A nickel-plated .44 caliber Smith and Wesson is used to shoot two cops and many more people. The police extensively use "I. B. M. machines" and a tape recorder to solve the case. "The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Dragnet is a documented drama of an actual crime provided by the Los Angeles police files. This story commences on a cold Tuesday night in LA Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is working the night watch with his partner Ben Romero when a call comes into a homicide that two police officers had been shot.