Investigation of a Hit and Run follows two officers as they investigate a hit-and-run accident from initial reports to the questioning of witnesses and the interrogation of the suspect, an eighteen-year-old boy nicknamed Pumpkin, along with his girlfriend and brother. A number of factors complicate the case: the suspect was without a driver's license; he reported the car stolen to cover himself; he could not be persuaded to confess; and the girlfriend is pregnant. The police use considerable pressure on the girl, and treat her eventual statement as though it were a confession. (33 minutes)
In A Legal Discussion of a Hit and Run, a Harvard Law School class, led by Professor James Vorenberg, discusses the salient legal points about the police investigation and interrogation and the rights of witnesses or suspects after the class has screened the film Investigation of a Hit and Run. (24 minutes)
These films are part of the Pittsburgh Police Series. Produced in the late 1960s at a time of heightened civil disorder and racial tension, the seventeen films in the series were intended for educational and institutional use to provoke discussion about policing practices. The films remain a raw and intimate window into community policing.
