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Manhattan's hard-bitten police reporters clannishly resent invasions on their beat, whether by some general-assignment upstart from the city staff 'or by a gadget called TV. Last week the newsmen at headquarters glared hard at TV's intruding eye and stared it right down.

In setting up a special telecast featuring Police Commissioner Stephen Kennedy, an NBC producer offered two of the headquarters reporters $25 each to appear with the commissioner and question him. Then they learned that Kennedy's talk would include New York's semiannual crime statistics--a surefire front-page story.

Not only did the two reporters reject the offer, but their ten headquarters colleagues backed them up in their demand that, since they cover headquarters 2 hours a day, they are entitled to get police news first. Kennedy went through with his telecast, but waited until he was off the air to give newsmen the figures that made headlines the next morning (JUVENILE CRIME UP 41.3%).

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