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

Ruby Transfer Time Tip Investigation

The Commission found no evidence supporting the speculation that Ruby used a press badge to gain entry or concealed himself in a police car. Police found no press card on Ruby after his apprehension and no discarded badges in the basement. There is no evidence that any officer admitted Ruby under any pretense. Police vehicles in the basement were inspected, and all patrol cars and a patrol wagon that entered did so on official business more than 4 minutes before the shooting. No witnesses recalled any police car entering during the 4-minute period between Ruby’s departure from the Western Union office and the shooting. Commission Exhibit No. 2710 is referenced.

Dallas Police Press Access Policy

The Dallas Police Department conducted an extensive investigation that revealed no information indicating complicity between any officer and Jack Ruby. Ruby denied receiving any form of assistance. The FBI interviewed every police department member on duty in the basement on November 24, and Commission staff took sworn depositions from many. While Ruby had rather free access to Dallas police quarters after the assassination, there was no evidence implicating police or newsmen in his actions. Although Chief Curry estimated that 25 to 50 of the department’s 1,175 men knew Ruby, and Ruby was known to cultivate relationships by providing free coffee and discounts, the Commission found no evidence of suspicious relationships between Ruby and any officer.

Adequacy of Security Precautions

The shooting of Oswald resulted from the failure of the Dallas Police Department’s security precautions. The Commission assessed that the Dallas police took special security measures but did not include adequate control of the great crowd of newsmen that inundated the building. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sent a message to Chief Curry on November 22 urging that Oswald be afforded utmost security, though Curry did not recall receiving it. The police pursued their normal press admittance policy set forth in General Order No. 81, which required officers to render every assistance to accredited news representatives. In a February 7, 1963 letter, Chief Curry explained this policy placed on officers a responsibility to lend active assistance to the press. Under this policy, news representatives ordinarily had access to the Police and Courts Building, and once the large press crowd became entrenched on the third floor, no one suggested reversing the policy. Captain King later stated candidly that he simply became “accustomed to the idea of them being out there.” Most department members believed in retrospect that the press should have been excluded after the assassination, but few thought so at the time. Because the newsmen carried individual press cards rather than Dallas police-issued identification, officers could not quickly verify their identities. Jack Ruby himself was able to gain entry to the third-floor corridor on Friday night, illustrating the security risk created by these conditions.