Why Tippit Was In Oak Cliff

[Duncan MacRae]

[Colin Crow]

The work I did on Jackson's call does not align with his reasoning provided for the call at 12.45. Most will be aware of the controversial instruction of dispatcher Murray Jackson to Tippit and Nelson to move from their assigned patrol districts to Oak Cliff around 12.45. This instruction was absent from the original police transcripts prepared for the WC (Sawyer Exhibits A&B) that were supposed to contain all relevant communications relating to the assassination and Tippit. After some months the call appeared in subsequent transcripts. This call allayed concerns of the WC about why Tippit would be so far outside his assigned district when shot.  In order to get a clearer picture of whether Oak Cliff was indeed being drained of police presence following the call for all units to proceed down town I used the following documents. CE2645 -an FBI report dated June 1964 that outlined each patrol assignment for that day and what their response was. This report was prepared to determine if any patrol car could have been responsible for the sighting of a car at 1026 North Beckley around 1pm as claimed by Mrs Roberts. Interestingly the one officer excluded from this summary is Tippit!  Putnam Exhibit 1 is a map of the patrol districts.  The transcripts that appear at John McAdams site http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/index.htm  From these I prepared the following map.



Those units who were reported to attend downtown in response to the call are indicated in red and are positioned in the district allocated prior to the shooting. Cars containing 2 officers are indicated by circles and those with one are squares. There were some cars instructed to stay in their district and some of them were instructed to set up road blocks. All roadblocks were to the North and north-east of the city. Officers instructed to stay in their areas are indicated in blue. There are some officers that require attention. Parker, Nelson, Menzel and Tippit.  Officer Parker (56)  Parker was assigned districts 56 and 58. After making a call at 12.28 Parker disappears for a period "anyone know where 56 is? However the transcripts indicate he radioed in his position to dispatch around 12.44 that he was on East Jefferson. This is within the Oak Cliff district and it appears he has not responded to the downtown call. In CE2645 it is stated he remained in his allocated district. This is clearly wrong and Jackson knows he is in Oak Cliff. His position at this time is indicated on the map. Parker does not broadcast again until 2.13! CE2645 claims he remained in his district about 10 miles away the whole time.  Officer Nelson (87) It appears that Nelson probably responded to the downtown call as he is well north of his assigned district when he calls his position to Jackson at 12.45. He was at RL Thornton and Marsalis, many miles North of district 87. He is closer to Oak Cliff at this time than Tippit. Apparently he ignores this call from Jackson and continues to the TSBD. In CE2645 it simply states he proceeded downtown as instructed. No mention of the Jackson instruction to patrol Oak Cliff.  Officer Walker   He is instructed to remain in districts 85 and 86 south of Oak Cliff.  Officer Menzel (91) Menzel assigned district 91 and 92, reports clear at 12.28. It appears he heads for lunch at a diner at 430 West Jefferson. It would seem strange he hears nothing on the radio about the shooting on the radio 2minutes later. He seems to be the only officer who takes a lunch break at this time. He does not report back until after one and in CE 2645 it states he repeatedly tried to call by phone but couldn't get through. Obviously no news of the shooting had reached him in nearly 40 minutes. Believable? No attempt by dispatch to contact him in this time to help patrol Oak Cliff. Strange, given Jackson's concern about draining the area of resources.  Officer Tippit (78) It might appear that he too was responding to the downtown call but certainly at a slower pace than Nelson. He reports he is at Keinst and Bonnie View at 12.45 and his position on the map reflects this. However we know that there are 5 witnesses that put him at the Gloco station around this time.  So does it appear that Jackson's justification for ordering Tippit and Neslon to Oak Cliff is logical from the evidence? It certainly appears to me  that there are large areas of Dallas devoid of police. In fact apart from those downtown at the TSBD, Oak Cliff is blessed with police. An update to the original post having trawled through the transcripts and listened to the calls. Comments in chronological order.

1. There is a call of 78 (Tippit) at 12.29 one minute before the shots. it is not clear if this it Tippit or Dispatch.

 2. At 12.30 91(Menzel) calls clear twice. The second time is just 5 seconds before sirens are clearly heard on the radio. Menzel does not get confirmation of clear from dispatch? Apparently he goes to lunch.

 3.At 12.36 93 is called from dispatch and reports at 12.36 at Sylvan and Fort Worth? This appears to be way outside the assigned district. Assists an ambulance by blocking a road. 

4. Who is 97 that called in at 12.41? Reports in at Westmoreland and Fort Worth less about 5 minutes from 1026 North Beckley. Dispatch seems suprised 97 is in service.

5. The 12.41 call for squads in down town area to code 3 elm and Houston. Note the call is for local units only.

6. Unit 43 already there at the jail.  Unit 233 is already at Elm and Houston.  Unit 61 is close by.

Then 77 responds from the district west of Tippit. He does not get confirmed by dispatch for this. 

Then Unit 63, I have no idea who that is but district 63 is close to the scene.  Then dispatch calls 76 in.  Then 97, again no idea who 97 is but district 97 is west of Oak Cliff, is called by dispatch.  Then 60, 80, and 100 are called by dispatch to attend (Sgts. Putnam, Davis and Jennings). 

113 is enroute 113 is downtown close already. I could not find a listing for 113. Is it car 113 (Woods) in district 68 or Osburn as indicated on McAdams site. The position called, Gaston and Haskell is North of Fort worth? Strange.

66 calls enroute, again no idea who 66 is.

At 12.42 81 Calls he is at Corinth and 8th this is in northeastern oak cliff 56 reports East Jefferson again in Oak Cliff 12.45 suspect description is broadcast and 233 broadcasts the suspect is in the TSBD

81 has moved north on industrial moving closer to the TSBD. This call triggers 78 and 87 immediately.

There is almost no gap between the 10-4 call from the previous call and the instruction to Tippit and Nelson to move. Why? Surely no drain of Oak Cliff has occurred. There is no indication that dispatch even knows that Menzel is at lunch. Also. there is no 10-4 call from Tippit or Nelson to this instruction, merely a call of current postion. No 78 for Tippit is audible.

79 (Anglin) calls a position of 1400 Corinth this is after - so dispatch doesn't know he left his Oak Cliff district until now. Then 93 calls asks where to go dispatch says TSBD he is also originally assigned to Oak Cliff 12.46 77 assigned to Oak Cliff asks where to report and is told the TSBD

12.48 81 arrives at the TSBD and calls out to dispatch 12.52 79 (Anglin) calls he will be out at underpass

Then 87 (Nelson) calls out down here (TSBD).

THis is when it would be apparent Oak Cliff is possibly needing backup. Could he have made a call at this point for Tippit to move there and it has been moved up? Finally, Jackson's strange 12.55 call to confirm Tippit is in Oak Cliff and at to be at large for any emergency. It seemed to me the "78" on this recording sounds different to Jackson's previous 78. No so much pronounced Southern twang. When analyzed in sequence I find no evidence that a call should be made at 12.45. Possibly 10 minutes later. Initially only downtown squads were asked and reported to the scene. It was not until later that Units such as 81 responded or asked if they should attend.  Who is car 97? Even dispatch is suprised by that call.

t is claimed that around the time the shots were ringing out in DP, Officer Mentzel, who was assigned the Oak Cilff patrol decided to go to lunch. Apparently dining at a cafe at 430 W. Jefferson. He claims not to have been aware of the President's shooting until 1.07pm when he returned to his car. There are a few individuals whose actions are strange at about the time JFK passed through DP and in the half hour or so after. Oswald (and a few other TSBD employees), Tippit and Mentzel is another. Even if we allow for the fact that he most likely requested a lunch break before the shots, (can anyone imagine asking for a lunch break over the radio just after this event!!!). He is supposed to have gone to a cafe........at 430 W Jefferson. Until now I had no idea how close this is to the other key locations involving Oswald's escape. Remember Tippit visited the Top Ten Record store sometime shortly before 1pm. This is only a block from Mentzel's Cafe!!.

Another point.....does it make sense to anyone that an officer would be in a cafe for nearly 40 minutes  and be totally unaware of the assassination? Pure BS in my view. Scogging went to a club and knew all about the shooting before Oswald shot Tippit. Why would an officer on lunch, in a cafe, when hearing of the shooting not report in immediately? Of course he would. Unless he was waiting for someone. In my view Mentzel and Tippit's actions are highly suspicious. Just using common sense and all.

[Colin Crow]