WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 21st Precinct Patrolman Jacobi. No sir, the captain's not in. Yesterday he's working today, 00:12.800 --> 00:17.680 he's on his way to court with a prisoner, uptown arrest court. I don't think he's had time 00:17.680 --> 00:24.680 to get there yet. You are by transcription in the muster room at the 21st Precinct, the 00:24.680 --> 00:29.560 nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that 00:29.560 --> 00:36.200 call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct. 00:36.200 --> 00:39.880 All right inspector, I'll tell him. I'll leave a message on his desk to call as soon as he 00:39.880 --> 00:46.880 gets back in the house. 21st Precinct, it's just lines on a map of the city of New York. 00:49.680 --> 00:54.120 Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the nine tenths of a square mile between Fifth 00:54.120 --> 00:57.960 Avenue and the East River wouldn't know if you asked them if they lived or worked in 00:57.960 --> 01:02.160 the 21st. Whether they know it or not the security of their homes, their prisons, and 01:02.160 --> 01:09.160 their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st, 160 patrolmen, 11 01:10.520 --> 01:16.560 sergeants and four lieutenants of whom I'm the boss. My name is Cronin, Vincent P. Cronin. 01:16.560 --> 01:23.200 I am captain in command of the 21st Precinct. I was doing day duty, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It 01:23.200 --> 01:26.920 was a little before 7.30 when I entered the station house and walked behind the desk to 01:26.920 --> 01:32.560 find the blotter. I conferred with the desk officer for the 12 to 8 tour, Lieutenant Snyder, 01:32.560 --> 01:37.480 who gave me a quick summary of occurrences in the precinct since I was last on duty. 01:37.480 --> 01:41.680 He also informed me that he had been notified by the communications bureau that Sergeant 01:41.680 --> 01:46.640 Waters, scheduled for desk duty on the 8th of floor, had gone sick at his home. I looked 01:46.640 --> 01:51.320 over the roll call for that tour with Lieutenant Gorman, the desk officer, and instructed him 01:51.320 --> 01:56.760 to have patrolman Jacobi fill in on telephone switchboard duty. Later, on patrol of the 01:56.760 --> 02:02.080 precinct, I instructed my operator, patrolman Farrell, to drop me on 86th Street, a neighborhood 02:02.080 --> 02:06.920 business area. There, I walked along both sides of the street, observing the crowds 02:06.920 --> 02:13.920 of Christmas shoppers, and finally headed toward a small jewelry store near 3rd Avenue. 02:13.920 --> 02:22.920 Yes, sir, can I help you? Mr. Bentfield? Yes. I'm Captain Cronin, commanding officer of 02:22.920 --> 02:27.480 the 21st Precinct. Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. How are you, Captain? I'm glad to know you. I'm 02:27.480 --> 02:30.600 fine. Captain Cannella used to come in here once in a while. I got to know him pretty 02:30.600 --> 02:34.520 good. I heard he got promoted. I didn't hear the what? Oh, Deputy Inspector. Oh, that's 02:34.520 --> 02:38.040 good. He deserved it all right. Where is he? Borough headquarters, Manhattan West. Oh, 02:38.040 --> 02:42.280 yeah, no kidding. What's that? Well, he works under the assistant chief inspector, who commands 02:42.280 --> 02:46.240 all the precincts on the west side. Oh, that must be a pretty good job. Yes, it is. It 02:46.240 --> 02:49.160 is, yeah. So how do you like it here? It's a nice neighborhood. We've got everything. 02:49.160 --> 02:52.040 You've got the richest in the world on Park Avenue and 5th Avenue. You've got the poorest 02:52.040 --> 02:57.440 in the tenements of some variety, all right? Yeah. Listen, Mr. Bentfield, I told the boys 02:57.440 --> 03:01.480 watch and all the girls watch you donated for the kids' Christmas party at this station 03:01.480 --> 03:05.800 house tomorrow. I want to thank you. Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. No, they're 03:05.800 --> 03:10.480 a very nice gift. They're going to make a couple of kids pretty happy, but they look 03:10.480 --> 03:14.400 too expensive. Look, I get them wholesale, so it ain't so bad. And I've been doing it 03:14.400 --> 03:20.760 for, let's see, three years now. So it's getting to be a tradition with me. You know how it 03:20.760 --> 03:25.920 is. No, no, I don't. Well, it was right before Christmas on a Saturday night, late. Everything 03:25.920 --> 03:29.960 was closed up. Well, a truck came racing by here and skidded on some ice on the street 03:29.960 --> 03:34.200 and whammy plowed right through the front of the store. Well, I mean, this isn't Tiffany's, 03:34.200 --> 03:38.080 you know, but there's a lot of inventory even in a small store like this here. I was out 03:38.080 --> 03:41.600 someplace to a party in New Jersey. I didn't get home till like four in the morning and 03:41.600 --> 03:45.520 it was five before I got here. In the meantime, they had a policeman standing right here guarding 03:45.520 --> 03:49.360 everything. So I was so pleased. I said to Captain Kennelly, I said, Captain, what can 03:49.360 --> 03:53.400 I do for you? What can I do to show my appreciation? Well, he said he put them in here because 03:53.400 --> 03:57.800 it was the job. But if I wanted to do something, there was this Christmas party for the kids 03:57.800 --> 04:01.920 coming up at the station house. Each kid that comes gets a present, you see, and that if 04:01.920 --> 04:05.960 I had something for a present for a kid, that'd be fine. So I gave him two watches, one for 04:05.960 --> 04:10.320 a boy, one for a girl. A kind of expensive gift to all the kids, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, 04:10.320 --> 04:14.760 that's what he said. Captain Kennelly. But then he thought of the idea they could go 04:14.760 --> 04:18.080 to the boy and to the girl that was best in the precinct teams during the year. Not the 04:18.080 --> 04:22.640 best athletes, particularly, but the ones that attended practice the most and, you know, 04:22.640 --> 04:26.440 showed the best general all around cooperation and interest in the team. They'd get the prizes 04:26.440 --> 04:31.400 for the year, the watches. Well, it worked out fine. I did it every year. I certainly 04:31.400 --> 04:37.840 appreciate it, Mr. Manfell. Now listen, if the least I can do. Hey, Captain. Yeah? Look, 04:37.840 --> 04:43.920 look out there on the sidewalk. What's that lady arguing with the Santa Claus about? Yeah. 04:43.920 --> 04:47.160 You ever seen him around here before? Oh, yeah, I've seen him often on this week with 04:47.160 --> 04:52.560 his bell and lion pot. Man, she's given Santa Claus what for, huh? I should say. I better 04:52.560 --> 04:56.880 go see what's going on. Oh, and thanks again, Mr. Manfell. No mention, no mention. And a 04:56.880 --> 05:03.880 Merry Christmas to you and yours. Same to you. Go away, lady. You bother me. You're bothering 05:03.880 --> 05:08.520 the whole neighborhood. All right, all right. Now what's the trouble here? Officer, he's 05:08.520 --> 05:12.840 a disgrace to the symbol of Santa Claus. That's only her opinion, Captain. Now go away, lady. 05:12.840 --> 05:17.800 I'm a very charitable woman. I'll help out any organization, anyone. I'll do my bit every 05:17.800 --> 05:22.240 time. Well, you did your bit. Now go home. Now you just keep quiet a minute, huh? Now 05:22.240 --> 05:26.480 what's the trouble, madam? Well, I walked by here and I said to myself, what a nice-looking 05:26.480 --> 05:31.640 Santa Claus. So I stopped and I dropped a quarter in the parking. Then I asked him what organization 05:31.640 --> 05:35.720 he represented and he got very insulting. I don't think he represents an organization 05:35.720 --> 05:39.880 at all. What do you want for a quarter, lady? An auditor's report? And I think he's crazy, 05:39.880 --> 05:44.880 too. A drunken Santa Claus is a disgrace to the spirit of Christmas. It's a horrible influence 05:44.880 --> 05:49.640 on the children of the neighborhood. Give to the spirit of Christmas. Give to the spirit 05:49.640 --> 05:53.600 of Christmas. All right, all right. Now let's cut that out for a minute. There's only so 05:53.600 --> 05:57.600 many working hours in the day, Captain. Yeah, I know. We're just holding. He's drunk. He 05:57.600 --> 06:01.640 is, really. He can hardly stand up. Madam, I am not drunk. You've been drinking. I can 06:01.640 --> 06:06.800 smell it. I may have been drinking, but I am not drunk. I am sober as a judge. Yeah. Well, 06:06.800 --> 06:12.080 what organization do you represent? Sir, I am a brother of Karen. What's that? I never 06:12.080 --> 06:16.920 heard of it. Well, where are you headquartered? Well, it's a worldwide organization. Yeah, 06:16.920 --> 06:22.720 but where's the office? Well, we have no office. We spend no money on administrative expenses. 06:22.720 --> 06:27.120 The brothers of Karen? Yes. I don't believe it. I don't believe a word he said. He's lying. 06:27.120 --> 06:30.960 If this is any such thing, then you know it. All right, madam. I will get it straightened 06:30.960 --> 06:36.720 out. How many members are you? Untold thousands. You have a permit from the Department of 06:36.720 --> 06:43.720 Welfare to solicit on? The Department of Welfare? Yes. You need a permit to solicit charity on 06:43.720 --> 06:48.680 the street. Our work is above the Department of Welfare. Our license comes from a higher 06:48.680 --> 06:54.680 authority. The spirit of Christmas. The spirit of Christmas. All right, spirit of Christmas. 06:54.680 --> 06:59.040 Let's put that away now. Captain, every person that passes is an opportunity. An opportunity 06:59.040 --> 07:03.120 for a swindle. Madam, you've done your duty. Go home and attend to your family. Well, I 07:03.120 --> 07:07.040 will not stand here and be insulted. Good. I don't want you to stand here and be insulted. 07:07.040 --> 07:10.880 You have no license from the Department of Welfare? Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. 07:10.880 --> 07:15.400 But as I told you, the brothers of charity operate on a higher authority. Well, how many 07:15.400 --> 07:22.400 brothers of charity are there? How many members? Well, Phil, that's rather hard to say. There's 07:22.400 --> 07:29.400 only one member, isn't there? You? Yes. You want me to make a rough estimate? Yes. That's 07:29.400 --> 07:35.920 about right. One member. Oh, what a disgrace. What a disgrace to the spirit of Christmas. 07:35.920 --> 07:38.920 All right, Santa, fold up your stuff here. We're going to the station house. Me? Yeah. 07:38.920 --> 07:42.920 Well, I'm sure glad you're going to get him off the street, Captain. I'm sure glad. I 07:42.920 --> 07:47.120 bet you are, lady. You go around making life miserable for everybody. That's your pleasure. 07:47.120 --> 07:52.120 Now look, you keep quiet. It is all right if I go now. You take care of him. Yes, I'll 07:52.120 --> 07:56.600 take care of him. Well, then, goodbye. And a Merry Christmas. Thank you. And a Merry Christmas 07:56.600 --> 08:02.320 to you. All right, Santa, come on, pick up your stuff. Let's walk down to that club box. 08:02.320 --> 08:06.600 You know, Captain, a man is entitled to make an honest living? You're not entitled to stand 08:06.600 --> 08:10.720 on the street and give the impression you're soliciting for a legitimate charity. Charity 08:10.720 --> 08:16.280 begins at home? Maybe, but not at your home. Well, you've got to admit it was a good idea 08:16.280 --> 08:21.600 anyway. Yeah, a good idea, until you got caught. All right, now you just stand right here. 08:21.600 --> 08:27.800 You know, I know it's going to be a long day, Captain. We couldn't stop in and get a little 08:27.800 --> 08:34.400 drink before we go through the audience. No, I didn't think we could. Captain Cronenbach 08:34.400 --> 08:42.120 17, send a car over here, will you? I've got a prisoner. A prisoner? All right. A prisoner? 08:42.120 --> 08:47.200 Am I a prisoner? Yes, you sure are. What will the children say if they find out Santa Claus 08:47.200 --> 08:54.600 is a prisoner? Poor Santa Claus is a prisoner. Well, Santa, you better start worrying more 08:54.600 --> 09:00.120 about what the judge is going to say. The duties of a superior officer of the police 09:00.120 --> 09:05.520 department in the city of New York are essentially administrative and supervisory. Consequently, 09:05.520 --> 09:09.360 it's not very often that he's in a position to make an arrest. But every member of the 09:09.360 --> 09:14.600 force is a peace officer, and it is his duty, as defined by law and the rules and regulations 09:14.600 --> 09:19.680 of the department, to take proper police action when an offense, no matter how trivial, is 09:19.680 --> 09:23.600 committed. After I rang into the station house, we waited at the call box for a few minutes 09:23.600 --> 09:28.400 until sector car number five, with patrolman Coley as operator and patrolman Farrell as 09:28.400 --> 09:34.040 recorder arrived. Santa Claus and his paraphernalia were piled behind the seat. I got into the 09:34.040 --> 09:38.400 front of the car with the officers. They drove to the station house where I instructed Coley 09:38.400 --> 09:43.240 and Farrell to resume patrol. I then directed my prisoner to walk up the three exterior 09:43.240 --> 09:45.640 steps of the building and into the muster room. 09:45.640 --> 09:51.640 All right. Walk right up to the desk, Dan. 09:51.640 --> 09:54.640 Oh, indignity. Indignity. 09:54.640 --> 09:55.640 Hello, Captain. Lieutenant. 09:55.640 --> 10:00.640 Come on, a little closer. Go on. Put that stuff up on the desk. 10:00.640 --> 10:02.640 What have we got, Captain? 10:02.640 --> 10:05.640 Disorderly conduct, soliciting arms in public. 10:05.640 --> 10:06.640 Twenty-five phrases. 10:06.640 --> 10:07.640 What's your name, Santa? 10:07.640 --> 10:08.640 Charles Edgar, ending. 10:08.640 --> 10:09.640 All right, eleven. 10:09.640 --> 10:10.640 Edgar or Edwin? 10:10.640 --> 10:11.640 Edgar. 10:11.640 --> 10:13.640 How do you spell the last name? 10:13.640 --> 10:16.640 E-N-N-I-N-G, ending. 10:16.640 --> 10:19.640 Stand up straight there. Don't lean on the railing. How old are you? 10:19.640 --> 10:21.640 Well, I'll be 58. 10:21.640 --> 10:24.640 I know you'll be 58. How old are you now? 10:24.640 --> 10:25.640 54. 10:25.640 --> 10:26.640 Where do you live? 10:26.640 --> 10:28.640 Now, that is a question. 10:28.640 --> 10:30.640 Don't you know where you live? 10:30.640 --> 10:34.640 Well, last night, for instance, I lived at the New Gem Hotel. 10:34.640 --> 10:35.640 The New Gem Hotel? 10:35.640 --> 10:36.640 The New Gem, yes. 10:36.640 --> 10:37.640 Where's that? 10:37.640 --> 10:41.640 On the borough, near Pell Street, I think. 10:41.640 --> 10:42.640 What do they charge you there? 10:42.640 --> 10:44.640 A quarter per bed per night. 10:44.640 --> 10:46.640 The New Gem, huh? 10:46.640 --> 10:48.640 I'd like to see the old gem. 10:48.640 --> 10:53.640 Gentlemen, before we complete the formalities, couldn't we send out for a nice little bottle of wine? 10:53.640 --> 10:56.640 On being half-stand up straight there, he's not about enough wine. 10:56.640 --> 10:58.640 All right. I respect his audits. 10:58.640 --> 11:00.640 Yeah, that's a good idea. 11:00.640 --> 11:02.640 Where was it, Captain, on the street 86 and 37? 11:02.640 --> 11:04.640 Yeah, that's right. He was annoying a woman. 11:04.640 --> 11:08.640 The meanest woman in the world, absolutely the meanest woman in the world. 11:08.640 --> 11:12.640 They're sitting arms in public. That's section 722, article 7, penal law. 11:12.640 --> 11:13.640 That's right, Lieutenant. 11:13.640 --> 11:14.640 Yes, sir. 11:14.640 --> 11:18.640 All right, let's see what you got in your pocket, Charlie. 11:18.640 --> 11:20.640 25, Brigadier Norman, you told me. 11:20.640 --> 11:22.640 Man, stand still, wasn't it? 11:22.640 --> 11:26.640 It was a little difficult for me to stand still with nothing to hold on to. 11:26.640 --> 11:28.640 Come on, come on, make the effort. 11:28.640 --> 11:29.640 Captain? 11:29.640 --> 11:30.640 Yes? 11:30.640 --> 11:32.640 Lieutenant King Watson, we've got a minute to talk to him. 11:32.640 --> 11:33.640 Is he in the house? 11:33.640 --> 11:34.640 Yes, he's upstairs. 11:34.640 --> 11:38.640 All right, tell him to come on down. Unzip that, Charlie. 11:38.640 --> 11:39.640 Yes, yes, okay. 11:39.640 --> 11:40.640 Yes, sir, that's it, Lieutenant. 11:40.640 --> 11:45.640 This sacrilege, zippers on a Santa Claus outfit. 11:45.640 --> 11:47.640 This plain sacrilege. 11:47.640 --> 11:49.640 Now let's get into those pockets. 11:49.640 --> 11:50.640 Lieutenant King was right down, Captain. 11:50.640 --> 11:51.640 All right. 11:53.640 --> 11:55.640 Well, looks like you had a pretty good day, Charlie. 11:55.640 --> 11:57.640 Is that my life, baby? 11:57.640 --> 11:59.640 Well, you're going to need it for your old age. 11:59.640 --> 12:01.640 Here's some more. 12:01.640 --> 12:03.640 People sure believed you, didn't they, Santa? 12:03.640 --> 12:06.640 Hearts are filled with charity at this season. 12:06.640 --> 12:08.640 And you're just the boy to empty them. 12:08.640 --> 12:10.640 Well, let's take it. 12:10.640 --> 12:13.640 That, that is my medicine. 12:13.640 --> 12:15.640 Medicine? 12:15.640 --> 12:18.640 This is medicine. You should be good and cured by now. 12:18.640 --> 12:22.640 Well, you shouldn't expect too much for 79 cents a pint. 12:22.640 --> 12:27.640 I'm a great champion of domestic wine over the imported. 12:27.640 --> 12:29.640 Have you been hitting the bottle this morning already? 12:29.640 --> 12:32.640 Lieutenant, I must confess that's the second pint this morning. 12:32.640 --> 12:35.640 After all, it's an occupational necessity. 12:35.640 --> 12:37.640 It's, it's cold working outside. 12:37.640 --> 12:39.640 Yeah. 12:39.640 --> 12:41.640 Well, you'll have plenty of time indoors to warm up. 12:41.640 --> 12:43.640 Don't you have any identification on you, Charlie? 12:43.640 --> 12:46.640 Yes, to return ticket to the North Pole. 12:46.640 --> 12:48.640 Never mind the wires, Greg. 12:48.640 --> 12:50.640 No Social Security card, anything like that? 12:50.640 --> 12:53.640 I don't believe in Social Security. 12:53.640 --> 12:55.640 It's creeping socialism. 12:55.640 --> 12:56.640 Hello, Captain. 12:56.640 --> 12:57.640 Oh, man, where are you? 12:57.640 --> 12:59.640 Where are you, Brad? 12:59.640 --> 13:01.640 Sergeant Waters went sick. What's the matter with him? 13:01.640 --> 13:03.640 Oh, you know, the virus that's going around that. 13:03.640 --> 13:05.640 He'll be all right in a day or two. 13:05.640 --> 13:07.640 Why don't you send him some of my medicine? 13:07.640 --> 13:09.640 Well, what have you got here, Captain? 13:09.640 --> 13:11.640 Aren't you in the wrong place, sir? 13:11.640 --> 13:13.640 That's what I keep telling my counterpart, Lieutenant. 13:13.640 --> 13:14.640 Yes, sir. 13:14.640 --> 13:15.640 And I'm watching you. 13:15.640 --> 13:17.640 Oh, he's fine. 13:17.640 --> 13:18.640 Yes, ma'am. 13:18.640 --> 13:20.640 Well, I've got a little problem, Captain. 13:20.640 --> 13:21.640 Yeah? 13:21.640 --> 13:25.640 You remember you were telling me about the English bike you bought for your boy last Christmas? 13:25.640 --> 13:26.640 Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. 13:26.640 --> 13:30.640 Well, I had one on order for my kid, but the store called up this morning and said they were sorry, 13:30.640 --> 13:34.640 but they didn't think the shipments they were counting on would arrive until after Christmas. 13:34.640 --> 13:36.640 I don't want to disappoint the kid. 13:36.640 --> 13:38.640 Did you get a pretty good deal last year? 13:38.640 --> 13:39.640 Yeah, I think it was pretty good. 13:39.640 --> 13:41.640 Oh, where is the place? I'd like to try there. 13:41.640 --> 13:44.640 They may have something in stock and I could pick it up on the way home tonight. 13:44.640 --> 13:48.640 Well, there's a store called Fairland Sporting Goods. 13:48.640 --> 13:50.640 It's downtown, Lafayette Street, right near Broome Street there. 13:50.640 --> 13:52.640 You know, just around the corner. 13:52.640 --> 13:54.640 Oh, yeah, yeah, I've seen it. 13:54.640 --> 13:56.640 You know somebody there I could call? 13:56.640 --> 13:59.640 Sure, the owner, a fellow named Homi. 13:59.640 --> 14:01.640 Just tell him who you are and I suggest you get called. 14:01.640 --> 14:03.640 I've known him for years. 14:03.640 --> 14:05.640 If he's got anything there, he'll give you a good buy, man. 14:05.640 --> 14:07.640 He'll certainly get me off the spot. 14:07.640 --> 14:08.640 You go try him out. 14:08.640 --> 14:10.640 Thanks, Captain, I will right away. 14:10.640 --> 14:12.640 And let me know how you make out, huh? 14:12.640 --> 14:16.640 $7, 10, 20, 25, 30. 14:16.640 --> 14:18.640 $7.30. 14:18.640 --> 14:20.640 You verify the amount, Senator? 14:20.640 --> 14:22.640 It seems all right. 14:22.640 --> 14:23.640 Okay, let's have the beer. 14:23.640 --> 14:24.640 The beer? 14:24.640 --> 14:25.640 Come on, take it off. 14:25.640 --> 14:26.640 I protest. 14:26.640 --> 14:27.640 Let's have it. 14:27.640 --> 14:28.640 It is part of my clothing. 14:28.640 --> 14:30.640 You have no right to take part of my clothing. 14:30.640 --> 14:33.640 You got a point there, Lieutenant. 14:33.640 --> 14:34.640 Let him keep the beer. 14:34.640 --> 14:36.640 All right, Senator. 14:36.640 --> 14:38.640 That's $7.30 in coins. 14:38.640 --> 14:42.640 A handkerchief, an open pint of wine, a book of matches, an iron pot, and a bell. 14:42.640 --> 14:43.640 Here's your receipt. 14:43.640 --> 14:45.640 Don't drink any of the wine. 14:45.640 --> 14:48.640 It's safe here, Senator, I guarantee you. 14:48.640 --> 14:50.640 The court's in session now and you'll be taken there for hearing. 14:50.640 --> 14:54.640 That's upper Manhattan arrest part, Majestate's Court, West 151st Street. 14:54.640 --> 14:56.640 Is there anyone you want notified? 14:56.640 --> 14:58.640 We'll make three telephone calls. 14:58.640 --> 15:00.640 No, no, there's no one. 15:00.640 --> 15:01.640 All right. 15:01.640 --> 15:04.640 Give me any communications if you're on here, Jacobi. 15:04.640 --> 15:06.640 Yes, sir. 15:06.640 --> 15:08.640 21st Precinct Lieutenant Gorman. 15:08.640 --> 15:12.640 One prisoner for upper Manhattan arrest court, C.B., okay? 15:12.640 --> 15:15.640 It's all wagons on the way, Captain, all right? 15:15.640 --> 15:18.640 Oh, me, my, my, my. 15:18.640 --> 15:21.640 Do you have any other clothes anyplace, darling? 15:21.640 --> 15:23.640 Uh, muffin? 15:23.640 --> 15:25.640 Muffin, yeah. 15:25.640 --> 15:30.640 Well, I have a suit, or as you might call a suit, in the store room at the New Jam Hotel. 15:30.640 --> 15:32.640 Where did you get this outfit from? 15:32.640 --> 15:34.640 From the store room at the New Jam. 15:34.640 --> 15:36.640 Do they know that you've got it? 15:36.640 --> 15:37.640 Of course. 15:37.640 --> 15:40.640 I'm supposed to play the part of the annual Christmas party. 15:40.640 --> 15:41.640 At the New Jam? 15:41.640 --> 15:42.640 Yes, it's a brilliant affair. 15:42.640 --> 15:43.640 Everyone comes. 15:43.640 --> 15:45.640 And the bay room flows like beer. 15:45.640 --> 15:48.640 Everything flows, and I'm to be St. Nick. 15:48.640 --> 15:50.640 Not this year, Charlie. 15:50.640 --> 15:58.640 You might be out in time to be the Easter Bunny, but not St. Nick. 15:58.640 --> 16:04.640 The law of the state of New York is quite explicit about the rights of persons arrested for a crime or an offense. 16:04.640 --> 16:08.640 If a court of competent jurisdiction is in session at the time of an arrest, 16:08.640 --> 16:11.640 the prisoner must be taken there for an immediate hearing. 16:11.640 --> 16:18.640 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. 16:18.640 --> 16:23.640 When the patrol wagon arrived at the station house, my prisoner was loaded into the back. 16:23.640 --> 16:26.640 As required, I, as arresting officer, got in with him. 16:26.640 --> 16:32.640 We were driven uptown to upper Manhattan Arrest Court, a part of the magistrate's court of the city of New York. 16:32.640 --> 16:37.640 There I unloaded the prisoner and took him inside to the detention pen where I signed him in, 16:37.640 --> 16:40.640 and an officer of the Department of Corrections took custody. 16:40.640 --> 16:43.640 Then I went upstairs and made out a complaint against the prisoner. 16:43.640 --> 16:46.640 This was given to the clerk of the court to be docketed. 16:46.640 --> 16:51.640 I returned to the detention pen where I got my prisoner, took him to the enclosure just outside the courtroom. 16:51.640 --> 16:56.640 Then I went and sat inside the railing where the magistrate heard other cases. 16:56.640 --> 16:59.640 Let's see that record. 16:59.640 --> 17:00.640 Yes, Your Honor. 17:00.640 --> 17:02.640 Thank you. 17:02.640 --> 17:05.640 Can we have some order in here? 17:05.640 --> 17:09.640 Order, order in the court. 17:09.640 --> 17:13.640 You seem to have been through every police station in the city, Willie. 17:13.640 --> 17:18.640 Now you can't go around this city stealing little items in every store in every neighborhood. 17:18.640 --> 17:21.640 I don't know whether you're a thief at heart or whether you're sick. 17:21.640 --> 17:24.640 I think you need psychiatric help. 17:24.640 --> 17:29.640 Mail $500 for a man for a special session. 17:29.640 --> 17:32.640 All right, Willie, step this way. 17:32.640 --> 17:35.640 Through that door. 17:35.640 --> 17:38.640 Captain Cronin, case of Charles Edgar Enning. 17:38.640 --> 17:40.640 Okay, come on Santa Claus. 17:40.640 --> 17:43.640 Don't rush me. Christmas isn't here yet. 17:43.640 --> 17:46.640 Captain, you stuck your neck out of my eye when you made this arrest. 17:46.640 --> 17:48.640 What will all the little children think of you? 17:48.640 --> 17:50.640 That's beginning to worry me, Your Honor. 17:50.640 --> 17:52.640 All right, Enning, stand over there in front of the bench. 17:52.640 --> 17:54.640 Here we go again, Captain. 17:54.640 --> 17:57.640 Captain Cronin, raise your right hand if you'd like to make a complaint. 17:57.640 --> 17:58.640 I do. 17:58.640 --> 18:03.640 Charles Edgar Enning, charged with violation of section 722, article 7 of penal law, 18:03.640 --> 18:08.640 that you salute arms at 86th Street and 3rd Avenue on December 23rd, 1955, 18:08.640 --> 18:10.640 without a permit from the Department of Welfare while addressing Santa Claus 18:10.640 --> 18:11.640 as the inorganic suggestion. 18:11.640 --> 18:13.640 I plead guilty and ask guilty. 18:13.640 --> 18:15.640 Guilty with an exclamation, Judge. 18:15.640 --> 18:17.640 And where's your range, the Hispanic? 18:17.640 --> 18:19.640 You leave me with Nancy? 18:19.640 --> 18:24.640 We will not have another outburst such as that. 18:24.640 --> 18:26.640 The attendant will try to find the party responsible 18:26.640 --> 18:28.640 and remove him from the courtroom. 18:28.640 --> 18:30.640 This is not a vaudeville stage. 18:30.640 --> 18:32.640 This is the court of law. 18:32.640 --> 18:36.640 You see, Judge, I am an honest, hardworking man. 18:36.640 --> 18:39.640 Now, wait a minute, Santa, before you start your explanation, 18:39.640 --> 18:41.640 you've got to have something to explain about. 18:41.640 --> 18:43.640 What's the story, Captain? 18:43.640 --> 18:45.640 Well, about 10.15 this morning, Your Honor, 18:45.640 --> 18:49.640 I was inside a jewelry store on 86th Street near the corner of 3rd Avenue. 18:49.640 --> 18:53.640 I was talking to the owner of the jewelry store on police set. 18:53.640 --> 18:57.640 From the interior of the store, the side work would be planned and observed 18:57.640 --> 18:59.640 through the display window. 18:59.640 --> 19:02.640 As I was talking to the owner, I noticed this man, the defendant, 19:02.640 --> 19:04.640 standing on the sidewalk near the curb. 19:04.640 --> 19:08.640 He was dressed as he is now in the costume of Santa Claus. 19:08.640 --> 19:11.640 He had a tripod and I, in part, was ringing a bell 19:11.640 --> 19:13.640 soliciting arms from the fancy's bike. 19:13.640 --> 19:15.640 Is this Saffronalia and Claus? 19:15.640 --> 19:17.640 Yes, sir, it is. 19:17.640 --> 19:20.640 Santa, you want to show me how you rang the bell? 19:20.640 --> 19:23.640 I just rang the bell, Your Honor, if you want me to show you, yes. 19:23.640 --> 19:25.640 I'll show you. 19:25.640 --> 19:27.640 There you are. 19:27.640 --> 19:32.640 The spirit of Christmas, the spirit of Christmas. 19:32.640 --> 19:34.640 You observed this from the inside of the jewelry store 19:34.640 --> 19:36.640 through the window, Captain? 19:36.640 --> 19:38.640 Yes, Your Honor, he was soliciting passes by 19:38.640 --> 19:42.640 and occasionally I saw an individual drop a coin into the park. 19:42.640 --> 19:45.640 That was the primary idea? 19:45.640 --> 19:47.640 After I talked to the jewelry store owner for a while, 19:47.640 --> 19:50.640 my attention was called to the fact that this man, the defendant, 19:50.640 --> 19:53.640 was engaged in an argument with a woman on the sidewalk. 19:53.640 --> 19:55.640 I went outside to see what was going on. 19:55.640 --> 19:57.640 She was mean, the meanest woman in the world. 19:57.640 --> 20:00.640 All right, you'll just keep quiet. You'll get your turn. 20:00.640 --> 20:02.640 Apparently she dropped a coin into the pot 20:02.640 --> 20:05.640 and made an inquiry as to what charity he represented. 20:05.640 --> 20:07.640 He couldn't give her a satisfactory answer 20:07.640 --> 20:09.640 and she started to argue with him. 20:09.640 --> 20:13.640 I learned he was doing this for the purpose of personal profit. 20:13.640 --> 20:15.640 It was 10.15 in the morning, Your Honor, 20:15.640 --> 20:18.640 it was apparent that, well, he'd already had several drinks. 20:18.640 --> 20:20.640 I placed him under arrest, took him to the station house. 20:20.640 --> 20:22.640 We found $7 and some small change in his pockets. 20:22.640 --> 20:24.640 I'm making a search. 20:24.640 --> 20:28.640 Also, a pint bottle partially filled with wine. 20:28.640 --> 20:32.640 He admitted that this was already his second bottle of the day. 20:32.640 --> 20:36.640 Well, Santa, what have you got to say about that? 20:36.640 --> 20:38.640 That pretty much the story? 20:38.640 --> 20:40.640 Well, pretty much, Your Honor. 20:40.640 --> 20:42.640 It's the bare facts. 20:42.640 --> 20:45.640 But it doesn't get to the heart of the matter. 20:45.640 --> 20:48.640 I mean the heart of the matter. 20:48.640 --> 20:50.640 Of course I have to have money. 20:50.640 --> 20:53.640 I have to live and eat and drink. 20:53.640 --> 20:55.640 I have a way to drink occasionally, yes, 20:55.640 --> 20:59.640 but the money is entirely secondary. 20:59.640 --> 21:03.640 I decided to become the personification of Santa Claus 21:03.640 --> 21:07.640 merely to give pleasure to the million of people in the city of New York, 21:07.640 --> 21:11.640 to the little children and to the grownups, 21:11.640 --> 21:15.640 to stand in front of the stores on 86th Street and to greet the people 21:15.640 --> 21:17.640 and to say hello to the children 21:17.640 --> 21:20.640 and to ask them what they want for Christmas 21:20.640 --> 21:22.640 and give them all a kind word, 21:22.640 --> 21:25.640 to take class commercialism out of Christmas. 21:25.640 --> 21:28.640 That was my object in the whole thing. 21:28.640 --> 21:30.640 The money was entirely secondary. 21:30.640 --> 21:32.640 Now, don't give me a snow job, Santa. 21:32.640 --> 21:34.640 A snow job? 21:34.640 --> 21:36.640 That is funny. 21:36.640 --> 21:39.640 Don't give me a snow job, Santa. 21:39.640 --> 21:41.640 It wasn't intended to be funny. 21:41.640 --> 21:45.640 Captain, did you notice him spreading any goods here along 86th Street? 21:45.640 --> 21:49.640 Did you observe him uplifting any spirits? 21:49.640 --> 21:53.640 Well, Your Honor, I imagine the only spirit he uplifted was his own 21:53.640 --> 21:54.640 when he took a slug of wine. 21:54.640 --> 21:55.640 I object. 21:55.640 --> 21:57.640 The fact that I required a stimulant occasionally 21:57.640 --> 21:58.640 to shelter myself against the cold 21:58.640 --> 22:02.640 isn't germane to the question before you, Your Honor. 22:02.640 --> 22:04.640 Where do you live, Santa? 22:04.640 --> 22:08.640 Well, I've seen hard times, Your Honor. 22:08.640 --> 22:10.640 I don't live. 22:10.640 --> 22:11.640 I exist. 22:11.640 --> 22:12.640 Well, where do you exist? 22:12.640 --> 22:14.640 Downtown, in a hotel. 22:14.640 --> 22:15.640 On the Bowery? 22:15.640 --> 22:17.640 Yes, in that general neighborhood. 22:17.640 --> 22:19.640 He gave his address as the new gem hotel, 22:19.640 --> 22:22.640 around the Bowery, near Pelt Street. 22:22.640 --> 22:24.640 You've been here before, haven't you? 22:24.640 --> 22:26.640 On occasion, Your Honor. 22:26.640 --> 22:29.640 Well, can you recall any particular occasion? 22:29.640 --> 22:30.640 Well, to tell you the truth... 22:30.640 --> 22:32.640 That's what I want, the truth. 22:32.640 --> 22:36.640 To tell you the truth, my recollection isn't as good as it ought to be, 22:36.640 --> 22:39.640 but I've been here. 22:39.640 --> 22:41.640 How many times? 22:41.640 --> 22:43.640 Well, let's say occasionally. 22:43.640 --> 22:44.640 On the same charge? 22:44.640 --> 22:47.640 On similar charges. 22:47.640 --> 22:51.640 I didn't have the opportunity to become a Santa Claus in July, you know. 22:51.640 --> 22:52.640 Were you here in July? 22:52.640 --> 22:55.640 Well, I was here when it was hot. 22:55.640 --> 22:59.640 I don't know whether it was July or August. 22:59.640 --> 23:00.640 Have you been here since? 23:00.640 --> 23:02.640 Well, let's see. 23:02.640 --> 23:07.640 After the time when it was hot, I was away for a while. 23:07.640 --> 23:08.640 On a vacation? 23:08.640 --> 23:13.640 Yes, a vacation after the session, in the workhouse. 23:13.640 --> 23:14.640 How long did you get that time? 23:14.640 --> 23:15.640 Thirty days. 23:15.640 --> 23:16.640 Have you been back since? 23:16.640 --> 23:18.640 Well, not here. 23:18.640 --> 23:20.640 I've been to the downtown court. 23:20.640 --> 23:21.640 When was that? 23:21.640 --> 23:24.640 Well, I would say October. 23:24.640 --> 23:25.640 What were you dressed as then? 23:25.640 --> 23:26.640 Christopher Columbus? 23:26.640 --> 23:28.640 No, just as myself. 23:28.640 --> 23:30.640 What did you get that time? 23:30.640 --> 23:33.640 Fifteen days. 23:33.640 --> 23:36.640 Well, you've been in as much as you've been out lately. 23:36.640 --> 23:39.640 The workhouse is almost as good as the new gem hotel. 23:39.640 --> 23:41.640 Do you have much trouble like this in your command, Captain? 23:41.640 --> 23:44.640 Not too much, Your Honor. These fellows stay downtown most of the time. 23:44.640 --> 23:46.640 Well, I should have stayed downtown today. 23:46.640 --> 23:48.640 It wouldn't have been a bad idea. 23:48.640 --> 23:52.640 Yes, I'm beginning to think so, Your Honor. 23:52.640 --> 23:53.640 All right. 23:53.640 --> 23:59.640 It's not a pleasant thing for a citizen to walk down the street and see a man begging on the sidewalk. 23:59.640 --> 24:04.640 It's a public nuisance and it's degrading to our society. 24:04.640 --> 24:06.640 Now, you've been through here several times before. 24:06.640 --> 24:11.640 You said on one occasion you got 15 days and on another occasion you got 30 days. 24:11.640 --> 24:16.640 If we take you back and fingerprint you, we'd find you've been standing right there in some court 24:16.640 --> 24:21.640 or other at least four or five times a year for the past ten years. 24:21.640 --> 24:23.640 Isn't that right? 24:23.640 --> 24:30.640 Well, I couldn't make a precise estimate, Your Honor, but I would be inclined to accept your figure. 24:30.640 --> 24:33.640 All right. See if you're inclined to accept this figure. 24:33.640 --> 24:34.640 Thirty days in the workhouse. 24:34.640 --> 24:35.640 Thank you, Your Honor. 24:35.640 --> 24:41.640 Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't go away yet. I'm not through. 24:41.640 --> 24:46.640 Now, this is the last session of this court before Christmas. 24:46.640 --> 24:51.640 You've come in here charged with an offense that I said was degrading to our society, 24:51.640 --> 24:54.640 and you've come in here dressed as Santa Claus. 24:54.640 --> 24:59.640 Now, I don't want it on my conscience that on the last day I sit on this bench before Christmas, 24:59.640 --> 25:03.640 I'd send a man who purported to be Santa Claus to the workhouse. 25:03.640 --> 25:09.640 I know any admonition that I may make you about staying off the streets will have no effect whatsoever. 25:09.640 --> 25:12.640 You'll be out there tomorrow grubbing nickels and dimes again. 25:12.640 --> 25:16.640 I've got to eat, Your Honor, and as you say, drink. 25:16.640 --> 25:23.640 In any case, the spirit of Christmas is upon me. Sentence is suspended. 25:23.640 --> 25:25.640 You mean I can go? 25:25.640 --> 25:28.640 That's what I mean. Adjourned until two o'clock. 25:28.640 --> 25:32.640 Oh, it's now adjourned until two p.m.? 25:32.640 --> 25:35.640 Well, Captain, I guess I beat that rep. 25:35.640 --> 25:37.640 Yeah, yeah, looks like you did. 25:37.640 --> 25:38.640 No hard feelings. 25:38.640 --> 25:40.640 No, it's all part of the job. 25:40.640 --> 25:45.640 I know, and I appreciate it. You've got your job, and I've got mine. 25:45.640 --> 25:48.640 But let me tell you something, Charlie. 25:48.640 --> 25:55.640 You stop doing your job in my precinct, or I'm going to find me a judge who never heard of Christmas. 25:55.640 --> 26:02.640 Twenty-first precinct, Patrolman Jacoby. 26:02.640 --> 26:06.640 Wait a minute, wait a minute, not so fast. He what? 26:06.640 --> 26:08.640 Who told you this? 26:08.640 --> 26:12.640 And so it goes, around the clock, through the week, every day, every year. 26:12.640 --> 26:16.640 A police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry-go-round. 26:16.640 --> 26:22.640 Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone. 26:22.640 --> 26:27.640 Twenty-first precinct transcribed, a factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city, 26:27.640 --> 26:31.640 is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, 26:31.640 --> 26:36.640 an organization of more than 20,000 members of the police department, city of New York. 26:36.640 --> 26:40.640 James Gregory and the role of Captain Cronin, Ken Lynch as Lieutenant King, 26:40.640 --> 26:48.640 featured in tonight's cast were Santa Sartega, Mary Haynes, Ethel Everett, Eric Dressler, Jodie Santus, and Wendell Holmes as Santa. 26:48.640 --> 26:51.640 Twenty-first precinct is written and produced by Stanley Niff. 26:51.640 --> 26:53.640 Art Hanna speaking.