(Testimony of Forrest V. Sorrels)
Mr. Stern.
You felt, then, that the local police forces would supply all the outside assistance you needed for this visit?
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir; the Dallas Police Department, in my opinion, has some very good leaders, career men who have been there for many years, and due to the fact I have been located in Dallas for many, many years I know these people personally, and I have never yet called upon the Dallas Police Department, the Sheriff's Office, or the Department of Public Safety, for any assistance that we have not gotten and gotten cheerfully and willingly.
For example, the time that Mr. Kennedy came there to the hospital to see Mr. Rayburn, is a case where I could tell nobody until just a matter of 2 or 3 hours before the President would get there, that he was coming, because the afternoon before, when I heard that he was coming, it was supposed to have been off the record, and there was not supposed to be any publicity about it.
The next morning I got a call and said it would be announced at 10 o'clock in the morning.
Well, immediately after that I called Chief Curry and he met me at the hospital with some of his key men, and the arrangements were set up in a matter of minutes, you might say, arrangements for the street to be blocked by the hospital, for sufficient detectives and men to be around the area, in various places in the hospital, and arrangements were made to have the police cars to accompany us from the airport down there.
I consider that our relationship with the local enforcement agencies, not only in the Dallas area, but throughout Texas, is as good as it can be any place in the country.
Mr. Stern.
On the occasion of President Kennedy's visit, they supplied all the manpower you felt was necessary?
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Stern.
Were all the police that had various functions along the motorcade route full-time policemen, Mr. Sorrels?
Mr. Sorrels.
There may have been, and probably was, some auxiliary police which may have been along the route that the parade traveled on. I am not sure about that.
They do have reserves that they call in. But those reserves, they are not armed--they are in uniform, but they are not armed.
And my records do not show that there were auxiliary police there. But I do know that they use them on occasion.
Mr. Stern.
Mr. Smith, if you have any questions on this aspect of our interview, please feel free to ask them, because I am going to turn now to the actual events of the day. I believe that the other advance preparations are covered adequately for our purposes in Mr. Sorrel's memorandum, which I am about to introduce.
Mr. Smith.
I have no questions.
Mr. Stern.
Mr. Sorrels, I am going to mark this copy of your memorandum "Exhibit 4, Deposition of F. V. Sorrels, May 7, 1964."
Would you initial each page, please?
(Brief recess.)
Mr. Stern.
Mr. Sorrels, I would like to turn now to the morning of November 22 and get from you an account of what you observed as a passenger in the motorcade and thereafter.
In what car were you riding in the motorcade?
Mr. Sorrel.
I was riding in what we call the lead car, which is the one immediately in front of the President's car.
Mr. Stern.
What was your function in the lead car?
Mr. Sorrels.
To be there with the special agent who had made the survey, and with the Chief of Police, and to observe the people and buildings as we drove along in the motorcade.
Mr. Stern.
One of your responsibilities was to observe the buildings and the windows of the buildings?
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Stern.
Looking for what?
Mr. Sorrels.
We always do that.
Mr. Stern.
What would you be looking for?
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