Sue Lee:  How did you become a cop ?
Det. Tony Baretta: Well that was kind of a promise I made to my old man . See my folks came over on a boat , and they did n't know nothing just ignorant . My mother did whatever she had to on the streets to support us . She died when I was 10 , she sure loved me a lot , I never could figure that one out . Now my old man , my old man was the greatest street hustler in the history of the world . He had himself the sweetest little book . He ran numbers , and on a pool table , he can just shoot the eyes right out of them . By the time I was 10 , he taught me everything was to know about the streets . When he was n't in the joint , we had good times together . Anyway , when I was _ 17 _ before he died , I promised him I figure out some way to use everything he taught me so I wo n't wind up in the slammer myself , and when me and old Fred bailed out of the merchants , we talked it over , decided I 'll become a flat foot , and that 's the name of that tune .