First Aired - December 7th, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working in the Frauds Division, Bunco Section. Officers Sergeant Densmore and Captain Fremont have been passing out "Nale Courtesy Cards," care of Captain Nale, if you buy an ad in the Nale Magazine. Using the card allows you to get special privileges with the police department.
However there is no Sergeant Densmore, Captain Fremont or Captain Nale. Friday and Gannon are tasked to find them as now the citizens are getting into trouble with using the card and losing their money.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- "Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Averted. The Nale Courtesy Card is said to allow special privileges from the police. Some people use the card to just toss the tickets or court summons in the trash. However, the card is fake and whenever people present it to a real police officer, they are told it doesn't work and some were arrested for tearing up tickets in front of officers. A few citizens even had warrants out for their arrest due to ignoring the police.
- Jerkass: After Gannon and Friday bust him, Paul Fremont yells at Friday for using his phones, as they are expensive to maintain that many numbers.
- Impersonating an Officer: Each person working the scam is impersonating one, as Captain Nale doesn't really exist in the scam being run by Paul Fremont. Each person who is on the phone pretends to be Captain Nale. When Densmore is caught, he knew it was only a matter of time that he was caught, because impersonating one would draw out out the real police more quickly.
