The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories That Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of Dragnet

By Jack Webb

Book Overview

"This is the city, Los Angeles, California. I work here, I carry a badge. The story you are about to see is true..."

Before Charlie's Angels, Miami Vice, or NYPD Blue, there was Dragnet. From 1951 to 1959, Jack Webb starred as Sergeant Joe Friday in the most successful police drama in television history. Webb ("Just the facts, ma'am") was also the creator of Dragnet, and what made the show so revolutionary was its documentary-style format and the fact that each episode was "ripped" from the files of the LAPD.

But 1950s television censors deemed many of the stories in the LAPD's files too violent or sensational for the airwaves. The Badge is Webb's collection of stories that could not be presented on TV: untold, behind-the-scenes accounts of the Black Dahlia murder, the Brenda Allen confessions, Stephen Nash's "thrill murders," and Donald Bashor's "sleeping lady murders," to name just a few. Case by case, The Badge takes readers on a spine chilling police tour through the dark, shadowy world of Los Angeles crime.

"Some books influence a writer. Books rarely shape a writer's curiosity whole. I'm anomalous that way. I got lucky at the get-go. It was one-stop imaginative shopping. I found all my stuff in one book." -- James Ellroy on The Badge

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560256885
• ISBN13: 9781560256885
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The Dragnet-Era LAPD, described in detail; very few engaging, Dragnet-style stories, terrifying or o

The book starts with an account of the crimes and capture of burglar-turned-murderer Donald Keith Bashor. It isn't written in 'Dragnet style' but instead meanders through a reconstruction of Bashor's actions and motives on the way to his key mistake and the methodical detectives who caught it--and him. This would have been a solid 4-star book if each chapter had included an account at least as detailed as this one, but the format makes only a brief reappearance in the chapter 'The Sergeant', where two of the crimes of serial killer (term not used in the book) Stephen Nash are briefly described. Only one crime in 300-some pages is presented in more or less the classic stage-by-stage investigation format well known to fans of Dragnet: the bombing of the Mecca Bar, investigated by then-Inspector (Detective) Thaddeus Brown, who later served as interim police chief between Parker and Reddin. Otherwise, there is a summary of the Black Dahlia crime scene and investigation which includes some details that would definitely never make it into broadcast or film media of the mid 20th century; there is very partial, toned down a 'victim's eye viewpoint' of two of the victims of serial killer; and the existence of Madame Brenda Allen's prostitution ring and its powerful clientele is acknowledged, but Jack Webb never reveals a single detail--fit for TV or otherwise. I seem to remember that the bloodless saga of the fake uranium mine bunko did make it to a 60s episode of Dragnet; maybe they were waiting for the con involved to get turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The rest of the cases are thumbnail sketches that (thinly) illustrate the day-to-day activity of beat cops, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, Inspectors (was that title really used in the 50s?), Deputy Chiefs, the Chief, and even the police commissioners. The activities of forensics personnel are lauded and the fact that the LAPD of the time had to spend manpower and budget on the jails is bemoaned. But literally none of those brief accounts contains anything so bloody, risque, or bizarre that it couldn't be toned down enough to air on TV. That's fine with me. I don't need gory details. I still would have read the book if it had been more accurately titled, "The Badge: Joe Friday's LAPD as described by Jack Webb." It appears to me that the reason most of the stories in the book never made it to TV or radio is that there was too little going on to sustain an episode, instead of too much for the viewing public to handle. Oh, and the edition I bought includes a forward by James Ellroy. It's basically a stream-of-consciousness Neo Noir voiceover, and I think it must be approximately 50% rubbish, because I cannot imagine an 8-year-old child being captivated by this book, even a weird detective fiction and true crime aficionado like me (and yes, I did get started about age 8. I think I would have found the book mildly interesting, but it would have lost me sometime around the point where the deputy chiefs come in, the thumbnails thin out, and statistics start piling up.) I think Ellroy and the writers of the subtitle are either reading way more between the lines or are sipping contaminated well water. Bottom line: if you want to get a good rundown of how the LAPD operated, top to bottom, in the Dragnet era, this book is for you.