Dragnet

This is the city, Los Angeles, California.

I work here.

I carry a badge.

The story you're about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was Thursday, July 18th.

We were working out of Narcotics Division.

The boss is Captain Trembly.

My partner is Bill Gannon. My name is Friday.

We were returning to the office after lunch when we picked up a radio call

regarding a juvenile jumper.

We were in the area and we drove over to check it out.

Help me! Kill the snakes!

The snakes, kill them!

They're climbing on the building!

Help me! Kill them!

Kill them! They're biting.

They're eating my legs, please.

Back! Back!

Kill them! Kill them!

Kill the snakes, please!

They're climbing the building.

Kill them! Die, snakes!

Die! Kill them!

Kill them, please! Help me kill them!

What's the story?

It seems the boy got onto the roof and barricaded the door up there.

- I had to call the Fire Department. - You know who the kid is?

Well, I haven't had the time to check witnesses.

The crazy kid's got wiped down.

- You guys must see a lot of this. - More than we like.

Young kids standing up there swinging a TV antenna,

trying to kill the snakes that were after him.

Sounds like acid, doesn't it?

Either that or he's psycho.

Please, please keep the snakes away!

They're after me. You just see them all around.

They're crawling on the sidewalks.

All right. Take it easy, son.

- Please! - We found this in his pocket.

Oh, no. Please no.

LSD.

You wanted some saccharine, Joe?

No, thanks.

Pot, speed, LSD.

Why the devil do the kids mess with that garbage?

- I don't know. - It's like they got a grudge against themselves.

I mean it, Joe. What's really going on with these young people?

That boy today, where is the kick in going out of your head?

I don't know. You see them over in Juvenile,

8, 9-year-old losing it versus 10-year-olds acid freaks.

They keep telling us that our society is more sophisticated.

It looks like we got the drugs to go along with it, doesn't it?

Joe, Bill, I'd like you to meet somebody.

Sergeant Joe Friday, Officer Bill Gannon, this is Robert Squire.

- Mr. Squire. - Bob here thinks he has an idea

concerning teenage drug addiction.

Maybe not stomp it out completely,

but at least let it know it's been in a good fight.

Sit down.

First off gentlemen, I'll tell you what I told the captain.

I don't know beans about crime prevention.

I'm a businessman. I like to think I'm a good one.

I made a few bucks in the scaffolding business

by finding new and better ways to tackle old problems.

Last week, I happened to be having dinner with a friend,

John Stevens, a parole officer with the California Youth Authority.

We got to talking about the growing problem of teenage drug addiction.

You said it seemed a hopeless problem.

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking who is this old duff to flap his gums?

That was pretty much Steven's reaction too.

He told me to solve it if I thought it was that simple,

but it's not simple.

But I think I've come up

with a partial solution, a beginning.

No one has been able to curb teenage drug addiction, right?

Right. Why?

Ask the question I ask myself.

What is it you people, people like myself,

are doing wrong that the competition is doing right?

- The competition? - The drug pushers, they're selling drugs,

temporary kicks that wind up making addicts or corpses of their customers.

Why are they still in business when all they have to sell is poison?

You tell us, Mr. Squire.

It's just sales force. His salesmen are kids.

One kid uses the junk and talks it up

and before you know it, he has sold 10, 20, 50 other kids on it.

And who is around to tell the kids that dope is bad?

We are, the older generation, teachers, principals,

parents, policemen, all of us according to the kids... the enemy.

Gentlemen, if we were selling five-dollar bills

for a dollar and a skate key,

the kids wouldn't buy them from us.

- I got an idea. - What's that, sir?

Something like counterintelligence.

Folks my age, your age, can lecture the kids

or arrest them and that's that,

but it takes a kid to convince another kid.

Most teenagers try pot or LSD or speed

because it's stylish, the in thing to do.

They're convinced all the other kids are doing it.

And you know how important it is to young people to be in step with the crowd.

Okay. Well, what if we can get the teenagers themselves

to actively oppose the use of narcotics?

If they're going to play follow the leader,

we've got to make sure the leader isn't a drug freak.

Let's face it. A small percentage of kids

are going to become addicts in spite of everything we can accomplish

and a large percentage of decent kids won't even

go near the junk even if we do nothing,

but there's a tremendous number of teenagers sitting on the fence

who go one way or the other

and they're worth fighting for, aren't they?

Makes sense, but how do you make it work?

Let me tell you a true story.

I once had a sick Siamese kitten and I took it to the vet.

He told me the cat had rickets

and prescribed some gelatin capsules containing cod liver oil.

Now, the cat needed cod liver oil

and it was good for the cat and we were determined

to give that cat cod liver oil whether it wanted it or not.

So we held that cat and shoved capsules down its throat

and we held its mouth open and that cat clawed and scratched

and choked and sputtered and did everything,

but take us to court and sue us for mistreating it.

He just didn't want us swallowing the capsule.

No way to convince that cat you were doing him a favor.

After several days of force feeding him,

trying to shove those darn things down his throat,

he accidentally bit into a capsule.

All of a sudden, he began licking his chops,

and after that we had no trouble with him at all.

We merely bought a bottle of cod liver oil,

put the stuff on a spoon, and the cat licked it up.

- Get the message? - Maybe.

A great deal of the materials on drugs and narcotics

that's being put out for teenagers is in capsule form

and those young people are not about to buy it

no matter how good it is for them.

We know it's good for them,

but that's obviously not enough, is it?

Tell them your plan, Bob.

Well, my friend John Stevens

has arranged to let me use a high school classroom,

and tomorrow evening we're holding our first meeting.

Stevens has seen to it that the kids who attend receive summer school credit.

Where do we fit in?

Someone from the police department

should be there to let the young people know that adults and police

can care without having to run the show.

Sounds pretty good to me.

You two work along with Bob.

Yes, sir. What time and where?

- Here you are. - Okay, we will be there.

Thank you, gentlemen. See you tomorrow night.

Bye, Bob.

Well, what do you think, Captain?

I don't know.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but makes sense to me.

- Yes, sir. - Let's hope it does to the kids.

Good evening, gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like you to meet Sergeant Joe Friday

and Officer Bill Gannon

of the Los Angeles Police Department.

We've just seen a film on LSD

and we're about to discuss it.

Go right ahead. We'll stand in the back.

We're here to learn.

Now, what did we learn

from this film we just saw on LSD?

Number one, we learned that it can cause

chromosome damage resulting in possible birth defects.

Number two, we learned that it can cause severe mental damage.

Three, it could bring about vivid and dangerous hallucinations.

Now, what else did we learn?

Stanley?

My name is Stanley Sorel.

I understood this group was going to be run by teenagers.

Well no disrespect, sir,

but you're no teenager

and they're not teenagers either.

You're right especially about me.

But this is our first meeting. The officers are here

because they want to help. I'm here for the same reason,

but I'll gladly allow you to chair the meeting, son.

No, sir, not me.

Mr. Squire, may I?

Please do.

Hi. My name is Ann Flynn.

Even before seeing tonight's film, I knew LSD was bad.

I know that marijuana and speed and all the rest

of that stuff is terrible.

We all agree on that, don't we?

I mean that's why we're here.

But now, what are we supposed to do or what can we do?

We're just kids. We can't arrest anyone.

Well, we can set an example maybe.

What does that mean?

Has anyone here ever tried dope?