the Highway Patrol has come to know many types of lawbreakers, their methods, and habits. But some fit no previous pattern. This girl - an efficient secretary, hardworking, thorough, and loyal. For five years, she has held her daily job with the Colton Valley Farmers' Co-Operative. Doris Mauldin does not look like a criminal, nor has she ever been one. Until today.

[last lines]

Doris Mauldin:
How did you do it, Mr. Mathews?

[Mathews wipes a small amount of the powder on the back of Mauldin's dress]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Your boyfriend's got long arms, just like the law. Awright.

[first lines]

Narrator:
A missing person may be tracked down because his personal history and habits are known. But when he has no predictable habits, the problem is difficult, and becomes dangerous when those unpredictable habits are mixed with uncontrollable homicidal tendencies. Haldor Mattern, an ordinary-appearing man with extraordinarily strong hands, was such a person. [Mattern is shown walking in a wooded area. He backs into a one-inch-thick tree branch and is visibly upset. In a show of strength, he snaps the branch] The search for missing persons is a police function which the Highway Patrol is uniquely equipped to perform, by reason of its mobility and widespread jurisdiction.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews approaches from behind the parked car with Haldor Mattern in the driver's seat and Eileen Haley in the passenger's seat. The driver's window is open. Mattern is slowly strangling Haley with his right hand around the back of her neck. Mathews steps on some leaves and twigs, and Mattern turns his head toward the sound]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well hello there.

Haldor Mattern:
Hello.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Wait a minute. Your face is very familiar.

Haldor Mattern:
Well, that's possible. I... I'm not unknown. Do you ever go to concerts?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Violin recitals?

Haldor Mattern:
Yes. Carnegie Hall?

Chief Dan Mathews:
The violin virtuoso. You couldn't be. [Mathews opens the car door and extends his hand. Mattern removes his hand from Eileen Haley's neck, exits the vehicle, and shakes hands with Mathews] Believe me, sir, this is an honor.

Haldor Mattern:
Oh, you do remember my last concert at Carnegie Hall?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'll never forget it.

Haldor Mattern:
Then would you do me a favor? - a great favor. Would you come back with me? There's a certain person I want you to tell that I did play there. He won't believe me, but he *will* believe you. Would you come?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, sure. Where is it?

Haldor Mattern:
Riverhead Hospital. You see, I hurt my hand. They're trying to cure it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
How's the other one.

Haldor Mattern:
Oh, it's all right. As good as ever. All I want for is to have you vouch for me, just to tell them that I did play there.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yea, sure. We'll go right away. [He turns to Eileen Haley] Mrs. Haley, you stay here. [to Mattern] C'mon, let's take my car.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Milan] We can't stop a guy from being murdered if we don't know who he is, can we?

[first lines]

Narrator:
Telephone communications keep the Highway Patrol in constant touch with its field of activity. Incoming calls concern violations of traffic laws, accidents on the highway, fugitives at large. On the morning of September ninth, still another kind of call was received - an anonymous one.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mr. Powers, we're gonna need you for information. I'd advise you to continue to cooperate.

[first lines]

Narrator:
A constant problem faced by the Highway Patrol is in the enforcement of law in the more desolate, rural regions, where the occasional communities are not large enough to require the services of full-time peace officers. It was in such a section, on the morning of the 18th of August, that the Highway Patrol encountered one of its most cold-blooded cases of murder.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
I told you not to be a hero. You coulda gotten your head blown off.

Al Baldwin:
I couldn't help it. When I saw her shovin' that gun at Kathy I... I guess I kinda lost my head.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mrs. Baldwin, You got a good guy here. Hang on to 'im.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Leave your blood at the Red Cross, or your Community Blood Bank - not on the highway!

[first lines]

Narrator:
There is no criminal more potentially dangerous than the one who commits a crime out of a desire for revenge. On the 23rd of March, a letter delivered to the home of Larry and Peggy Fulton triggered a revenge crime that was to involve Dan Mathews and the Highway Patrol in one of its most harrowing cases.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
For a second there, I didn't think he was gonna stop.

Policewoman Eleanor Scott:
I didn't either. But you're the one that took the chance, Mr. Mathews. If he'd seen you a second before you grabbed him...

Chief Dan Mathews:
You know, I think it's gonna rain.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[on the telephone] Did you see the woman hit the guy with the pistol?

Motel Manager:
[in a phone booth] Yes. He went down like a sack of flour.

Chief Dan Mathews:
It isn't the car that kills, it's the driver!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Modern communication systems and swift methods of investigation employed by the Highway Patrol make armed robbery a risky, unprofitable undertaking for the average criminal. Within minutes, escape routes can be effectively covered by patrol units. However, early in March, Lorna and George Roker, along with Ed Beal, introduced a daring modus operandi in armed robbery. By impersonating a patrolman, the trio was able to deceive victims and delay investigation and pursuit by the Highway Patrol, giving them an advantage of several hours for their getaway. Shortly before noon on March tenth, they prepared for their next strike. In accordance with the plan, Lorna Roker had entered the loan company posing as a customer, while George Roker carefully checked the outside activity.

Jimmy Withers:
I think we're wasting our time.

Sam:
We'll waste a lot more time in prison if he puts the finger on us.

Jimmy Withers:
Not much time, Sam. They'll give us the works for knocking off that watchman.

Sam:
No two ways about it - we gotta get this guy. Killin' him is the only way we can get in the clear!

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the most important elements in the investigation of a crime is to know whether the criminal is a professional or an amateur. The amateur presents the greatest problem, because he doesn't follow a set pattern, but presents a strange and unintelligible M.O. One Sunday last March, an amateur planned to burglarize a warehouse. His method was crude and direct. But in the execution of his robbery, he ran into unexpected problems, brought about by a one-in-a-million chance coincidence.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I've been in spots before, but I wouldn't give this one to a leopard.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Jim Rogers] Hey look. If the judge gives you a break, we'll see what we can do about getting you a job.

Peg Rogers:
Jim, are you all right?

[Mr. And Mrs. Rogers hug each other]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Seeing as you delivered the killers personally, why don't you take this? [He hands Mrs. Rogers a twenty-dollar bill] It'll hold you for a little while. [to Jim Rogers] But you gotta come with us. [to Sergeant Williams as they walk toward the Rogers' house] How about twenty till next payday.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You been here all morning?

Myra Davis:
That's right - all morning.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You mind if I look around?

Myra Davis:
You got a search warrant?

Chief Dan Mathews:
You want me to send for one?!

Myra Davis:
No, go ahead. If you look around now, I'll get rid of you that much sooner!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The police are sworn to uphold and enforce the law. But frequently, the law itself makes work for the police. On April 27th, a prisoner serving a life term in the state penitentiary was called as a witness in the trial of The State versus Eddie Flanagan. It took a simple court injunction to release him from the penitentiary. The prisoner, Lee Davis, had a wife and son. They had arranged for him to be called as a witness through Eddie Flanagan, the criminal on trial. Purpose - to free Lee Davis.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Myra Davis] You're a smart girl. Too bad. You coulda had a nice family, too.

Charles Elliot:
What are you trying to do, turn my own son against me?

Chief Dan Mathews:
You've already done that, Mr. Elliot! I've been on the Patrol a long time. I've seen evil and ugly things. But it's the first time I've seen a father allow his son to go to trial for crimes that he committed!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Every traffic violator has his own personal excuse for breaking the law, but the Highway Patrol is trained to recognize the difference between excuses and reasons. Usually the reasons involve lack of judgment, carelessness. But on October ninth, Officer Len Dorsey spotted a driver exceeding the speed limit for another reason: fear motivated by guilt.

[last lines]

Grant Elliot:
I... I don't know what to do, Mr. Mathews. He's still my father.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I know. You remembered it, but he didn't. But you're young. [looks toward father] He's young, and when it's all straightened out, he'll have learned something. [looks back toward son] C'mon kid, we'll go visit your aunt. [Mathews and Grant exit the room. Sargent Betts takes the father into custody]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Tobin - come out with your hands up!

Keith Tobin:
Come and get me! [hunkers behind car and aims gun at Dan and Officer Dennis]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Tobin - don't shoot! Your little girl's in the trunk of your car!

Keith Tobin:
You're lying - it's a trap!

Chief Dan Mathews:
I give you my word - we'll hold our fire! But get her out of there!!

Keith Tobin:
Debbie - are you there?!

Debbie Tobin:
Daddy, daddy, I'm here!!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Although any breach of law and order is the subject of immediate and vigorous action on the part of the Highway Patrol, a special target of any law enforcement agency is the criminal who has escaped detection over a long period of time. Such a case occurred on September 9th, when a holdup by a man identified only as "the polka-dot bandit" climaxed a series of unsolved crimes. After four weeks of intensive investigation, there was still no clue to the elusive criminal.

[last lines]

[Keith Tobin lifts his daughter from the trunk of his car. Dan Mathews then lifts her from Tobin's arms, and he is searched and handcuffed]

Debbie Tobin:
What are you doing to my daddy? It was just a game. I was playing bandit, and Daddy taught me to hide in the car when I saw you drive up the first time, so I wouldn't get caught. Daddy, tell them it was only a game.

Keith Tobin:
[to Mathews] Please, can we go now?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Take 'im away.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Try to *be* as good a driver as you *think* you are!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies are frequently helped in the apprehension of criminals by the method of operation used in committing the crime. Smart criminals attempt to counteract this intelligence by avoiding a set pattern of activity or by engaging in a confusing pattern. Such an operation was encountered by the Highway Patrol in March of this year. The criminals trapped the victims by posing as hitchhikers. Two of theme were attractive females, completely opposite in physical appearance and mannerisms. However, they were alike in one respect: Both knew how to use a gun.

[last lines]

[a blonde female suspect emerges from a clothes closet and is arrested by Dan Mathews, who was hiding behind the closet door]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, get over there. Let me have that bag. I imagine we'll find that the bullet from this gun killed Houston. [as Mathews reaches into the woman's handbag, she asks him:]

The Blonde:
How did you know I was in there?

Chief Dan Mathews:
[Mathews has pulled a small perfume bottle out of the handbag] Your perfume. What you use to trap your victims trapped you. All right, turn around. Put your hands behind your back. [He handcuffs her] Okay, go ahead.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Among the most dangerous and unpredictable criminals with which law enforcement agencies must contend is the arsonist. His senseless and destructive crimes result in a staggering loss of life, property, and national resources. On August 15th, the Highway Patrol was asked to cooperate in an effort to apprehend a dangerous arsonist.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You all right?

Claude Norpell:
I... I... I guess so. He wanted to burn down the barn and me with it. Why?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I dunno. Maybe a doctor can come up with the right answer.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The enforcement of the traffic laws is one of the major functions of the Highway Patrol. Despite constant vigilance, recklessness and speed bring their daily toll of life and property. On May first, two men were speeding to a resort area. They were dressed like fishermen, they looked like fishermen. But they were different from most fishermen.

[last lines]

[Chief Mathews asks the cooperation of Gil Martin and his friend Joe in the investigation of a robbery and an automobile crash]

Chief Dan Mathews:
That's beautiful equipment you've got there. New, too.

Gil Martin:
Okay, Joe. Put the stuff away. And get rid of the bait.

Sergeant Johnson:
I'll help you. [Joe opens a fisherman's creel and reaches for a revolver inside it. Sgt. Johnson grabs the gun out of Joe's hand, and Mathews draws his weapon] Hold it, sir. [Johnson then searches the two men]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Sgt. Johnson] Get on the radio to headquarters. Tell 'em to get a warrant out here so I can search the cabin. [to the suspects] Unless you guys wanna tell us where the money is.

Joe:
[exasperated] You hadda hang around here to fish.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Okay, take 'em out. [Sgt. Johnson leads the suspects to the patrol car] Not a bad catch for this early in the season.

Lyle Bates:
Chet's gun had no ammunition, Mary, Chet's gun was harmless! What happened over there was done by...by a violent, irresponsible boy with no background, no home! A vicious brat so jealous of decent people he had to get even!

Officer Dennis (Dispatcher):
Witness reports just in on that hit and run. We're running a check right now on license and car. Got a complete description. License number 2B683. Four-door gray sedan.

Sergeant Ken Williams:
Hey, that can't be right!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Why not?

Sergeant Ken Williams:
Well, that's MY car and MY license number!

Chief Dan Mathews:
[pause] Ken, pull up a chair and sit down!

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews has arrested Peter Norton]

Jennifer Stone:
Where's my husband?

Chief Dan Mathews:
At the police station, where you shoulda come in the first place.

Jennifer Stone:
But we were so afraid. That other man said he'd kill us, and we believed him!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Next time, believe *us*. [to Peter Norton] Come on, move. [motions to Jennifer Stone] C'mon.

Motel Manager:
[to Dan Mathews] Single or double? Judging by the size of you, you can use a double yourself!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The problem of law and order is not the private concern of the man wearing the badge. In its never-ending war against crime, the Highway Patrol, like every law enforcement agency, needs the cooperation and support of all the citizens. On Thursday morning, while on a cross-country honeymoon trip, Mr. And Mrs. Carl Stone stopped at a diner and became involved in murder.

Al Sandy:
Sheriff, good evening. Is this an official visit?

Sheriff Bishop:
Pronounced "raid".

Ollie Dyer:
You worried?

Al Sandy:
Plenty worried. I think it might be a good idea to close down for a couple of weeks... just operate the restaurant.

Ollie Dyer:
It will cost a lot of money.

Al Sandy:
So do lawyers.

Al Sandy:
Barney is a sterling young officer and a twenty-carat nuisance, but we can live him. This raid tonight was Highway Patrol!

Chief Dan Mathews:
What'll you buys bet the door is still there and workin'?

Sheriff Bishop:
Well, I never gamble, Dan - not when I'm betting against a sure thing.

[Dan forces the manager into the casino where the police raid is taking place]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Shall we go inside and see if I can find a little action?

[Sergeant Corey has just served as the inside man for the raid of Dyer's illegal casino]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Nice goin', Sergeant.

Ollie Dyer:
Sergeant!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't take it personally. You can't win 'em all.

Ollie Dyer:
We'll open again - that's a promise!

Chief Dan Mathews:
And we'll close you again. That's a promise, too.

[last lines]

[Sheriff Bishop snaps handcuffs on Sandy's wrists]

Al Sandy:
Is this necessary, Sheriff? After all, we're not criminals.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're so wrong.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies must constantly uphold all state laws. When an open violation occurs, with the community's tolerance, the operation eventually becomes bigger and more dangerous, with additional vices. When the Club Bahamas opened a gambling casino against the state law, the law enforcement agencies moved rapidly to close it, a move that called for extraordinary measures.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies are constantly alert for signs of illegal gambling, because such operations not only bilk the public of huge amounts of money each year, but are the breeding ground for racketeering and lawlessness, that lead inevitably to major crimes of violence. In May of last year, an illegal gambling room opened with a small restaurant as a front. Within a week, the operation had attracted racketeer Jim Garrett, who immediately planned to take over.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Jim Garrett and Ed Peterson] You're both under arrest, for murder and attempted murder. [to Gil Durbin] Thanks to you.

Gil Durbin:
Ah, Mr. Mathews, that money - I don't want it. It was a bad gamble. What'll I do with it?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, we'll leave that up to the courts. That kind of money is illegal in this state, and at the moment, so are you.

Gil Durbin:
Me? Well, what do we do now?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, after what you did for us, I think you'll find a friendly judge. Come on.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Leave your blood at the Red Cross - not on the highway!

Chief Dan Mathews:
The clowns at the circus, they're real funny. But on the highway, they're murder!

[first lines]

Narrator:
For the most part, the wild, the reckless, the foolish driver is encountered on the road after sundown. But occasionally the Highway Patrol meets up with one in broad daylight. And sometimes, upon apprehending a reckless driver, the Patrol finds more than it bargained for.

[last lines]

[after stopping a suspect speeding in a stolen car, Dan Mathews walks to the driver's door]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, Mrs. Douglas, it's nice to see you again. Let me see your makeup kit, will you. [She hands over the makeup case. Mathews opens it, discovers that it is full of stolen money, and closes it] Awright. Come on. Let's go. [Mathews escorts Mrs. Douglas to his patrol car]

[first lines]

Narrator:
The average citizen in America, wherever he lives, does not expect to be robbed or assaulted or victimized. And the average criminal, although his chief weapon is surprise, usually does the expected after his crime. Usually he is quickly caught. Occasionally a criminal does the unexpected.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews has just received word by police radio that suspect Miles Lorber has been captured by the Coast Guard]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Tell the Coast Guard commander at Greenport I'll proceed there immediately.

Officer Hansen:
Great day for the beach.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah... yeah, it sure is. You know, I envy those kids. I hope they find something. Let's go.

Flo Durfee:
They'll be back. Once they've checked out the other spots, they'll be back here with a fine-tooth comb. [Takes revolver from drawer] And I am gonna have Gene all ready for 'em!

Ben Durfee:
I still wish we didn't have to kill him.

Flo Durfee:
Self-defense, Ben. We're gonna be heroes. Who knows - we may even get a reward!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In its day-to-day job of enforcing the law, the Highway Patrol encounters every type of crime and criminal - some clever, some very ordinary. Sometimes it's the most ordinary crime that becomes the most difficult to solve. One such crime took place on the morning of August eighteenth, at a factory 25 miles outside the city.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Of the thousands of felonies handled yearly by the Highway Patrol, the crime of first degree murder is least frequently encountered. When a murder has been committed, it is usually an immediate consequence of another felony such as armed robbery, and the motive for the killing is obvious. The Patrol's job is more difficult when the murder has been committed by the criminal whose motive is just as obvious, but not as ordinary - the man who shoots, in cold blood, people he has never met: the professional hired killer. On the morning of May 7th, such a man visited Chatsworth. He had arranged for a rented car, and immediately upon his arrival he picked up the car and headed directly for the Merlin Ranch. There he hoped to find the two men he was hired to kill - the Santell brothers.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews sits alone, on the aisle, in the rearmost seat on a bus, directly behind a murder suspect. The passenger sitting next to the suspect disembarks, and when the bus resumes its route, Mathews draws his gun and places the muzzle on the neck of the suspect]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Keep your mouth shut. We get off at the next stop.

The Killer:
What's this all about? You don't even know me.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're in the same spot the Santells were in. Slide over.

Chief Dan Mathews:
All because she wouldn't stop!

Lois Emory:
Mr. Mathews?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, what?

Lois Emory:
What did you mean when you said that...you hope the man is alive, for MY sake?

Chief Dan Mathews:
You hit a man, and you left him in the street. That's a felony. If he dies, it's manslaughter!

Peter Emory:
Is she under arrest?

Chief Dan Mathews:
No. We haven't got a victim or a witness.

Peter Emory:
Can I take her home?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, take her home.

Peter Emory:
Thanks!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Nowhere else!!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol maintains a constant vigilance throughout the entire state in its never-ending fight against crime. Burglary is one of the most common crimes, and yet, every case poses its own special problem for law enforcement agencies. On a Saturday morning, Lew and Mike Parker carefully began what should have been a simple, well-planned burglary. But in the execution of that burglary, an unforseen accident thwarted their plans and forced a frightened citizen into a serious crime.

[last lines]

[Lew and Mike Parker have been arrested. Lew Parker lies on the floor, suffering from a gunshot wound in the chest]

Mike Parker:
What about my brother?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm gonna get him to a doctor. What can I get you? Awright move! C'mon, move!

[last lines]

Broderick Crawford:
The careless driver isn't driving his car - he's aiming it! This is Broderick Crawford - see you next week.

Physician:
Death was instantaneous. Cause of death was an occpital fracture occuring when the deceased...

Policeman:
How do you spell it, Doc?

Physician:
O-double c-i-p-i-t-a-l. It means the back of the head. Occuring when the deceased...

Policeman:
The back of the head? Maybe I'm filling out the wrong form. Doc, the guy went through the windshield - forward!

Sergeant:
Why would anybody plant a phony identity on a poor fruit picker?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Maybe to lose his own identity - commit suicide and live to tell about it.

Carl Seward:
Man, did he get mad! I couldn't see out of this eye for a week, but maybe next time, I'll get a good shot at him.

Chief Dan Mathews:
There's not going to be a next time, kid.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, we've had a big day - chase a killer and wind up catchin' a guy who's been stealing apples.

[first lines]

Narrator:
An important function of the Highway Patrol is to maintain the safety of the road, to prevent accidents causing injury or death. But not all the fatalities on the highway are accidents, though they may appear to be. During harvest time, the Patrol encountered an accident that started with a driver looking for a hitchhiker.

Walter Miller:
How come he picked me? I only had $30 in my pocket.

Chief Dan Mathews:
He didn't pick you - you picked him. Sucker!

Chief Dan Mathews:
The careless driver isn't driving his car - he's aiming it!

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the principal trouble sources of any law enforcement agency is circumstantial evidence. Too often, coincidence and chance conspire to point an overwhelming finger of guilt at an innocent person. The Highway Patrol encountered just such a case the morning that Stash Erwin, a wanted criminal, drove through the gates of the Apex Plastics Company.

Whitey Sims:
Oh, now, listen lady, if the cops get me it's a murder rap. It's my life, you understand that?! So, if I have to kill you and your daughter, I will do it!

Mrs. Carter:
You are frightened, aren't you? And a frightened man doesn't think very clearly. You may kill us, Mr. whatever-your-name-is, but they'll get you!

Mrs. Carter:
I couldn't get excited, or scared, I've got a bad heart.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I wish all our hearts were that bad.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the law enforcement officer's primary functions is to prevent felony acts. Many times, a felony leads to another of a more destructive nature. On the morning of April seventh, two criminals, Ted Ellis and Ed Kane, committed two crimes far more serious than the felony they intended and carried out. The Highway Patrol was subsequently forced with a situation that could not be changed without the help of the wanted men.

[last lines]

[after a helicopter chase, Dan Mathews has shot the second of two men in a car]

Sgt. Walters:
You'd think after his partner got it he'd call it quits.

Chief Dan Mathews:
If they had another chance, they probably would. Stay with 'im. I'll call the ambulance.

Toby Larkin:
Make a move to follow me, and these people get killed! Three of 'em - man, woman and a girl, right here with me! Now, get on your radio and tell your boys to stop followin' me, or I snuff 'em out one at a time! Don't forget, buddy, if I even *see* a Highway Patrol car, they die!!

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the most dangerous tasks faced by any law enforcement agency is the killer gone berserk, the criminal who has lost all sense of caution or self-preservation. When such a man is trying to escape the law, any citizen is in danger. And in all cases, the lives of the innocent must be preserved, even if it means letting the killer escape.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Say, by the way, would you do me a favor? Give me a ride down the hill.

Barbara Monroe:
Oh, we'd be happy to , Mr. Mathews.

Daughter:
And thank you, Mr. Mathews. We'd love to have you.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Peter Monroe] Kinda made a mess outta your jacket, didn't I?

Peter Monroe:
After all, you saved our lives, Mr. Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, now you're savin' mine. I don't like to walk.

(Narrator):
As long as the switch on Officer Hoffman's motorcycle remained open, the directional finding equipment could pinpoint the location of the motorcycle by the triangulation process. But the important element was time. The motorcycle had to be located before the battery failed. Following the beams between their equipment and Hoffman's radio, Mathews and Garvey moved constantly closer to the point where those beams crossed, hoping to find Officer Hoffman alive.

[first lines]

(Narrator):
The peace officer is trained to use every possible precaution. In an emergency, however, the personal safety of the officer becomes a secondary issue. On October 3rd of last year, two desperate criminals, Louis Bateman and Chick McNabb, were the object of a state-wide search by the Highway Patrol. Available information indicated they were heading for the border in a stolen pickup truck. Driving carefully, and within the speed limits, to avoid attracting attention, they were nevertheless sighted by an alert Highway Patrolman. Officer Wayne Hoffman carefully and properly began surveillant pursuit before taking his first step - a step that was to plunge him into an unforseeable and desperate situation.

Sergeant Walters:
Truck hijacking? I thought we killed that racket years ago.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Any racket is dead until the next guy tries it!

[first lines]

Narrator:
To the Highway Patrol, the highways of the nation, a vast interlocking network, are vital avenues of communication. But to the criminal, the highways are avenues not of communication, but of temptation. Such a temptation is the crime of hijacking. Knowing the truck drivers wouldn't stop for hitchhikers, the criminals use the vicious ruse of a fake accident. On May 21st, with Harry Wilkerson as the bait, another truck was hijacked. The report was promptly relayed to the head of the Highway Patrol, Dan Mathews.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're out of business. Also out of circulation, Pop. Let's go. [to Sergeant Hawkins] You take care of things here.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In its constant and relentless fight against crime and the criminal who commits that crime, the Highway Patrol occasionally finds itself playing another unique role in the interests of public safety, such as escorting a cargo of highly potent radioactive material designed for special industrial use from its point of arrival at the airport to its final destination along a carefully charted route, to avoid all civilian traffic. The cargo: a handful of pellets - hot, deadly, more lethal than a killer with a loaded gun.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Mr. Garson] You know something? I wouldn't have his job for a million dollars tax free, or yours either. Oh, by the way, pick up the stuff at the tree, will ya?

Chief Dan Mathews:
What happened after you gave him the money?

Earl Davis:
He told me not to follow him, or he'd kill me. Then he ran out. I called you as soon as I could.

Officer Dorsey:
Did you see a car outside?

Earl Davis:
No. No, I didn't see any car.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Did you hear a car?

Earl Davis:
Yeah, come to think of it, I did!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Anything unusual?

Earl Davis:
It made a roar. Extra powerful, like a racing car. Oh, it sounded like it could really go!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In their never-ending war to escape law enforcement agencies, criminals are constantly devising new weapons. The weapon of the Burke brothers was speed, an automobile on which they had lavished thousands of dollars, and a great deal of mechanical skill. Early one spring morning, on a back road in the town of Midvale, the car was put through its final testing.

[last lines]

[Chief Mathews and Officer Dorsey drive onto the Burke brothers' property. As Harry Burke sees them exit their patrol car, he pulls out his gun. He exchanges shots with the officers and is badly wounded]

Tommy Burke:
[sitting in his hot rod] Don't shoot.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Now get out. [Tommy exits his car] Put your hands on top of your head.

Officer Dorsey:
We'll need an ambulance and probably a coroner for this one.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright. I'll call in.

Tommy Burke:
Harry's dead? It shoulda been me, I killed somebody drivin' that car. He never killed anyone.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You both handled deadly weapons. You both handled 'em wrong. C'mon, let's go.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Every criminal is dangerous, but most dangerous of all is the criminal whose only motive is hate. The one who will sacrifice his own life to take another. His unorthodox planning creates the most deadly type of crime. Such a man was Jay Detterick.

[last lines]

Demolition Officer Harry Sellars:
Dan, did you run him off the road?

Chief Dan Mathews:
No. Don't you start that story around, either. Do you want everybody to think I'm crazy?

Dan Mathews:
It isn't WHAT you drive, but HOW you drive that counts!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Boundaries are just imaginary lines on a map, not strong enough to contain a criminal or to prevent his movement from town to town. It's the job of the Highway Patrol to augment those boundaries; to give them muscle and substance; to prevent crimes if possible; to capture criminals when necessary. Four days ago, a man known as "the hypo bandit" began to operate in this state. His method: Knock his victim into unconsciousness, inject a knockout drop to keep him out for several hours, then empty the till and make the getaway. On May sixteenth, Charles Alder became victim number four.

[last lines]

Dan Mathews:
[speaking into his police radio] 21-50 to headquarters.

Sergeant Moore:
Headquarters by.

Dan Mathews:
Varnum case closed. Send out the coroner.

Sergeant Moore:
Will do... 21-50: Return to headquarters soon as possible - urgent. 10-4?

Dan Mathews:
10-4. Here we go again.

Sergeant Ken Williams:
Well, what happened? Did he try to cheat you?

Pablo Diaz:
First, he do everything he promised. Then today, he come to where I am work. He take away half of the money I have been paid. He say, I must go on working like an animal!

Sergeant Ken Williams:
Well, what else did he say?

Pablo Diaz:
I must give him more money, or he will report me to the Border Patrol and they will put me in jail for the rest of my life!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The border between Mexico and the United States is relatively open to nationals of both countries for short visits. Occasionally American criminals take advantage of this situation to exploit Mexican labor in ways that are brutal and cruel. Frequently the Highway Patrol is instrumental in stopping this traffic in human lives, but unfortunately, in many cases, not before a great deal of damage has been done.

[last lines]

[Standing next to the truck he wants to use for his getaway, human smuggler Ben Douglas holds Pablo Diaz hostage. When Dan Mathews tells Douglas he took the keys to the truck, Douglas threatens to kill Diaz if Mathews doesn't give them to him. Mathews throws a set of keys toward Douglas, and as Douglas bends down to pick them up, Captain Perez of the Mexican police shoots him. Mathews picks up the keys]

Captain Perez:
[sighs] He is very dead, se?or. I'm sorry.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm sorry for what he did to your people.

Captain Perez:
I will take care of everything.

Chief Dan Mathews:
When you want me, call me for the inquest.

Captain Perez:
Thank you, se?or.

Pablo Diaz:
Gracias se?or. That was very close.

Chief Dan Mathews:
It wasn't too close. These are the keys to my house. God bless.

Captain Perez:
Bless you.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
We're gonna hold you for attempted murder. What kind of animals are you, anyway?

Peter Barker:
Just human animals, Mr. Mathews. I'd rather face a jail sentence any day than Bixby.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, you're gonna see Bixby. He's gonna be your cell mate.

[Turns to officer]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Book 'em!

Chief Dan Mathews:
[Watches as Barker and Dunning are taken for processing] Punks!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the constant war against crime, law enforcement agencies move quickly and efficiently against the enemies of society, and often the Highway Patrol move just as quickly and just as efficiently to prevent a crime. On the morning of June 17th, Jack Dunning and Peter Barker, hardened criminals who had a long record of arrests, came to Cedarville to visit an old cell mate, Martin Haggard. The purpose of their visit: murder.

(Narrator):
The stalemate at Widow's Peak was unchanged when the Highway Patrol helicopter arrived at the scene. It was obvious that the copter offered the fastest means of rescuing Jerry Watts, but it also presented a perfect target for the kidnappers. It would take time, too much time, to force the kidnappers out of that shack, and the boy was closer to death with every passing second. His condition had to be determined before any rescue plans could be made.

[first lines]

(Narrator):
Through bitter experience, the Highway Patrol has learned that the kidnapper is one of the most vicious of all modern criminals. His crime is a carefully premeditated act, planned and performed in utter violation of law and human decency. But every kidnapper is faced with the same three problems: concealing the victim; collecting the ransom; and eluding the men assigned to track him down.

[last lines]

Game Warden:
Wonderful machine, that copter. A real instrument of mercy, I'd call it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'll bet the kidnappers got a couple of other names for it. Come on, let's go.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies do not agree with the common belief that society always benefits when criminals exterminate each other. For when the underworld settles its disputes by violence, there is no regard for the safety of innocent citizens. The Highway Patrol was faced with this problem early last month. Les Curtis had worked as an errand boy for a master counterfeiter, Alfred Manson. Now, as he and Manson prepared to deliver a set of counterfeit engraving plates, Curtis decided his apprenticeship was over.

[last lines]

[Leonard Stone has been apprehended by the Highway Patrol after he fled in a car with two female hostages, and is being taken back to the patrol car. Mathews stops at Ella Brewster's car, which Stone had been driving]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, ladies. You can get up now. You know, I wouldn't advise it again, but that key bit, that took a lotta nerve.

Mrs. Ella Brewster:
Well, if you'd seen him shoot that nice young man in cold blood...

Chief Dan Mathews:
Now just a minute, ladies. I don't know how you're gonna take this, but this 'nice young man' you're talking about, he committed two murders today.

Mrs. Ella Brewster:
[to Marie] Why, imagine! We've been riding all day with a murderer. Wait till Walter and Cathy hear about this.

Sgt. Ken Williams:
[Approaches the car carrying a briefcase] Here's part of the motive - counterfeit plates. [Takes money from the briefcase] This stuff looks real.

Leonard Stone:
It is real - twenty thousand dollars - and it belongs to me.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You hear that, ladies? Take a look. Twenty thousand dollars. He's not gonna be able to spend a nickle of it. [to Stone] Awright, move.

Officer Larrabee:
[lays cover over dead loan company owner] He didn't even get a chance to get his gun out of the drawer.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Why do they reach for their guns? That's our job!

[first lines]

Narrator:
To law enforcement officers, the well-planned, well-executed robbery is one of the most persistent of all forms of crime, and one of the most difficult to combat. In June of last year, two masked bandits, with clever planning and meticulous attention to detail, had succeeded in committing two armed robberies in succession, and in each case had evaded the Highway patrol's encirclement of the area. The third robbery resulted in the shooting of the proprietor of a check-cashing establishment.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews and a Highway Patrol officer arrest Sally Warren and Peggy Banning and remove their hats]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Pretty. Let's go.

Sergeant Corey:
Looks like our man again, only now he's taking the county cars for a getaway.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'll make you a small bet - we take him to jail in a Highway Patrol car!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol often has nothing to work on other than a description; sometimes, a description that could be most any young businessman: dresses neatly, polite manners, average height and weight. The Highway Patrol encountered such a man in Seth Roberts. And to make the case more difficult, he was classified as extremely unpredictable.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, come on, Jimmy. I'll take you home.

Jimmy James:
Bye, everybody.

[Goodbyes are said by several indistinguishable individuals]

[first lines]

Narrator:
Many persons are convicted of crimes on the basis of a positive identification by another person. Law enforcement agencies rely heavily on this type evidence. Early on the morning of August tenth, Mrs. Ethel Carey, owner of a motel, went through her usual routine of starting another day, a day in which she would find it necessary to positively identify her first visitor.

[last lines]

Henry Carey:
You'd never trap me without lyin'.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I didn't trap you, kid. The truth did. [to Officer Peterson] Bring him along.

Chief Dan Mathews:
No matter how new, the safest device in your car is you!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Leave blood at the Red Cross, not on the highway.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The law enforcement officer's problem is not always the hardened criminal. Frequently it is the good element of society that forces him to spend long hours in toil and grief, especially when that element is guided by fear. Joseph Bradshaw was one such man who, by making the wrong decision, triggered a series of events which led to serious compilations.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're going to have to come with me, Joe.

Grace Bradshaw:
He's not a criminal, Mr. Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I know. A very luck guy. He'll be coing back to you. Mrs. Bradshaw. Let's go.

Plainclothes Officer:
He wants to be cooperative. The computer is on a farm southeast of Weberville.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mr. Ferris is gonna be glad to hear that. Why didn't you run?

Charlie - First Thief:
I figured the odds.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Didn't you figure the odds on this job?

Charlie - First Thief:
Yeah. But I didn't figure on that.

[glances up at Highway Patrol helicopter]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, they sure are crazy contraptions. I don't know what makes 'em fly! Take him away.

[first lines]

Narrator:
With millions of cars on the nation's highways, it is inevitable that even the best drivers occasionally are guilty of a minor traffic violation. In most cases, a citation has the desired effect. The motorist drives on with increased alertness and caution. In rare instances, the issuing of a traffic ticket has results that are unexpected, even by veteran officers of the Highway Patrol. On May 25th, Patrolman Blackwell issued a citation to a motorist. The offense was minor, and the driver cooperated - a routine incident. Yet it was to provide a clue in a brutal murder. Two days later, boys hunting for frogs discovered the body of a man lying in the weeds at the edge of a pond. The victim had been shot through the back of the head. There was no identification on the body. Later that day, Records Division reported to Dan Mathews.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Dahlquist, I'm Dan Mathews, Highway Patrol.

Sam Dahlquist:
I'm sure glad to see you, Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You coulda had that pleasure earlier if you'd let me know as soon as you found out that Garrow was murdered. You woulda saved everybody a lot of trouble. Did you finish your article?

Sam Dahlquist:
Yes. That's why I... [Mathews interrupts Dahlquist]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You write on dangerous subjects. Next time let's collaborate.

Chief Dan Mathews:
If you interfere with an officer, that's a misdemeanor. If you shoot somebody, that's a felony! Think before you do anything! Now, would you mind closing the door?

Milo Hobson:
[closes car door] You can't threaten me - I pay your salary!

Chief Dan Mathews:
You just got your money's worth in good advice!

[first lines]

Narrator:
On the morning of April fifth, the body of Edward Burr was discovered on his farm in the Council Flats area. Within minutes, Highway Patrol units were deployed to apprehend possible suspects. Several townspeople had reported seeing a large, strangely dress man in the vicinity.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[on police radio] Twenty-one fifty to headquarters.

Dispatcher:
Twenty-one fifty by.

Chief Dan Mathews:
All units: Resume routine patrol. I'm comin' in. Ten-four?

Dispatcher:
Ten-four.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks for your help, Julio.

Capt. Julio Gonzales:
It was a pleasure.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You know, I wish they had stolen my car - it needs a new paint job.

Chief Dan Mathews:
That's great - they break their backs all month picking fruit, and then on payday a couple of hoodlums pick their pockets. Let's go!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Organized crime, as such, is seldom encountered by law enforcement agencies in the rural areas. For the most part, the responsibilities of the Highway Patrol are traffic safety. This is especially true during the harvest season, when the traffic problems are intensified by the increase in truck traffic throughout the farming areas. Fresh-picked crops are carried from farms to markets, and labor contractors are constantly transporting itinerant farm workers to their camps and to the fields. The contractor serves a useful purpose during the harvest season. He furnishes workers in numbers as needed by the farmers - good for the farmer, good for the worker. On September 19th, the Highway Patrol was called in to investigate a crime, when Ed Nash, a contractor, and twelve farm workers met an unexpected detour.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Try to be as good a driver as you think you are!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Along with the apprehension of persons suspected of a crime, the Highway Patrol is concerned with obtaining evidence - evidence that will prove those persons innocent or guilty. In the trial of murder suspect George Crenshaw, the evidence seemed to indicate guilty, until a young artist named Molly Weems headed for the office of the Highway Patrol to give new information concerning the murder of which Crenshaw was accused.

[last lines]

[Chief Mathews captures Ralph Reagan in Molly Weems' house and brings him outside. Sgt. Corey begins to frisk him for weapons]

Joe Macklin:
[to Reagan] Some newspaper man. Gimme my card.

Sgt. Corey:
Oh, look at this little beauty. [He hands Mathews a jackknife with a long blade]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, that's pretty, You coulda done a nice, quiet job on Miss Weems with this. Better than your Sunrise Park job.

Ralph Reagan:
How'd she know? How'd that Weems dame know it was me in the park?

Chief Dan Mathews:
She didn't. She couldn't identify you.

Ralph Reagan:
She cou...? Then who did?

Chief Dan Mathews:
You did. Move.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the routine duties of the Highway Patrol is to ensure the safety and protection of the ordinary traveler on the public highway. But on September second, the most amazing coincidence ever encountered by the Highway Patrol took place. Because of a strange case of mistaken identity, John and Martha Colter, innocent travelers, were marked for violent attack. At the moment, they were carefree, happy, unworried. But by a twist of fate, they were even then being marked.

[first lines]

Narrator:
To criminals seeking new sources of revenue, the motel, prosperous and often isolated, presents an inviting target. As a prelude to crime, early one Saturday morning, Karen Edwards checked out of a plush motel and headed for a nearby rendezvous.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews has just shot a robbery suspect. He speaks into the microphone of his police radio]

Dan Mathews:
Twenty-one fifty to headquarters.

Police Dispatcher's Voice:
Go ahead, twenty-one fifty.

Dan Mathews:
I'm on Route 30, four miles north of the Eagle Motel. Send out an ambulance, and the coroner. Ten-four?

Fred Briscoe:
Mabel wouldn't have anything to do with this robbery - she's one of our best workers for the hospital.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, maybe she's doing her best work for something else.

[opening lines]

Narrator:
Each year the Highway Patrol must keep an alert eye on dozens of special charity drives organized in rural communities. The informality with which these campaigns are conducted makes them highly vulnerable to robbery. On Sunday, July sixth, there was a countywide mothers march to raise funds for the children's wing of the hospital. The people in charge of this effort seriously underestimated the danger and failed to ask the Highway Patrol for protection. The community responded generously. The results were highly gratifying to the committee workers. They were also gratifying to a particular general handyman, whose long contact with this fine community had failed to improve his character. He watched the money being collected and made special plans for it - plans that had nothing to do with medical care for crippled children.

[closing lines]

Mabel Wayne:
I hope no one got hurt.

Chief Dan Mathews:
No. Nobody did. [He takes from Mabel the bag containing the charitable donations that Harve Case had stolen] We'll keep this at headquarters.

Mabel Wayne:
There's fifteen dollars missing.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, there is? Hold this for a second, will ya. [He hands the bag back to Mabel, takes a bill from his pocket and places it in the bag, and takes back the bag] That's from the Highway Patrol.

Mrs. Sills:
Suppose that officer dies - what happens to the truck driver?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, if Officer Anders dies, the truck driver's going to face a manslaughter charge.

Bernie Sills:
Well, that ain't fair. It's those two men on motorcycles who ought to be punished. They come zoomin' into town just achin' to start trouble. Last year, just eight months ago, fifty of 'em swooped down on this place. Scarin' kids to death, breakin' up our property. Run my wife down and broke her hip, that's what they did - she hasn't been able to walk right since! And that wasn't enough for those punks. Oh, no. No, they gotta come back lookin' for more trouble!

[first lines]

Narrator:
This is the town of Sunland Park. To someone just passing through, it's barely a wide spot in the road, a pleasant little place with a park and a playground for children. Nothing of any significance could have happened there. But the residents of this town, especially Mrs. Bernie Sills, knew this to be untrue. The Highway Patrol knew it, too. For recent events in Sunland Park had been far too significant in terms of violence and tragedy.

Mickey Demarest:
All of a sudden, I'm a nice guy. I've got a gun on you, and so all of a sudden, you're on my side. My buddy!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Look, we could've picked you off from the 'copter anytime. Used you for target practice. Let you lay out there while we sat in the rocks and told stories until you passed out. I'm coming down to get you 'cause I need information on that pharmacy job. So either use that gun or throw it away!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol's activities frequently lead them far from the highways. Sometimes a search for a criminal takes the Patrol to the remote, isolated, inaccessible areas like Mount Vista. But to unsuspecting Walt and Frieda Hollis, Mount Vista was merely an ideal spot for camping and deer hunting.

[last lines]

Mickey Demarest:
[referring to the police helicopter] Hey, do I have to ride in that thing?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't worry. Our hostess will take good care o' you. Get in.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the most difficult assignments faced by law enforcement agencies is locating and apprehending the criminal who operates from behind a legitimate business front. Such a criminal team were Sid and Ginny Rollins, who two days before had made the down payment on a small roadside cafe.

Honey:
[as wounded Fred is handcuffed] What'd you have to shoot him for?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Look, he's gonna live. He's not shot as bad as Ma Davis is.

Honey:
I wish I'd killed both of you!

Sergeant Ken Williams:
That's what I like about this job - you meet such nice people.

Jim Arnold:
Can't blame you for feeling jittery around this stuff, Henry. Nitro's like a woman - treat it rough as you want sometimes and it won't blow up. Other times, just nudge it the wrong way and it'll blow you to kingdom come!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol, in the course of its activity, extends willing and efficient cooperation to the law enforcement agencies of the federal government. On October 15th, the head of the Highway Patrol and U.S. Secret Service Agent Edward Taft were en route to the scene of an abandoned car. The Highway Patrol had been called in when the reported car had been found just off of State Highway 23. Evidence connecting the car with gang of counterfeiters had been found by the reporting officer.

[last lines]

Sergeant:
This what you've been lookin' for? [He hands a set off currency printing plates to Agent Taft]

Secret Service Agent Edward Taft:
[to Mathews] These are the plates, all right.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Looks like Warren's your boy. Take good care of 'im. We need him as a witness in a murder case.

Sergeant:
[to Mathews] What about the nitro?

Chief Dan Mathews:
We'll send for a demolition man. We need somebody who knows what he's doin'.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The law enforcement officer's tracking down of a criminal presents its own peculiar problems. Sometimes the results are tragic; most of the time they are routine. On April seventh, Patrolman Jerry March spotted a stolen car driven by Frank Cullen, a killer who would kill again if necessary. The Highway Patrol's apprehension of Cullen presented consequences far beyond those usually resulting from the normal pursuit of criminals.

[last lines]

[Following the line-of-duty death of her patrolman husband, Patty March became a dispatcher at Highway Patrol headquarters]

Patty March:
Headquarters to two-one-five-O.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Twenty-one fifty by.

Patty March:
Landline call from ex-officer Wylie. He would like you to call 'im at home.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I think you mean Officer Wylie. Tell 'im I got the message.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[gestures toward bulldozer] Didn't they use these against snipers in the Pacific?

Fletcher:
They sure did - that's as good as light tank armor. But I don't think it'll stand a point-blank hit!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Did Stocker ever see combat?

Fletcher:
No - PX clerk. But he did go through basic training.

Chief Dan Mathews:
All right - maybe he'll break and run!

Fletcher:
He might.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Let's try it!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol maintains a constant vigilance to ensure the safe delivery of the millions of dollars worth of cargo which is transported annually over the highways. The shipments are of varying nature and varying value. But the cargo most tempting to the lawbreaker is money. On August 20th of this year, an armored truck was delivering a thirty-three-thousand-dollar payroll to the Reiner Oil Company. The schedule and contents of this truck were known, and a highly dangerous plan for seizing it had been devised by two criminals, Virgil Stocker and Alfred Davidson.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't worry. We'll book 'em.

Fletcher:
Thanks, We'll work out prosecution with the FBI. One more day like this and I'm going to put in for a Combat Infantryman's Badge. Maybe we can find one for you, too.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks very much. [Refers to the police badge he holds in his hand] This badge causes us enough trouble.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
That your husband?

Mae Loman:
Yes. Is he dead?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Ah, he can still smell flowers.

Mae Loman:
I'd just like to know how you knew I wasn't a real hostage.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, you're like all women. You're fascinated by a telephone. I talked to you three times today. C'mon, move.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The armed bandit who strikes suddenly and viciously is on of the most dangerous criminals with whom law agencies must contend. When such a criminal wears the uniform of a law officer while committing his crimes, he becomes an even greater menace to society. On May 20th of last year, the entire machinery of the Highway Patrol was put into action, tracking down a bandit whose specialty was hiding behind a badge.

Chief Dan Mathews:
A leaky gas tank can set a highway on fire. A blowout can send a truck out of control and kill a lot of people. The clutch slips today, the brakes don't hold tomorrow, then we have a mass funeral for the victims. Now, if there's no evidence that these breakdowns are premeditated, let's find out fast!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Violence on the highway can assume many forms, many disguises. The Highway Patrol is constantly reminded that the most simple inconvenience may be the cause or the effect of criminal action. But there are no new crimes in the book, just new variations on the old ideas, and new criminals to try them out.

[last lines]

Jenkins:
We oughtta get special privileges. Gus just saved the state some money.

Chief Dan Mathews:
That gives us more to use on you two. [to first officer] Take 'em in. [to second officer] Get an ambulance and a doctor here right away. This is one kind of a breakdown his insurance didn't cover.

Barney:
This Barlow - he's mixed up in the rackets, isn't he?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, the numbers.

Barney:
I never heard of him connected with anything rough, though.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, you have now.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Figure it out - plane lands on an isolated firebreak, apparently no emergency. Ranger reports the landing, ranger turns up dead, plane turns up deserted. Whoever set the plane down had a good reason; didn't wait to share the secret with the ranger.

Barney:
On the other hand, it might be somethin' real simple... engine trouble.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Barney, the ranger didn't die of engine trouble.

[after receiving the ransom money, the Coopers refuse to release their hostage]

Cooper's Wife:
After all, we took good care of her all this time; now it's her turn to take care of us.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You played your part real well, but you don't ad-lib so good.

Steve Wasson the Pilot:
W-What do you mean?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Figure it out.

Barney:
How'd you figure that one out?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I went to patrol academy, remember.

[last lines]

Broderick Crawford:
The clowns at the circus are real funny, but on the highway they're murder. This is Broderick Crawford - I'll see you next week.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Not every crime in which the Highway Patrol is involved takes place in a car or on a highway. On the seventh of November, a case began when a forest ranger sighted a small airplane flying at a dangerously low altitude over the Ridgeway State Forest area and alerted the Highway Patrol for possible emergency aid.

Walt Burns:
Art, I was just thinkin'...

Art Denson:
Thinkin' about making the split now, huh?

Walt Burns:
Well, I don't see anything so terrible about it!

Art Denson:
I musta told you a hundred times where most guys run into trouble - they make a plan and then don't stick with it! The cops can't get you unless you got a record. In our case, they haven't got any because we never pulled a job before. We planned not to touch this money for six months, didn't we?

Walt Burns:
Well, sure, but...

Art Denson:
That's the way it's gonna be with you and this auto shop of yours for the next six months - business as usual!

Walt Burns:
Understood!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Police agencies are constantly vigilant, always on the alert for the predictable type of crime. But, unfortunately, all criminal acts are not predictable, and often, the most commonplace incidents, things you may see every day in the street, can have the most unusual significance. These people, disguised as guards for the Superior Armored Car Service, and using a duplicate truck, move quickly and efficiently in stealing twenty-nine thousand dollars. Such was the case in a routine weekly armored truck money pickup at a large supermarket. A few minutes later, the usual proved to be very unusual indeed, when the legitimate, the real, armored truck appeared at the market for the regular pickup.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'll call the ambulance. All the time he was just across the street.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the apprehension of criminals, close co-operation is necessary among law enforcement agencies on all levels - state, local, and federal - and in all parts of the nation. Last year, on the third of September, a strange incident that began hundreds of miles away, brought the full force of the Highway Patrol into action.

[last lines]

Martha Cole:
I gave you a rather bad day, Mr. Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Hey, you sure did. Oh look, will you do me a great favor? Go back to Ohio. We got enough trouble of our own right here.

[first lines]

Narrator:
When any crime is committed, law enforcement agencies have a uniform procedure in handling the crime and apprehending the guilty man. One prime consideration in uncovering the criminal is the motive, but on May 8th, a vicious murder, made to look wanton and useless, concealed a motive of greed.

[last lines]

Malcolm:
I told you, Blanche. I told you it wouldn't work.

Chief Dan Mathews:
It never does.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Whenever the laws of any state are broken or when the welfare of its citizens is endangered, each state has a duly authorized organization that swings into action. It may be called the state militia or the state police or the highway patrol. These are the stories of the men whose training, skill and courage have enforced and preserved out state laws.

Officer Brown:
How can anyone break out of a prison like that?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Anyone can't - Neal did. Neal usually gets what he wants. He had nothin' to concentrate on 24 hours a day but escape.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Every job he's ever been mixed up in there's been a shooting. He'll go for a gun first. Better notify all units that any crime involving an auto, gun, clothes or money, we'll assume it do be Neal and follow it up immediately. He's going to move fast; we've got to move faster.

Ralph Neal:
All right, on your feet. Go on, get going.

Les Wilkins - School Bus Driver:
What about the kids?

Ralph Neal:
If you don't get going, you won't care about "what" for anything.

Ralph Neal:
Okay, copper, unless you want to see this innocent bystander shot, you'll throw out that gun and the keys to that patrol car.

Chief Dan Mathews:
No, Neal, you won't shoot him. He's your shield and dead weight doesn't make a good shield.

Jack Avery:
You know, you'd love to tell me I'll never get away with it, but you're just not sure. I'll see you!

Sheriff Melton:
I hope so!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Has he ever had this kind of money before?

E.L. Dunn:
Mr. Mathews, the only time that I ever knew Asa to have a couple of hundred dollars in a lump sum was right after he came in and borrowed it from the bank. He has nothing.

Sergeant Corey:
Look, why don't you cover me? I'm younger - maybe faster.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm old enough to be scared. That makes me just as fast.

[first lines]

Narrator:
There are many ways of striking it rich. Some do it with a prospector's pick, some with a gun. But Asa McQueen's strike on March 14th was an exception. It was an unusual discovery: paper - but a special kind of paper: large-denomination bills in United States currency.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Feel like movin'?

Asa McQueen:
I'm just lyin' here thinkin'. What's the point in going back? Bought all that stuff. Owe more money than I can ever pay.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I don't think they'll press you for the few hundred you spent.

Asa McQueen:
Seek and you shall find. I've done my seekin', mister. Where's my find?

Chief Dan Mathews:
That all depends on what a man's lookin' for.

Asa McQueen:
A bullet in my leg? My age I can't make it back to the hills anymore. I gotta stay in Folkston.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, why don't you look there?

Asa McQueen:
Folkston?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Mm-hmm.

Asa McQueen:
Yeah, I might register my next claim there.

Narrator:
Once the trap had been set, a lonely parade of possible suspects began to file in and out of the isolated farmhouse. The officers of the Highway Patrol patiently waited, hoping that their trap would spring on the unknown man who had already killed three women.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The first organized police force in the United States was created in eighteen forty-four in New York City. Today, dozens of law enforcement agencies protect the life and property of our citizens. Outstanding among these agencies in the Highway Patrol. Last August, the entire machinery of the Highway Patrol was called into action in a statewide effort to locate an unknown killer, who preyed upon lonely women. Two women had died, and for two months their killer had been at large. Then, on October 9th, the murderer struck again.

[last lines]

Herman Warner:
I... I didn't want to kill you. It was just her, Judy.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Who's Judy?

Herman Warner:
She's my wife. See, she ran off with all my money. She's no good. I've been trying to kill her for three months, but she won't die. She's in that house now, and I've got to go in and kill 'er before she ruins any more men like she did me.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Stop worrying. We'll take care of 'er.

Herman Warner:
You will? Oh I'm so glad. Now I don't have to keep trying to find her, trying to kill her. Now I can sleep.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Sleep. I wish we could get some. C'mon, let's go.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Dr. Elliott] Let's go to Frenchman's Camp!

Snack stand operator:
Say, if you're plannin' to run a race up that road, I'd forget it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
No, I don't think you would, lady. Not this race, anyway!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The function of law enforcement agencies is not limited to the apprehension and conviction of criminals. An equally, and often more important function is the protection of life and property in any emergency. In this case, the emergency began with an incident - an incident apparently so slight that it passed almost unnoticed at the time.

[last lines]

[after administering a rabies shot to Kathy Marshall, Dr. Elliott carries her to where her mother and Dan Mathews are talking]

Dr. Elliott:
Kathy's going to be just fine.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Sure she is. C'mon Kathy. We'll take a ride in a real Highway Patrol car. [Dr. Elliott hands Kathy to Mathews. Kathy's eyes start tearing] Hey. What are those tears all about, now?

Kathy Marshall:
I'm sorry.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Got something for ya. Here. [He gives Kathy a candy bar]

Kathy Marshall:
Thank you.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't let that get around. Some people might consider it a bribe.

Mr. Adams:
You can't cheat an honest man.

Mrs. Wright:
I can't even find one.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol is engaged in many ordinary activities. Apprehending criminals is not ordinary, and is occasionally given increased urgency by the nature of the crime involved. On the morning of October third, Herb Williams, a sneak thief, stole an expensive radioactive oil indicator. The Highway Patrol swung into action to save Williams and any innocent victims from the danger of exposure to the radioactive mechanism.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Goodbye.

Mel:
Goodbye, Mr. Mathews.

Ann:
And thanks.

Harry Johnson:
Let me go after Ted. He's a hot-headed kid, Mathews. Father and mother have been dead for a long time and Iris has been more than just a sister to him. I know how to handle him.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Up until now, I don't think you've done a good job! He's out there with a gun - the law will take it from here!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Many times the Highway Patrol is confronted with varied and complex situations. None becomes more entangled than the situation resulting from violent tempers. On July 11th, at the Johnson Bar D Ranch, an emotionally charged family conflict demanded the urgent attention of the Patrol.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You don't mind ridin' in that chopper over there, do you?

George Wilson:
After what I've been through, nothing could scare me. And thanks.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well now, don't thank us. Thank your wife. Without her we wouldn'ta known. C'mon, let's go.

[Matthews sticks a pin in a map at the location of a fatal accident]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Eight major accidents in two weeks on a brand new stretch of highway. Come on over here and look at this with me. Right here, from the end of the divided highway all the way to the end of the cutoff at Overland City - in two weeks we've had four fatals, seven injuries and fourteen or fifteen fender benders. If this keeps up, we're going to run out of people before we run out of pins!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Crimes of violence add a serious note to the routine functions of the Highway Patrol. The Patrol moves quickly to aid victims, to apprehend a killer. But in many cases the victims are beyond aid, and the killer is beyond apprehension. In too many cases the killer is an average respectable citizen, and his murder weapon is triggered by a steering wheel. The Highway Patrol wages a ceaseless campaign to prevent this kind of crime.

[last lines]

Officer Gus Johnson:
Poor guy. He's still got that traffic court to face.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah. But he's already had his punishment. He's got a lifetime sentence of living with himself.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the functions off the Highway Patrol is the safeguarding of the public highways, for all kinds of carriers, all types of people. On march 23rd, a bus was carrying Ray Summers home from state prison, where he had served a sentence for armed robbery, first offense. Unknown to Summers, the bus was being trailed by Frank Brimmer, his ex-partner, who had not been caught in the robbery, and Brimmer's new partner, Sandy Hopak. An anxious wife in the town of Fairlane waited impatiently for a bus bringing her husband home from prison.

[Summers get off the bus and hugs his wife]

Ginny Summers:
Oh, Ray! Gee, you look good to me.

Ray Summers:
Well I... I feel pretty good.

Narrator:
Ray summers had served his time for a first-offense burglary. He had been a model prisoner and was now ready, with the help of his wife, Ginny, to start a new life.

[the Summerses get into their car and drive in the direction of home]

Sandy Hopak:
Going home, all right.

Frank Brimmer:
Any way of getting there ahead of them?

Sandy Hopak:
I can cut around Lexington Boulevard, but we have to step on it

Frank Brimmer:
OK, go ahead and try it.

Narrator:
Brimmer's anonymous tip to the Patrol had been responsible for Summers' imprisonment. Knowing that Summers had hidden the money before being captured, Brimmer intended to follow him until the hiding place was disclosed.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm Mathews, Highway Patrol.

Ginny Summers:
Mr. Mathews, Ray had the money hidden in the cabin. We were really on our way to give it to Mr. Gordon.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, I gathered that. [Mathews hands Ray Summers the stolen money] I don't think you'll steal it or lose it, but do you mind if I tag along the rest of the way?

Ray Summers:
No. We'd welcome it. We don't want any more excitement today.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're forgetting Mr. Gordon, aren't you?

Ray Summers:
Oh.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Let's go.

[Dan goes to confront the shotgun wielding McCauley with only a pistol]

Pastor Martin Rock:
I'll say a prayer for you.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Say a prayer for both of us.

[last lines]

Frank McCauley aka Frank Wood:
I figured you'd be around. I'm ready to take what's coming on that old charge.

Chief Dan Mathews:
The judge will decide that. I'd say you had some pretty good character witnesses.

Pastor Martin Rock:
One passenger off the merry-go-round.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, even one is important.

Pastor Martin Rock:
We have the same motto, even in my work.

Frank McCauley aka Frank Wood:
Well, who do I thank.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You'd better check with the reverend. I'm sure he's got somebody in mind. C'mon, let's go.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol encounters many different types of criminals. Some are hardened, some inexperienced, and some are reformed only a short time. Temptation becomes too great. On November seventh, Frank Wood, a reformed criminal, was presented with such a tempting situation.

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the most careful drivers in the Highway Patrol's experience was an ex-convict. Steve Naylor never failed to give the right-of-way, always watching carefully at every intersection. Naylor was out on probation after serving five years for a two-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar robbery, which he claimed he had never committed. The Highway Patrol had been waiting for Naylor to go for the stolen money. But since his release he had lived strictly within the law, always being careful, always making sure that there was no one behind him. [Naylor parks his car, exits the vehicle, and looks around to see whether he is being tailed] Naylor was right. No one was following him. [Naylor enters his apartment building] But an investigator of the insurance company which had paid off the loss was watching and would call the Highway Patrol if he thought Naylor was making a suspicious move.

Fred Davis:
Say, shame about Joe Kline, isn't it?

Linda St. Clair:
Joe Kline? Oh, yes, yes. The accident.

Fred Davis:
I don't believe it was an accident, and I don't believe the police do, either. Joe was too good with a gun. I think it was murder!

Linda St. Clair:
Murder? Really?!

Fred Davis:
[nods knowingly] Have a nice trip, Mrs. St. Clair!

[first lines]

Narrator:
One of the jobs of the Highway Patrol is to police the vast areas of the state where the population is very scattered. In order to enforce the law in these places, the Patrol assigns a resident officer. His duties are the same as any patrolman, except that he covers a larger territory. Because of the remoteness of the section, the officer resides there, is on 24-hour call, and in constant communications with district headquarters. On the afternoon of October 7th, Resident Officer Joseph Kline had finished his routine patrol and checked out with headquarters. Kline was on his way north of Twin Forks to an area where the pheasant hunting was considered good. Officer Kline was permanently assigned a patrol car, but for official use only. When leaving his duties, Kline was compelled by regulations to inform headquarters of his whereabouts, including the location where he planned on hunting.

[last lines]

[Linda and Marty St. Clair try to escape in their car, but Marty discovers that the ignition wires have been pulled from the distributor cap]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright. Don't bother with the wires, I did a good job. Get you hands up. Put 'em on top of your head. [to Linda] You, too.

Marty St. Clair:
What's this all about, Mathews?

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're under arrest for murder and violation of the Narcotics Act.

Marty St. Clair:
What do you mean, murder?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Officer Kline.

Marty St. Clair:
You can't pin that on us.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Female prints on the shotgun, with a cast of your tire tracks.

Linda St. Clair:
Potter shot 'im. We're innocent.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Innocent of murder? Innocent of marijuana traffic? How do you sleep at night? C'mon, let's go.

Narrator:
Because of Al Miller's over-eagerness, the one possible link to the narcotics ring might have been lost. But Miller recognized the man in the parking lot from his mug shots. It was Angie's old friend Bolo. Now Bolo had to be picked up before he warned his bosses that the law was on his trail. State narcotics agents who knew Bolo's favorite hideouts had him behind bars within two hours. But the law wasn't satisfied with a small-time pusher. Not while the big game was still at large.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In order to protect the community against crime, law enforcement agencies on every level must work together. But even to a greater degree, they must count on the cooperation of the people they protect. In this case, the Highway Patrol, working with the state narcotics bureau, received invaluable aid from a bed-ridden victim.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, Ed, there's your evidence, all packaged and delivered.

Ed Coleman:
Thanks, Dan. Thanks for everything.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Aw, it's nothing. Forget it. I'm just tryin' to help you keep a promise, that's all. Angie, remember? [Ed nods]

Jack McCall:
The state got me into this mess.

Chief Dan Mathews:
No, that's where you're wrong. You got yourself into this mess a long time ago.

[last lines]

Jack McCall:
You mind if I say something?

Chief Dan Mathews:
No. Go right ahead.

Jack McCall:
I think you'll want to know this. When I go in, I'm gonna talk, lay it on the line.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Why the change of heart?

Jack McCall:
Oh, I don't know whether it's out of gratitude for what you've done or respect for what you've done.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Respect - that's a pretty nice word. After you talk to the grand jury, maybe you'll have more self-respect. You know, I gotta admit it: I'm very happy that you're gonna talk.

Jack McCall:
Why?

Jack McCall:
I wanna be proud that I kept you alive, that's all. Get in. [McCall enters the police car]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Highway Patrol headquarters, this is Mathews. I want a tail put on Pete Roberts. He's been out of the pen for about three months... What? Occupation? He never had one he could mention.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Jimmy Wilson's in the hospital. He's hurt bad. Hope nobody else gets hurt because you won't help.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol maintains a constant vigilance to protect the lives of the citizens of the state, even to the point of special protection for certain individuals. On November ninth, the newspapers carried the story that Jack McCall, a retired gangster turned gentleman farmer, was to testify before the grand jury on November 14th. It was the Highway Patrol's job to see that McCall arrived safely.

Officer Johnson:
I remember now, too. He was a pretty bad character. Made a lot of threats in the courtroom against you.

Chief Dan Mathews:
They always threaten the arresting officer.

Officer Johnson:
Well, he continued making the threats long after he was in prison.

Chief Dan Mathews:
That figures. After awhile, they get the business out of them, though. I'll ride over with you.

Officer Johnson:
Oh, I can take care of it. No use in you getting involved.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Threats are a dime a dozen, You can't tell what the farmers are gonna do. C'mon!

Chief Dan Mathews:
Did he hate John's father because of the automobile accident?

Tommy's aunt:
Yes. Yes, he did. Tommy idolized his father, and Brent felt the same way about Tommy. They were always together! And then, when Brent was killed, Tommy almost went haywire!

Sergeant Ken Williams:
Did you ever hear him threaten to kill Robert Hoffman?

Tommy's aunt:
Oh, no! Tommy's a good boy. A little hot-headed, but he's a good boy!

Chief Dan Mathews:
[dubiously] Yeah, I know, they always are.

Vance Wells:
You finally ready?

John Alvin:
Yeah.

Vance Wells:
Now, the way I figure it, we gotta rush him. Now, George, you come from the left. John, you come from the right. I'll head straight for the door and we'll meet there.

George Bailey:
But that'll put us out in the open. He can take a potshot at any one of us!

John Alvin:
I figure he's passed out by now.

George Bailey:
Maybe he hasn't. Maybe he's watching us right now, ready to blast away!

Vance Wells:
That's a chance we gotta take. I think John's right. Now, if you're chicken, George, get outta here! Clear out and go home!

George Bailey:
[resignedly] All right. Let's go.

[last lines]

John Alvin:
I'm awful glad it's over, Mr. Mathews, even if you fellas get the reward. The way you walked into that barn, you earned it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Let me tell something, mister. No law enforcement officer ever gets the reward. That's in the line of duty. That's our job. Oh, by the way, Mrs. Alvin. I tell you one thing. You got yourself ten thousand dollars for the information you gave us. Spend it. Don't give it to these guys, just spend it.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In waging its constant battle against crime, the Highway Patrol, like all law enforcement agencies, is sometimes hampered in emergencies by private citizens. One such emergency occurred last November, involving a holdup man who had attempted the robbery of a country bank. He was known to the police as Ellis Colton, a brutal, cold-blooded killer. There were rewards totaling ten thousand dollars for information leading to his capture, dead or alive.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol, because of the nature of its work, comes in contact with two main types of people: first, the lawbreaker, either careless or deliberate; second, the innocent victim of an accident or a criminal act. Occasionally the Patrol must deal with a third type of person, too often the most difficult to handle: someone who, while not guilty of a crime, becomes, through his own immaturity and fear, a fugitive.

[last lines]

[after finding runaway Jimmy Adams, Dan Mathews escorts him to the patrol car]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, hop in, young man. [to the Highway Patrol officer] Call Mrs. West and the doctor. Tell 'em we found the boy. He's okay.

Officer:
[to Gorman] Obliged for your help. We'll drive you back to Bedford if you like.

Gorman:
Uh, if it's all the same to you, I... I'd just as soon walk.

[Gorman starts walking on the shoulder of the highway. Mathews and the officer smile knowingly at each other, enter the patrol car, and drive down the highway, passing Gorman]

[first lines]

Narrator:
The law enforcement officer's job of apprehending criminals is a difficult one. It is made even more difficult when the criminal is an intelligent craftsman, an expert at his brand of lawbreaking. Stanley Wright was such a man. His method of safecracking was thorough and sensational. [Wright is seen cracking a safe, removing the money from it, and departing the premises] The Highway Patrol, in trying to gather sufficient evidence to apprehend him, soon realized they were pitted against a strategist whose plans were thorough, whose rare ability at listening to a safe to open it left no clues, no guilt-revealing evidence.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Did you enjoy the sermon, Wright?

Stanley Wright:
You shoulda heard it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Lemme see your hands. [to Officer Johnson] Gimme the light.

Stanley Wright:
Fluorescent powder is used for a lot of things, Mr. Mathews.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, sure is. It's all over your wife's hands and the package she didn't get to mail.

Mrs. Wright:
Honey, I knew it wouldn't work. I told you we couldn't get away with it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You shoulda stayed and listened to the sermon. Take 'im away.

[first lines]

Narrator:
When on duty, there is not a moment in a Highway Patrol officer's life that he is not prepared to make a decision. Some decisions come directly from the manual, others from repeat experiences. But the split-second decision of when to shoot, take a life, is his alone. In the early morning of November 19th, Patrolman Mark Reynolds was faced with such a decision.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
All right, Mark, you can wrap it up. When you get the highway cleaned up, ride back in with Blake. I'm going in to make a report.

Patrolman Mark Reynolds:
Report?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, on the suspect. What's his name again, uh? Oh, John Bennett. It slipped my mind for a minute. [Mathews walks to a lit flare on the road, takes a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket, and places the paper on the flare to burn it. He then turns to Patrolman Reynolds] Your resignation.

Narrator:
When the strange radio message from the missing taxicab was recognized as having been transmitted at gunpoint, there was no longer any doubt that he two gunmen had taken over the cab. The field of operation had been narrowed. Now, the Highway Patrol had to pinpoint the cab's location and do it in a matter of minutes. Speed was the essential element!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Probably the most crucial moments in law enforcement are those that bridge the gap between crime and pursuit. Because those moments may spell the difference between capture and escape, the Highway Patrol works constantly to close that all-important gap. And inventive criminal minds work constantly to widen it. In their efforts to widen the gap, Ben Yates and Oren Wilkerson knew that although a taxicab attracts attention, it defies detailed description. By substituting a taxicab for their own car, they developed a method for robbery so effective that time after time they left crimes that spanned many states.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Officer Dennis] Awright, call headquarters. Tell 'em suspect's in custody. Cancel 11-9. Oh, wait a minute. Tell 'em to cancel me too till I get a night's sleep, will ya? [to Officer Garvey] You know, if they'd gotten away, it woulda been your responsibility.

Officer Garvey:
Well, they got a bad break - a little motor trouble. [He hands Mathews a part he had removed from the car's motor]

[first lines]

Narrator:
Knowledge of a criminal's modus operandi, M.O., is a major element in law enforcement. The rapid analysis and distribution to all police agencies of any newly-discovered M.O. is of the utmost importance. Through the last few months, two men specializing in market robberies used an M.O. with a new and vicious angle: To ensure co-operation of the store manager, a member of his family was held at gunpoint by one of the men, while the other committed the robbery. The robbery completed, the criminals made good use of their hostage, taking her to a spot on a lonely road, necessitating at least a 20-minute walk to the nearest telephone, giving them ample time to return to their own car and close out their trail.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
You all right, Mrs. Austin?

Sergeant Ken Williams:
[to Mrs. Austin] I had to grab you pretty hard. I'm sorry.

Ruth Austin:
'Tsall right. I never felt better in my life. You know, for a minute there, I didn't think I was gonna live through it.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, Mrs. Austin, um, have you got a telephone?

Ruth Austin:
I sure do.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Do you mind if I use it?

Ruth Austin:
No.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Leave blood at the Red Cross, not on the highway!

Chief Dan Mathews:
I was with him when he died. All he could give me was a description. 5'11", 173 pounds, brown hair, and about 30 years old.

Officer Garvey:
But Chief, there's a million guys that could fit that.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Drivers breaking traffic laws comprise the largest single violation for the Highway Patrol. Many times the driver is an ordinary man who, by his carelessness, is the cause of a tragedy. But there are some occasions when the man behind the wheel is more than a careless driver. Such was the case when, on November 7th, Officer Dillon was in pursuit of a speedster named Eddie Beekman. [as Officer Dillon chases the speeding car, Beekman takes a left turn and hits a young girl who had run into the street to retrieve a rubber ball. Beekman stays on the scene. Officer Dillon reaches the scene, surveys the situation, and reports to Highway Patrol headquarters] Within moments, Patrol Headquarters received Officer Dillon's call, and an ambulance was on its way to the scene of the accident.

Wally:
[inquiring about Dan Mathews, who's posing as "Mr. Daniels"] What does he look like?

Ann:
Oh, he's heavy, strong-looking, square face, dark suit, gray hat, between 40 and 50. His name is Daniels - he's in copper from California.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The protection of the public in its ownership of automobiles and the apprehension of the car thief are two of the chief duties of the Highway Patrol. At 8:45 on the morning of June 22nd, a luxury red convertible was speeding along State Highway 7. At the same moment, Officer Dorsey, patrolling his beat on regular detail, was approaching the same intersection. The red convertible was exceeding the legal speed limit. Officer Dorsey gave chase. Patrolman Dorsey automatically noted the last three numbers of the fleeing car's license plate. A glance at the list of cars recently reported stolen showed "six sixty six" to be a wanted car.

[last lines]

[Officer Dorsey has blocked the escape route of three car thieves who just entered their vehicle. They sit in their car as Dorsey and Chief Mathews run toward them with guns drawn]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Awright, out! Move around here.

[the male driver stands with his hands on the car's hood, while the two female passengers go around the rear of the car to the driver's side]

Ann:
[sarcastically to Wally] Almost a perfect operation.

Wally:
[Officer Dorsey is frisking him] I never carry a gun.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks, Mrs. Bradley, for bringing your friend along. The redhead with the pretty pink ears. Awright, move out.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In their many cases of crime and punishment, law enforcement agencies frequently encounter unusual types of criminals. On June first, two of the most daring lawbreakers were working at the small Wells airport along with other inmates of the state honor farm.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The Highway Patrol's responsibility as a law enforcement agency extends to all vehicles on the state roads, even the cars that travel without touching the ground. These are the new cars, fresh from the factory, transported by carriers to specific distribution points. The drivers depend on the Highway Patrol to forewarn them of all danger elements along the truck routes. But unfortunately, the most dangerous element of all, the human one, is the most unpredictable.

[last lines]

[Phil Hogan stops his truck after his brother is shot during a pursuit by the Highway Patrol. The patrol car was driven by Dan Mathews, with Sergeant Moore as a passenger. Hogan exits his truck]

Sergeant Moore:
[to Hogan] Turn around. Put your hands up on the cab.

[as Sergeant Moore frisks Hogan, Dan Mathews check the body of Red Hogan, which lies in the truck bed directly behind the cab]

Chief Dan Mathews:
He's flatter than the tires.

Sergeant Moore:
We thought we were dealing with professionals.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, they are professionals. And they're gonna be paid for the job.

[Sergeant Moore handcuffs Phil Hogan and walks him to the patrol car]

[first lines]

Narrator:
For all law enforcement agencies, protection of life is their most important job. Of all crimes, the crime of murder is the most shocking and most ruthless. During February of last year, two men arrived by train in Lafayette, a small town of just under five-thousand people. The purpose of their visit - murder.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Sorry, Mrs. Curran. I'm gonna have to take you in. That was attempted assault with a deadly weapon.

Mary Curran:
But you got him. You got the supervisor.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, that happens to be our job. I wish people would learn that. I'm sorry. C'mon.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[hands Jackson money for gas] By the way, what's your name?

Chuck Jackson:
[suspiciously] My name? Why, sir?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I want to know who to ask for next time I come in.

Chuck Jackson:
[relieved] Oh! Just ask for Chuck. Chuck Jackson

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks, Chuck. I'll remember!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Every Highway Patrol officer knows that a broken law leads to broken lives. For the pettiest of crimes can create a chain reaction that results in personal disaster. In this case, the lawbreaker was Chuck Jackson, gas station attendant, a petty thief. But the repercussions of his crime turned a small-scale robbery into a major tragedy.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
It's a good thing you're wearin' that badge, Johnson.

Officer Johnson:
Whaddaya mean?

Chief Dan Mathews:
If you weren't, I'd have to run you in for illegal use of firearms. C'mon, let's go.

Chief Dan Mathews:
What did you do with the driver of the sports car?

Steve Stankey:
He was in the way. I got rid of him.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Isn't one killing enough?

Steve Stankey:
One's enough to hang you. The rest are on the house!

Sgt. Moore:
Can you hear me in there?

Steve Stankey:
I hear you and I see you, copper, and I aim to put a slug right under that pretty little gold badge of yours if you're not out of here in thirty seconds.

Sgt. Moore:
Haven't you killed enough people today?

Steve Stankey:
Naw, only one cop.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Highway Patrol officers are frequently able to apprehend lawbreakers through tracing the vehicle used in the crime. The criminal must have transportation to and from the scene. On October 13th in Heartsville, Steve Stankey, a seasoned criminal, solved his transportation problem through the use of an innocent taxicab driver.

[last lines]

[Mathews subdues Stankey in the farmer's house, and Sergeant Moore handcuffs him]

Chief Dan Mathews:
What did you do with the driver of the sportscar?

Steve Stankey:
I tied him to a tree off the highway. How'd you guys know I was here.

Chief Dan Mathews:
I got the message by telephone - the one he said he didn't have.

Chief Dan Mathews:
If you care to drive, drive with care!

Chief Dan Mathews:
[writes the word 'RUN' on a slip of paper] Get over there, and guard that position. Watch the door.

Officer Simpson:
Think the woman will react to the note?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I don't know, but if she starts runnin', cover her with all the lead you can.

[last lines]

Grier:
[after being handcuffed] What are you going to do to me?

Chief Dan Mathews:
I'm going to introduce you to thirteen friends of mine - a judge and a jury. Alright - move!

[first lines]

Narrator:
The resident officer is a very important part of the Highway Patrol system. In isolated sections of the state, where the population is sparse, the resident officer is on duty 24 hours a day. His only contact with headquarters is by radio. When trouble comes to these areas, the officer is on his own, and forced to make quick, life-and-death decisions. In the remote, southern section of the state, James Simpson had been the resident officer for two years. April 8th started out as just another routine day for him. As usual, he began with breakfast at the local restaurant.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the process of maintaining law and order along the highways and byways of the state, the Highway Patrol is confronted with many unusual crimes and criminals. But the most baffling crime is often committed by a first offender, a person considered above suspicion. Such a crime occurred on May thirteenth.

Chief Dan Mathews:
It isn't WHAT you drive, but HOW you drive that counts!

Carol Hayes:
Red, I don't think this is smart. I know the judge's routine. I can tell you where he'll be at any time of the day. All you have to do is pick your spot and let him have it when he shows up.

Douglas 'Red' Baker:
I intend to, but I want him to know he's gonna die. Shake in his boots! So get that in the mail and get back here.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Despite constant vigilance on the part of prison officials and guards, occasionally an inmate of our penal institutions manages to escape. In May of last year, the Highway Patrol was faced with the problem of just such a vicious and desperate escaped convict.

[last lines]

Judge Crosson:
[looking at Red Baker's body] Dead, eh? [Dan Mathews nods] I'm sorry.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't be sorry. Just consider yourself lucky. C'mon. I'll drive you to the courthouse.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Sergeant Johnson] Make a note - another APB on Desmond. Have the fellows cover all points in this area. He might be traveling with a gal in a brown convertible. [to Grundy] Describe her, will you?

Grundy:
Well, about 25, 26. [hesitates]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, come on, Mr. Grundy - you've gotta do better than that!

Grundy:
Well, brown hair, about five foot four or five. Kinda silly-lookin'.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You have a doctor take a look at that neck of yours. I'll send an officer back to get a full report. Next time, look out for who you hire! [to Sergeant Johnson] Desmond's got everything he needs - car, money, and a girlfriend. He's probably headed back for the city. If we don't pick him up before he gets there, we'll lose him again. C'mon - let's roll!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Like any law enforcement agency, the Highway Patrol encounters many unforseen obstacles in apprehending the criminal who is at large and dangerous to a community and its citizens. Many times, it is the citizen himself who unwittingly aids the criminal in his flight from the law. Such was the case when, on October seventh, Irv Desmond, having been unsuccessful in his attempt at robbing a drugstore, killed a pharmacist. For four days, Desmond had eluded the Patrol. Time and again he had been tracked down. Time and again he was able to avoid capture due to the unintentional help of a citizen. He had now been traced to the outskirts of the small farming community of Littleton, where Patrolman Norton had discovered the stolen car Desmond had abandoned.

[last lines]

[Dan Mathews questions a man and a woman sitting in a booth in a restaurant. While standing behind a counter, pretending to be the restaurant owner, fugitive Irv Desmond draws his gun and is shot by Sergeant Johnson]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Send for the ambulance.

Sergeant Johnson:
How'd you know which one?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, they were too nervous. He said he was a laborer. Look at his face. He's pale as a ghost.

Susan Keefe:
I don't understand.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, he *was* wanted for murder.

Susan Keefe:
Murder? Oh, but he was...

Chief Dan Mathews:
Yeah, sure. I know. He seemed like such a nice guy.

Dispatcher:
None of the references given by Hepner and Carroll are legitimate. The people listed as nearest relatives do not exist.

Chief Dan Mathews:
What'd you get on Hepner?

Dispatcher:
Fingerprints show that Hepner is really Leonard Gage. Two-time loser and murder suspect. Released from prison April 3rd this year. Wanted for robbery of Springfield Shoe Factory payroll and murder of guard April 5th. Gage positively identified by fingerprints on that job.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks!

Fred Carter:
Well, you are looking for boys, aren't you?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Why should I?

Fred Carter:
Well, you know how boys are.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Sure I know how boys are, but that doesn't make them snipers.

Fred Carter:
Well, grown men wouldn't go around shooting at cars.

Chief Dan Mathews:
[wryly] You'd be amazed how many middle-aged juvenile delinquents there are.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Vandalism, in which acts of violence erupt suddenly without motive or purpose, poses an endless and dangerous puzzle for law enforcement agencies. But the case of Fred Carter was doubly dangerous; for this man used apparently pointless vandalism to mask a sinister motive and a deadly purpose. What appeared to be random sniping at passing cars was, in reality, a carefully constructed pattern for murder.

[last lines]

[From a long distance, Sergeant Moore has shot murder suspect Fred Carter with his revolver]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[to Sergeant Moore] I'll get an ambulance. Oh, by the way, you qualified with that pistol of yours this month.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The fight against crime is a never-ending series of battles. Even when one skirmish has been won, the law must prepare for another. On the 10th of last month, the Highway Patrol formulated a daring plan to try and apprehend the unknown members of a criminal ring by offering its jailed leader as a bait for a kidnapping.

[last lines]

Dispatcher:
Headquarters to twenty-one fifty. Headquarters to twenty-one fifty.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Twenty-one fifty by.

Dispatcher:
Report from the state penitentiary: Wilson safely delivered by helicopter.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Okay. We got that.

Dispatcher:
Oh, another thing. On that street barrier: Negative report from emergency street repair.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, that's just dandy. It's better late than never. [to Sergeant Williams] C'mon, let's go.

[first lines]

Narrator:
The most common crime confronting law enforcement agencies is theft. To the prospective criminal, the field of robbery seems the easiest, and the returns immediate. On April 15th of last year, a baffling series of robberies began. In each case, shipments of antibiotics and narcotics were removed from drug company trucks. For the firs three days, the problem was without solution. The Highway Patrol had no idea exactly how or when the thefts took place.

[last lines]

Julie Gibson:
We'll have to remember next time, Bill, a guy that size takes two pills.

Chief Dan Mathews:
There's not gonna be a next time. One pill is enough, believe me.

[Mathews begins to feel the effects of the drug that was slipped into his coffee at a restaurant. Getting groggy, he manages to get onto the driver's seat of the panel truck he was driving. He grabs the steering wheel with both hands, then slumps forward and falls asleep]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Would you recognize him if you saw him again?

Hal Bishop:
Sure, I think so. Anyway, I know I'd identify the woman!

Chief Dan Mathews:
All right, forget her. Take a look at these. [hands Bishop several info sheets with photographs]

Hal Bishop:
[examines photos] These two look a lot alike - Minnick and Talbot. I'm not positive, but I think Talbot's your man. [hands back info sheets and photos]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[reads from document] Steve Talbot - age 35. He's married. Wife's name Audrey - age 25. Five feet four, about 110 pounds. Has been known to be blonde, brunette, and redhead. She hasn't missed much - did time at Tahachopee.

Officer Dorsey:
The lady in the jewelry store was positive the man was alone.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Well, if it was Talbot, he could've planned to meet her after the job.

[first lines]

Narrator:
It is the job of all law enforcement agencies, and of the Highway Patrol in particular, to maintain a high standard of safety on our nation's roads. It is the obligation of conscientious citizens to exercise care in choosing and maintaining dependable, safe-driving automobiles. On the morning of May 15th, two young people purchased an old car, apparently the best they could afford, from a local used car dealer. But this was no ordinary young couple. The man was Steve Talbot, two-time loser on counts of armed robbery; the woman, his wife, Audrey. Her last mailing address was Tahachopee, a woman's prison in California. But Talbot wasn't satisfied. He had to pull one more job, and the car was part of his plan. [They drive to a bus stop] The Talbots could have afforded a better car, for the suitcase clutched by Audrey Talbot contained twenty thousand dollars in cash and gems, the take from Talbot's most recent holdup.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Come on. I'll take you back to your husband.

Mrs. Rogers:
That was an awful chance you took.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You're taking a bigger one. I never pulled a trailer before.

[Mathews goes around Mrs. Rogers' car to the driver's door]

Officer Henderson:
Here's the keys.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Thanks.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In police action, teamwork is the keynote to successful operations. The close cooperation of all elements is essential to law enforcement. Only once in a great while is such teamwork achieved by criminals.

[last lines]

Vince Crater:
All this, and I didn't get a chance to spend one dollar.

Chief Dan Mathews:
As a matter of fact you spent your last dollar. C'mon, move.

(Narrator):
Carrying $750,000 in payroll currency, a speeding train roars through the lonely countryside. Less than 45 minutes away, two men wait for that train. And they wait with a deadly plan!

[first lines]

(Narrator):
In the United States today, a major crime is committed every eleven seconds. Even isolated areas cannot escape this fearful toll. And men of the Highway Patrol must constantly protect even a lonely railroad way station. To Betty Fisher, tending a remote flag stop and depot for the railroad is a quiet, peaceful job. But even here there can be violence and murder - especially when nearly a million dollars is at stake.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
Let's go.

Chief Dan Mathews:
So, in other word, any kind of a radio signal would set this thing off? [Gestures toward blasting cap]

George Sharpe:
Well, naturally we have our own frequency. But these things are new and they're tricky. If they get within a few hundred yards of a strong signal they'll go. And when they do [Dan Mathews snaps fingers] , off goes the dynamite.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Oh, thanks heaps!

[first lines]

Narrator:
Law enforcement agencies agree that one of the most difficult criminals to apprehend is the first offender, the man with no previous record, who plans to strike once then disappear. On February 3rd, two such men set out to commit their version of the perfect crime. While doing so, they endangered the lives of hundreds of innocent people.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the fight against crime, law enforcement officials are aided in apprehending the lawless through knowledge of typical criminal behavior. This is known as M.O., or modus operandi. Occasionally, officials encounter a crime committed in a new manner, or in a variation of an old method. In early September, a truck driver named Buzz Larkin was putting into effect phase one of what he and his accomplices hoped would be a successful crime. [Larkin lets the air out of a spare tire on the truck he is driving] The deliberately flattened spare tire was intended to serve later as evidence of the truth of certain statements. The objective of the elaborate plot was the payroll of the Jarmin Manufacturing Company.

[last lines]

[Jim Stone has been placed under arrest]

Chief Dan Mathews:
That Trojan horse switch of yours was pretty sharp.

Jim Stone:
What are ya talkin' about?

Chief Dan Mathews:
It's something I read about in a book once.

Jim Stone:
I don't get much chance to read.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You will. [to Officer Morrison] I'll call an ambulance.

Chief Dan Mathews:
APB on this guy. Lenny Forbes, also known as Lenny Frazier.

Officer Larrabee:
Right.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Alert all units Indian Valley - he was in that area this morning. Put that on the air, then meet me at the car.

Officer Larrabee:
Where are we going?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Indian Valley. We gotta find this guy - he's dangerous.

Officer Larrabee:
Is he armed?

Chief Dan Mathews:
He sure is - with typhoid!

[first lines]

Narrator:
In its day-to-day job of enforcing the law, the Highway Patrol has become familiar with many types of killers and a variety of weapons. But in this case, the would-be murderer had no killer instinct. His instrument of death was beyond the ordinary limits of the law. Yet, his very presence was a threat to the entire community of Indian Valley.

[last lines]

[Hank Dooley has just shot his pistol at Leonard Forbes. Dan Mathews and Officer Larrabee arrive on the scene as Dooley runs toward Forbes with his gun in hand. Mathews disarms Dooley and Larrabee handcuffs him]

Hank Dooley:
What are the cuffs for?

Chief Dan Mathews:
Assault with a deadly weapon. That's a felony. So is attempted murder.

Leonard Forbes:
It wasn't his fault, I caused it all.

Chief Dan Mathews:
The doctor's not sure you caused it. How can you be sure. You know, I feel sorry for both of you. [Officer Larrabee cuffs Forbes] I hope the courts will. Awright, let's go.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the proper exercise of his duty, the peace officer, in addition to the apprehension of the criminal, must furnish the judiciary with evidence and witnesses to obtain a conviction. On September twelfth, a desperate, violent effort was made to drive a wedge between these two branches of law enforcement.

[last lines]

Chief Dan Mathews:
[Knocks on the door where Mr. and Mrs. Jensen are hiding] Mathews, Highway Patrol. [He opens the door]

Martin Jensen:
Boy, Mr. Mathews, am I glad to hear your voice, I was afraid there for a while I'd never get to testify.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Don't worry. Nothing will keep you from testifying. [to Mrs. Jensen] 'Scuse me.

Lita Morgan:
[Crouches over prostrate carjack victim] Well, maybe we... we better tie him up or something.

Caroline Craig:
[Looks closely at victim's face] I don't think we gotta bother. He's dead.

Lita Morgan:
You sure?

Caroline Craig:
Positive.

Lita Morgan:
Well, let's get him out of here!

Sergeant Morris:
Say, you don't think this whole thing's a wild goose chase, do you?

Chief Dan Mathews:
If it is, I know a little wild goose that's gonna lose some feathers!

[first lines]

Narrator:
To help protect the community from violence, rigid controls are exerted over the possession and use of firearms. A further indirect control requires that all doctors report immediately to law enforcement officials the treatment of any gunshot wound. In this case, however, two holdup men, one with a bullet in his shoulder which demanded medical treatment, took desperate measures to avoid contact with the police. From a local telephone directory they chose a doctor who had offices in his home, located in an outlying suburban area.

[last lines]

Dr. Elliott:
Sorry I wasn't much help. I... I guess I was scared.

Chief Dan Mathews:
You did exactly the right thing, doctor. You kept out of the way. [He turns to Tommy Evans] Which is more than I can say for some people.

Tommy Evans:
Are you mad at me?

Chief Dan Mathews:
No... but I should be.

Tommy Evans:
I'm glad because, well, I wish I could have a job like yours someday.

Chief Dan Mathews:
Tell you what: You come and see me in about 15 years.

Leave your blood at the RedCross not on the highway

Leave your blood at the RedCross not on the highway

Broderick Crawford (Highway Patrol)

"21-50 to headquarters."

Lt. Dan Matthews