Deadline Auto Theft (1983)

Maureen Coddington: Officer DuPree

Quotes 

• Captain Gibbs : Now, we happen to be in the business of recovering stolen cars, not flying them into boats. Isn't that right, Olsen?

  Detective Olsen : [unattentive]  Yeah...

  Captain Gibbs : Yes, sir.

  Detective Olsen : [alert]  Yes, sir!

  Captain Gibbs : Now, did anybody notice that we happen to be driving black-and whites, today? Maswacowski?

  Detective Maswakowski : No, sir.

  Captain Gibbs : Do you know why? It's because we don't have any more unmarked patrol cars. We were lucky the motor pool gave us the black-and-whites and you know what else I got today, Hawkins?

  Detective Hawkins : No, sir.

  Captain Gibbs : Bills! Two boats, one tractor-semi, and Loretta's Lunch Box! I'm getting an ulcer and no results! I've got a pension to think about! Now, do you know what this is? This is our Prince Charming's tool box! He got away and we got a briefcase! Forensics had this all night long and they couldn't lift one print from it! Nothing! Nothing! No-thing! He's one of the best, but we're going to get him! I want to nail his ass to the wall! He's driving me nuts! YOU'RE ALL DRIVING ME NUTS! All right, boys and girls, do you see that Bricklin?

  [All the detectives reply, "Yes, sir"!] 

  Captain Gibbs : Well, if our man hadn't have gotten it yesterday, bigger than hell it would have been back on the streets, in one week!

  Officer DuPree : Captain?

  Captain Gibbs : [annoyed]  What?

  Officer DuPree : Yesterday was my first day. I just transferred in from vice.

  Detective Hawkins : Yes, she just transferred in from Vice, Captain.

  Captain Gibbs : What is your name?

  Officer DuPree : Officer DuPree, sir.

  Captain Gibbs : Ms. DuPree, would you please step forward? It is Ms., isn't it?

  Officer DuPree : Yes, sir, captain.

  Captain Gibbs : I'm sure it is. All right, Ms. DuPree, here's how it works. It's called a switchover. Now, let's say that you find a wrecked car that's for sale. You go out and you buy it legally for scrap, but the real reason you buy it is to buy its identification. You tow the wreck to your shop and you go out and steal its twin: same car, same color, same model. Once you got the two cars, the change takes place. You take the vehicle identification tag from the dash to the wreck and you put it on the hot car. You do the same thing with the door jam plate. You exchange the ignition and trunk locks. You cut out the door locks from the old car and put them in the new one. You even make sure you switched the rear view mirror if the old one had a decal on it and when everything with the number on it has been switched, you exchange the engine and the drive train. You buy yourself a new set of Goodyear tires and you got yourself a brand new car, complete with identical odometer mileage and matching paperwork.

  Officer DuPree : It sounds so easy, captain.

  Captain Gibbs : Yes, Officer DuPree, it is easy. That's the problem. There are over two-million cars in L.A. and nobody can keep track of them all. The pros can make the switchover in one night and the next day, they sell the stolen car as a rebuild and the original wreck is shredded into little pieces about the size of Reed's brain.

  Detective Hawkins : Is it that small, captain?

  Captain Gibbs : Shut up, Hawkins. All right, I'm gonna give you people one more chance to being this clown in, but understand this. If you bang up ONE more car in the process, I'm gonna personally make sure that you get a premature retirement from the human race!