The transcripts were made from tapes, not from the original dictabelt discs. The fact that the transcripts say "tape splice" in several spots means that the tapes were edited in some fashion.
So what Bowles is saying here is that it's meaningless that the dispatcher said "1:16" shortly before the citizen reported the shooting of the police officer.
The transcripts were made from tapes, not from the original dictabelt discs. The fact that the transcripts say "tape splice" in several spots means that the tapes were edited in some fashion.That's not how I interpret the following words from him:
..."I just made a recording of it with a nice reel to reel tape recorder which the FBI furnished to me and
then set about from the original tapes and the original Gray audiograph disks to transcribe the tapes
using the originals because, according to the law, that’s the best evidence. The tapes were in as good a condition as you would expect considering the fact that the FBI had tried to transcribe them using a single stylus"...
"On channel 1 we used a two phase dictaphone voice recording. I stress voice recording because it was not a precision quality; it was a stenographic type recording. You had a comparatively dull stylus making a simple impression on a thin celluloid belt." (Apparently he uses tape interchangeably with belt.)
So what Bowles is saying here is that it's meaningless that the dispatcher said "1:16" shortly before the citizen reported the shooting of the police officer.No, not meaningless, just inexact.
"A good close proximity is the best I could do—no one can do better."