Dragnet

Dragnet may refer to:

Media

Dragnet (policing)

A dragnet is any system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects; including road barricades and traffic stops, widespread DNA tests, and general increased police alertness. The term derives from a fishing technique of dragging a fishing net across the sea bottom, or through a promising area of open water.

While a dragnet can refer to any kind of focused police presence, the traditional definition involves defining an area (e.g., a building, or a city block) and/or category (e.g., those of a specific ethnic group within an area) and conducting at least a brief investigation of each person within. Thus, if a criminal was traced to a specific location, everyone in that location might be searched for incriminating evidence. Since the 1950s, such "dragnets" have generally been held to be unconstitutional, as unreasonable search and seizure actions.

While traditional "stop and frisk" dragnets have largely fallen into disuse, New York's strategy for controlling serious crime by stopping many of those loitering in areas where such loitering is thought to be associated with lesser crimes has been called a dragnet. Similarly, controversy remains over other activities held to be dragnets as well. An active area of legal controversy, for example, is that of warrant-less wiretaps. If all cell phones are monitored by machine for certain words or phrases thought to be associated with terrorism, and the results used to cue focused investigations, the ACLU argues that this constitutes a kind of dragnet. There was a large, highly publicized dragnet in Boston after the 2013 marathon race bombing. A dragnet that caught world-wide attention was conducted by French law enforcement after a Paris newspaper was attacked, resulting in the killing of twelve people, in January 2015.

Dragnet (album)

Dragnet is the second studio album by English art punk band The Fall. It was released on 26 October 1979, through record label Step-Forward.

Background and recording

The album was recorded on 2–4 August 1979, less than eight months after its predecessor, Live at the Witch Trials, establishing at an early stage two key patterns of the group's work; that of high productivity and that of a regular turnover of group members. Only Mark E. Smith and Marc Riley remained from the début album and Riley had changed his role from bass guitar to guitar. Dragnet is most notable for the arrivals of both guitarist Craig Scanlon and bassist Steve Hanley. Both were just 19 when they joined the group and would form The Fall's musical backbone until the mid 90s. This is the only studio album recorded with drummer Mike Leigh.

The album is somewhat self-referential lyrically, with several songs referencing the music industry. At least two tracks; "Printhead" and "Your Heart Out", quoted or paraphrased reviews of the band's live shows. "Printhead" even verifies this fact within its own lyric. Dragnet's production is muddy – Riley has claimed this was a deliberate contrast to the sharp, clean sound of Live at the Witch Trials. It would be their final album for Miles Copeland III's Step-Forward label, with the group signing to Rough Trade Records in early 1980.

Dragnet (1954 film)

Dragnet is a 1954 American crime film written by Richard L. Breen and directed by Jack Webb. The film stars Webb, Ben Alexander, Richard Boone, Ann Robinson, Stacy Harris, Virginia Gregg and Vic Perrin. The film was adapted from the radio series of the same name, and is part of the wider Dragnet franchise.The film was released by Warner Bros. on September 4, 1954.

Plot

Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday hunts down the killer of a mobster.

Cast

Dragnet (franchise)

Dragnet is an American radio, television and motion picture series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Dragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series gave audience members a feel for the danger and heroism of police work. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers.

Actor and producer Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting; he achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media.

The show's cultural impact is such that after five decades, elements of Dragnet are familiar to those who have never seen or heard the program:

Dragnet (1951 TV series)

Dragnet is an American television series, based off the radio play of the same name with both being part of . Both shows take their names from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. The show starred Jack Webb and Ben Alexander reprising their roles as Sgt. Friday

The ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled "Danger Ahead") is instantly recognizable (though its origins date to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).

History

After its success on radio Dragnet was popular enough to move to television. More important was that it brought continuity between the television and radio series, with Webb and Alexander reprising their roles from the radio series.

Just before the show took its final commercial break, the show's announcer would inform the audience of something related to the case, usually the opening date on which the perpetrator's trial would take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (this would be accompanied by an onscreen card so the viewer could read along). After the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot, consisting of him/her standing uncomfortably against the wall, while the results of the trial were announced. The perpetrator's name and fate were then superimposed over the screen, specifically regarding what prison he/she was incarcerated in (or, in the case of perpetrators deemed unfit to stand trial, what state facility he/she was committed to).