▁style ▁with ▁technical ▁assistance ▁provided ▁by ▁Det ect ive ▁Serge ant ▁Mart y ▁W yn n ▁of ▁the ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Police ▁Department ▁( L AP D ). ▁He ▁Walk ed ▁By ▁Night ' s ▁thin ly ▁ve iled ▁fict ional ized ▁rec ount ing ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 4 6 ▁Walker ▁crime ▁sp ree ▁gave ▁Web b ▁the ▁idea ▁for ▁Drag net : ▁a ▁rec urr ing ▁series ▁based ▁on ▁real ▁cases ▁from ▁L AP D ▁police ▁files , ▁featuring ▁authentic ▁dep ict ions ▁of ▁the ▁modern ▁police ▁detect ive , ▁including ▁methods , ▁manner isms , ▁and ▁technical ▁language . ▁ ▁With ▁much ▁assistance ▁from ▁S gt . ▁Mart y ▁W yn n ▁and ▁legend ary ▁L AP D ▁chief ▁William ▁H . ▁Parker , ▁Drag net ▁premier ed ▁on ▁N BC ▁Radio ▁in ▁ 1 9 4 9 ▁and ▁ran ▁till ▁ 1 9 5 7 . ▁It ▁was ▁also ▁picked ▁up ▁as ▁a ▁television ▁series ▁by ▁N BC , ▁which ▁a ired ▁episodes ▁each ▁season ▁from ▁ 1 9 5 2 ▁to ▁ 1 9 5 9 . ▁Web b ▁played ▁S gt . ▁Joe ▁Friday ▁and ▁Bart on ▁Y ar borough ▁co - star red ▁as ▁S gt . ▁Ben ▁Rom ero . ▁After ▁Y ar borough ' s ▁death , ▁Ben ▁Alexander ▁joined ▁the ▁cast . ▁ ▁Web b ▁was ▁a ▁stick ler ▁for ▁attention ▁to ▁detail . ▁He ▁believed ▁view ers ▁wanted ▁" real ism " ▁and ▁tried ▁to ▁give ▁it ▁to ▁them . ▁Web b