Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Basement Security Weak Points

Despite the thoroughness of the search, weak points remained in controlling garage access. Testimony did not conclusively resolve whether the stairway door near the public elevators was locked both from inside and outside as required. Additionally, the hallway near the jail office was accessible from inside the Police and Courts Building without identification being necessary, allowing newsmen hurrying to photograph Oswald to run unchallenged through those double doors into the basement until seconds before Oswald was shot.

Press Access to Basement

After the search, police allowed news representatives to reenter the basement area and gather along the garage entrance and east side of the Main Street ramp. Officers had instructions to admit only identified news media representatives, accepting any credentials that appeared authentic, with some officers checking for corroborating identification like pictures. Many newsmen reported being checked more than once, though a small number did not recall their credentials being checked. Chief Curry instructed that reporters and cameramen be kept out of the jail office and that television equipment remain behind the railing, and he was generally satisfied with Talbert’s security measures.

Final Transfer Security Arrangements

By the time Oswald reached the basement, 40 to 50 newsmen and 70 to 75 police officers had assembled there. Three television cameras stood along the railing, with most newsmen congregated in that area and at the top of the adjacent decline into the garage. Captain O. A. Jones brought additional detectives from the third floor to line the walls on either side of the passageway, forming barriers along an aisle for the transfer party. With Batchelor’s permission, Jones removed photographers who had gathered in the jail office and directed newsmen to remain behind an imaginary line from the southeast corner of the jail office to the east railing. The final security arrangement positioned about 20 people across the bottom of the Main Street ramp, approximately eight detectives along the south wall outside the jail office, three detectives along the north wall, and two officers in front of the double doors to the corridor.