Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working out of personnel division. Friday serves on a civilian/police interview board for applicants to the Los Angeles Police Academy. He and Gannon conduct background checks and interviews of candidates to determine their fitness to be officers. One applicant, Harry Latham, seems to have a solid application...except there's a six-month discrepancy between his employment record and his application. Friday and Gannon have to find out why.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- Dare to Be Badass: When one of the civilians on his panel asks Friday where you can determine if an applicant has the guts to be a policeman, Friday says there's one place to find out for sure - the Police Academy.
- Fearless Fool: Friday discusses this with a professor from City College, saying that bravery is part of the job. But so is good sense. And bravery without good sense is a good recipe to die awfully young.
- Generic Cop Badges: The Mintville, California police chief admits the LAPD shield Friday carries is way better-looking than the badge he's wearing.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Friday and Gannon trip up Latham's former employer by "accidentally" mixing up the date when he said he left Compass with the one his ex-wife provided. The man's not pleased at being tricked and demands the two officers leave immediately.
- Police Brutality: A stop at the Wiley, Nevada Police Department helps Friday and Gannon fill in the final piece for prospective Los Angeles Police Academy candidate Harry Latham's background: Chief Leonard Oxley tells the officers that Latham was a strong young man and liked to use his muscle. In the end, Oxley and the town council got so many complaints on Latham that they had to dismiss him from the force. It's more than enough for Friday to recommend denying Latham's application to the police academy, and it is indeed denied.
- The So-Called Coward: Howard Digby's former service station employer called Digby a coward because he hid in the grease pit when three men robbed the place and slugged another employee. Digby took exception to the insult, especially since it was his description of the men and the license plate of the car that allowed them to be caught that night, and quit.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Digby admits he's $30,000 in debt, which is $270,000 in 2023 and a pretty big sum in 1968 for someone who's only 22. Subverted when he explains he and his young wife bought a house but without much in collateral the mortgage ended up being very large.
- Unconfessed Unemployment: In a sense, when Latham attempts to conceal – pretty well to two of the members of the interview team – why there is a six-month gap in his employment history. Friday sees red flags and decides to do what he can to get answers and fill in the gap.
