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Factual errors
Contrary to the opening narration, no US state police agency is called "the militia."
Contrary to the opening narration, no US state police agency is called "the militia."
Throughout the series, a common tactic was to establish roadblocks. While this tactic could be effective given enough information and manpower, it would take far more officers and cars than would be assigned to rural or suburban areas by a state police agency.
The Highway Patrol in each state has primary jurisdiction over state-funded highways in that state, and investigate incidents--accidents, hijackings, etc.--that take place on a state highway or began on a state highway. This series has the patrol investigating crimes--murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc.--that would not fall under the patrol's jurisdiction and would normally be investigated by local or federal authorities.
Although well known for his line via radio of "21-50 to headquarters", Broderick Crawford throughout the series failed to properly use the radio microphone. On occasion, he held it backwards and spoke into the metal clip that held it on the dashboard, and he usually did not release the push-to-talk button after speaking (this would have prevented him from hearing headquarters). Other actors such as William Boyett did not make this error when using the microphone.