The testimony of James Putnam was taken at 11 a.m., on April 9, 1964,
in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and
Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. John Hart Ely, member of the staff
of the President's Commission.
Mr. ELY. Would you stand up and be sworn, please?
Mr. PUTNAM. All right.
Mr. ELY. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give
will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help
you God?
Mr. PUTNAM. I do.
Mr. ELY. Would you state your name, please?
Mr. PUTNAM. James Putnam.
Mr. ELY. And where do you live?
Mr. PUTNAM. 2015 Joan Drive.
Mr. ELY. What is your occupation?
Mr. PUTNAM. Police officer--sergeant of police.
Mr. ELY. How long have you been with the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. PUTNAM. Ten years and four months.
Mr. ELY. Could you give us something of your background before you
started to work for the police department--where you went to school
and what you did before you became a policeman?
Mr. PUTNAM. Is this pertinent?
Mr. ELY. Where did you go to school?
Mr. PUTNAM. Is this pertinent to the deposition? Well, if you want it,
I will give it to you. I went to school at Charleston, S.C. and I was
in the Navy for about 7 years.
Mr. ELY. And did you go directly from the Navy to the police department?
Mr. PUTNAM. No; from the Navy I went to work for Lone Star Gas Co. here
in Dallas. From there I went to work for Prudential Insurance Co. from
which I was recalled into the Navy again, and when I was released,
I went back to the insurance company, and from there I applied for
employment with the Dallas Police Department.
Mr. ELY. Thank you, sergeant. Now, on November 22, 1963, were you on
duty with the police department?
Mr. PUTNAM. Yes, sir.
Mr. ELY. Did your duties on that day involve you in any way in the
investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy?
Mr. PUTNAM. Yes.
Mr. ELY. What was the nature of your involvement with that
investigation?
Mr. PUTNAM. Just to assist in covering of the Book Depository Building
and aiding in searching the building.
Mr. ELY. Did your duties involve you in any way in the investigation of
the shooting of Officer Tippit?
Mr. PUTNAM. No.
Mr. ELY. Could you state the nature of your specialty with the police
department? What sort of work do you specialize in?
Mr. PUTNAM. My assignment then and now is sergeant of police,
supervising patrolmen in the radio patrol division.
(Instrument marked by the reporter as "Putnam Exhibit No. 1," for
identification.)
Mr. ELY. Sergeant, I will show you first a map which is designated
Putnam Deposition Exhibit No. 1, and I will also show you two documents
designated Sawyer Exhibits A and B, which purport to be transcripts
of radio logs from the 22d of November. Now, although you would have
no personal knowledge of where Officer Tippit was assigned that day,
assume for purposes of my questioning that his original assignment on
the 22d of November was within the area marked 78 on Putnam Exhibit
1. Can you tell me within which district the corner of Lancaster and
Eighth Street is?
Mr. PUTNAM. District 109.
Mr. ELY. And is it correct that here on the exhibit marked Sawyer
Deposition Exhibit A there is a call recorded at 12:54 p.m., from 78 to
531 reporting he was at Lancaster and 8th?
Mr. PUTNAM. Yes; there is.
Mr. ELY. Now, assuming that Officer Tippit was originally assigned to
the district numbered 78, taking into account the report that at 12:54
he was within the district marked 109, and also assuming that he later
was shot within the district marked 91, would you look at these radio
logs and tell us if you find on either one of them any calls which
would account for the fact that he had thus come in toward the center
of town from the district he was originally assigned to? Feel free to
draw upon your general knowledge of the custom in the Dallas Police
Department for leaving, or remaining in, one's assigned district.
Mr. PUTNAM. One transmission here on channel 1, that would be the
normal channel that Tippit would be listening to, at 12:43 p.m. on
Sawyer's Deposition Exhibit B, is to the attention of all squads in the
downtown area, code 3 to Elm and Houston, and with Officer Tippit being
assigned to district 78 and allowed the discretion that is allowed in
the Dallas Police Department--he would start in the direction of the
downtown area. A feasible route would bring him to district 109 and
that vicinity.
Mr. ELY. Is there any special reason why that would be a feasible route?
Mr. PUTNAM. This Houston Street, if you will notice right in this
corner--Houston Street adjoins district 109. It is one of the routes
you can use to cross the river into the downtown area. This would be
the normal procedure as far as Officer Tippit was concerned, to come in
toward the downtown area, unless disregarded and a later transmission
on channel 2, after getting his location, advised him to remain at
large in the Oak Cliff area. "At large," would indicate that he would
feel free to go nearer in the Oak Cliff area, with the idea in mind
that he would be looking for any suspect or any suspicious circumstance
that might be related to the shooting.
Mr. ELY. Are districts 78, 109, and 91 all located within the Oak Cliff
area?
Mr. PUTNAM. They are located in the Oak Cliff area.
Mr. ELY. All right, thank you, Sergeant Putnam, I believe that's all.