Highway Patrol

I remember watching reruns of Highway Patrol with my mother back in 1973 that aired from Philadelphia, PA on a syndicated station at 9:00 every morning. I loved seeing Broderick Crawford (who was from Philadelphia) and his gravely voice and those lovely jet black patrol cars, in glorious black and white. Right after this show was over we switched the channel to the Senate Watergate hearings which were fascinating, to say the least.

This show was my very favorite as a boy, and had such an influence on me, that I grew up to become a Pennsylvania State Trooper. I recently retired from the force after a rewarding career. The stories and action of the Highway Patrol always showed the good guys, the police, prevailing over the bad guys. I also enjoyed the open highway atmosphere in which these stories took place. I would very dearly love to get tapes of this show for old times sake, but have not been able to do so.

This series did for the California Highway Patrol what "Dragnet" did for the LAPD; i.e. established a mythology and a standard of professional conduct. I knew two retired CHP officers (both retired in the late 1960s) who loved this series. It is no small joke that in the Dan Aykroyd movie comedy Dragnet, Harry Morgan is watching "Highway Patrol" on TV when Aykroyd's character calls him on the phone. I, too, wish the old tapes had been saved for posterity.

I was about 14 when this show first aired and like most teenagers I used to like the cars and the car chases. My uncle had a 1955 Buick Century hardtop and I would pretend that it was a Highway Patrol Car. I saw a few poor copies lately and the production values were rough but I still wish I had some good copies of the shows. Too bad they are not on video.

There has been much fun made of the part played by Broderick Crawford---and much denigration accorded the show in general. I have a complete collection of the series. I watch them when I need a fix from the current workaday world of crime now overwhelming law-enforcement...and the courts allowing it to happen.

Crawford, whose mom and dad worked the Vaudeville circuit, was a very talented and forceful visage in "Highway Patrol". One didn't have to look like Clark Gable in order to portray a dedicated cop. No, he wasn't pretty. Yes, he looked like an unmade bed. But, that just added authenticity to the show in my 15-19 year old (at the time) eyes.

I would have hated being interrogated by him even if I hadn't done anything wrong. Think about how much more latitude the first line of law-enforcement had during that show's time. It started four years before the passage of the Miranda Act. Folks who got too chirpy with "the law" in those days, learned a pretty good lesson before they even got locked up. Wish it still held true. Buddy Buchanan