Police Headquarters

Police Headquarters

A crime radio drama that was broadcast in the 1930s, Police Headquarters was a fifteen-minute show syndicated by NBC radio stations on the West Coast. There were a total of 39 episodes, all pertaining to a crime being reported from a telephone.

After the crime was reported and police headquarters took over, they always had the use of a two-way radio to solve the mystery. The cops immediately set up a dragnet to search for the criminals. There were all types of crimes committed on Police Headquarters, including bank robberies, murders and assaults.

Crime never paid on Police Headquarters. The perpetrators were always apprehended and the listener received a lesson in true crime and how professionals handle it. Followers of the show loved the fast-paced action and the interesting stories behind the crimes.

One of the episodes, The IOU Murder is the story of a murder inside an expensive mansion. Another, Stolen Brain, is a morbid tale in which a brain is stolen from a professor’s dead body and offered for sale at a staggering $35,000.

Unfortunately, there’s not much information available about this 1932 radio show. No one recorded who did the acting, but we do know that they were syndicated, and that was a new concept in radio.

As with most of these old time radio shows, a bit of history of the 1930s is revealed in most of the Police Headquarters episodes. We see how police procedures were performed and how police solved crimes without the sophisticated equipment and methods that we have today.

There was one episode about a 20-year recluse who dies when he overdoses on cocaine. In one show, the alibi of an Italian prevents Police Headquarters from prosecuting him with the crime of pushing a girl out of a speeding car and killing her. The dead girl’s twin brothers later punish the Italian.

An interesting caveat to preserving these old radio shows is that networks didn’t use pre-recorded disks until after World War II. Acetate disks were used instead and were sent to many radio stations in America – a great way to promote the show.

It’s fun to listen to these old shows and get a glimpse into history. Police Headquarters is one of the radio series that provide a sometimes surprising look into life – and crime – in America in the 1930s.INC All Rights Reserved-oduction is ohibited.

Happy listening my friends,