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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XII - Page 4« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Assistant Chief Charles Batchelor)

Mr. Griffin.
press and you left at 9:30 p.m., were you confronted by any other newspaper people about the movement of Oswald ?
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir. As a matter of fact, we left not too long after this because after this announcement was made, the press began to leave themselves. The third floor became fairly quiet and there wasn't anybody up there to speak of and it just died out.
Mr. Griffin.
Were you confronted by anybody after the chief made his announcement with respect to Oswald ?
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir; not that I recall.
Mr. Griffin.
Do you recall how you arrived at the time at 9:30, stated in the report? Was that based on your records?
Chief BATCHELOR. That was fresh in my mind when we wrote this report.
Mr. Griffin.
Now, who was left in charge of the police department that night after you left at 9:30?
Chief BATCHELOR We have a night chief who comes on at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and he works until 2 in the morning.
Mr. Griffin.
Do you recall who it was that night ?
Chief BATCHELOR. Well, there is only one. It would have been Chief Jack Tanner.
Mr. Griffin.
Who would then replace him at 2 o'clock in the morning?
Chief BATCHELOR. No one. There is a, well, I say no one. There is an inspector also who works around the clock. I don't recall which inspector was on duty that night, but there is an inspector on duty at night around the clock.
Mr. Griffin.
I notice--if you want to refer to your report on page 29, the report indicates that, you received a telephone call at your home about 6:30 in the morning from Captain Talbert. Can you tell us what that call was about?
Chief BATCHELOR. Yes, sir. He called and informed me that he had gotten a call, and he didn't tell me at the time where he got it; he said an anonymous call.
Later I learned it came from the FBI, and they in turn had called him. That about a hundred men were going to take the prisoner Oswald and they didn't want to get any policeman hurt. So I told him to send a squad by Chief Curry's house and inform him about it. And at that moment we weren't concerned about him in the jail. We were concerned about him in the transfer.
Mr. Griffin.
Why did Talbert call you rather than some other member of the police department?
Chief BATCHELOR. He tried to call Chief Curry and he couldn't get him to answer his phone. I guess he was dog-tired and he couldn't get him up. And I told him to send a squad car by and tell him.
Mr. Griffin.
I see. Did you have any discussion with him at that point who had responsibility to make this decision? Did you feel you had the responsibility to give instructions on the basis of having received this report that some men were going to try to go after Oswald? Did you feel you had any responsibility to take any protective action ?
Chief BATCHELOR. At that moment ?
Mr. Griffin.
Yes.
Chief BATCHELOR. No. The way it came to me, it was my feeling that this was to happen when we attempted to transfer him, not to come up to the jail and get him.
Mr. Griffin.
What did you do after you received that phone call?
Chief BATCHELOR. I got Up and dressed to come down to the office.
Mr. Griffin.
What time did you arrive down at the office?
Chief BATCHELOR. About 8 o'clock.
Mr. Griffin.
What did you do when you got to the office?
Chief BATCHELOR. Chief Stevenson and I got there about the same time. I parked my car in the basement and we walked into the city hall or into the police station, and we noticed a television camera set up in the areaway leading into the garage .I made the comment that they would have to do something about the television camera because it was right in the path where they would bring the prisoner out. There was no one around the camera. It was just sitting there.
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