21st Precinct Patrolman Jacobi. No sir, the captain's not in. Yesterday he's working today,
he's on his way to court with a prisoner, uptown arrest court. I don't think he's had time
to get there yet. You are by transcription in the muster room at the 21st Precinct, the
nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that
call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct.
All right inspector, I'll tell him. I'll leave a message on his desk to call as soon as he
gets back in the house. 21st Precinct, it's just lines on a map of the city of New York.
Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the nine tenths of a square mile between Fifth
Avenue and the East River wouldn't know if you asked them if they lived or worked in
the 21st. Whether they know it or not the security of their homes, their prisons, and
their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st, 160 patrolmen, 11
sergeants and four lieutenants of whom I'm the boss. My name is Cronin, Vincent P. Cronin.
I am captain in command of the 21st Precinct. I was doing day duty, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It
was a little before 7.30 when I entered the station house and walked behind the desk to
find the blotter. I conferred with the desk officer for the 12 to 8 tour, Lieutenant Snyder,
who gave me a quick summary of occurrences in the precinct since I was last on duty.
He also informed me that he had been notified by the communications bureau that Sergeant
Waters, scheduled for desk duty on the 8th of floor, had gone sick at his home. I looked
over the roll call for that tour with Lieutenant Gorman, the desk officer, and instructed him
to have patrolman Jacobi fill in on telephone switchboard duty. Later, on patrol of the
precinct, I instructed my operator, patrolman Farrell, to drop me on 86th Street, a neighborhood
business area. There, I walked along both sides of the street, observing the crowds
of Christmas shoppers, and finally headed toward a small jewelry store near 3rd Avenue.
Yes, sir, can I help you? Mr. Bentfield? Yes. I'm Captain Cronin, commanding officer of
the 21st Precinct. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. How are you, Captain? I'm glad to know you. I'm
fine. Captain Cannella used to come in here once in a while. I got to know him pretty
good. I heard he got promoted. I didn't hear the what? Oh, Deputy Inspector. Oh, that's
good. He deserved it all right. Where is he? Borough headquarters, Manhattan West. Oh,
yeah, no kidding. What's that? Well, he works under the assistant chief inspector, who commands
all the precincts on the west side. Oh, that must be a pretty good job. Yes, it is. It
is, yeah. So how do you like it here? It's a nice neighborhood. We've got everything.
You've got the richest in the world on Park Avenue and 5th Avenue. You've got the poorest
in the tenements of some variety, all right? Yeah. Listen, Mr. Bentfield, I told the boys
watch and all the girls watch you donated for the kids' Christmas party at this station
house tomorrow. I want to thank you. Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. No, they're
a very nice gift. They're going to make a couple of kids pretty happy, but they look
too expensive. Look, I get them wholesale, so it ain't so bad. And I've been doing it
for, let's see, three years now. So it's getting to be a tradition with me. You know how it
is. No, no, I don't. Well, it was right before Christmas on a Saturday night, late. Everything
was closed up. Well, a truck came racing by here and skidded on some ice on the street
and whammy plowed right through the front of the store. Well, I mean, this isn't Tiffany's,
you know, but there's a lot of inventory even in a small store like this here. I was out
someplace to a party in New Jersey. I didn't get home till like four in the morning and
it was five before I got here. In the meantime, they had a policeman standing right here guarding
everything. So I was so pleased. I said to Captain Kennelly, I said, Captain, what can
I do for you? What can I do to show my appreciation? Well, he said he put them in here because
it was the job. But if I wanted to do something, there was this Christmas party for the kids
coming up at the station house. Each kid that comes gets a present, you see, and that if
I had something for a present for a kid, that'd be fine. So I gave him two watches, one for
a boy, one for a girl. A kind of expensive gift to all the kids, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah,
that's what he said. Captain Kennelly. But then he thought of the idea they could go
to the boy and to the girl that was best in the precinct teams during the year. Not the
best athletes, particularly, but the ones that attended practice the most and, you know,
showed the best general all around cooperation and interest in the team. They'd get the prizes
for the year, the watches. Well, it worked out fine. I did it every year. I certainly
appreciate it, Mr. Manfell. Now listen, if the least I can do. Hey, Captain. Yeah? Look,
look out there on the sidewalk. What's that lady arguing with the Santa Claus about? Yeah.
You ever seen him around here before? Oh, yeah, I've seen him often on this week with
his bell and lion pot. Man, she's given Santa Claus what for, huh? I should say. I better
go see what's going on. Oh, and thanks again, Mr. Manfell. No mention, no mention. And a
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Same to you. Go away, lady. You bother me. You're bothering
the whole neighborhood. All right, all right. Now what's the trouble here? Officer, he's
a disgrace to the symbol of Santa Claus. That's only her opinion, Captain. Now go away, lady.
I'm a very charitable woman. I'll help out any organization, anyone. I'll do my bit every
time. Well, you did your bit. Now go home. Now you just keep quiet a minute, huh? Now
what's the trouble, madam? Well, I walked by here and I said to myself, what a nice-looking
Santa Claus. So I stopped and I dropped a quarter in the parking. Then I asked him what organization
he represented and he got very insulting. I don't think he represents an organization
at all. What do you want for a quarter, lady? An auditor's report? And I think he's crazy,
too. A drunken Santa Claus is a disgrace to the spirit of Christmas. It's a horrible influence
on the children of the neighborhood. Give to the spirit of Christmas. Give to the spirit
of Christmas. All right, all right. Now let's cut that out for a minute. There's only so
many working hours in the day, Captain. Yeah, I know. We're just holding. He's drunk. He
is, really. He can hardly stand up. Madam, I am not drunk. You've been drinking. I can
smell it. I may have been drinking, but I am not drunk. I am sober as a judge. Yeah. Well,
what organization do you represent? Sir, I am a brother of Karen. What's that? I never
heard of it. Well, where are you headquartered? Well, it's a worldwide organization. Yeah,
but where's the office? Well, we have no office. We spend no money on administrative expenses.
The brothers of Karen? Yes. I don't believe it. I don't believe a word he said. He's lying.
If this is any such thing, then you know it. All right, madam. I will get it straightened
out. How many members are you? Untold thousands. You have a permit from the Department of
Welfare to solicit on? The Department of Welfare? Yes. You need a permit to solicit charity on
the street. Our work is above the Department of Welfare. Our license comes from a higher
authority. The spirit of Christmas. The spirit of Christmas. All right, spirit of Christmas.
Let's put that away now. Captain, every person that passes is an opportunity. An opportunity
for a swindle. Madam, you've done your duty. Go home and attend to your family. Well, I
will not stand here and be insulted. Good. I don't want you to stand here and be insulted.
You have no license from the Department of Welfare? Well, as a matter of fact, I don't.
But as I told you, the brothers of charity operate on a higher authority. Well, how many
brothers of charity are there? How many members? Well, Phil, that's rather hard to say. There's
only one member, isn't there? You? Yes. You want me to make a rough estimate? Yes. That's
about right. One member. Oh, what a disgrace. What a disgrace to the spirit of Christmas.
All right, Santa, fold up your stuff here. We're going to the station house. Me? Yeah.
Well, I'm sure glad you're going to get him off the street, Captain. I'm sure glad. I
bet you are, lady. You go around making life miserable for everybody. That's your pleasure.
Now look, you keep quiet. It is all right if I go now. You take care of him. Yes, I'll
take care of him. Well, then, goodbye. And a Merry Christmas. Thank you. And a Merry Christmas
to you. All right, Santa, come on, pick up your stuff. Let's walk down to that club box.
You know, Captain, a man is entitled to make an honest living? You're not entitled to stand
on the street and give the impression you're soliciting for a legitimate charity. Charity
begins at home? Maybe, but not at your home. Well, you've got to admit it was a good idea
anyway. Yeah, a good idea, until you got caught. All right, now you just stand right here.
You know, I know it's going to be a long day, Captain. We couldn't stop in and get a little
drink before we go through the audience. No, I didn't think we could. Captain Cronenbach
17, send a car over here, will you? I've got a prisoner. A prisoner? All right. A prisoner?
Am I a prisoner? Yes, you sure are. What will the children say if they find out Santa Claus
is a prisoner? Poor Santa Claus is a prisoner. Well, Santa, you better start worrying more
about what the judge is going to say. The duties of a superior officer of the police
department in the city of New York are essentially administrative and supervisory. Consequently,
it's not very often that he's in a position to make an arrest. But every member of the
force is a peace officer, and it is his duty, as defined by law and the rules and regulations
of the department, to take proper police action when an offense, no matter how trivial, is
committed. After I rang into the station house, we waited at the call box for a few minutes
until sector car number five, with patrolman Coley as operator and patrolman Farrell as
recorder arrived. Santa Claus and his paraphernalia were piled behind the seat. I got into the
front of the car with the officers. They drove to the station house where I instructed Coley
and Farrell to resume patrol. I then directed my prisoner to walk up the three exterior
steps of the building and into the muster room.
All right. Walk right up to the desk, Dan.
Oh, indignity. Indignity.
Hello, Captain. Lieutenant.
Come on, a little closer. Go on. Put that stuff up on the desk.
What have we got, Captain?
Disorderly conduct, soliciting arms in public.
Twenty-five phrases.
What's your name, Santa?
Charles Edgar, ending.
All right, eleven.
Edgar or Edwin?
Edgar.
How do you spell the last name?
E-N-N-I-N-G, ending.
Stand up straight there. Don't lean on the railing. How old are you?
Well, I'll be 58.
I know you'll be 58. How old are you now?
54.
Where do you live?
Now, that is a question.
Don't you know where you live?
Well, last night, for instance, I lived at the New Gem Hotel.
The New Gem Hotel?
The New Gem, yes.
Where's that?
On the borough, near Pell Street, I think.
What do they charge you there?
A quarter per bed per night.
The New Gem, huh?
I'd like to see the old gem.
Gentlemen, before we complete the formalities, couldn't we send out for a nice little bottle of wine?
On being half-stand up straight there, he's not about enough wine.
All right. I respect his audits.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Where was it, Captain, on the street 86 and 37?
Yeah, that's right. He was annoying a woman.
The meanest woman in the world, absolutely the meanest woman in the world.
They're sitting arms in public. That's section 722, article 7, penal law.
That's right, Lieutenant.
Yes, sir.
All right, let's see what you got in your pocket, Charlie.
25, Brigadier Norman, you told me.
Man, stand still, wasn't it?
It was a little difficult for me to stand still with nothing to hold on to.
Come on, come on, make the effort.
Captain?
Yes?
Lieutenant King Watson, we've got a minute to talk to him.
Is he in the house?
Yes, he's upstairs.
All right, tell him to come on down. Unzip that, Charlie.
Yes, yes, okay.
Yes, sir, that's it, Lieutenant.
This sacrilege, zippers on a Santa Claus outfit.
This plain sacrilege.
Now let's get into those pockets.
Lieutenant King was right down, Captain.
All right.
Well, looks like you had a pretty good day, Charlie.
Is that my life, baby?
Well, you're going to need it for your old age.
Here's some more.
People sure believed you, didn't they, Santa?
Hearts are filled with charity at this season.
And you're just the boy to empty them.
Well, let's take it.
That, that is my medicine.
Medicine?
This is medicine. You should be good and cured by now.
Well, you shouldn't expect too much for 79 cents a pint.
I'm a great champion of domestic wine over the imported.
Have you been hitting the bottle this morning already?
Lieutenant, I must confess that's the second pint this morning.
After all, it's an occupational necessity.
It's, it's cold working outside.
Yeah.
Well, you'll have plenty of time indoors to warm up.
Don't you have any identification on you, Charlie?
Yes, to return ticket to the North Pole.
Never mind the wires, Greg.
No Social Security card, anything like that?
I don't believe in Social Security.
It's creeping socialism.
Hello, Captain.
Oh, man, where are you?
Where are you, Brad?
Sergeant Waters went sick. What's the matter with him?
Oh, you know, the virus that's going around that.
He'll be all right in a day or two.
Why don't you send him some of my medicine?
Well, what have you got here, Captain?
Aren't you in the wrong place, sir?
That's what I keep telling my counterpart, Lieutenant.
Yes, sir.
And I'm watching you.
Oh, he's fine.
Yes, ma'am.
Well, I've got a little problem, Captain.
Yeah?
You remember you were telling me about the English bike you bought for your boy last Christmas?
Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember.
Well, I had one on order for my kid, but the store called up this morning and said they were sorry,
but they didn't think the shipments they were counting on would arrive until after Christmas.
I don't want to disappoint the kid.
Did you get a pretty good deal last year?
Yeah, I think it was pretty good.
Oh, where is the place? I'd like to try there.
They may have something in stock and I could pick it up on the way home tonight.
Well, there's a store called Fairland Sporting Goods.
It's downtown, Lafayette Street, right near Broome Street there.
You know, just around the corner.
Oh, yeah, yeah, I've seen it.
You know somebody there I could call?
Sure, the owner, a fellow named Homi.
Just tell him who you are and I suggest you get called.
I've known him for years.
If he's got anything there, he'll give you a good buy, man.
He'll certainly get me off the spot.
You go try him out.
Thanks, Captain, I will right away.
And let me know how you make out, huh?
$7, 10, 20, 25, 30.
$7.30.
You verify the amount, Senator?
It seems all right.
Okay, let's have the beer.
The beer?
Come on, take it off.
I protest.
Let's have it.
It is part of my clothing.
You have no right to take part of my clothing.
You got a point there, Lieutenant.
Let him keep the beer.
All right, Senator.
That's $7.30 in coins.
A handkerchief, an open pint of wine, a book of matches, an iron pot, and a bell.
Here's your receipt.
Don't drink any of the wine.
It's safe here, Senator, I guarantee you.
The court's in session now and you'll be taken there for hearing.
That's upper Manhattan arrest part, Majestate's Court, West 151st Street.
Is there anyone you want notified?
We'll make three telephone calls.
No, no, there's no one.
All right.
Give me any communications if you're on here, Jacobi.
Yes, sir.
21st Precinct Lieutenant Gorman.
One prisoner for upper Manhattan arrest court, C.B., okay?
It's all wagons on the way, Captain, all right?
Oh, me, my, my, my.
Do you have any other clothes anyplace, darling?
Uh, muffin?
Muffin, yeah.
Well, I have a suit, or as you might call a suit, in the store room at the New Jam Hotel.
Where did you get this outfit from?
From the store room at the New Jam.
Do they know that you've got it?
Of course.
I'm supposed to play the part of the annual Christmas party.
At the New Jam?
Yes, it's a brilliant affair.
Everyone comes.
And the bay room flows like beer.
Everything flows, and I'm to be St. Nick.
Not this year, Charlie.
You might be out in time to be the Easter Bunny, but not St. Nick.
The law of the state of New York is quite explicit about the rights of persons arrested for a crime or an offense.
If a court of competent jurisdiction is in session at the time of an arrest,
the prisoner must be taken there for an immediate hearing.
If no court is in session, a person arrested for an offense can post bail with the desk officer in the precinct where he's booked.
When the patrol wagon arrived at the station house, my prisoner was loaded into the back.
As required, I, as arresting officer, got in with him.
We were driven uptown to upper Manhattan Arrest Court, a part of the magistrate's court of the city of New York.
There I unloaded the prisoner and took him inside to the detention pen where I signed him in,
and an officer of the Department of Corrections took custody.
Then I went upstairs and made out a complaint against the prisoner.
This was given to the clerk of the court to be docketed.
I returned to the detention pen where I got my prisoner, took him to the enclosure just outside the courtroom.
Then I went and sat inside the railing where the magistrate heard other cases.
Let's see that record.
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Can we have some order in here?
Order, order in the court.
You seem to have been through every police station in the city, Willie.
Now you can't go around this city stealing little items in every store in every neighborhood.
I don't know whether you're a thief at heart or whether you're sick.
I think you need psychiatric help.
Mail $500 for a man for a special session.
All right, Willie, step this way.
Through that door.
Captain Cronin, case of Charles Edgar Enning.
Okay, come on Santa Claus.
Don't rush me. Christmas isn't here yet.
Captain, you stuck your neck out of my eye when you made this arrest.
What will all the little children think of you?
That's beginning to worry me, Your Honor.
All right, Enning, stand over there in front of the bench.
Here we go again, Captain.
Captain Cronin, raise your right hand if you'd like to make a complaint.
I do.
Charles Edgar Enning, charged with violation of section 722, article 7 of penal law,
that you salute arms at 86th Street and 3rd Avenue on December 23rd, 1955,
without a permit from the Department of Welfare while addressing Santa Claus
as the inorganic suggestion.
I plead guilty and ask guilty.
Guilty with an exclamation, Judge.
And where's your range, the Hispanic?
You leave me with Nancy?
We will not have another outburst such as that.
The attendant will try to find the party responsible
and remove him from the courtroom.
This is not a vaudeville stage.
This is the court of law.
You see, Judge, I am an honest, hardworking man.
Now, wait a minute, Santa, before you start your explanation,
you've got to have something to explain about.
What's the story, Captain?
Well, about 10.15 this morning, Your Honor,
I was inside a jewelry store on 86th Street near the corner of 3rd Avenue.
I was talking to the owner of the jewelry store on police set.
From the interior of the store, the side work would be planned and observed
through the display window.
As I was talking to the owner, I noticed this man, the defendant,
standing on the sidewalk near the curb.
He was dressed as he is now in the costume of Santa Claus.
He had a tripod and I, in part, was ringing a bell
soliciting arms from the fancy's bike.
Is this Saffronalia and Claus?
Yes, sir, it is.
Santa, you want to show me how you rang the bell?
I just rang the bell, Your Honor, if you want me to show you, yes.
I'll show you.
There you are.
The spirit of Christmas, the spirit of Christmas.
You observed this from the inside of the jewelry store
through the window, Captain?
Yes, Your Honor, he was soliciting passes by
and occasionally I saw an individual drop a coin into the park.
That was the primary idea?
After I talked to the jewelry store owner for a while,
my attention was called to the fact that this man, the defendant,
was engaged in an argument with a woman on the sidewalk.
I went outside to see what was going on.
She was mean, the meanest woman in the world.
All right, you'll just keep quiet. You'll get your turn.
Apparently she dropped a coin into the pot
and made an inquiry as to what charity he represented.
He couldn't give her a satisfactory answer
and she started to argue with him.
I learned he was doing this for the purpose of personal profit.
It was 10.15 in the morning, Your Honor,
it was apparent that, well, he'd already had several drinks.
I placed him under arrest, took him to the station house.
We found $7 and some small change in his pockets.
I'm making a search.
Also, a pint bottle partially filled with wine.
He admitted that this was already his second bottle of the day.
Well, Santa, what have you got to say about that?
That pretty much the story?
Well, pretty much, Your Honor.
It's the bare facts.
But it doesn't get to the heart of the matter.
I mean the heart of the matter.
Of course I have to have money.
I have to live and eat and drink.
I have a way to drink occasionally, yes,
but the money is entirely secondary.
I decided to become the personification of Santa Claus
merely to give pleasure to the million of people in the city of New York,
to the little children and to the grownups,
to stand in front of the stores on 86th Street and to greet the people
and to say hello to the children
and to ask them what they want for Christmas
and give them all a kind word,
to take class commercialism out of Christmas.
That was my object in the whole thing.
The money was entirely secondary.
Now, don't give me a snow job, Santa.
A snow job?
That is funny.
Don't give me a snow job, Santa.
It wasn't intended to be funny.
Captain, did you notice him spreading any goods here along 86th Street?
Did you observe him uplifting any spirits?
Well, Your Honor, I imagine the only spirit he uplifted was his own
when he took a slug of wine.
I object.
The fact that I required a stimulant occasionally
to shelter myself against the cold
isn't germane to the question before you, Your Honor.
Where do you live, Santa?
Well, I've seen hard times, Your Honor.
I don't live.
I exist.
Well, where do you exist?
Downtown, in a hotel.
On the Bowery?
Yes, in that general neighborhood.
He gave his address as the new gem hotel,
around the Bowery, near Pelt Street.
You've been here before, haven't you?
On occasion, Your Honor.
Well, can you recall any particular occasion?
Well, to tell you the truth...
That's what I want, the truth.
To tell you the truth, my recollection isn't as good as it ought to be,
but I've been here.
How many times?
Well, let's say occasionally.
On the same charge?
On similar charges.
I didn't have the opportunity to become a Santa Claus in July, you know.
Were you here in July?
Well, I was here when it was hot.
I don't know whether it was July or August.
Have you been here since?
Well, let's see.
After the time when it was hot, I was away for a while.
On a vacation?
Yes, a vacation after the session, in the workhouse.
How long did you get that time?
Thirty days.
Have you been back since?
Well, not here.
I've been to the downtown court.
When was that?
Well, I would say October.
What were you dressed as then?
Christopher Columbus?
No, just as myself.
What did you get that time?
Fifteen days.
Well, you've been in as much as you've been out lately.
The workhouse is almost as good as the new gem hotel.
Do you have much trouble like this in your command, Captain?
Not too much, Your Honor. These fellows stay downtown most of the time.
Well, I should have stayed downtown today.
It wouldn't have been a bad idea.
Yes, I'm beginning to think so, Your Honor.
All right.
It's not a pleasant thing for a citizen to walk down the street and see a man begging on the sidewalk.
It's a public nuisance and it's degrading to our society.
Now, you've been through here several times before.
You said on one occasion you got 15 days and on another occasion you got 30 days.
If we take you back and fingerprint you, we'd find you've been standing right there in some court
or other at least four or five times a year for the past ten years.
Isn't that right?
Well, I couldn't make a precise estimate, Your Honor, but I would be inclined to accept your figure.
All right. See if you're inclined to accept this figure.
Thirty days in the workhouse.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't go away yet. I'm not through.
Now, this is the last session of this court before Christmas.
You've come in here charged with an offense that I said was degrading to our society,
and you've come in here dressed as Santa Claus.
Now, I don't want it on my conscience that on the last day I sit on this bench before Christmas,
I'd send a man who purported to be Santa Claus to the workhouse.
I know any admonition that I may make you about staying off the streets will have no effect whatsoever.
You'll be out there tomorrow grubbing nickels and dimes again.
I've got to eat, Your Honor, and as you say, drink.
In any case, the spirit of Christmas is upon me. Sentence is suspended.
You mean I can go?
That's what I mean. Adjourned until two o'clock.
Oh, it's now adjourned until two p.m.?
Well, Captain, I guess I beat that rep.
Yeah, yeah, looks like you did.
No hard feelings.
No, it's all part of the job.
I know, and I appreciate it. You've got your job, and I've got mine.
But let me tell you something, Charlie.
You stop doing your job in my precinct, or I'm going to find me a judge who never heard of Christmas.
Twenty-first precinct, Patrolman Jacoby.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, not so fast. He what?
Who told you this?
And so it goes, around the clock, through the week, every day, every year.
A police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry-go-round.
Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone.
Twenty-first precinct transcribed, a factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city,
is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association,
an organization of more than 20,000 members of the police department, city of New York.
James Gregory and the role of Captain Cronin, Ken Lynch as Lieutenant King,
featured in tonight's cast were Santa Sartega, Mary Haynes, Ethel Everett, Eric Dressler, Jodie Santus, and Wendell Holmes as Santa.
Twenty-first precinct is written and produced by Stanley Niff.
Art Hanna speaking.