The Big Net

Originally Aired: April 20, 1954

Dragnet #244, "The Big Net," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith face a dangerous escalation in their city's crime wave. Fourteen women have been robbed and beaten by a serial attacker who pistol-whips his victims, and the latest victim lies in critical condition at the county hospital with a fractured skull. Despite having multiple witness descriptions, none of them match, and the armed suspect remains at large. Under the direction of Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, the robbery detail assembles for an all-hands operation, canceling days off just before Thanksgiving.

The detectives lay out an elaborate trap using policewomen as decoys along the suspect's established pattern of bus and streetcar routes between 73rd Street and Jefferson Boulevard. Working between 5:30 and 11:30 p.m., the suspect targets women in poorly lit areas after they disembark from public transportation. Twenty officers are assigned to shadow the decoys while additional units patrol the surrounding areas. As the operation stretches through Thanksgiving night and into the weekend, Friday and Smith coordinate the effort from their patrol unit, making several pickups but finding no one matching their composite description.