"Dragnet" was a half-hour television program which ran on the NBC television network from 1951 to 1959 in black and white and again from 1967 to 1970 in color. This episode is titled "Internal Affairs: Parolee" and was first broadcast on November 27, 1969. Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are two long-time Los Angeles police officers who work in a different police department office each week. Friday and Gannon are assigned to investigate three Los Angeles theft cases from 1956 to determine if Lyle Thompson, a man being paroled after 14 years in prison in Colorado, should be brought to Califoria to be tried for these offenses. One man accuses Thompson of stealing a rare coin. This episode shows an authentic US Panama-Pacific 1915 Commemorative round $50 gold coin in a holder.

One of the best-known policemen on television. This week the officers are working in the Internal Affairs department. The captain comes in and tells the officers that he has a special job for them.

Friday and Gannon are assigned to investigate three Los Angeles theft cases from 1956 to determine if Lyle Thompson, a man being paroled after 14 years in prison in Colorado, should be brought to Califoria to be tried for these offenses. The officers go to the records office to look up the 1956 records on microfilm.

They meet a longtime records clerk, Bertha Johnson, who was the girlfriend of the detective who investigated the original cases in 1956. She talks about the detective, a dedicated policeman with no family life or outside interests, and Gannon remarks that Friday is following the same path. The first case is a car stolen from a dealer. The two officers find the dealership closed and the manager deceased, which ends that case. The second case is a bad check, the store owner has retired and is no longer interested in prosecution. The third case is a businessman, George Wentworth, whose "rare coin worth $400" was stolen.

He is a vindictive man who definitely wants to prosecute Thompson, a former employee. He tells the officers that the coin, a Panama-Pacific commemorative $50 gold coin, was worth $400 in 1956, and is worth $6000 now (in 1969). Friday and Gannon wonder why he has kept track of the value of the coin. His secretary tells the officers that the business has prospered due to one of Thompson's inventions, and that Thompson could sue Wentworth and the company if he gets out of prison.

She explains that Thompson's wife and child were killed in an accident, and Wentworth took the opportunity to fire Thompson which sent the man into a downward spiral. Back at the police office, the officers tell their captain what they have found, and discuss Wentworth with him. Wentworth then comes in and apologizes for wanting a new prosecution.

He tells that his secretary became upset at his behavior and quit, he then admits that he found the coin several years ago but did not report the find to the police. He shows the coin, which is the original holder. The coin and holder appear to be authentic and it is possible that someone loaned the producers such a coin from a collection.

The holder reads:

This is the round version of the commemorative coin. An octagonal version was also minted. A note at the end of the episode states that Thompson's parole was approved.

Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday
Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon
Alice Backes as Bertha Johnson (Police records)
Howard Culver as George Wentworth
Louise Lorimer as Alice Sutton (Secretary)
Director: Jack Webb
Writers: Michael Donovan