by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Investigating a series of robberies, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) find out that off-duty patrolman Paul Eastman (Don Gibson) was spotted at the scene of the most recent crime--several minutes before it took place. Sure enough, it turns out that Eastman, a married man with children, is a "dirty cop" who has been participating in the robberies in order to support his current mistress. The final scene affords Jack Webb the opportunity to deliver one of his legendary "Jesus speeches" (the actor's own description), in which he angrily chews out Eastman for betraying his public trust. This episode is based on a equally powerful Dragnet radio program, first heard on October 19, 1950.
