So far as you know, Sheriff Decker did not know that there was a change of plan from the use of the armored car to the use of the homicide car?
Chief BATCHELOR. I don't know whether he was called after the change of plans or not.

Mr. Hubert.

This was not announced?
Chief BATCHELOR. He knew he was to have some men at the gate to open the gate to the jail driveways of the county to let this armored car in, and the instructions were for Lieutenant Pierce, who drove the car out, was to get out around in front, to take this truck on beyond and not go in, drive right on down Houston Street with it. And whether Sheriff Decker was ever told of the change of plans or not, I don't know, but I kind of doubt it.

Mr. Hubert.

Chief, do you know of any type of pressure of any sort whatsoever which was put upon the police department or any member of it to allow free press coverage of the transfer?
Chief BATCHELOR. If you mean that any individual or any press group came and pressured anyone into that, I don't know of any. Just the general pressure of the whole press barging in there and being in there was about the only thing.

Mr. Hubert.

Do you know of any pressure put upon you or anyone else by officers or officials of the city higher than you to allow the press to be present in the way they were?
Chief BATCHELOR. No, sir.

Mr. Hubert.

What is your estimate of what the number of press people and the general condition created by their presence, contributed to the failure of security? Of what the presence of the news media and the number of them contributed to the failure of security?
Chief BATCHELOR. Of course if we had taken him out in secret without anyone knowing about it, including the press, it is possible that this might not have happened. But I can't say that the press caused any breakdown in security. From what we know now, believing that Oswald came in the Main Street entrance

Mr. Hubert.

You mean Ruby?
Chief BATCHELOR. I mean Ruby came in the Main Street entrance, our weakness in security lay in allowing him to come down that ramp in the first place.
Had the press not been in the basement at all, and assuming that Ruby slipped into the basement, then he might have been detected more readily.
If people had not been standing across the Main Street ramp, there would have been no place for him to screen himself. But the actual fact of the press being there is hard to say that this caused the breakdown in the security, in my opinion.

Mr. Hubert.

As I understand it, you were--when I say you, I mean the police department and of course including you--you were aware of threats being made or having been made toward Oswald, isn't that correct?
Chief BATCHELOR. Yes; I was aware of it.

Mr. Hubert.

As I understand it, the threats were in the nature of mass action rather than single-man action?
Chief BATCHELOR. Yes; that was what the anonymous report was, and it is my opinion that a hundred men, as suggested by the threats, could not have gotten into the basement, whereas one person slipping in there accomplished it.

Mr. Hubert.

Do you remember any conversation with Chief Curry or others at which you were present or took part, in which the subject was raised that the number of people there in the basement made single action, or action by a single man more difficult to deal with than otherwise?

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