Police Procedural

Sgt. Friday (Jack Webb) and Sgt. Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough) are assigned to narcotics detail. Dope peddlers are selling to high school students — with fatal consequences. One 17-year-old boy, Kenneth Morrow, had been using marijuana and was killed in an auto accident. Friday and Romero track down the man behind the operation, who is known as “The Big Tomato.”

This episode originally aired on January 25, 1951. The program is sponsored by Fatima cigarettes. Running time is 30:18.

Dragnet was a series of police dramas created by Jack Web that appeared on radio, TV, and film. The shows, although fictional, were known for their realism, and the episodes were based on  real cases from the Los Angeles Police Department. The term “dragnet” meant a system of coordinated measures to catch criminals and suspects. Dragnet aired on the radio from 1949 through 1957.

For more information about the Dragnet TV series: “Dragnet TV Show Trivia.”