21st Precinct 54-11-10 (070) The Sticks

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: 21st Precinct 54-11-10 (070) "The Sticks"

Date Released: February 25, 2026
Theme: Classic Golden Age Radio Drama – Police Procedural

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Overview

This episode of "21st Precinct," originally aired in 1954, centers on the theft of explosives from a construction site and the grim fallout when a group of neighborhood boys gets involved. The narrative follows Captain Kennelly and his fellow officers as they respond to the burglary, investigate the disappearance of dynamite and blasting caps, and deal with the tragic consequences when the stolen items lead to a serious accident involving a young boy.

The episode highlights the procedural, methodical approach of mid-20th century policing, emphasizing both community responsibility and the heartbreaking realities officers often encounter.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Progression

1. Theft at the Construction Site

• [00:49-09:48]
  • Captain Kennelly is briefed about a burglary at a construction project.
  • Watchman Mr. Curley reports that 11 sticks of dynamite and 8 blasting caps are missing.
  • The explosives had been locked up, but the thieves broke in while the site was unattended for lunch ("It happened from between a quarter to twelve and a quarter after" – Mr. Curley, [06:17]).
  • Initial suspicions lean toward professional safe crackers – the missing dynamite is typically used by those seeking to crack safes.

2. The Investigation—Safe & Loft Squad

• [09:48-13:09]
  • Policemen thoroughly search the site but find no direct evidence.
  • Kennelly receives word of a patrolman at another precinct being injured by a youthful offender.
  • Lieutenant King finds no recent safe-blowing incidents or relevant ex-convict activity; the case has no immediate suspect ("They know of no one around who's using nitro to blow a safe. Haven't had a case like that in a couple of years." – King, [12:42]).

3. Rethinking the Suspects

• [13:09-14:16]
  • Captain Kennelly begins to suspect local kids may be involved: "I don't think it was safe burglars at all that broke into that shack. I think it was a bunch of kids." ([13:21])
  • A report comes in: an explosion has occurred on a vacant lot nearby.

4. Explosion and Aftermath

• [14:16-19:27]
  • Police rush to a vacant lot where a boy has been badly injured by detonating blasting caps ("Apparently he was playing around with the blasting caps." – Kennelly, [17:20]).
  • Witnesses saw three boys in the lot before the explosion; two left, leaving one behind who was injured.
  • The scene is chaotic, with bystanders, officers, and ambulance personnel trying to help.

5. Medical Emergency and Hospital Scene

• [19:27-22:54]
  • At the hospital, Dr. Westwolf works to save the boy, whose condition is extremely serious ("The blast tore a hole in his chest. Called in our chief thoracic surgery. It's on the way. Meantime, we're getting plasma." – Dr. Westwolf, [20:45]).
  • The boy is identified as Frank Harrods, age 14.
  • The remaining explosives and other boys involved are unaccounted for, raising the stakes for police.

6. Family Confrontation and Responsibility

• [22:54-29:14]
  • Frank’s father, Mr. Harrods, arrives at the hospital.
  • Emotional confrontation ensues between Frank’s absent, embittered father and the authorities, highlighting issues of parental responsibility:
    • "He's your boy, isn't he?" – Captain Kennelly ([25:38])
    • "But I got to work for a living. I got no time to raise him. That should have been his mother's job." – Carl Harrods ([25:43])
    • "It isn't a cop's job to straighten them out. Why do they hang it on us?" – Lieutenant King ([23:43])
  • The father refuses to identify the two other boys, until after hearing of his son’s death.

7. Tragedy and Reflection

• [27:22-29:41]
  • Dr. Westwolf informs the father that Frank has died from his injuries.
  • Overcome with guilt and grief, Mr. Harrods finally agrees to help police to prevent a similar fate befalling the other boys.
  • Reflective moment between Kennelly and King:
    • "He was [hard]. I just wish it hadn't taken so much to soften him up." – Captain Kennelly ([29:53])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Nature of the Neighborhood:
  "Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the nine-tenths of a square mile... would not know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security... is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct." – Captain Kennelly, [01:15]

• On Speculating About the Thieves:
  "But the boys that got it knew what they were after. I'm sure they know how to handle it. Safe burglars? Yes, that's what it looks like to me. They'll take it and boil it down to nitroglycerin..." – Lieutenant King and Captain Kennelly, [08:46-09:00]

• On Parenting and Responsibility:
  "He's your boy, isn’t he?... But I got to work for a living. I got no time to raise him. That should have been his mother's job." – Carl Harrods, [25:38-25:45]

• On the Reality of Police Work:
  "The trouble is, Matt, it doesn't get to us until somebody else has already missed the boat." – Captain Kennelly, [23:45-23:52]

• On the Final Realization:
  "He was [hard]. I just wish it hadn't taken so much to soften him up." – Captain Kennelly, [29:53]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:33] – Incident at the construction site reported
• [04:00] – Confirmation: 11 sticks of dynamite & 8 blasting caps stolen
• [06:17] – Timeframe provided by the watchman
• [09:00] – Discussion on safe burglars and dynamite use
• [13:21] – Kennelly shifts suspicion to local youths
• [14:16] – Report: Explosion on local vacant lot
• [17:18] – Witness account of the boys at the scene
• [20:45] – Hospital: Details about the boy’s injuries
• [22:54] – Frank’s father arrives at the hospital
• [27:25] – Notification: The boy has died
• [29:53] – Reflection on responsibility and loss

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Summary & Tone

• The episode unfolds with classic radio delivery: patient, detail-oriented, with a mix of clipped police procedural dialogue and evocative narration.
• Underlying themes include the unpredictability of police work, the importance of community vigilance, and the tragedy of neglected youth.
• The tragic lesson is hammered home by the boy's death—it's a stark warning about both adult responsibility and the dangers children face when oversight lapses.

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This episode is a haunting, somber example of Golden Age radio’s ability to capture social realities and human drama in a single, tightly scripted half-hour.

Transcript

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[Captain Kennelly]

21st Precinct. Sergeant Waters?

[Lieutenant King]

Who are you?

[Captain Kennelly]

The watchman. What'd they break into? Did you see the thieves?

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yeah.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, what's missing?

[Captain Kennelly]

You are in the muster room at the 21st Precinct, the nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct. All right, I'll send the officers right over there. Yeah, wait right at the gate there so you can show them where it is.

[Lieutenant King]

Okay? Yeah. 21st Precinct transcribed It's just lines on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the 9/10 of a square mile between Fifth Avenue and the east river wouldn't know if you asked them that they lived or worked in the 21st. Whether they know it or not, the security of their homes, their persons and their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct.

[Captain Kennelly]

The 21st. 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants and four lieutenants, of whom I'm the boss. My name is Kennelly. Frank Canelli. I'm Captain in command of the 21st. I was working my day tour, 8am to 6pm it was Sunday and things were quiet in the precinct. During the last few weeks, we had received several complaints from various churches about border boys playing in nearby streets in a boisterous manner and disturbing the services. I had given instructions at the turnout for the men on post and in sector cars to correct this situation by warning the boys to play more quietly or move their games to other locations. Later, during the course of patrol, I went to the vicinity of every church in the precinct to observe whether the conditions had been corrected. En route down second Avenue, I saw sector car number one, the sergeant's car and the detective squad car of the 21st Squad parked outside the fence around a new construction project on which excavation had started about two weeks before. I instructed my operator to pull in. As I got out of the car and headed for a gate in the fence. I saw Sergeant Waters also walking toward the gate from a call box on the opposite corner.

[Lieutenant King]

Sergeant. Hello, Captain. What do we got in here, Captain?

[Captain Kennelly]

Oh, what's your step? We've had a burglary in a tool shack down there.

[Lieutenant King]

That's a pretty deep hole they dug.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, sir. And they've got to go still deeper.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, what have we got?

[Captain Kennelly]

There was a call from the watchman. See that wooden shack way down there at the bottom?

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah.

[Captain Kennelly]

That's what was broken into. It's interesting to me how they do this. They dig it all out except for this ramp for the trucks to get in and out. Then that steam shovel backs up here, digging up the ramp behind it. What was stolen, Sergeant, was a good haul.

[Lieutenant King]

A what?

[Captain Kennelly]

A 11 sticks of dynamite and eight blasting caps.

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah? Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

Watch your step here, Captain. These planks get kind of rough. Heavy trucks chew them up. Where are the detectives, Lieutenant King of Italia here, Captain. No, a watchman rang into the station house from a call box when he discovered the theft. Lieutenant Gorman notified the detectives. Yeah, I just spoke to Lieutenant Gorman again and told him what it looked like.

[Lieutenant King]

Where is it?

[Captain Kennelly]

That shack there?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

This is some hole, you know. And these engineers, they figure it out down to the fraction of an inch. Yeah. Even when they gotta blast out all this rock, they shave it down over here. Oh, I guess they're all in a shack cabinet. Yeah, I guess so. You see, they hacked the lock right off the door. Everything was locked up. That's how they got in

[Lieutenant King]

first. Notice it when you got back? That's right, Lieutenant. When I got back. Hello, Matt. Captain. Mr. Bernard Curley, the watchman on the job here.

[Captain Kennelly]

The sergeant tells me they got 11 sticks of dynamite in eight blasting caps.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir. That's what they got is Captain Kennelly Commanding Officer of the precinct. I'm pleased to meet you, Captain. I was in the job myself. Oh, were you? Yes, sir. I was in the old 12th Precinct. I put my papers in in 1944.

[Captain Kennelly]

Curly, you say?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir. I spell it K, E, R, L, Y. Oh.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, how do you know exactly that? It was 11 sticks of dynamite and eight blasting caps, Curly.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, we gotta keep close track of these things around here. The explosives, you know.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yeah.

[Lieutenant King]

Now, you see this inventory tacked up here right here on the wall? Uh huh. Well, that's company rules. When a fresh case is cracked open, every stick and every cap's gotta be accounted for. It scratched off the inventory as it's used. And a new case can't be Brought in from the company office until the last case is entirely gone. So when they finished work here Friday night, they had 11 sticks and eight caps left over. They were locked up in here. Where? Right here.

[Captain Kennelly]

Loose on the shelf.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, the shack was locked. Locked? Didn't do much good, did it? I guess we'll have to get a new one.

[Captain Kennelly]

What time do you think this happened?

[Lieutenant King]

I know what time it happened. It happened from between a quarter to twelve and a quarter after you left the premises. A quarter of down the street to a luncheon that get sandwiches to bring back here.

[Captain Kennelly]

Are you permitted to leave?

[Lieutenant King]

Well, company rules say we can take a half an hour off for lunch or dinner if we work in daytime, that is, on Saturday, Sunday or holidays. If we're working nights, we gotta bring our meal with us. That's the rules of this company.

[Captain Kennelly]

And you left here at a quarter to 12?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

The shack wasn't broken into then?

[Lieutenant King]

No, sir. I made my rounds immediately before I left. That's another rule. The shack wasn't disturbed. Did you see anyone suspicious hanging around the premises this morning? No, Lieutenant, I didn't see soul.

[Captain Kennelly]

And when did you discover the theft?

[Lieutenant King]

Soon as it came back. I. Top of the ramp. You know, that's just where you came in up there. Yeah. And I could see down here that this door to the shack was standing wide open. I came on down. I thought whoever it was might still be inside here, but they were gone. Then I went up the street and I walked over to the call box and rang into the station house. I talked to the desk officer there, Lieutenant Garman. Lieutenant Garman. Yes, sir. Well, it wasn't a couple of minutes before the officers got here. Did they use a lot of dynamite on this job here? A lot of dynamite. We've been blasted 10 days. You saw no sign of these thieves at all when you were coming back? No, sir. They were gone.

[Captain Kennelly]

Would you take a look around, Matt? They might have been scared off by his coming back and hitting the stuff on the premises.

[Lieutenant King]

I doubt it. They might have. Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Sergeant Talley.

[Lieutenant King]

Woods. Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

Split up into teams of two.

[Lieutenant King]

Make a thorough search around. Go over the power shovel. Do all the equipment behind that lumber every place. Yes, sir. Look and see if they dropped any of the stuff or left any physical evidence of their presence. Mr. Curly, here.

[Captain Kennelly]

You go with the sergeant.

[Lieutenant King]

Okay. I ought to notify my boss. Don't you think you can do that? As soon as you get through.

[Captain Kennelly]

Come on, Mr. Curley.

[Lieutenant King]

Yo, Matt.

[Captain Kennelly]

Come in over there, Matt.

[Lieutenant King]

Come on over here.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, Captain. Didn't take much to get this lock off, did it?

[Lieutenant King]

No, sir, not much. One good pull or whatever they used for a jimmy. And the screws came right out of the wood. Yeah. This shack is probably 30 years old. They move it around from job to job.

[Captain Kennelly]

Come on inside. The second man.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir. That can cause a lot of trouble.

[Captain Kennelly]

11 sticks of dynamite and eight blasting caps.

[Lieutenant King]

You're telling me. But the boys that got it knew what they were after. I'm sure they know how to handle it. Safe burglars? Yes, that's what it looks like to me. They'll take it and boil it down to nitroglycerin. And use it to shoot a safe someplace.

[Captain Kennelly]

Been a long time since I've heard of anyone using nitro to shoot a safe. Yeah, I know.

[Lieutenant King]

That. Ought to make it easier to spot them.

[Captain Kennelly]

As soon as we get back to the station house. I'll ring down to the Safe and

[Lieutenant King]

Loft Squad and tell them what we've got.

[Captain Kennelly]

Burglars today rip a safe or cut it open, don't they?

[Lieutenant King]

Well, generally, yes, sir. But the Safe and Loft Squad might know of some old timer that's been released lately. You ought to be able to come

[Captain Kennelly]

up with something on this, Matt. If they were safe burglars, why didn't they take this stuff? Here's a tank full of acetylene, oxygen cutting torch. This is all made to order for safe burglars. Why didn't they take it?

[Lieutenant King]

Captain, if a guy likes a rare steak, you just can't talk him into pork chops. Well done.

[Captain Kennelly]

The theft of the dynamite and plastic caps from this construction job. Did, as Lt. King suggested, look like the work of safe burglars. Although the use of nitroglycerin to blow up a safe is now infrequent. A thorough search of the entire site of the excavation. By patrolmen and detectives revealed nothing. Meanwhile, I got a call from the 19th Precinct. Informing me that a patrolman had been slightly injured. While disarming a youthful offender carrying a switchblade knife. The patrolman had been taken to Bellevue Hospital. And as senior officer on duty in the 6th Division. I was required to conduct an investigation of the occurrence.

[Lieutenant King]

I went to Bellevue and got the

[Captain Kennelly]

details of the case from the officer. Who suffered a long gash on his right hand. I entered the results of my investigation in the blotter at the 19th Precinct. And then returned to the 21st. Where Sergeant Leo F. Rosen was on telephone switchboard duty. And Lieutenant Patrick Gauman was desk officer. I walked around behind the desk and signed the blotter. Hello, Captain.

[Lieutenant King]

Sergeant. 21st Precinct. Sergeant Rose. Hello, Red. Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

What's doing?

[Lieutenant King]

Nice quiet Sunday afternoon.

[Captain Kennelly]

That's good. How's that cup?

[Lieutenant King]

That was hurt.

[Captain Kennelly]

Oh, not too bad. Got a nasty cut on his right hand straight across the pond.

[Lieutenant King]

Where he grabbed the open blade.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yep. Doctor had to take seven stitches in it.

[Lieutenant King]

It can be kind of rough, an injury to the hand like that. Yeah, there's about 9 million nerves and tendons and bones and blood vessels come together in the hand. Be some job getting them all straightened out.

[Captain Kennelly]

He was able to move all his fingers okay. Doctor said that was a good sign. Yeah, that is a good sign.

[Lieutenant King]

You know, a doctor told me once

[Captain Kennelly]

that the hand is just about as

[Lieutenant King]

complicated as any part of the body.

[Captain Kennelly]

Wouldn't figure that, would you, Captain? Well, I can see where it would be. Well, I'll be in my office.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

Oh, anything turn up on the theft of that dynamite? No, sir, nothing yet. But there's Matt King. Maybe he's got a line by now. Yeah, he may have.

[Lieutenant King]

Matt.

[Captain Kennelly]

Hello, Captain. Anything on that dynamite theft?

[Lieutenant King]

No, sir, not yet.

[Captain Kennelly]

You know, that's got me plenty worried.

[Lieutenant King]

It's got me worried, too, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

I'll tell you why I.

[Lieutenant King]

Excuse me, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, Sergeant? The tally's ringing down before. You wanted to catch it before you go out.

[Lieutenant King]

All right.

[Captain Kennelly]

You want to take it in my office, Matt?

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah, thanks.

[Captain Kennelly]

Take it in the captain's office.

[Lieutenant King]

Sergeant. Tally is carrying the squeal on this. He might have something.

[Captain Kennelly]

Go ahead. Help yourself.

[Lieutenant King]

21st Squad. Lieutenant King.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yeah, the.

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah. What'd they say? Who was it you talked to? Who? Well, you ought to know. Yeah. All right, Just keep at it. Vitali spoke to one of the men down at the safe and Lost Squad. Yeah. Tally says they know of no one around who's using nitro to blow a safe. Haven't had a case like that in a couple of years.

[Captain Kennelly]

Have there been any penitentiary releases?

[Lieutenant King]

None they know of or checking into it. Well, it's kind of rough going, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

You know what I think, Matt?

[Lieutenant King]

What?

[Captain Kennelly]

I don't think it was safe burglars at all that broke into that shack. I think it was a bunch of kids.

[Lieutenant King]

I don't know, Captain. It was timed out just right.

[Captain Kennelly]

They knew when the watchman left.

[Lieutenant King]

They knew when he got back. They got in, got the stuff and got out, all in a half an hour.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, that may be so, Matt, but.

[Lieutenant King]

Excuse me.

[Captain Kennelly]

21st Precinct. Captain Kennelly, Lieutenant Garment.

[Lieutenant King]

Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, Red? A call just came over the air, Captain. An explosion on a vacant lot over near York Avner. What kind of explosion? The call didn't say, Captain, but there must be at least one person injured. It came over. Ambulance responding.

[Lieutenant King]

All right.

[Captain Kennelly]

Get a car to take me over there right away.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, Matt, I think we found the dynamite. Yeah, but I think we found it a little late.

[Lieutenant King]

You are listening to 21st Precinct. A factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city. Now back to 21st Precinct. I'm Captain Kennelly.

[Captain Kennelly]

While I waited for the car to come by the house for me, the first officer to arrive on the scene rang into the station house reporting that the explosion in the vacant lot the site of a recently wrecked tenement was apparently caused by the detonation of blasting caps. An unidentified boy who appeared to be between the ages of 12 and 1515 had been injured by the blast. Within another two minutes, sector car number two arrived at the station house. I got into the car and was driven to the scene of the occurrence with siren wide open. As we pulled into the block, I could see that a fair sized crowd had gathered on the sidewalk and were being kept back by two of the patrolmen already on the job. The ambulance had not yet arrived. All right, get on the job. Help keep those people back.

[Lost Driver]

We're lost. I'm gonna pull over and ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're looking to get to the campground.

[T Mobile Representative]

Well, you're gonna take a left at the old oak tree end of this here road. No, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out.

[Lost Driver]

How are you getting a signal out here?

[T Mobile Representative]

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[Lost Driver]

Actually, can you point us in the direction of a T Mobile store?

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[Lieutenant King]

All right. All right.

[Captain Kennelly]

Police officer coming through there, Coming through. Hines or Hines. What are you ringing for that ambulance against Sergeant?

[Lieutenant King]

Hello, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, I guess we know who got the dynamite. Yep, I guess we do. He looks pretty bad, doesn't he? Yes, sir. Has he been conscious at all?

[Lieutenant King]

No, sir. Awful bad.

[Captain Kennelly]

You know who the boy is? There's no identification in his pockets, Cap.

[Lieutenant King]

Oh.

[Captain Kennelly]

Want to take a look over here? Yeah. Apparently he was playing around with the blasting caps.

[Lieutenant King]

Those two sticks of dynamite were right

[Captain Kennelly]

here where they're laying.

[Lieutenant King]

It's lucky he didn't have them close

[Captain Kennelly]

enough that he set off on a

[Lieutenant King]

capsmut, he said for sure.

[Captain Kennelly]

How many cats went, do you know? There's no telling, sir.

[Lieutenant King]

Oh, here's the ambulance.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yeah. A man who lives on the second

[Lieutenant King]

floor of that building there.

[Captain Kennelly]

He was down here. He said he was looking out the window before and saw three boys sitting out here in the middle of the lot.

[Lieutenant King]

Three?

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, sir.

[Lieutenant King]

Three.

[Captain Kennelly]

Said they had something. He didn't know what it was.

[Lieutenant King]

Then a little while later, two of

[Captain Kennelly]

the Mogani said there was just this one left. Man went back into his flat to do something. A few minutes later, he heard this

[Lieutenant King]

explosion out on the lot.

[Captain Kennelly]

Did he recognize any of the boys? No, sir. He didn't think they were from this block. All right, you men give him a hand. Help them bring that stretcher back here. Did anybody around say they knew the boy, Sergeant?

[Lieutenant King]

Nobody we've talked to yet.

[Captain Kennelly]

Alliance, you better get those explosives into the station house.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Kennelly]

I told Farrell to stay right with him.

[Lieutenant King]

Good.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

All right, bring it right over here, please.

[Lieutenant King]

Hello, Doctor.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Captain.

[Lieutenant King]

All right, open up that stretch.

[Captain Kennelly]

Act alive.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

What happened to it?

[Captain Kennelly]

He was playing with some blasting caps.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Was he? Sergeant, can you give me a hand here a minute?

[Lieutenant King]

Sure.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

I'd like to put him on his right side. Just. Just a second.

[Lieutenant King]

All right.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Wait a minute. I'll tell you when.

[Lieutenant King]

Okay.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Easy now. All right with me.

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Now, easy. You hold him there.

[Lieutenant King]

Sure. That's good.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

That's fine. Hold him. Just. Just hold him.

[Lieutenant King]

I'm holding him, Doctor.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

All right, let him rest.

[Lieutenant King]

Back now. Okay.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Easy.

[Lieutenant King]

Yes.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

That boy is seriously hurt, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Will he be all right, do you know?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

We'll find out when we get him admitted to the hospital. What did you say he was playing with blasting caps?

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

They never learn, do they?

[Captain Kennelly]

I hope this one does. The ambulance surgeon, assisted by the ambulance attendant and police officers, placed the injured boy on the stretcher. Meanwhile, detectives of the 21st Squad arrived on the scene to begin their investigation. After I left the scene of the occurrence, I continued on patrol until a few minutes after 2pm When I instructed the operator of my car to drive to the emergency entrance to Beth David Hospital, I got out of the car, walked through the emergency room, past the admitting office and down the corridor to the place I was told I could find Dr. Margaret Westwolf.

[Lieutenant King]

Hello, Doctor.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

How's the boy?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Not so good.

[Captain Kennelly]

Will you be able to do anything?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

He's in there. Emergency surgery?

[Lieutenant King]

Uh huh.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Came back to X ray. We made some pictures.

[Captain Kennelly]

He's in bad shape.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Well, the blast tore a hole in his chest. Called in our chief thoracic surgery. It's on the way. Meantime, we're getting plasma.

[Captain Kennelly]

Do you need any whole blood?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

We don't know yet.

[Captain Kennelly]

Every man in the precinct is typed. I think we could get some volunteers over here on a few minutes notice.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Thanks a lot, Captain. We'll see.

[Captain Kennelly]

Why don't you just let me know?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

I will. Lieutenant, from your precinct is here, a Detective Lieutenant King. Yeah, Lieutenant King. He's right back there.

[Lieutenant King]

When did he get here?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

A few minutes ago. Told me he knows who the boy is.

[Captain Kennelly]

Oh, does he?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

That's what he says in here.

[Captain Kennelly]

Thank you, Doctor. Hello, Matt. Captain. I understand you've got an identification.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, it's a tentative identification. Vitale ran it down. We think the boy's name is Frank Harrods. He lives near where the stuff was stolen.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

They ought to be careful about the way that dangerous material is left around.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, Doctor, I don't see how they could have been more careful. It was locked up in a tool shed in the middle of an excavation surrounded by an eight foot fence.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Well, I have to be angry at something. I think I better get back to him.

[Lieutenant King]

All right. Thank you, Doctor. You're welcome.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Shall I leave this open?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes, please.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

All right.

[Captain Kennelly]

As the family been notified, ma'.

[T Mobile Representative]

Am.

[Lieutenant King]

According to the neighbors, the boy's got no mother. The father wasn't around the flat. Vitale is trying to run him down.

[Captain Kennelly]

Are you sure that's the boy?

[Lieutenant King]

Sure as we can be at the moment. The doctor got me these clothes he was wearing. If Vitale brings the father down, he can look at the clothes first.

[Captain Kennelly]

What about the other nine sticks of dynamite and the rest of the blasting caps?

[Lieutenant King]

We're trying to locate them.

[Captain Kennelly]

A neighbor over where the boy got hurt said there were two others with him earlier. Did you get a line on them?

[Lieutenant King]

Well, we know that they were up to this boy's flat this morning while the father was there. He ought to know who they are

[Captain Kennelly]

who found that out.

[Lieutenant King]

Vitali? Yes, sir. Old man lives on the first floor of the building. He said he saw the three boys go out at the same time. The father did. Said the father acted very friendly to the other boys. He'd seen them all around there before.

[Captain Kennelly]

You haven't been able to find out who they were from any other source, have you, Matt?

[Lieutenant King]

Oh, not yet, Captain.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, we better find out soon. There's still nine sticks of that dynamite missing.

[Lieutenant King]

We don't know how many percussion caps. No, I don't. Yeah, these kids sure can get themselves in a mess.

[Captain Kennelly]

Excuse me, Lieutenant King?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes?

[Captain Kennelly]

There's a detective at Tali and another man outside.

[Lieutenant King]

Oh, all right.

[Captain Kennelly]

I didn't want to send them back

[Lieutenant King]

to you until I got your okay. It's okay. All right. I'll send them back where Vite found him. Maybe he came home. How old is the boy?

[Captain Kennelly]

Do you know for sure?

[Lieutenant King]

Not for sure. I think about 14. That's what the neighbors say. 14. What are we gonna do with these kids, Captain? It isn't a cop's job to straighten them out. What are they hanging on us?

[Captain Kennelly]

The trouble is, Matt, it doesn't get to us until somebody else has already missed the boat.

[Lieutenant King]

Right back there, Mr. Harris. Thank you. Come in.

[Captain Kennelly]

Me, Lieutenant.

[Lieutenant King]

Captain. Lieutenant, this is Mr. Carl Harrods. Captain Kennelly, Mr. Harrods. Hi.

[Captain Kennelly]

And Lieutenant King.

[Lieutenant King]

Hi.

[Captain Kennelly]

You sure it's Frank they got in there?

[Lieutenant King]

Pretty sure, Mr. Harrods. You shut the door, Pete? Yeah.

[Captain Kennelly]

How is he?

[Lieutenant King]

Is he all right? They've got him over there in the operating room waiting for the sergeant. A surgeon? Hope he's not gonna cause an arm and a leg. I'm not made of money, you know. Let's not worry about it now. Are these Frank's clothes? Parrots.

[Captain Kennelly]

Are these?

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah, they're his. Those are his pants.

[Captain Kennelly]

I recognize the pants. Listen, who is this surgeon anyway?

[Lieutenant King]

What is he gonna operate for? Detective Vitale told you what happened, didn't he? I told him, Lieutenant. Yes. Those caps exploded against his chest. It's a chest surgeon that's coming.

[Captain Kennelly]

Oh, that's pretty bad, huh?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes.

[Captain Kennelly]

How bad is it, Lieutenant?

[Lieutenant King]

How bad, Captain?

[Captain Kennelly]

Bad or not?

[Lieutenant King]

Harris, you know where Frank got hold of that stuff? No. Detective told me he. He broke into a construction check. That's right. Well, what kind of proof he got? He got no proof he broke into anything.

[Captain Kennelly]

Nobody saw him. The stuff he stole blew up and almost killed him. That's proof enough, isn't it?

[Lieutenant King]

For you, maybe. Not for me.

[Captain Kennelly]

Mr. Harrod, do you think you ought to notify Frank's Mother.

[Lieutenant King]

How can I notify her? I don't know where she is. Ran off three years ago.

[Captain Kennelly]

Let me hold the sack of the kid.

[Lieutenant King]

He's your boy, isn't he? Yes, sir, he's. He's my boy. But I got to work for a living. I got.

[Captain Kennelly]

I got no time to raise him.

[Lieutenant King]

That should have been his mother's job. You don't know where to find her? No, sir. You ever hear anything from her kid? Listen.

[Captain Kennelly]

Give it to me straight now.

[Lieutenant King]

Now, how is he? He's not. Not good.

[Captain Kennelly]

Not good?

[Lieutenant King]

No. Who were the two boys he was with this morning? Why do you want to know that? There's still nine sticks of dynamite missing and probably most of the blasting caps. Who were they? How should I know who they are? We were told that they were at your flat this morning with Frank. They'd been there often. You know them all. Now look, I'm not turning in any kids. If you want them, go and find them.

[Captain Kennelly]

Mr. Harrods. The same thing's liable to happen to them as happened to Frank.

[Lieutenant King]

That's not my worry.

[Captain Kennelly]

Supposing it happened to one of them and Frank was running around with explosives. You'd want it cleared up fast, wouldn't you?

[Lieutenant King]

I don't know. Have all kids all down in that court. I take the chance on Frank handling himself okay. Didn't he? Sure handle himself fine. Didn't. Now look, find out for yourself. I don't want to get involved in this any more than him already.

[Captain Kennelly]

Now wait a minute, Mr. Harrods. It's not just those other two boys that are involved. They're liable to try something with that stuff. They're liable to hurt some other people. Now who are they and where can we find them?

[Lieutenant King]

Go find them yourself. It's not my responsibility. Isn't it?

[Captain Kennelly]

You just think it is.

[Lieutenant King]

It isn't. You can't make it mine.

[Captain Kennelly]

Come in.

[Lieutenant King]

I'm not going to let you.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Excuse me, Captain. Can I see you out here?

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah, sure.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

You can't.

[Lieutenant King]

You can't make this my responsibility.

[Captain Kennelly]

Yes, Doctor.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Is that the boy's father?

[Lieutenant King]

Yes.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

I've got bad news, Captain. The boy died.

[Lieutenant King]

Oh.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

The whole thoracic cavity was badly damaged. Both lungs, the heart. He was hemorrhaging. There really wasn't much that could have been done.

[Captain Kennelly]

No, not after he stole the explosives.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

What's the father's name?

[Captain Kennelly]

Harrods.

[Lieutenant King]

Carl Harrods.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, look, Doctor, this is a police case. We can notify him.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

No, no, thank you, Captain.

[Lieutenant King]

I won't accomplish anything Won't accomplish anything except to get Frank and bad with his friends when he gets out of here. There's one thing I don't want to do with my kid.

[Captain Kennelly]

That's peg him as a rat.

[Lieutenant King]

Rat on his friends. You.

[Captain Kennelly]

Mr. Harrods, this is Dr. Weston. That's all I got to say, Captain.

[Lieutenant King]

Doctor who?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Dr. Weston.

[Lieutenant King]

Oh, very pleased to meet you. Are you the one who's been taken care of, Frank?

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Yes.

[Captain Kennelly]

Well, listen, what is all this about?

[Lieutenant King]

About a surgeon being called in? I don't want any surgeon called in unless I'm consulted first. If he needs to be operated. All right, but I want to have the privilege, you know, of talking it over first.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

He doesn't need the surgeon, Mr. Harrod.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, very good to hear. That's. Wait a minute.

[Captain Kennelly]

Wasn't he.

[Lieutenant King]

He didn't die.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Yes, he did, Mr. Harris. Five minutes ago. I'm sorry.

[Lieutenant King]

Yeah. Here. Better sit down, mister. All right. That's all right. I'm all.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

You better.

[Lieutenant King]

Okay. You think I'm better hurt? Yeah. I knew he was hurt bad, but I didn't think it's died.

[Captain Kennelly]

I didn't think it. He's 14 years old.

[Lieutenant King]

14.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

Why don't you gentlemen wait outside?

[Lieutenant King]

No, no, don't go. No, don't go. I want to give them their names of the other boys. I want to give. Didn't you hear that? I'm sorry. I'll be all right. I'll be all right. A minute here.

[Captain Kennelly]

We'll wait outside.

[Dr. Margaret Westwolf]

You better. Yes.

[Lieutenant King]

Why don't go away. I want to talk to you.

[Captain Kennelly]

We'll be right outside.

[Lieutenant King]

Well, I was wrong about him. I thought it was pretty hard.

[Captain Kennelly]

He was Matt. I just wish it hadn't taken so much to soften him up. 21st Precinct.

[Lieutenant King]

Sergeant Waters. Shooting. Where?

[Captain Kennelly]

Talking to the phone, will you? Where's the shooting? Lexington.

[Lieutenant King]

And what?

[Captain Kennelly]

And so it goes. Around the clock through the week, every day, every year, a police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh and blood merry go round. Anyone can catch the brass ring or the brass ring can catch anyone.

[Lieutenant King]

21st Precinct transcribed a factual account of the way the police work in the world's largest city is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolman's Benevolent association, an organization of more than 20,000 members of the Police Department, City of New York. Everett Sloan in the role of Captain Kennelly. Ken lynch as Lieutenant King. Harold Stone as Sergeant Waters. Featured in tonight's cast were Elaine Rost, Bill Smith, Lynn Cook, Santa Sotega and Bill Zucker. Written and directed by Stanley Nist Produced for CBS Radio by John Ives George Bryan speaking.

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