Shield for Murder (1954) on Netflix

Plot summary

Barney Nolan has spent sixteen years on the police force and has grown corrupt. One night, in a deserted alley, he shoots a bookmaker in the back and takes the man's $25,000, then tells his colleagues the bookmaker was killed while trying to flee. Mark Brewster, a sergeant who trained under him, takes the story at face value, as does Captain Gunnarson. Cabot, a newspaper reporter who has heard rumors about Barney, is not convinced. Barney takes his girlfriend, Patty Winters, to look at a house he hopes they might share, hides the cash in the yard, and asks her to marry him. Packy Reed, the dead bookmaker's employer, sends two investigators to demand the money back. A deaf-mute man who saw the shooting brings a note to the station.