Reasons We Serve: Police Careers & Officer Experience

In this powerful interview, retired Temporary Chief Superintendent Kul Mahay shares his remarkable journey through UK policing — from 16-year-old cadet to senior commander. Kul opens up about the brutal reality of the job: the 2024 Manchester Airport attack, leading riots and public order operations, homicide investigations, disaster victim identification after tragic motorway crashes, and the hid...

He stared down the barrel of a gun, got shot point-blank in the forehead, and still made the split-second decision not to fire to protect his partners. This is the unfiltered story of Nick McCarthy, retired Daly City K9 handler. From running with the wrong crowd to becoming a top-performing proactive street cop and canine handler, Nick opens up about the realities of modern policing, intense offic...

Former Visalia PD gang detective and SWAT operator Adam Collins shares his unfiltered journey from Division 1 water polo athlete to California cop. In this powerful episode, Adam details his path through the academy, becoming an FTO and SWAT member, intense gang unit work, multiple officer-involved shootings — including the harrowing day he was shot 3 times at close range in a dark closet during a...

Retired California Department of Corrections Special Agent Chad Hester reveals what really happens inside California prisons after 28 years behind the walls. From Level 1 camps to Level 4 yards, SHU, SNY gang-dropout yards, and internal affairs investigations, Chad shares the untold realities of prison life. In this raw, no-holds-barred interview, Chad reveals: How prison levels 1–4 actually work...

From dropping out of school in the 9th grade to becoming one of San Francisco Police Department’s most respected undercover narcotics investigators, this is the incredible journey of Britt Elmore. With 27 years on SFPD, plus time with the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office and federal task forces (DEA & ATF), Britt shares raw, unfiltered law enforcement stories from the streets: running buy‑busts in t...

Retired Henderson PD officer Danny King shares his raw, unfiltered journey in this powerful episode of Reasons We Serve. From Army flight medic in Panama to canine handler, conference founder, and use-of-force expert, Danny opens up about the real cost of wearing the badge — especially the impact on family life. He recounts the heartbreaking call where he performed CPR on a baby crushed by a dress...

He dreamed of being a police officer with a dog since he was 6. He fought violent riots where fans threw motorcycles and homemade bombs, patrolled with bomb dogs, and even saved a drowning mother. But he walked away from the Italian National Police because he refused to lie to the community. In this raw interview, former Italian Polizia di Stato officer Andrea shares the real cost of wearing the b...

The raw truth behind the mental health crisis affecting firefighters, EMTs, police officers, and dispatchers. Licensed Clinical Social Worker Christie Haynes and Fire Captain Jeffrey Kessler (founder of Overwatch First Responder Services) share unfiltered stories about PTSD, cumulative trauma, family impact, and why so many first responders struggle in silence. In this powerful interview, they rev...

Retired Hamilton Police Sergeant Pete Wiesner shares one of the most honest interviews about the real cost of wearing the badge. From contemplating suicide during marriage breakdown and family mental health struggles, to becoming a pioneer in crisis response and helping former criminals turn their lives around — this is a powerful story of trauma, resilience, and hope. Pete discusses: • Why he bec...

Vinnie Montez shares his incredible journey from a teenage explorer cadet who nearly got kicked out for carrying a knife, to a 20+ year law enforcement veteran who rose to commander, all while becoming a nationally touring stand-up comedian. In this raw and honest episode of Reasons We Serve, Vinnie opens up about his dad’s hustle lessons (the legendary pistachio story), building rapport on the st...

Retired New Jersey police officer Kevin Donaldson delivers a raw, unfiltered account of life behind the badge in this powerful episode of Reasons We Serve. From a troubled youth and an accidental entry into law enforcement, to his first day on the job responding to a dead body and his second day involved in a felony stop with a gun — Kevin shares the unvarnished reality of policing that most peopl...

🎥 Episode 158 Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank sits down on Reasons We Serve for a raw, no-BS interview.   Elected by the people, Swank now faces removal under Washington’s new Senate Bill 5974 for his social media posts and refusal to enforce what he calls unconstitutional laws. From his 33-year Seattle PD career to God calling him in a hot tub, Swank shares why he’s standing his ground, the fi...

🎥 Episode 157 Detective Jesus Diaz of the Alamogordo Police Department opens up about his raw 5-year journey in law enforcement—from starting in corrections at age 18 to patrol, FTO, and investigations. In this powerful interview, he shares the haunting calls that shaped him: a son murdering his mother, a baby overdose during training, a brutal 30-stab domestic homicide, and a military suicide th...

🎥 Episode 156 Join Lubbock County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Daniel as he shares his 30+ year career from Lubbock PD patrol in 1995 to SWAT, EOD, K9, and leading Texas Anti-Gang Unit. He opens up about tragic losses (SWAT Sgts killed), battling PTSD through EMDR, Christian counseling, and faith, plus founding Servants of Peace Ministries for first responders. Hear funny cop stories, family impacts, and...

🎥 Episode 155 Join us for an exclusive interview with retired Navy SEAL Master Chief Bill Huckins, who shares his incredible 30-year career from boot camp in 1965 to commanding Arctic training in Kodiak, Alaska. Hear gripping stories of Vietnam river patrols on PBRs, intense BUD/S training on the East Coast, working with dolphins in the Marine Mammal Program for mine detection, and leadership as...

🎥 Episode 154 Retired Las Vegas Metro Police Lt. Randy Sutton shares his raw, unfiltered 34-year law enforcement journey—from becoming New Jersey's youngest cop at 19, surviving multiple shootings (including a harrowing 1989 gunfight), facing department betrayal after a stroke, to founding The Wounded Blue to help injured officers. Emotional stories of trauma, compassion, corruption, peer support...

🎥 Episode 153 Retired San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Jim Ferronato shares raw, unfiltered stories from his 30-year career (1960s–1990s). Hear about confronting early Hell's Angels in Fontana bars, breaking up brutal biker fights, gun-in-mouth standoffs, narcotics busts, minimal training in the Wild West era, and how policing evolved. Incredible firsthand history of outlaw motorcycle gangs...

🎥 Episode 152 Join former Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) corrections officer Mario Ramirez as he shares his incredible journey from a tough upbringing in Colton, California—surrounded by gangs, poverty, and family struggles—to rising through the ranks in federal prisons. Hear unfiltered tales of avoiding trouble, working in ICE detention, gang intel, staff misconduct, his controversial terminati...

🎥 Episode 151 Dive into the gripping career of retired LA County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Cordova, from growing up in Compton amid gangs to becoming a gang expert and tech ops specialist (1990-2022). In this exclusive interview, Adam shares raw stories: patrolling tough neighborhoods, handling OJ Simpson, the Justin Bieber egg incident, electronic surveillance ops, and the harsh realities of child a...

🎥 Episode 150 Former San Francisco Police Department officer Paul Lozada shares his incredible undercover journey in this powerful Reasons We Serve interview. With Filipino-Italian heritage that let him seamlessly blend into Black, Asian, Latino, and other communities, Paul worked gang units and narcotics operations, building trust and eliciting confessions without force. Hear how his "street edu...

🎥 Episode 149 Retired LAPD Sergeant Marlon Marrache (15 years in discipline, Internal Affairs veteran) drops raw truth on "The IA Guy" podcast—exposing how misconduct cases really work, from 2008 tours to retirement in 2022. In this Reasons We Serve episode, Marlon unpacks the curiosity that pulled him into IA, the emotional toll of digging into officers' "laundry," single-dad struggles balancing...

Episode 148 Journey through rural Idaho's badge life with retired Emmett PD Chief Gary Scheihing (40+ years), who ditched family carpentry for LE at 18—starting as Ada County dispatcher/jailer (pre-21 patrol ban), evolving through Meridian PD's first MDT computers to a 2-year Emmett reorganization amid homicides and growth. From 1969 Impala patrols (lights only, no siren) to advising rookies on te...

Episode 147 Dive into the gritty underbelly of 1980s-90s NYC with retired NYPD Detective Sgt. Jon Schwartz (25 years, Organized Crime Control Bureau)—mastering auto theft rings tied to mobsters like John Gotti and Carmine Fatico, from street IDs spotting OC players on Utica Ave to FBI/Customs task forces dismantling chop shops and major cases. As a native New Yorker who ran the "Fundamentals of Au...

🎥 Episode 146 Unleash the unbreakable bond in retired Vineland City PD Sgt. Louis Platania's 16-year "shit magnet" ride (2008-2024)—proactive patrols in south Jersey's gang-plagued 67-sq-mile hotspot (67K pop, between Philly & AC) turning into K9 heroics when his partner saves him from a brutal 2015 attack amid a 911 call gone deadly. From poverty-stricken childhood with a prescription-pill-a...

🎥 Episode 145 In this law enforcement interview and police officer story, DEA Special Agent Richard Oakley discusses his career spanning from 1967 to 1996. Step into the raw, resilient world of retired DEA Special Agent Richard T. Oakley, whose badge spanned New Brunswick PD patrols, Union County narcotics probes, and DEA's gritty 1970s trenches—from basic agent class at D.C.'s 1405 I Street to u...