First Response with PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke

The job of policing isn’t just chasing the worst people on their worst day. More often, it’s absorbing the stress, sadness, and anger and then showing up again the next day with patience and professionalism. That’s why this conversation with Vienna Police Chief Kevin Janickey hit so hard: it’s a clear-eyed look at what modern police work actually demands, and what leaders have to change if they wa...

A state decides to double police academy hours and suddenly every assumption about “basic training” gets challenged. We sit down with Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) Director Chris Wiggington to unpack why Georgia moves from 408 hours to nearly 800, what that looks like in real time, and how you convince lawmakers, agency leaders, and POST standards to align on a new baseline for mod...

Policing looks very different from the outside than it does from behind the badge. In this conversation with retired Chief Frederickson, we hear what 43 years in law enforcement teaches about leadership, responsibility, loss, and the commitment officers carry long after the uniform comes off. We begin in Massachusetts, where some of the earliest traditions of American policing took shape, and look...

A sheriff’s office isn’t just patrol cars and 911 calls. It’s jails, courts, hospital security, transportation, staffing shortages, and a relentless 24/7 mission that never pauses. We sit down with Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen to talk about what modern public safety leadership really looks like in the middle of Silicon Valley, from the scale of his agency to the choices that shape morale...

A housing authority with its own police department sounds unusual until you hear how it actually works. We're joined by Deputy Chief Victor McDowell Jr from the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) Police Department, one of the oldest housing authorities in the country, serving more than 55,000 residents across Cleveland and nearby suburbs. We break down how CMHA Police operates wit...

More officers die by suicide than are killed in the line of duty and that single fact should change how we talk about public safety.  Dr. Serena Liebengood, a physician and public health professional who also knows this crisis in the most personal way, talks today about her husband, Howard “Howie” Liebengood, who served with the U.S. Capitol Police and died by suicide after years of service and th...

We talk with retired Lieutenant Frank Borelli about why police officers get flattened into stereotypes and how everyday courtesy can prevent conflict before it starts. We also dig into the family cost of the job and why honest communication matters as much as any tactical skill. Lieutenant Frank Borelli, a longtime law enforcement trainer and a leading voice at Officer Media Group and Officer.com,...

A 911 call gets answered and, in under a minute, a drone is already overhead. That single detail forces a bigger question: can public safety technology make policing both more effective and more ethical at the same time? PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke sits down with Captain Abram Ayana from the Brookhaven Police Department, the leader behind some of the most forward-thinking programs in American poli...

Most people judge counterterrorism by what they see on TV: explosions, raids, and last-second saves. The truth is almost the opposite and that’s what makes it so hard to appreciate. When the FBI gets it right, nothing happens, and the public may never learn what was stopped or how close it came.  We sit down with Rajiv Maan, a retired FBI leader with more than 20 years in the Bureau and 31 years i...

A police cruiser door pops open, a K9 rockets out, and the “bad guy” goes from confident to panicked in seconds. That viral moment is real training, and it opens the door to a bigger question: what do police K9s actually do all day, and how are they controlled when everything is loud, fast, and dangerous? We’re joined by Andrea Alt, one of the leading voices in police canine work, to walk through...

You can’t understand modern American policing by looking only at headlines. The real story lives in the everyday moments: a traffic stop, a tense protest line, a hard conversation with a mayor, a decision to de-escalate instead of escalate. That’s why we sat down with Aurora CO, Chief Art Acevedo, (Ret.) one of the most decorated big-city police chiefs (Austin TX, Houston TX, Miami FL) of the last...

A lot of agencies are being asked to lower use of force complaints while handling more mental health calls, addiction-related incidents, and day-to-day disorder with fewer people on shift. That squeeze creates a simple operational question: how do we keep officers safe and still resolve resistance without defaulting to higher-force tools? Lieutenant Frank Borelli sits down with PepperBall CEO Bob...

Video has become the new witness, and that changes everything for public safety. PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke sits down with retired Colonel Frank Milstead, former Mesa Police Chief and former head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, to get brutally practical about body-worn cameras: why they took off, why “recording” is only step one, and why agencies that do not review footage are setting...

The loudest part of policing is what you see on the street. The harder story is what happens before and after the call, when the phone rings at 2 a.m. and someone’s life is suddenly on the line. We talk with Ed Wessing, retired Assistant Chief from Mesa, Arizona and a former Marine, about what it really feels like to step away after 30 years behind the badge and why retirement can be the first tim...

The sirens get the headlines, but the choices that shape a city’s safety often start far from the street. We sit down with Appleton Police Chief Olson to trace her unexpected path from biology student and morgue assistant to the department’s first female chief, exploring how a ride‑along turned into a calling and why the future of policing hinges on empathy, de‑escalation, and smarter support for...

The sirens fade and the real work begins. That’s where Kristen Neubauer, former captain and investigator with the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, takes us. Into the spaces where competence erodes bias, where leaders guard their team’s energy like a scarce resource, and where evidence, not instinct, carries the truth across the finish line. From being the only woman in her academy to leading...

A flood isn’t just water. It’s noise, darkness, panic, a moving car you can’t predict, and a victim who might fight the person trying to help. That’s why we brought on Barton Bollfrass, a Navy EOD diver turned technologist, who builds training environments and tools that mirror the chaos without the body count. Barton walks us through Fathom Tanks, the physical simulator that puts first responders...

In this debut episode, PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke speaks with former Air Force captain and Walnut Creek Police Sergeant (ret.) Michael Sugrue, author of Relentless Courage , a book that chronicles his personal battle with mental health challenges that peaked after he had to use lethal force.   Sugrue talks about the invisible toll of daily trauma on first responders and explains why “post-traumat...

The front line is loud, but the mindset behind it is louder. Chief Scott Hughes joins us to unpack the lived reality of hypervigilance, why officers won’t sit with their backs to the door, and what constant scanning does to stress, health, and family life. From there, we dig into an uncomfortable truth: we expect “major league” perfection from police while funding “T-ball” training. Hughes argues...

What does policing look like beyond the dramatized TV portrayals and sensationalized headlines? In this illuminating conversation with retired Chief Doug Shoemaker, we uncover the profound realities of modern law enforcement leadership and the extraordinary psychological burden carried by those who wear the badge. Chief Shoemaker brings 33 years of frontline experience to this discussion, includin...

What does it mean to carry five generations of law enforcement legacy? Ken Wallentine, the Chief of the West Jordan (Utah) Police Department, takes us on a remarkable journey through 150 years of family policing history—from his great-great-great-grandfather who served as a Deputy US Marshal during the Civil War to his daughter who texted "Dad, I'm okay" after a tense armed standoff...

When retired Lieutenant Davin Cole reveals that police officers experience three to five traumatic events every month—the equivalent of what most civilians face in an entire lifetime—you begin to understand the monumental mental health challenges behind the badge. Through raw honesty, Lt. Cole shares his 31-year journey in law enforcement that culminated in addiction, depression, and a desperate a...

What makes someone dedicate their life to policing? For Deputy Chief Jim Martin of the Pueblo Police Department, it's about community connection, innovation, and heart. Born and raised in Pueblo with family roots stretching back a century, Martin returned after military service to protect the community he loves – not just as an officer, but as a youth football coach impacting hundreds of kids...

The mental health challenges facing police officers in America's suburban departments deserve just as much attention as those in major metropolitan forces. Deputy Director of Public Safety, Brad Petersen of Minnesota's Cottage Grove Police Department pulls back the curtain on what he describes as an "average" American police agency - not too urban, not too rural, with officers...

Join Bob Plaschke, CEO of PepperBall, in First Response, a podcast dedicated to diving deep into the lives and challenges of emergency responders. In Episode 13, Bob speaks with David Berez—retired patrol officer, nationally recognized Drug Recognition Expert, and founder of Six4 Consultants.  With more than two decades on the street in East Windsor, New Jersey, David earned multiple service medal...