 Ladies and gentlemen the documented story you will hear during the next 30 minutes is not a subject commonly discussed It is a criminal problem that is not yet nationwide, but it's a problem which is growing rapidly We present it now so that you may recognize it for what it is if and when it invades your city The story you are about to hear is true Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent Fatima best of all king-size cigarettes brings you dragnet You're a detective sergeant you're assigned to bunco detail You begin to receive reports of a vicious new racket growing in your city the television repair racket The repairman lie overcharge bill you for work not done for parts not needed for parts. They don't install your job Stop them How does Fatima compare with other king-size cigarettes Fatima's are the same length and circumference 85 millimeters long one and one sixty-fourths inches around and Fatima filters the smoke exactly the same long distance as any other king-size cigarette Tell me then how is Fatima different from other king-size cigarettes in Fatima The difference is quality Fatima gives you extra mildness a much different much better Flavor and aroma remember Fatima has all the advantages of extra length Plus Fatima quality which no other king-size cigarette has so insist on the best Smoke king-size Fatima best of all king-size cigarettes Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles police department You will travel step-by-step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files From beginning to end from crime to punishment Dragnet is the story of your police force in action It was Monday, January 19th was overcast in Los Angeles. We're working the day watch out of bunco detail My partner's been Romero the boss is Captain McCauley. My name is Friday It was 9 15 a.m. When we got to the third floor of the Los Angeles Daily News the assistant city editor's office Hi, Friday. Come on in sit down. Morning Jack like you to meet my partner Ben Romero Ben, this is Jack can that staff writer for the Daily News. I can that but I know your Ben sit down fellas. Thanks We just left the skipper over at the City Hall. Did the captain brief you on this thing? Yeah, he gave us a partial fill in we've been working on it from our end about two weeks now Paul Price he's our radio TV editor Paul and I had a long session with Captain McCauley yesterday And I guess now we're ready to move on this thing. I'll do everything we can Would you like to fill Ben in on what she told me yesterday on the phone? Yeah Well price was the one who began getting the first complaints here at the paper Tremendous number of his readers wrote in complaints about being victimized by crooked television repairmen not being charged too much for repair Partly yeah, some of the people even sent in receipts with their letters Said they felt the guys who fixed their sets were dreaming up unnecessary repairs charging them for work not done Sobs said they knew they were billed for parts not even replaced or installed in their sets Ben Jack told me yesterday about a letter He got from some man said he felt he'd been overcharged and he just started to belly ache about it Yeah fellow by the name of Vincent said he just put up an old-fashioned squawk about it And the parameter brought the price down at least one-third that doesn't sound very good No, we kind of figured operators like that must have too many repair sets on hand that their customers can't afford to bail out That's why they cut sounds like a clear case of a two-bit jib doesn't it and something's got to be done about it We're ready to give it a big plan our paper Expose the fraud for what it really is Captain McCauley says chief Park is okay at our plan and we can count on full police cooperation That's the way we got it Jack. We were told to work with you people till we broke this thing fine We dug up a little ammunition to start with I think When around interviewed about 15 different television repairmen and various neighborhoods and about three out of five gave me the same pitch Well, do they know you were with the newspaper now? I told him I was a factory representative for a new kind of rosin core solder company and I was taking orders Hmm actually I dropped in the different stores shot the breeze with them And they didn't seem to get wise couple of me placed orders for the sir Well, what'd you find out? Well, I just wanted to try and get the general attitude of some of these jib artists I really got an earful One of the last places I hit was a tiny little hole in the wall out near Kanoga Park Mm-hmm as I say about two out of five or honest hard-working repairman this fellow was one of them What are you getting at? Yeah for a while this fellow worked for a guy that employed about five men in his shop Yeah, finally quit him because he didn't like the way this big operator did business Fellows in the next office. I want you to hear it from him just as I got it. Excuse me. Yeah, okay Hank will you come in please? This is Hank Coder sergeant Friday sergeant Ben Romero police department. Hi, Hank I wonder if you'd tell these officers a little of what you told me about Kilgore TV specialist All right, I suppose I'm a customer and I come into Kilgores. I don't like the size of my repair bill What were you instructed to say? Well, we generally tried to talk him out of any complaint. I suppose I complained about all the multiple charges I wanted an explanation of the work you did what then you just tell you that it wouldn't do any good to explain You wouldn't understand all the technical stuff anyway. Mm-hmm. Tell us Kilgore's attitude with the customer. You mean about the loose wire stuff Yeah, please well Kilgore used to tell us if we only charge 50 cents for fixing the loose wire The customer wouldn't believe we really fixed his sets, so we used to charge quite a lot more Well, how much more for example for nickels worth of wire we'd usually charge four dollars and seventy-five cents pretty fair profit It's a real rod. What else can you tell us, huh? Well, we'd never let a customer watch any of the TV repair job Mm-hmm For example for customer calls us as he thinks the tubes blown out and it'll only be a simple replacement job in his home We tell him the parts are getting hard to get and we'd have to take you set into the shop and charge him a Higher rate because we had to pay black market prices for the tube. Was there any truth in that I mean about the tubes being hard to get Not much some of them are getting a little hard to get but we never paid any black market prices of Kilgore's We just slugged the customer. That's all tell me about how you used to swap parts on a new set Hey, well, we lots of times part new tube for one not so good one not so good We put in a set with a bad tube and the bad tube would exchange the factory under one of your guarantee Yeah, I don't miss an angle. Do they well, that's it You've heard it from a man who couldn't stomach such practice and quit went into business a little bit of a shop Isn't doing too well. Are you Hank? No, but I think I can build up the business I don't make quite as much profit as Kilgore's but I don't chisel my customers either Thanks a lot Hank. I wonder if you'd wait in the next office for me. Sure Hope I've helped a little bit to crack down on some of these guys Well, we think you have Hank. Thanks a lot. Nice to meet you. Right. See you later. See you later Seems like a nice fella. There he is. I've checked on him and I've talked to some of his customers since I met him. He's honest It's a pretty vicious racket in there. Yeah You ought to be stopped now The situation's a wonderful medium of entertainment. A lot of the country doesn't have it yet But when the cable goes through and it finally opens up, the people should know about the swindlers and crooks We'll try to get them. Yeah, that's right It's the same way when radio first came in. Always seems like when anything new comes along Anything a little complicated, maybe a little too involved for the average guy A few smart punks victimize him Robbed the consumer blind Well, naturally we've got to have some positive evidence before we can file a complaint with the city attorney on this thing Yeah, are you full of any ideas where to start? Well, the best way to crack down on these crooked operators is to catch them red-handed with evidence and hold up in court Yeah We think maybe we've got an idea We were talking to Dick Saunders over in our sound lab and he says that he can bungle a new TV set And we can mark it and photograph it before it goes out to be repaired And when it's returned or after it's fixed, we'll have what we need to go to court on, huh? Yeah, that's it We can operate right out of one of our own homes All we have to do is hope the repairman overcharges us or tries to jib us Yeah, that's right Let's hope it works Well, from what we've heard it's got to 10 a.m. the staff writer Jack Connette Ben and I drove back downtown On the way it was decided that we'd use Connette's home as the place from which to operate It was centrally located in an average neighborhood When we got back to our office, we contacted one of the local television dealers and asked for the loan of one of their sets They recommended K. Halbert because the chassis is easily accessible And any trouble could be located quickly because parts are visible A 16-inch K. Halbert console model was sent to our sound lab 10 a.m. we met with Dick Saunders, our police lab technician Here's the set 16-inch console model, serial numbers C2817901 What have you done to it, Dick? Well, first off, I tested the set and it performed perfectly It's a good set, brings in a fine picture, see Test pattern's fine, huh? Yeah, it's good Tested all the tubes, all okay How are you marking the set? Yeah, I'll show you You get a tube out of here Now, if you look closely here at the base of the socket See it? What's that? This is it, isn't it, Dick? A little tiny dot of green paint Yeah, that's right, Ben I'm marking every part of the set with this tiny green dot Looks good If I didn't spot it, I'd have anyone else would Especially if they didn't know about it Yeah, so we're hoping In addition to this type marking, we've taken all serial numbers off the tubes in various parts Anything that carried any form of coating we took down All major components have been marked Transformers, coils, condensers, tuning units, so on Did you get any pictures of it? Yeah, we did Took photographs of the set in and out of the cabinet Took them from four different angles just to be sure we were well covered Well, how did you bungle it? I did To put the set out of commission, I burned out the filament of the 5U4G low-voltage rectifier tube What's the cost of that particular tube, Saunders? Well, this tube ordinarily retails for $1.65 What does that do to the set? I mean, burning out the tube By burning out that filament, we cause the sound and picture circuits to be completely inoperative It won't work at all until that particular tube is replaced by a good one, right? That's right, Joe Well, how big a job would it be to trace the trouble? Well, it could easily be detected by casual observation Or by noting that the tube, normally, very hot is cold How much time would you say it would require to make a repair like this? Oh, I'd estimate not over half hour would be required to place this set in operating order Half hour? Okay, thanks a lot, Dick You're going to take care of getting the set out of the canets home right away? Yeah, we have this address right here, we'll get it right out All right, fine If you can, try to get whoever repairs this set to give you an itemized bill of all work done and parts installed Right In case you call more than one outfit today, here's an extra bad 5U4G tube Thank you, Dick Anything you'd like to know? No, I think that about covers it for me Yeah? One more thing, I was just wondering if somebody spots the trouble right away and replaces the tube What do you think they ought to charge, Dick, labor and all? I checked through RTA on that this morning They said to make a house call and replace the defective tube should not exceed $4.50 Okay, thanks That does it for now, huh? Yeah, I guess so Well, you're all set then I think we'll get what you're after Well, we should, the odds are all on our side 10.30 a.m. Monday, January 19th We left the Sound Lab on West 1st Street and walked back to Bunko Division We met with Captain McCauley and filled him in We gave him the newspaper man, Jack Canet's address, and told him he could reach us there The console model television set was delivered to Canet's home and properly installed When we arrived at his home, we started going through the yellow classified section of the phone directory We made a list of several TV service stores just picked at random We chose a wide variety We picked stores that were listed with large boxed-in ads Stores that carried no ads, just a listing Ben called two places and staggered the call so that the repairman would arrive about one hour apart It was 11.30 a.m. when the first man made his service call Bart's TV experts on Hollywood Boulevard It took him 45 minutes It was 12.15 when he left Jack Canet's home Must have been one of the two out of five, huh? Yeah, he seems okay I wonder if I can see that bill, huh? Oh, here you go, Joe Thanks It looks okay Replace 5U4 G-Tube, $1.65 Service charge, $2.50 Total charges, $4.15 That kind of bears out Canet's thinking, doesn't it? Remember when we asked him how many men worked in his shop and said he's alone? Yeah I think you'll find that's a pretty good barometer All the service men working alone aren't like this guy But the bigger percentage of the honest ones are When's the next one due to arrive, Ben? Any minute now Called a place by the name of Cheney's Video Repairs They're over on Beverly Boulevard Had a big ad Looks like a pretty big outfit Oh, here's that other defective tube that Dick gave us Yeah, better get it in the set Yeah Let's see, here we are 5U4 G Okay, here you go Thanks, Jill Here's a new one the guy put in Got it Okay Get this back on again Okay Yeah, fine Better turn it on to make sure it's not working I got it How about the tube, Ben? Can you see? Is it lighting up? No, not yet I'll push the set back against the wall We better leave it on for a while, Jack, just to make sure Yeah There we are I gave you the other tube Yeah, I got it right here in my pocket Right I'd like to try something A few fellas say it'll be okay What's that, Jim? I got a good little camera like a 3F, you know, candid Mm-hmm I think maybe if I turn all the three-way lamps up to four Here's a AAA Fast Films in the camera now Maybe we can grab some shots of the guy while he works What do you think? Well, if you're careful, don't let him get wise Maybe you ought to shoot some of all of us Just so he doesn't think anything about it Yeah, that's what I figured out Just sit down in that chair over there with the set Make him think I'm just testing or something I think I can bring it off without arousing any suspicion Okay If I get anything, the guy's out of line We'll run the shots in the daily news What do you figure on doing, Jack? You're going to run a series on the TV repair rack? Yeah, that's the plan Lee Payne, he's our executive editor He thinks it's high time somebody exposed the swindle in the paper Mm-hmm That'll be the next service, man I'll let him in Right Better turn off the set, huh? Yeah Television repair? That's right I'm from Cheney's in Beverly Boulevard Oh, yeah I'll come on in Thanks Oh, what seems to be the trouble? We don't know Oh, thank you Kay Halbert, huh? 16-inch, nice set Oh, what seems to be wrong? Trying to find no son Nothing seems to work Well, how do you mean? No picture at all How about sound? Mm-hmm Nothing Uh-huh I'll be all right to pull the set away from the wall Sure, go right ahead Can I give you a hand? Oh, no, it's all right I can handle it Well, I'll make some tools out of it How long have you had this set? Oh, about two, three months Mm-hmm Dark in here I wonder if we could have a little more light Sure, let me get these lamps up for you Well, thanks How's that? Oh, fine, thanks See, that's a nice little camera you got there What kind is it? I like a 3F-15 lens Uh-huh Been experimenting with some new indoor film You mind being a guinea pig? No, it's all right with me Shane will waste good film on me, though Think you're going to get anything in this light, Jack? Maybe Worth a try anyway Mm-hmm I don't know about this set What do you mean? Well, it looks bad Hard to tell without getting it down the shop Looks to me like your blocking transformer's gone What's that mean? Well, I'll have to take the set in Can't fix it here, huh? No, I'm afraid not You see, your parts are getting a little hard to get these days The set manufacturers are having a tough time getting quality parts And sometimes we have to spend several hours just tracing the trouble Well, I guess that knocks out the ball game tonight, huh, fellas? Mm-hmm Sorry Take a couple of days at least I want to really check it over Sure, it's not a tube What kind of thought? Just a tube blower? No, that's what most people think every time their set goes out It's definitely not a tube Oh, there might be some bad tubes But your trouble's a great deal more than that, I think Have you got any idea what it's going to run us? Well, it's hard to say right off hand Uh, four or five dollars? No, it's going to run more than that I'll take the set in with me now And I'll get it back to you as soon as possible You're going to take the whole set? No, I'll just pull the chassis out of the cabinet Leave the cabinet here Oh, uh, say by the way Yeah? If everything turns out, I'd sure like to see those pictures Yeah, if everything turns out, you will You are listening to Dragmit Authentic cases from official police files Now, let's look at our Fatima files Listed under B Bella James Warner Bella, distinguished author He says, A man who smokes as much as I do Wants a cigarette that's extra mild And I like Fatima's different flavor and aroma Listed under S Scanlan Louise Scanlan Store club cigarette girl She says More and more of my store club customers Are smoking king-size Fatimas They're elegant, distinctive, and really extra mild Friends, our file show Fatima sales are going up Up every day The reason for Fatima's ever-increasing popularity Can be summed up in two words Fatima quality Fatima gives you extra mildness A much different, much better flavor and aroma If you smoke a king-size cigarette Remember this Fatima has all the advantages of extra length Plus Fatima quality Which no other king-size cigarette has In Fatima, the difference is quality So insist on the best Insist on king-size Fatima Next time, buy Fatima In a distinctive gold and yellow package Best of all, king-size cigarettes Thursday, January 22nd, 9.30 a.m. The TV set was returned to reporter Jack Canet's home After having been repaired by a servicing company Called Cheney's Video Repairs We found that the man who had come to Canet's home To make the service call was Robert V. Cheney The owner of the service outfit Well, as soon as the set was returned We called the sound lab and had it picked up And taken downtown Sergeant Marshall Zeno, who was working with us Out of Bunko detail, called and said That Dick Saunders had finished his investigation And wanted to see us right away 10.30 a.m. We went down to West 1st Street The police sound lab Saunders went over his findings with us Hear the photographs before and after Before we go over these Let me show you what we found out about your repair job Okay Over here Here's that receipt Cheney gave you When he returned the set Here's what the repair bill states Replaced vertical blocking transformer Replaced 5U4G tube 6AU6 tube And 12AU7 tube And the charge was $32.50 Plus 98 cents tax Or a total of $33.48 How does that break down, Dick? It appears that the 98 cents tax was for $28 worth of material used in the repair Did they really put in all that stuff? You got yourself a prize package in that outfit All they did was to replace the 5U4G tube That's all they did, huh? Yeah, here's the capper The 5U4G is a war surplus tube But it works okay What else did you find? According to the photographs and coding system No vertical blocking transformer 6AU6 tube or 12AU7 tube were replaced Let's get back the photos here You can take these along for your package Thanks, Dick You can see in the set here Let me show you You see this tube is the only part mentioned in the receipt Or otherwise it doesn't carry our green paint coding system Let me turn the set around here All right Joe, try the channel selector here What, this? Yeah, that's the tuning knob to bring in the station's Channel selector they call it, turn it Okay It falls off pretty easy, doesn't it? It sure does Here, Dick Thanks They left out the spring clip in here It should have been put back in Because that's what holds the knob secure to the shaft I've had that happen on radio sets Yeah, sometimes they're a little stubborn to put back in But a good repairman would never leave it out Yeah Something else here Turn the set around in the back again Oh, I'll get it, Dick Oh, thanks, Ben See here See how loose the chassis is in the cabinet now Sure is Wasn't that way when we got it from the K. Halbert dealer Any more than the channel selector was faulty In perfect shape from the guy Look at the size of that chassis, it's pretty heavy Yeah, it is Originally there were four screws used to hold the chassis in the wood cabinet Cheney's repair outfit only put one back in One screw to hold that heavy chassis It's a pretty sloppy job, all right You know what they'd probably tell you if you ask them about this They're only requires one screw Yeah, that's it The bad repairman can always improve on factory standards Usually for his own convenience Certainly doesn't improve the product Well, it looks like we got what we were after I think we got enough, Joe I do Let's see what the city attorney thinks We collected all the evidence in the case against Cheney's video repairs We met with Captain McCauley and took it up to the second floor of the city hall We met with assistant city attorney Boyd Taylor and showed him our findings He issued a warrant for the arrest of Robert W. Cheney Charging him with violation of section 484-PC, one count 11.30 a.m. Thursday, January 22 Ben and I drove out to make the arrest Jack Connet went along with us This is it Cheney's video repair You know, come on, Jack There's Cheney behind the counter, you know Hello there Hi How's the set working? All right Well, he did a good job on that one Gave you a better break on the price than I thought we could You know, police officers, you're under arrest Well, you're kidding, what for? Petty theft Come on, let's go Petty theft? Well, I don't understand You're the fellas I fixed that set for up on Crescent Drive, aren't you? That's right, your bill was a little high, wasn't it? Oh, now wait a minute, if that's all that's bothering you, let's talk it over Come on, let's go Look, I can fix that up with you guys Just tell me how much you want to pay and we'll work out something It seems to be the way you worked our repair deal right from the start, doesn't it? Only you didn't consult us about it till now Well, look, you know how it is in this business If you don't charge some customers a little money They don't think you did anything to their sets You ought to try charging them for just the work you do Can't we get together on this thing? Let's just forget the whole deal You don't owe me anything, now here Here, I'll refund all your money, we'll call it square Never mind, just leave the money in the cash register and get your coat Can't prove anything anyway We think we can, just step around the counter this way Look, mister, you're not a cop, are you? No, I'm not Well, then tell them this is not a fair deal, I'll give you back your money I'm afraid it's a little late for that, Cheney If all this gets in the papers, I'll be ruined here, run out of business That's the way we got it figured How many men you have working here for you? Four, why? This, right here You ever read this? Well, what is it? Oh, the thing from the RTA Here, read article two, would you? Two? Yeah, that's right I'll conduct myself and my business in an honest and straightforward manner Meriting and inspiring the confidence of my customers Yeah, I know about this You're a member of the RTA, Radio Technicians Association, aren't you? Yeah, I am Read article four, would you? I propose to charge a just and fair price for all professional services rendered Now read this article seven I will engage only in fair and ethical practices recommended and approved by the Radio Technicians Association As being conducive to public confidence Yeah, I've read all this before It's too bad you didn't remember it The story you have just heard was true Only the names were changed to protect the innocent On April 15th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 82, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California In a moment, the results of that trial And now, here is our star, Jack Webb Thank you Friends, this week I'll be seeing you from page eight of Life Magazine This week's Fatima ad Right across the top it says In Fatima, the difference is quality Well, in Fatima, the finest domestic and Turkish tobaccos give you extra mildness A different, better flavor and aroma Compare Fatima with any other king-size cigarette Prove as I have what a difference Fatima quality makes Next time, buy Fatima in the golden yellow package Best of all, king-size cigarettes Ladies and gentlemen, in the few remaining moments We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you once again For your many kind letters of encouragement that come in from week to week And also we'd like to answer a few questions about our program Which seem common to many of the letters that we receive from you Many of you have inquired why at the end of the program In recounting the punishment of the criminal involved in the particular case We generally refer to the sentence received as the term prescribed by law Well, we use this reference for the following reason In the state of California, the length of a convicted criminal's prison term Is not set by the court, but by the state adult authority Most of the time, a criminal is merely found guilty by the court And then sentenced to the state penitentiary After he serves a year in prison The convict has a hearing before this state adult authority At which time his actual sentence is set So you can see why we can't give you the actual sentence in many cases Now, other questions common to many of your letters Concern some of the authentic technical police terminology Which comes up from time to time on dragnet With the help of George Fenerman We'd like to explain some of the more common ones for you if we may First, you've heard us use the term or the letters A-P-B A-P-B That's an all points bulletin A communication dispatched to all divisions and law enforcement agencies throughout the state And then we feel sure that you remember the term mama sheet A mama sheet is the master information form on a criminal in a police department file It contains his complete description, his habits, relatives, acquaintances Everything about him, known to the police Thank you George, and thank you ladies and gentlemen for your very fine letters From time to time if we may, we'll take this opportunity to explain a few more of our authentic police terminology Thank you Robert W. Cheney, owner and operator of Cheney's video repairs Was tried and convicted on several counts of violating section 484-PC petty theft He was fined $200 and received the sentence as prescribed by law Petty theft is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months Ladies and gentlemen, Dragnet wishes to thank the Los Angeles Daily News and its feature writer Jack Canette For their valuable assistance in preparing this case for presentation It is our combined belief and knowledge that not all television repair service men are dishonest and unscrupulous in their practices A great percentage of these technicians are forthright and conduct their business in strict compliance with the code of ethics It is these men who, when informed of the unfair conditions that exist in their trade, will drive the dishonest and crooked from their profession You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files Technical advice comes from the office of chief of police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department Fatima, best of all, King-sized cigarettes has brought you Dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles It's the Silver Jubilee on NBC. For 25 years, NBC has been bringing you the very best in radio entertainment Listen now to another exciting story on Counter-Spy coming up on NBC