On Being a Police Officer

Ep. 34 Seattle PD SWAT Sgt. Drew Hancock, (retired 2021), discusses his 28-year career with the department working foot patrol, mountain bikes, undercover VICE and Narcotics, and SWAT as a sergeant/supervisor for ten years. In this role, he helped manage the Unit’s response to the 2020 riots that famously shut down a several-block area of the city and temporarily shuttered the department’s East Pr...

Ep. 33 I continue my conversation with Spokane PD Officer Stacy Roark. In Ep. 32, we started with an overview of Officer Roark’s 30-year career in law enforcement. We also talked about his current role on the Behavioral Health Unit and as a negotiator. Joining us is Jenny Mandin, a mental health professional with Frontier Behavioral Health. Officer Roark and Jenny are co-deployed to respond t...

Ep. 32 Joining me is Officer Stacy Roark who has been in law enforcement for 30 years. He is currently with the Spokane Police Dept. in the Behavioral Health Unit which uses a co-deployed model for responding to persons in mental crisis. Officer Roark rides with a mental health professional (MHP), Jenny Mandin from Frontier Behavioral Health. We talk about the calls they respond to and h...

Ep. 31 Joining me is Andrew Baxter, a.k.a., Drew Breasy, creator and host of the popular social media channel “Drew Breasy Uncuffed” which he launched after retiring a year ago. It is, in his words, “the unapologetically honest opinion of a retired police lieutenant.”   First, we look back on Drew’s 29 years with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (Tampa area). We talk about w...

Ep. 30 Teresa Taylor, executive director of WACOPS, the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, shares an update on the wide-ranging police reform legislation that went into law in Washington State in July 2021. Now almost a year later, we look at the impact of the legislation on law enforcement and the community, the revisions that have been made and why, and what still needs to be change...

Ep. 29 Joining me is New Zealand police officer, Constable James Walkling.  James is originally from the UK where he started his career in law enforcement with the Metropolitan Police in London in 2011. We talk about policing in these very different countries, in particular what it’s like to be unarmed in the UK and “semi armed” in New Zealand. We also review the current debate in N...

Ep. 28 Head of Public Affairs for the Baltimore, Chicago and Fairfax County VA police departments, Anthony Guglielmi talks about advocating for LE while being transparent with and educating the public on what it means to be a police officer. He reflects on the rewards and challenges of supporting police departments in two of the largest and most violent cities in the country. While with Balti...

Ep. 27 John “Jay” Wiley retired police sergeant and host of the Law Enforcement Today Radio Show and Podcast shares his personal story about his time with the Baltimore Police Department from 1980 to 1992, as well as his views on the issues and challenges LEOs are facing in these tough times. Jay details the incidents and resulting injuries that led to his being forced to retire from the Balt...

Ep. 26 – Retired Southfield PD (MI) police officer Anthony McNeil shares his stories, experiences and insights from 21 years on the department as well as the inspiration behind his podcast “The Off Duty Podcast” and the Everyday Heroes Podcast Network which he created for podcasts about first responders and those who support them. I am pleased to report that my podcast is now part of Anthony’s net...

Ep. 25 - I am kicking off 2022 on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day with a thoughtful and forward-looking interview with Chief Doug Shoemaker with the Colorado Junction Police Department. The Chief shares his passion for the profession, his enthusiasm for its future and his focus on relationship building. Chief Shoemaker has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years. For more than ten...

Ep. 24 - A Captain from a mid-sized agency in Washington State discusses the wide-ranging new police reform legislation that went into law in July 2021 in Washington. Many states are enacting police reform bills into law, but to date, few go as far as the new laws in Washington – including being the only state to ban Terry stops, a long-held practice which allows the police to briefly detain a per...

Ep. 23 Today, I am bringing awareness to suicide and mental health issues within law enforcement. Joining me is Inspector Steve Hough who has 25 years in law enforcement. He is one of the co-founders, along with Karen Solomon and Dr. Jeffrey McGill, of Blue H.E.L.P., a non-profit organization committed to honoring the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers who have been lost to suicide...

Ep. 22 Today’s episode is with Katie Nelson, Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Mountain View Police Department. We talk about how police agencies are connecting with community at the local and national level. Katie has a prominent role as the Chair of the PIO Section for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) – the world’s largest and most influential professional associat...

Ep. 21 What is it like to be an officer involved in a deadly force incident? This is the subject of a powerful documentary, “Officer Involved” by filmmaker and former police officer Patrick Shaver. Over several years, Patrick interviewed officers from around the country about their incident and the emotional toll it took on them. He also interviews experts on the subject. We are painfully aware of...

Ep. 20 With the NYC Pride Parade’s ban of NYPD officers from working and participating in this year’s parade, I turned to retired Seattle PD Officer Jim Ritter for his reaction. Ritter, who had a 40-year career in law enforcement, was Seattle PD’s first full-time LGBTQ liaison, and he created Safe Place originally for the protection of the LGBTQ community. Shortly after this interview was recorded...

Ep. 19 With the dramatic increase in attacks on Asian Americans, I turn to Det. Beth Wareing who investigates bias and hate crimes for the Seattle Police Department. I ask: What is a hate crime? How is it investigated? What are the challenges?  We discuss not only the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans, but also in other categories like homeless, Black and Brown, and LGBTQ commun...

Ep. 18 My interview with another officer who recently left the Seattle Police Department. We discuss why he originally made the move from his home town in Alabama to join SPD, only to make the tough decision to leave due to the lack of community support and not being able to police effectively, including seeing victims re-victimized when police cannot make arrests. As he says, having to be a proac...

Ep. 17 In Part 2 of my interview with this sergeant in the Pacific NW, we tackle the subject of deadly use of force and when it is necessary. We examine often-asked questions citizens have about these encounters. We then turn to how LE is a true family and the rewards of the job. As she describes, her best days on patrol were when people thanked her at the end of the contact, often after she had t...

Ep. 16 Part 1 of 2. A sergeant with 20 years on a mid-sized agency in the Pacific NW explains she never considered becoming a police officer because of the unfavorable view she had of law enforcement growing up. We talk about what changed her mind and why a career as an LEO means so much to her especially, as she explains, as a woman of color being able to represent the underrepresented. We discus...

Ep. 15 Former Seattle Police Officer Part 3 of 3. Riots. Rewards. Resignation. Today I complete a series of three interviews with a former Seattle police officer who was with the department for 14 years. We talk about working the protests and riots over the summer, in particular holding the line at the SPD’s East Precinct the closure of which made national news. The officer discusses watching legi...

Ep. 14 - Part 2 of 3. Joel’s story. This the second of three interviews with an officer who spent 14 years on the Seattle Police Department. We pick up where we left off in Part 1 talking about the work this officer did with SPD’s Crisis Intervention Team. We focus on the story of Joel Reuter. Much has been written about Joel, his skill working in technology, his friendly nature as well as his men...

Ep. 13. Part one of three – Saving Lives . This is the first in a three-part series with a former Seattle Police Officer who recently left the department after 14 years. First, in this part, we look back at the great work this officer did with the Seattle Police Department. We start with his response to the shooting in March 2019 of Metro Bus Driver Eric Stark whose story of heroism is featured in...

Ep. 12 features Assistant Chief David Green with the San Bernardino Police Department. We talk about the challenges of policing in California due to the impact of state initiatives involving decriminalization, zero bail amounts, moving the prison population into county jails and more, mandates that are having a major impact on law enforcement and the community, as similar initiatives are having in...

A Detective from a San Diego County agency with 15 years in LE talks about his current role in robbery, home invasion, kidnapping and carjacking investigations. He started out with Seattle PD in 2005 and shares stories of his time there including the interesting aspects of working undercover. For the first time in this podcast, we discuss the impact of line-of-duty deaths. We also talk about the c...

January is Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention month, so I am talking with Jim Fuda who is the Director of Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound and Vice Chairman of the recently launched Crime Stoppers Global Solutions. A big part of their focus is international outreach to stop human trafficking as well as other major felony crimes. Jim is a 48-year career police officer who has worke...