"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."
Dragnet ran on NBC radio from June 3, 1949 to September 20, 1955 with repeats lasting until February 26, 1957. It was created and produced by Jack Webb, who starred as Sgt. Friday. He would be forever associated with the show and the character.
Webb hoped for the LAPD's endorsement; as he wanted to use cases from official files in order to demonstrate the steps taken by police officers during investigations. In 1950 the LAPD gave the endorsement, however the department wanted control over the program's sponsor, and insisted that police not be depicted unflatteringly. This would lead to some criticism, as the LAPD racial segregation policies were never addressed, nor was there a suggestion of police corruption. At the time the LAPD earned a reputation for brutality, particularly directed towards the African American and Latino communities of Los Angeles, and the vice squad of the LAPD was know to be notoriously corrupt.
Friday's first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. On Yarbourough's death Friday received a new partner, Frank Smith, played by Ben Alexander.
Dragnet--"especially on the radio"--handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism. In one such example, Dragnet broke one of the unspoken (and still rarely broached) taboos of popular entertainment in the episode ".22 Rifle for Christmas" which aired December 21, 1950). The episode followed the search for young Stevie Morheim, only to discover he’d been accidentally killed while playing with a rifle that belonged to a friend; his friend told Friday that Stevie was running while holding the rifle when he tripped and fell, causing the gun to discharge, fatally wounding Morheim. Another episode dealt with young women who, rather than finding Hollywood stardom, fall in with fraudulent talent scouts and end up in pornography and prostitution. - Wikipedia
One of the only pictures of Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough