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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 309« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Robert Inman Bouck Resumed)

Mr. Dulles.
It is a Federal law?
Mr. Bouck.
Yes.
Mr. Stern.
And it involves what sort of act?
Mr. Bouck.
It involves making a threat to kill the President or to harm the President.
Mr. Stern.
Not necessarily----
Mr. Mccloy.
Do you have a citation of that law?
Mr. Bouck.
It is in some exhibit, I am sure.
Mr. Mccloy.
I think it is well to put it in the record if we have it.
Mr. Dulles.
Yes; I think it would be very good.
Mr. Carswell.
Can we supply it?
Mr. Dulles.
Why don't you supply it?
(It was later supplied as 18 U.S.C., Section 871.)
Mr. Bouck.
If the investigation indicates that the individual is mentally unbalanced, which a high percentage are, then attempt will be made to persuade local authorities to get hospitalization, confinement in an institution.
If neither of those are possible, attempts will be made to get local officers and family, if they will cooperate, to help us keep track of him, and we will institute checkups from time to time when we are investigating. Those are basically the control measures that we are able to use. In some cases we may conduct surveillance, by the way, if we can't do any of those, and we regard the man as very dangerous.
Mr. Stern.
I show you a 1-page pink card marked for identification Commission Exhibit No. 765. Can you tell us what that is?
Mr. Bouck.
Yes; this is a card which we have prepared when an individual that we have rated as dangerous is placed in an institution, either a mental institution or a penal institution. We supply that card to the superintendent of the institution. We ask him to put it in the front of the individual's case jacket, and it is all filled in so that the return address and all are on it. The frank portion of it on the bottom is a frank portion, all he has to do is to indicate whether the individual has escaped, transferred or been released and drop it in the mail to advise us on action they may take on letting him out or if he has escaped.
Mr. Stern.
That is the control you exercise over persons who are institutionalized in prison or some sort of hospital?
Mr. Bouck.
Yes.
Mr. Stern.
When an individual is determined after investigation to present some level of danger but not sufficient to warrant prosecution or not to be a mentally disturbed person warranting commitment, how do you control that individual, keep track of him?
Mr. Bouck.
If we think he is in fact dangerous, he would be in our checkup file which is really a control device by which at least every 6 months we re-investigate and in between times we try to have arrangements with the family and local officers to let us know if he leaves town or buys a gun or anything.
The other device is a geographical card file in which we would put a card to let us know about this individual in case the President went to that geographical area so that the office might take a further look and see if he was a menace.
Mr. Stern.
At the time of Dallas, do you know approximately how many persons were in institutions under this system where you would be notified if they left or escaped?
Mr. Bouck.
I am sorry, I don't have that.
Mr. Stern.
The order of magnitude, any estimate?
Mr. Bouck.
It would be some thousands but I wouldn't really have a close idea. I could get that and supply it. I just would have to guess and it would be a very bad guess.
Mr. Stern.
Fine. But you can determine this for us?
Mr. Bouck.
Yes.
Mr. Stern.
Good. How many at the time of Dallas would be in your checkup control file system with this periodic review?
Mr. Bouck.
About 400.
Mr. Stern.
400 individuals?
Mr. Bouck.
That is nationwide.
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