DREAM STREET

[Music] this is Bill Leonard and about a Street in Brooklyn about some people on that street the name of the street is Prospect Place to the people you were about to meet it is known as Dream Street and very shortly you will see why the film you're about to see is unique the things you you will see have never been seen this way as they actually happened on film before it was made with hidden cameras and concealed microphones it's a result of a unique Cooperative working arrangement between the New York police department and WCBS television reporters and cameramen you are about to see a Narcotics raid one part of the juvenile Crime Story Prospect placed is in the Bedford ston section of Brooklyn the section has a special distinction the worst juvenile crime rate in the United States Prospect Place runs for several blocks the part they call Dream Street is one block long the first people you will meet who have a connection with dream street are detectives Ed Marty Casey part of a task force assigned to this raid they've had Dream Street under surveillance for weeks a cold winter morning the placed a rendevu point a dozen blocks from Dream Street [Music] now here's the Prospect Place area Prospect Howard Saratoga he and I go up on a Saratoga roof is this the section you mean Ed that's right okay I'll take it with Freddy on the other end you cover one end we'll cover the other right I got it you got it Marty I got it let's all right let's go [Music] how you going to go up there Ed I'll pull a car at the Prospect Place it'll be far enough away then they won't be made they won't recognize us if we stay a block away okay we can take it on foot there from there we'll meet the other fellas up on the roof right you know we might click here today because the nikic squad made a clean sweep on the other side of the burrow there and they will come up here to buy yeah they make it out of that district and into uh this territory we have a chance well we'll give it a try you won't find much narcotics up here though because I understand they got at least a kilo of heroin last night yeah but that big Morty's been working around here he's a supplier might see him hey look an addict's an adct he's got to get this stuff every day here we are I don't see anybody so far looks like a couple of them in the hallway there but I'm not sure wait till we get up FR and eat a chicken there's some that's Sam isn't it it looks like him standing by the push car it looks like a couple of addicts with him he's got quite a sheet I understand when we loop around we'll get a better look at him this is Dream Street a slum Street a kosher meat market and a pizza joint push carts Cut Rate prices slashed a quiet windy Street in the early morning a few people shopping an old man sharpening knives unaware of what's happening they don't know that their street is being watched like this woman buying cabbage unaware the drug addicts unaware too the pushers the men who sell the drugs from rooftops we'll be able to see the story unfold you going to leave the car here yeah I think so this is a good spot it's far enough away I hope nobody tags you okay you better check everything now before we start out and I'll link up with friend where are the other three guys they're up on the roof now let's see everything's there okay I'm all set you got handcuffs Jim yeah let's hope we get to use them separate Jim so they don't make us going down the block right see you later meanwhile three teams of detectives have moved into position detectives on a tenement roof at the South End of the block another team on a roof at at the North End concealed in an old black Plymouth parked on the west side of the street a third team of detectives in each detective's pocket a transmitter microphone and with each team of cops a cameraman they will wait perhaps an hour perhaps a day they must be patient they are waiting for the wholesaler to come into the market the detectives know who he is they know the middleman the pushers and they know the addicts once the wholesaler makes a pass to The Pusher the detectives can then move in all right let's get up to the roof as fast as we can better stay low when you get up there on the roof they can see you from there looks like the door's open already somebody must be up here no nobody's here I got the glasses morning stay down alone don't let them see your head Mony like get a peek with the glasses good do you see anybody boy it's cold from the roof you can get a good look at the neighborhood suburbs of Dream Street a housing project a Correction Institute for girls a hospital not too far away and nearby a Vocational High School and right at the end of the block a grade school school's getting out now it's going to be hard watching them okay jim I've been sweating you out up here okay I'll take a peek near the chicken Market down there no I don't see anybody yet oh there's a couple down near the doorway yeah I spot him Jim where's the black car on the end of the block there how it haveen you ready to move huh all set to move they're starting to congregate around there now keep it close High there Jim I watch the fell around the corner right let me know anybody coming down the Avenue you recognize them very good look at the lookout with you I got him see by the push cut J oh that's Sam the other guy there's two addicts with him those are definite atcts one kid they called Pat there's a group coming there's a group those are three atcts too now they're probably coming into the clock to contact Sam and buy some narcotics Bo's getting cring now hey fed keep your R out it's starting to congregate I got five in a doorway maybe a delivery will be coming along soon either out it's already here oh look good we may get some action here today yeah send Lookout see him lookout's moving out keep an eye on him right I got him you see him from your room he's looking up and down I want to don't let him see you he'll tip off the atcts and they'll all get out of the block get down must be on its way now there they are there they are the man in the trench coat at the center of your screen is Morty a two-time loser known in the trade as a wholesaler he supplies narcotics in quantity to the pushers where does he get the stuff that's one of the things the cops want to know that's why they'll let him make his pass and then follow him with him is his bodyguard Big Steve the muscle the man in the trench coat probably has the stuff on him so they could pick him up now but if they did the big men who Supply him would be off the hook no the plan is let Morty and big Steve make their delivery then tail them for this two detectives are in an unmarked car parked on the west side of the street waiting for them the detectives on the rooftops are watching every move a pusher can pass the stuff quickly his hand is often faster than your eye he might brush up against someone or throw it in a doorway drop it on the street [Music] they're going in yeah they're in okay the car's got them oh yeah I see the car coming up now there they go they they came out yeah but I think the car's tailing them I think he's made them the car follows him you can't get too close you can't be too careful a pusher is cautious suspicious if we follow him long enough and far enough he'll lead us to the source of supply to the big boodle as the addicts call it don't get too close to him he saw us oh yes I think he's made us Go pass Go pass get down hit the floor once he seen you you're dead we've lost the wholesaler but the important thing is that he's left the stuff behind and back on Dream Street the addicts will be buy come two attics now remember stuffy we had about 6 weeks ago yeah yeah I don't know the other fell but they're heading down there get the package under his arm too boy it's great the way they know the drop is here he should head in let's see if they go near that chicken Market there's two more Fred see these guys Jim you see him yeah who's the guy in the left I don't know oh the guy in the rights in that right yep they're going in that's the place we're watching you shouldn't take long not more than a minute I'll tell you what I think we ought to uh snag stuffy there when he comes out because he's definitely on it I'll watch the SE come out okay Jim here they come all right you go first Jim I'll back you wait until they leave the block no arrests are made on Dream Street you watch them until they're in the clear of the area until there 's no chance of upsetting the rest of the plan and then you collar them you Frisk them from top to bottom they'll hide it anywhere in shoes in socks in Hidden Pockets the capsules are small and easily concealed and sometimes they're unhappy and indignant me who me I don't use this stuff you can't do this to me sometimes you find the stuff quickly and frequently never and in this case you're not lucky the one with a hat 3 days out of Riker's Island had the stuff but just as the detectives got to him he swallowed it no evidence no case but there are others back on Dream Street there are many others and from the rooftops the cops can see them there they are red a collection I see them I guess Morty made the drop in the market probably probably did because the attics around oh there goes the whip right you may be running the stuff down to Sam he'll hook up with them he's looking around he's looking to pay something for somebody I wonder if he's got it on him right now yeah take a look at this then let's see definitely the whip let's go for [Music] [Music] [Music] caps This Is The Stuff dreams are made of [Music] and these are three residents of Dream Street in the light coat big Sam The Pusher age 37 out on Bale Vernon wearing the cap age 19 an addict arrested at the age of 14 for possession of number slips and Willie the whip in the leather jacket Big Sam's eron boy an addict two arrests in connection with juvenile crime no convictions if this arrest seems to you to have been a quiet thing undramatic almost casual remember on Dream Street this is part of the everyday routine of life it was this way yesterday it was will be this way tomorrow one block in Brooklyn where a 17-year-old boy is an apprentice to a drug Pusher and a 19-year-old boy is 5 years Beyond his first arrest if dream street has an end it is here at the police station big Sam is waiting he is waiting to talk to Deputy inspector Raymond Martin Martin's job juvenile crime Big Sam's crime contributing to the delinquency of a minor possession of Narcotics a camera is hidden in this room so is a microphone on fire push fire little louder what you say a push car yeah the fell that pull the push C in from the market there they build a fire in the can there why because it was cold out we I saw the fire I walk through and I saw a few fell standing there I know I sto I was passing through and I saw the fell standing around the can talk I know a couple I stopped there and I was standing there talking cop run up in well aren't these uh drug users there and the pushes was no pushes no I know I know you are using some stuff now once in a while isn't that right I got the two yeah that's right but you have marks on your arm now if I take your cot off you wouldn't want me to start undressing you you w want you to tell me the truth I'm telling you he knows that I that's right that's right and actually where you were located today when they grabbed you that's that's a place where you meet some sometimes to get drugged oh that's a good that's right tell me uh when did you first start using the junk 49 how did you happen to start using it well I hanging around in the streets and uh I get I got married before you used the stuff you got married married and iul where were you living now P Street in Brooklyn what street P Street in Brooklyn and uh um I used I was a heavy drinker you know I us come out and and my wife used to complain all the time about drinking so just bad luck I call it now I run into some fellas and it was sniffing Easter Sund was sniffing you know cocaine her her and the bar you know I never seen it before I know what it was bleeding we ask me to try you know holidays so I tried it how much stuff do you have to use a day now well no I'm getting away from it getting away from it well how much a day how much in money how much does it cost you I got some I went to the doctor I got me some uh Wonder drugs you gave me wonder drugs wonder drug they help me along that's all I take tell me uh when you're using the heroine how much a day do you have to spend before I got lock up was sp5 $20 a day $5 or $20 a day and in order to get $5 or $20 a day you have to steal don't you we going do lot of got to do a lot of things need the stuff big Sam The Pusher has been on the stuff for years he needs it he can't live without it and he can't live with it Vernon is only 19 he needs the stuff too he's graduated from capsules to main lining injecting himself intravenously he won't admit it but he's on the stuff now in brown Brownsville Brooklyn uh what school did you go to I went to public school 84 66 184 Go to High School yes how did you happen to go to so many public schools well uh I moved and then I was transferred from one to another you have trouble when you were in school no when was the first time you ever came in contact with the law the first very first time two months what was that for uh of Narcotics heroin or heroin tell me you have a needle at that time no well were you pushing it no selling no I had a capsule how much does it cost you to capsule $16 $16 were you working yes what kind of work were you doing uh Tru so uh how much a day you need for Narcotics well at the time at that time I used to use an average about four a day4 or $6 a day four or six well how could you split a capsule wouldn't it be one capsule $16 no no one caps is $2 you told me $16 a day I said I had that much you oh I see when they when I was invested where would you get that much money every day to buy narcotics $6 while uh I was working how much did you make a day 1516 a day but you would only get paid once a week I used to draw draw from your boss buy the narcotics and I used to get tips and now you you know we're not trying to hurt you here I'm trying to help you I want to find out why you you went on narcotics can you tell me well I was it was in 19 51 I met this girl we went out a couple of times being a group of fellas and girls and well we were drinking and uh one night in the house one of the girl houses and I we stayed that night and the next morning all the girl when me and the fell came out of the room he came out of his room I come out of mine the two girls was sitting in front of the you know those fire people yes well they were sitting in front of that a lot of they were sitting in front of that fire was in the winter time talk a louder well they were sitting in front of the fire yes keeping warm and at the same time they were getting injecting and well hadn't you heard in New York here about what an addict was and how bad they fared out it wasn't well at that time it wasn't too bad was too much publicity about it man don't you still I was I mean I was of age and known better but when you were a young boy growing up in this city you evidently hung out with a bunch of boys who were doing things though aren't you yeah but none of them never no but they were doing a lot of other disorderly things which caused the general disrespect for law isn't that true as juveniles well I tell you sir the group that I hung out with do believe it or not but a pretty good group they were huh pretty good why were they a good group I don't know well lot of us when we when we as we came up I never was in any trouble they were never in any you went to the youth center and engag in sports and things like that I belong with P well it probably helped you to stay straight during those years huh that's right and then when I came out of school I want to work all of us used to work all the fellas the group was only about about five of us that hung out together but we' come from work every night we probably get dressed we go to show weekends we might go to dance something like that but we never indulged in nothing that was against the law or anything I don't know just in the later years look like it should have happened years ago instead of now when I was a juvenile it seemed like all of it's coming up as I get older well it should be Vice Versa oh my advice to never never use it never why sest deadest day I can remember and and why do you say that it's just no good it's no good what does it do to you body and soul well physically yes it's a it's a crave something that you want you have to have the person shouldn't have it what does it do to your physical condition position over a period of years so number onee what lose your teeth right on what about your stomach and your your health your health what happens it's going the same way your teeth right well now do you intend to stop using the stuff I have you have ever since I was arrested I how long is that now two months I haven't two months and in those two months he hasn't been able to work he spends most of his time on the streets in front of the fire where where the cops picked him up today and Willie the whip still healthy and pretty belligerent a tough kid he doesn't know or maybe he doesn't care all he knows is the world seems like a much happier place when you're all the stuff 2:00 or something where were you about 2:00 or something where were you then I was on on the market what were you doing in the market I was standing by a fire standing by a fire and you were waiting for somebody no stand by they came out the house well that's a famous place isn't it yes and what is that famous for in recent weeks before we got wi St Tommy narcotics narcotics in other words you can buy narcotics there up until until today right how much do they charge you for upst when I was using I $2 $2 a capsule letter uh you were picked up there today with how many other men Sam and Sam and Patterson there three of you when was the last time you had a shot tell true last since I went down south last of September about about 3 months well what were you doing there today Wen you I just was standing by the fire talking to let me see take a c up I use what' you say I said yes I use it you were using it that that's the marks from the needles yes you get infected there too don't you sometimes from the dirty needle yes how about the other arm better to take the jacket off that's that line down there right so how long have you been using the stud I stud want to sit down now and talk lot what year did you start 53 where' you start to use it well there some friends I there where where I'm where you live and uh how did your happen to started well talk louder so I can hear you um how started I met U two my friends so I was wondering what they high was so after I it it made me sick for the first time made you sick well then how how is it now when you use it and you don't have it for a while what happens to you how's shfe you get camps in the stomach bows get weak it's no good for you no good for you kid cancel how much a day do you have to spend on narcotics most I spend about $4 a day and where would you get $4 a day if you're not working I generally have refrigerated got on S M you and if I got real bad to steal a little something to get some money wouldn't you all right and then you get in trouble with the law from stealing all right you want to ask him [Music] anything uh those men in the market today when you were standing with Sam they were mostly all addicts weren't they you guys standing there with them most of them most most all of them standing around circle around that fire they're mostly atcts aren't they no there was no more there except one guy he W well the other two were rcts Sam and the other boy yes and yourself but that's three of you right and uh when you started did you start directly with the needle or did you sniff directly with directly skin popping that is to say you would inject it anywhere on your body just in the skin you a main liner now yes main liner that's the worst type of an addict right right all of this film has no ending because of course this was not the end of the story for Willie the Whip or big Sam or ver and it's only a small glimpse of the New York police in action in the words of police commissioner Kennedy crime prevention is the most important job of the police and this is particularly true of juvenal crime it's a NeverEnding job involving patient understanding long hours and unflagging courage it involves not only narcotics of course but every form of illegal activity most important the work of curbing juvenile delinquency involves more than youth itself it involves the parents the whole fabric of Home Community Schools Merchants churches courts and private and public agencies it is clear that we cannot effectively mobilize public action on the question of juvenile delinquency and crime without showing first precisely and actually what it is and why it is on the increase the film that you've seen is unique in that it is exact reality nothing more and nothing less with the cooperation of the police and other agencies concerned our proposed series of programs would examine all the facts of the problem in this vein to reveal the problem not in retrospect or in discussion but in action we propose in other words to tell not only the truth but to show the truth this We Believe would provide the greatest possible service to the American public