Locked In with Ian Bick - I Was a New Jersey Cop for 25 Years — These Are The Moments I Can't Unsee | Rick Fittin

Starting point is 00:00:00 Come around the corner and I look the three stories up and there's a half-naked woman outside the window, bleeding, covered in blood. That's Rick Fitton. He spent more than 25 years in New Jersey law enforcement working his way from patrol officer to canine officer and eventually chief of police. Along the way, he saw a side of policing most people never get to experience firsthand. Today, he's taking us behind the badge from the calls he'll never forget to the realities of leading. an entire department. I grew up down the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County, small town down there right by the beach, and it was a good existence, right?

Starting point is 00:00:45 It was nice. When you're a little kid, you don't realize it. You're always like, I want to get out of here. This place sucks, and you just want to be like, you know, go somewhere else or be somewhere else, you know. But I grew up down the Jersey Shore, the beach, surfing, a lot, you know. basketball, baseball, all the sports and started heading in that direction.

Starting point is 00:01:10 I wasn't an academic. I don't know. I mean, I wasn't, you know. Who is? Yeah, right? I don't know. My sister and my girlfriend, they got the degrees on the walls. Yeah, I grew up down there, down the Jersey Shore, went to school there.

Starting point is 00:01:26 At Monmouth? In Monmouth County. Isn't there a school there, though, called? Well, Monmouth University is a college in Long Branch. It's a real nice school, real nice university. But after starting to get into high school, I started to, the wheel started to come off a little bit. Yeah. A lot of things started to happen at that point, right?

Starting point is 00:01:52 I became a little bit of a rebel. I was going to private school. And my parents pretty much said in my second year of private school, hey, listen, if you're not going to get with the program here, we're going to send you back to public school. And once I hit public school, grew the hair along, right? Started surfing more. And then I started playing in a band,

Starting point is 00:02:15 if you can believe that. A lot of people can't. And the guys in the band were a little bit older. And our first show was at a place right next to the Stone Pony, the famous Stone Pony, but it was at a place called Mrs. Jays. It's gone. It's where the summer stage is now, I think.

Starting point is 00:02:29 And we had an open mic night, or they had an open mic night. and we set up and we played. And then we played a lot of local places. There was places called Murphy's Law and Escapades and Studio One. And my parents were kind of like building their businesses and doing their things, right? They weren't the helicopter parents of today. And things really started getting a little crazy at that point.

Starting point is 00:02:49 You know, I was never into drugs or none of that, but I was a rebel. And I didn't want to go to school and all that nonsense. So after totaling two cars, my mom. mother saying you got to go live with your father, right? There came a point where I just graduated high school and my father was away and I woke up one morning. I was living on a pull out bed and had a guest with me that morning. And yeah, sat up. I turned a TV on and there was this stupid, cliche army commercial about Be All You Can Be. you know, and I said, you know, something's got to give.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Something's got to change here, you know. So I went and joined the Army. And a month later, I was leaving for Fort Knox, Kentucky, which I have to tell you from a little town of Monmouth County and never really being outside of my comfort zone. That was the first time we talked about reinvention and we talk about being uncomfortable and working through it. it pays dividends right so we arrived at fort knox and there's always a story in my life on how you know we didn't fly in with the rest of the guys we got delayed they sent some private in a van to get us at like four we got there at four in the morning the guys like hey just go inside and if anybody has seen stripes we were at fort knox everything was the way it wasn't stripes so we go in again

Starting point is 00:04:30 nothing's happened. Four in the morning, he goes, he'll come in and get you when they're ready. I'm thinking, oh, this is nice, maybe breakfast in bed, right? Who knows? And this was in 1989. And I close my eyes,

Starting point is 00:04:45 and at 4.30, the world changes. All hell breaks loose. The garbage can start flying. Our personal property starts flying. People are screaming in your face. And you're just like, you know, what the fuck? This is just crazy. Now you go into this whole.

Starting point is 00:05:00 another world and you know you're not at home anymore. You're not calling time out. You're not calling your mom or your dad. You're not calling your loved ones. You're now out on the ledge. So that was my start in the military at Fort Knox. I was a scout. I was a 19 Delta, a Calvary Scout. And my cousin who served in the Navy, he was a high speed guy. He had been in some shit. And he had given me the advice. He had said, hey, when you pick your MOS, what you're going to do, just remember there's nothing romantic about waking up cold and wet and sandy on a beach in some godforsaken country. And he also said never volunteer. So that comes back when we were going out on a field problem and we were at the armory. And I could go into the military stories forever going through

Starting point is 00:05:50 basic training. I mean, I wasn't there for basic training. It was something called OSIT, which is one station unit training. So I thought I'd be there for eight weeks. And then I'd be going somewhere else for AIT, which is advanced individual training, but they're like, now you're staying. And they didn't change their personalities or their character throughout that training. So it was almost like all that four months or that time was all just hard charging and being cold and wet and not staying in the barracks and doing more push-ups than I could count. And then I was in great shape. And that really drove at home. But so back to the fuel problem, we checked out our rifles. And you know, you're just sitting there on one knee in a staggered column on the side of the road

Starting point is 00:06:35 and like anything in the military is hurry up and wait like, why don't we fucking go, right? And it's pouring rain. The rain is just coming down. And you just have to embrace it. Like if you sit there and start hating it or start like thinking about it, you're just going to make yourself more miserable. You're just like, hey, you have to accept it. I'm going to be wet. I'm going to be miserable.

Starting point is 00:06:53 That's going to be it. So I looked up and while we were waiting there, these Abrams. These M1 Abrams are going, these tanks are going past us. And I said to myself, what was I thinking? I mean, I could have been inside one of those tanks. It may not have been as good, but I might even drier and warmer. So that was one kind of interesting story. And when we deployed later on to a field problem near the end of the training,

Starting point is 00:07:21 it was going to be like 14 days or I forget what it was. But they marched us down on these hills. And I'll only remember the two. I know there'll be a lot of people comment. There was misery, agony, I think it was aggrim. But there was three hills at Fort Knox that really broke men's spirits, if you will. They marched this way out. And again, when we closed our eyes for a second on the side of the road, you always change your socks.

Starting point is 00:07:45 You always do your footmings. The helicopters landed. And we deployed out on the helicopters out to a fuel problem way out in the woods, you know. And an interesting story about that is they broke character twice. They got us together for a safety briefing. And during the safety briefing, they were like, hey, listen, we're on the outskirts of Fort Knox. And now it's 1990. And they go, there are people out here, maybe on the board or some things like that, that don't take kindly to the military.

Starting point is 00:08:20 You know, there are some people that think the wars and over the Civil War and blah, blah, blah. And I remember them saying this to us. I don't know if they were scaring us. but the one guy who was with me from New York, his name was Anderson, he picks up his hand, he goes, well,

Starting point is 00:08:33 let me get this straight. You're going to put us out in the Kentucky woods, and you're giving us blanks. He's like, yeah. And I remember to look on his face, and he's like, okay, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:47 and the drill sergeant was like, yeah, just don't get lost. Remember your land navigation skills and you'll have no problems. And the other time, they broke character, which was a little weird,

Starting point is 00:08:58 was they came to me and usually they'll scream at you and call you all kinds of fun names, but it was now as private fit and we need to talk to you. And I'm like, you know, what's wrong? And my grandmother had passed away. So they had sent notice and they were going to put me on a helicopter and fly me back and do this Red Cross thing or whatever it was at the time. And I remember going into the captain's office and they give you the whole, hey, really sorry, blah, blah, blah. your parents are on the phone. And, you know, they're like, you know, your grandmother passed away. And I'm like, okay, you know, come home for a funeral or something like that. And I had another week or two to go. And I asked the captain, I'm like, hey, if I go home, he goes, yeah, you're going to be recycled back.

Starting point is 00:09:44 I go, my parents are like, yeah, just stay there. You're not going to be, you know, bringing your grandmother back. So just that was it. And that was really the only time they broke character in the military. And then I went on to Fort Irwin, California. the National Training Center, which is out in the Mojave. They said I was going to be a desert rat at the time. I didn't believe what that was, but I found out. And at the time, too, my father and mother were really proud that I took this path. And I think they felt this sense of ease.

Starting point is 00:10:12 Like we weren't going to be at war, right? Like, there was nothing happening, you know? And little did anybody know that we'd end up in Desert Storm. And then I was in the desert out in California. So 2 plus 2. And I was at, there was two units. There was the op for the opposing force out there. And they use Miles Gear, which is like laser tag and things like that with the military.

Starting point is 00:10:39 And then there was the world's largest live fire range, which was all live fire. And I got stationed with the A company operations group, the Dragon Unit. And, you know, we just ended up getting the National Guard. the president activated the National Guard during the war. We had to train these guys up and we were going to deploy overseas with them. But as a lot of people know, it ended really quickly and, you know, knock wood that there was, you know, not much happening from that. And that was a good time. I mean, like, I was like, yeah, if this could happen, I'm going to get out, right?

Starting point is 00:11:17 So I got out. I went home. And when I got home, I didn't know what to do. right? I just got out and I was like, oh, what do I do now? I'm 21 years old and I need to figure out something to do. And at that time, you know, my dad was, hey, listen, I'm sick. I'm, you know, I'm not for this earth much longer. So I need to be able to kind of, my mother moved to Vermont. They were divorced. My dad still lived in Monmouth County and my mother in Vermont. He's like, I want to be able to pass along whatever life experiences, whatever academic experience. He owned a

Starting point is 00:11:55 big company. And I was like, all right, you know, so I got into laundromats and dry cleaners. Yeah, I know, right? Talk about a switch. Yeah, it was interesting. So I was detailing cars and I thought I would detail cars, you know, and he's like, comes to me, it's like, yeah, you know, I know you're young, 22 years old, 21 years old, you know, you're working out in the sun, your shirt's off, it's all expensive cars and, you know, good looking women and it's kind of romantic, you know, you're detailing these expensive cars. But he said, hey, you know, you're going to get older, right? And at a certain

Starting point is 00:12:31 age, are you going to want to wake up in November? And how's it going to feel to? And, you know, if you want it, you can. He goes, just pointing it out that like you're going to be putting your hand in a cold bucket of water and smelling like carnivouacx and tire shine all day long, which is fine. He goes, if that's what you want to do. But he says, I think you should take a look at this future. You know, you want to work smarter, not harder. That's kind of. the key, you know. So that's how I got into that. I learned a lot, did a lot, successful. He passed away, and things again went sideways. Not real bad, you know, but it just was, I wasn't myself. I was preparing for it, but you can never be really prepared for something like that.

Starting point is 00:13:19 You know, people that tell you they can. God bless them. I, I, it was, you know, it was pretty tough on me. So he had, and God rest his soul, he had said to me, I don't ever want you to be a cop, you know, and I kind of had friends with police officers. And I was like, you know, the laundromats great. This is great. But this isn't like what I'm used to. And he goes, look, you're going to be in business, that's the end of it. Right? I'm like, okay, do what you say, right? And then when he died, some of those friends came around and they would take me out on ride-alongs to clear my head, which was, which it did. And I just, it kept calling me. You know, it kept calling me back. You know, so, you know, to take you back a little bit, to give you context through all the crazy

Starting point is 00:14:16 shit, all the band shit, all that stuff. I became a volunteer fireman when I was 16. And I became an EMT. And I had this, I loved it. It was fantastic. I just like being a part of it, serving. And maybe it was what led me into the military to. All of these things started to add up. So I went back when I got out of the Army. I obviously went back to the fire department. it. And when he passed, I kind of made that decision. I'm like, it's got to be about my life, you know. And I kept the laundromat for a while anyway, second income, right? So, yeah, I started to apply. And policing is marketably different, like anything in life, right? We talk about, people talk about football. I saw something with Lawrence Taylor the other day talking about football in the 80s.

Starting point is 00:15:07 and could the players of today have survived guys like Lawrence Taylor and things like that. I think policing has evolved a little bit in the same way, right? So when I applied to be a police officer, everybody wanted to be a police officer. Like there were thousands of applications to municipalities all over the state. And so I applied to a ton of places. And I ended up getting lucky in the town I grew up in. they decided to sponsor me through a police academy. I didn't have a permanent home, but I was sponsored through to get into an academy. And they're like, hey, if you can pay for it,

Starting point is 00:15:47 you can support yourself. We'll put our patch on your arm. You can go to the academy. And I went to the Ocean County Police Academy. And at the time, and I think it still is, I was actually asked to speak there a few years ago. And they, you know, they haven't reached out again. But because a lot of the alumni, you know, you go through an academy, you go as a recruit, and then you end up as chief. I mean, it's a good story. You know, hopefully you can provide some words of wisdom or some insights to some of the recruits. But I ended up going through that academy and it was known for its physicality. It was a physical academy, you know, a lot of running, a lot of just, they were a physical

Starting point is 00:16:25 academy. I don't know. It's been a while since I've been to an academy, so I don't know what's required. You know, I'll probably be hated for this. But I've certainly seen some cops out there that probably probably. should spend a little more time in the gym. But that's, you know, I was there too, man. I got, you know, you get comfortable over the years and you put that weight on and you're sitting in a patrol car in the middle of the night and you're just looking over, you know, it's not health food

Starting point is 00:16:48 you're looking at, you know. So going through the police academy, I got through the police academy and I went back to work in that Shoretown briefly. So we came out as full-time police officers, but you worked as what they call a rent-a-cop or a class two. People have a kinds of names. We're part-time, pretty much. And the town I was in was quiet, not a lot of things going on. And a classmate reached out to me. He's like, hey, man, you got to come down to this town. And I ended up going down to Seaside Heights on the Jersey Shore. A lot of people know it. At the time, one of the guys that made a shirt that said, come on vacation, leave on probation. And the first night I was there, we rocked.

Starting point is 00:17:35 It was right. It was perfect. We were moving all the time. It was busy all the time. And then that kind of is where I was mentored. They have a guy down there who's chief now. He was lieutenant at the time. Again, he's an interesting figure.

Starting point is 00:17:54 Some people like him. Some people don't. I like him. I love him. I mean, I thought he was a true leader. He was always out there with you. the mix. I mean, he was tough. He was real tough. But you appreciate people like that. You know, you really do. At the time, they can be demanding and taskmasters. But this guy had his fingers on the

Starting point is 00:18:12 pulse of what was going on down there. And there was one time we were in a, I wouldn't say streetball, but there was a fight on the boardwalk that spilled back. And I remember looking over to my left. And there he was, just like we were throwing and going. And he was just out there all the time. And I respected that and I always have respected that. I go back to my father. He owned 25 travel agencies, so traveled a lot. And, you know, when I was a kid, we were going to Ireland and I remember saying, hey, man, why am I riding in the back of a plane? I'm the owner's son. You know, what's going on here? And he's like, exactly. He's sit in the back of a plane, right? And he had that mentality that we took care of everyone. You know, you led from the ground up.

Starting point is 00:18:59 You know, so this guy at the time, that's how I saw it. You know, he was tough and, you know, I didn't know him as well. Some people know him. I knew him from working with him and stuff. But he was, he always protected his guys and he was a hard charger. And he said it how it was, whether you liked it or not. And I appreciated that. And I never forget him. And then because of that town, that town gave a lot of those part-time police officers, their start throughout municipalities all over New Jersey, whether state police. local police, federal, whatever it was. A lot of guys got their starts there and launched their careers from that platform. You know? So I had taken a test up in a small town up in Northern Jersey and they had gotten back to me. And it was an interesting time because the two years that I was working in Seaside, you'd get those letters, right? Hey, thank you for applying. You finish second. Thank you for applying. You finished third. Thank you for applying. You need to get the job. And you just have to continue to grind, right? When you chase that goal, when you want to do something, if it's handed to you, I firmly believe this. You're going to take it, look at it, enjoy it, put it down, and move forward if you're a person that is wanting to do things and wanting to get ahead and you have drives. But if you bleed for it, if you work for it, if you experience it, if you experience. those ups and downs, the wind is so much sweeter at the end of the day, right? And they had called

Starting point is 00:20:38 and said, hey, we know you applied here. And I was getting to the, well, let me back up. I was to the point, to this point where I was almost at the end. So you have everyone aside. And they love you, my family and friends, they love you. But they're like, hey, man, it's been a few years. And maybe it's time. I was a little older. You're like, I think it was 30. It's time to move on, right? It's time to maybe get back into the laundries, maybe get, you know, maybe pick a different career path. It's just not, you're just not getting the dart in the bullseye. So there was that one day, and it goes to my faith in God, but I was going home early and it was about three,

Starting point is 00:21:21 it had to have been around three o'clock. And it was just like, hey, everyone was right. You know, all that pressure builds on you. And you start questioning yourself, right? You start thinking, holy shit, maybe they're right. Because when you're in it, right, you really can't tell anything about what's going to happen. And I'm sitting in here in front of you today as a retired police chief. Then I was just a special police officer, class two.

Starting point is 00:21:47 You know, we carried guns and we did all the police stuff. But so I walked in my kitchen and I went to the freezer. I had a bottle in the freezer. I pulled it out and I was going to have a drink and I was going to be like, okay, let's sort this out. And just as I did that, I looked over and there was a hard line, phone. Everybody had phones. We know too many cell phones on. What's that? Yeah, exactly.

Starting point is 00:22:11 No, I'm kidding. Well, you asked my kids, you'd say that. I'm like, hey, that's a pay phone. They're like, pay phone. You don't you pay our cell phone bill? We actually, we'd have the wireless ones, you know, in the stand. Yeah, I had those. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:21 So I saw, like, I always wanted to take my kids and see if they could do the rotary one that they rat, like the round one. Like if they could ever dial a phone, they probably couldn't. I didn't have that kind of phone. Well, actually, we did have like the ones with the cord on it. You had a court. And then you had a wireless. And then wireless, yep. So this had a wire and it was on the wall, right?

Starting point is 00:22:41 So the red lights blinking. And that's telling you there's a voicemail. So, all right, my OCD, let me figure this out. And I pick up the phone and it's this lieutenant. He's like, hey, you applied here. We got your number, meaning you've hit the number one spot. you know, if you're interested, give us a call back. And I'm like, no shit. So I immediately, my finger's going to dial fast enough. And the dude was like, hey, what are you doing? I'm like,

Starting point is 00:23:06 well, I'm calling you back. And he's like, well, what are you doing? I'm like, well, I'm at home. He's like, are you free? I'm like, yeah. He's like, well, I'm here until five. I'm like, I'm coming. And it was a 45 minute drive. And I don't, I think I got there in 10. But I walked in and I put a suit on, right? A lot of times. I'll talk about when I interview, when I was interviewing people, you know, things change. And some people say that's culture, but some things never change. I don't know. Who knows?

Starting point is 00:23:40 I walked in. I sat down in front of him. And he says, so we go through this thing. He goes, you have anything else in the fire? And I'm like, yeah, I got, I have another town who's looking at me. And he goes, what town? He tells me. He calls the dude.

Starting point is 00:23:54 He's like, hey, it's so and so and so. He's like, I got this guy sitting in front of me, Rick Fitton. Where's he at in your process? He's like, well, da da, I don't know if the council's going to hire. I don't know what they're going to do. And he's like, thanks a lot. And he was on speaker. And he's like, done.

Starting point is 00:24:08 He goes, here's the deal. You can bank on that or I can put your hand on a Bible in 14 days. And you can be sworn in as a full-time police officer benefits, pension, all the accoutrema that comes along with being a full-time police officer. He didn't even have to finish the sentence. I'm like, you know, here we go. And so I was sworn in. And it was in April of 2000, I think.

Starting point is 00:24:34 My dates are all screwed up. Yeah. And I started going to work full time and dream realized, right? But now you're in it, you know, and you can dream at night, but you can also have nightmares, right? And not that my career was a nightmare by any stretch of the imagination. But there were ups and downs, which we'll talk about. So I started as a patrolman, you know. And basically there's a lot of stories.

Starting point is 00:25:08 I was aggressive, and people watching this that know me will attest to that, you know. And I remember working new, and I was up on midnights. We ran a pitman schedule, which is a three on two off, two on three off, 12-hour shift, 6P to 6A, 6A to 6A, 6A to 6P. I was working midnight. And I'd come out of a busy municipality, right? The town that I was working in wasn't so busy, but it was, right? It was a, it was a, we had a lot of work.

Starting point is 00:25:38 There was work to be found, if that makes sense. And one night I'm working with this sergeant, and he says, hey, cowboy, we close at midnight. Okay. Right? I had no idea. So I'm out on the road. and I pull over someone, you know, around two in the morning, you know, get up on the car, and I smell alcohol. Or the smell of an alcohol beverage.

Starting point is 00:26:11 People know what that means. Red water yacht, all the indicia. And so now the radio call is my call sign was Sierra 12, and I was like, hey, Sierra 12 to the county, I'll be out of the car with one. And usually that triggers the county to call and make sure the other cars know and start sending cars your way. Nothing, you know, no breakneck speed. And then I'll call, I'll talk to the individual and the next radio transmission will be, hey, I'm testing. Testing one. We begin the standardized field sorority test.

Starting point is 00:26:47 You're doing all your things. And I never forget it, right? I'm like kind of like looking over my shoulder and there was cops everywhere, like everywhere. right. I'm like there's no one. So I'm like, okay, too much of drink. You know, we're going to give you the bracelets. We're going to make this happen. So you're under arrest, blah, blah. Arrest the guy. Still looking around. I'm like, what, you know, put him in the car. And at the time, we were parked the car, driving back to headquarters. My county, I'll be transporting one, starting mileage, run away. Right? This guy doesn't know. So when you pull in the back of my headquarters, you pull straight into a door, you pull up, park, and there's a door.

Starting point is 00:27:28 And you're going to go through the door, and there's a bench, and put the person on the bench. And the door opens when I'm pulling in. And there's a sergeant in this pink robe with his badge on the robe. And I'm like, what the fuck? And I get out of the car to make sure that, you know, before I bring the prisoner in that things are clear and he was pissed he's like I told you what are you doing what are you doing and I'm like I just arrested someone he goes yeah you did and now you're gonna now you're going to manage it yourself and I'm like what he goes yeah

Starting point is 00:28:06 I'm going back to fucking sleep I'm like all right so I thought he was kidding and I put the prisoner on the bench and we're going to run the out at the time it was called the body It was a 900 to its whole thing, but I wasn't certified to run the thing. And I'm like, looking around the, I'm like, where the fuck is this guy going? You know, like, I was resourceful enough to call the town next door and say, hey, the box is broken. Can we use yours? And do you have an operator. Took him over and I was blue above the legal limit.

Starting point is 00:28:46 Long sort of short, that guy would later get fired. The sergeant. Yeah, well, not for that incident, but later. on down the line. He was involved in some shit. What, do you have a bed there or something? It wasn't a bed, but, you know, sometimes you find a place in the pool, like when your municipal is attached and it's, you know, at night, you'll make a chair and you'll put your feet up. And if you're tired, you'll go to sleep. And he just changed into a robe?

Starting point is 00:29:14 No, he was in his robe over his fucking uniform. Shirt was open, gum belt was off, and he's in a robe. What's the purpose of that? Well, the purpose of that. I don't know. It's to relax, I guess. I don't know. My mother or he just wore this big old nightgown. I'm like, why are you wearing that thing? Like, meaning like... But how is that comfortable over your uniform?

Starting point is 00:29:28 I don't know. Like, he would show up to Domino's. He would be off duty. He would show up to Domino's in his uniform. I saw him one night. Like, he got out of the car in his uniform, went into Domino's, got the pizza, and left. And I go in, I'm like, hey, so-and-so working out.

Starting point is 00:29:50 He's like, no. He goes, why? I go, well, I saw him in his POV, getting a pizza. Trying to lose weight can be frustrating as hell. You're eating better, trying to stay active, doing everything you think you're supposed to do. And sometimes it still feels like you're fighting your own appetite every single day. That's where weight loss by Hymns comes in.

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Starting point is 00:31:49 Anyway, a lot of stories like that. But a lot of that changed because the chief that came into being at that time really cut heads. Like really, you know, I give that guy credit for – he was a little crazy, but I gave him credit for cleaning up some of the shit. So, I mean, I was working with another sergeant one night, and Monmouth County had a really – I thought a lot of squared away law enforcement agencies at the time, right? And one of these guys I knew was a canine guy. I always admired his work ethic and things. I thought it was great. I stopped the Jeep and there were drugs in there.

Starting point is 00:32:33 And the driver was like, you're not getting in. Right. So I call my backup. My backup arrives and he's like, yeah, we're not getting in. And consent at that time, there's a lot of weird things that go on with reasonable suspicion. Consent. There's a lot of, it's an interesting, it's an interesting. field of the law. So I said, hey, man, let's get a dog. And he's like, yeah, we don't have any dogs in Somerset County.

Starting point is 00:32:57 And I'm like, what? The fourth richest county in the country? Like, what? I was like, okay, how about the county next door? He's like, no dogs. Middlesex County, no dogs. I'm like, shit. What do you do? No, you know, had to let him go. So I went in the chief's office a short time later. I'm like, listen, if I can facilitate this process, right? Can we get a dog? And he's like, yeah. So I contacted a team down in South Jersey. And these guys were the best in the country at the time. They held all the awards. They had the best dogs. And I wanted the best. And I figured I'd go to these guys. They were the best handlers, the most squared away. As a matter of fact, one of the more squared away police departments in New Jersey. So at the time, there was a lot of, I don't want to say consternation, but there was an issue about me getting a dog. We were a small agency. The world was kind of at peace, right? There were some racial components about the dog that still always came out when people talked about dogs, which rightfully so.

Starting point is 00:34:16 when a tool is not used properly, it fucks it up for everyone, you know. But he says, yeah, I'll get you a dog. So I was like, well, I can only have a drug dog. That's what they agreed upon. That was it. So there was an issue between the politicians. Let me just leave it at that about the one mayor who stood for it and the county prosecutor at the time who didn't.

Starting point is 00:34:42 And the county prosecutor is a chief law enforcement agent or chief. chief law enforcement officer of the county. But the mayor was a strong mayor. And they kind of came to an understanding, we'll get this drug dog and we won't use the dog for patrol work, which is criminal apprehension, tracking, building searches, or basically saying we're going to be using the 42 teeth if we need to to apprehend a bad guy. So I talked to the team about it. And they're like Rick, we're going to get you a dog that if anything changes, you'll be able to turn this dog into its full potentials, right? It's like having a Ferrari and not having the Ferrari engine in it, but we can put the engine in it. For now, you're going to drive with the Volkswagen engine in it.

Starting point is 00:35:32 If you want to put the Ferrari engine in it, you could. And I'll talk about that. And I went down to where we met halfway in Jersey, in Monmouth County. There's a field. And they're like, we're going to bring you your dog. Right. All right. Here we go. And they show up and the dog's running around the field. And I'm like, is that my dog? And they're like, yeah, that's your dog. And I'm like, is that a female? And they're like, yeah, it's female. As a cop, right, I don't want to big male husky, what a big dog, you know, which turned out to be a godsent because she was the most loyal thing that I'd ever had. And I'll tell you the difference because I handled two dogs. But we ended up really bonding. And she was so close to me. It was amazing. But I'm skipping a little around in the stories of there's a lot going on in this time.

Starting point is 00:36:35 And we ended up going to canine school on September 5th, 2001. We were going to sent school at that time. And then I got this great dog and, you know, and then, you know, six days later on the 11th, things changed for us and everyone for that matter, you know. And we were, went to state police headquarters in West Trenton. And you'd check in. And then the trooper would be like, hey, we're going to go down the road. There's an abandoned trailer. We're going to put hides out. We'll do work.

Starting point is 00:37:14 Whatever. It's only like five or six of us. And so we all jumped on our cars. And as we're going 10 minutes up the road, most of us were listening to Howard Stern. We arrived. Everyone got out of the car and was like, is he joking? Like, is he kidding? Is this a bit? What's going on here? You look over your shoulder and then comes a trooper with the lights on and he gets out. And he's like, hey, we're under attack. Back to your PDs. Don't stop for anybody. Lights and sirens. And report back now. All right. So I'll talk maybe later about my experience at 9-11. I was at Ground Zero a day later or two days later. I forget which it was escorting a supply truck. It was a support truck through the Holland to the site to supply things to things. You stayed on site and whatever.

Starting point is 00:38:10 But at that time, things changed for canine. in New Jersey because there weren't a lot of dogs per se. The state police didn't have bomb dogs. And if they did, it was one. There wasn't a lot going on. So the state police said, we're going to have a patrol class. We've never had one before. It was the first state police patrol class in history. And they picked, I think, 18 or 16 dogs. There were troopers, obviously, and then there were municipal dogs. I think Wall Township, Hal, my dog. I don't know if we're I don't think, no, that was another one. Troopers, Medford, um,

Starting point is 00:38:51 Bergen County sheriffs. I forget. It's been a while. Um, and we got picked for this class. You know, we were going to be the first patrol class. And it's time because the world had changed,

Starting point is 00:39:02 the prosecutor and the, everybody was in agreement. Hey, we want a dog now. We want the dog to be able to be high speed and do everything, you know? So that's how I got the, uh,

Starting point is 00:39:13 patrol dog. And during that time, I can tell you some stories about that before I digress into stuff I skipped over. We were training at this Boy Scout camp in Medford, New Jersey. And the guy that they hired to do the training was a guy named Danny McSweeney, a legend in the Canine community. He had the Atlantic City Canine Academy. He was a legend.

Starting point is 00:39:36 And I don't care what anybody says, full stop. The guy was a canine legend. He was a tough motherfucker. There still was the age of no political correctness, no nonsense. We're not worried about your feelings. You know, if your feelings get hurt, go home, you know, drink a warm cup of tea and get into another profession. Right. But that being said, he was the kind of soul after training, right?

Starting point is 00:40:08 So you'd be looking, you'd be looking. you'd be looking at where you think something was, your job is to read the dog. So the next thing you know, he'd like throw a tennis ball at your head or he'd throw something at you. But he was tough. We were down in Medford training and we were going to do this thing called the Iron Dog. And he had a colleague in Pennsylvania,

Starting point is 00:40:36 guy named Bobby Swan, I think that's his name, who also had a class. And he was pretty much like, listen, you fuckers, you better win the Iron Dog, or at least place, or you're going to be training on Thanksgiving. And the Iron Dog is pretty much like a course through the woods, up hills, downhills, downhills, through water, under gates, over fences, and you and the dog, go. And I was in pretty good shape at the time. And we did time trials. And I think I was the fastest. and then there was two troopers behind me.

Starting point is 00:41:10 But they had a kid on their side who was like 10 years younger than I was or five years younger than I was. And this fucker was fast. I couldn't beat him. Or the troopers. Nobody could beat them. And so it was timed when you went out, right?

Starting point is 00:41:25 So they sent him and his dog off. And then my time allowed me to start second. So I'm out. I'm running. I have the doll off lead too. So the doll's off leash. I had great control over her. She listened.

Starting point is 00:41:41 And we're doing everything. And the last part of this course, I think I did it in 18 minutes. I don't know how many miles, two miles. I forget what it was. There's a newspaper article about it. You pop out onto a dirt road with a dog. And the dog identify. There's a decoy in the suit.

Starting point is 00:42:00 You ever see the big puffy suits? They look like the marshmallow or the, you know. He comes out from like behind. behind a soccer net to peer to the dog. And we had to go through over or under through a split rail fence and that you now have to send the dog on the decoy. And for the time to stop, you, the dog and the decoy have to be across the finish line, right? Which is pretty much when the dog goes on, you're collapsing onto the decoy to get him across the line. So we did. And I kind of went over to our guy. I'm like, hey, you know, where does that? We're going to

Starting point is 00:42:37 did that dude finish in front of me. And he's like, he hasn't come in yet. I'm like, what? Right? His dog saw a deer in the course and took off. And he had to get his dog back. So obviously his time was like, I forget where he finished, like, way down in it. And I think we took first, second and third in the iron dog. So that was a fun thing. But I could talk about canine forever. It was a great part of my career. and the jobs that we did and things like that. And I'll tell you a couple. But as I mentioned before, having three Valor Awards throughout my career was an honor to, you know, I don't know if it was an honor to be put in those positions, but I was, unfortunately, or fortunately for those people. But that was back in April before I had a dog, you know, that was when I started, or August, I think it was August.

Starting point is 00:43:36 I was at the pizzeria. So on day shift, we'd run two patrols, and the chief would be there and a lieutenant, you know. And so I'm sitting at this pizzeria. I'm having lunch. Radio's on. And we get a call of a woman hanging out a window at one of our apartment complexes. It's like, all right, it's probably a noise complaint. It's probably somebody screaming at someone about their cooking or about whatever bullshit they're doing.

Starting point is 00:44:06 But I'll respond. No real urgency on the radio. So I pull in. And the apartment complex is the way this laid out is they were on the right going down and you drove straight down. So they stayed on your right. And as I get in there, I see all these people trying to run to me and they're waving at me with urgency. I'm like, what? So I get out of the car and they're pulling me.

Starting point is 00:44:35 they go, you got to help, you got to help, you got to help. And we come around the corner and I look the three stories up. And there's a half-naked woman outside the window bleeding, covered in blood. So she's got black pants on, no shoes, and a black bra. And they used to have these antenna wires and they're flat and long and they were eye-hooked in. she's on that thing with one like her foot's on the eye and the wire and her the bottoms of her fingers she couldn't get purchase on the on the sill and she's just covered in blood and i remember just grabbing the radio and i forget what i said but i said i need backup now like that you know

Starting point is 00:45:22 so i went up the flights of stairs and busted down the door with my gun drawn like i didn't know what i was getting into. Like, you know, part of these situations, you can't let yourself go to, I can't believe this is happening to me. You have to be confident and say you have to handle the situation. I think that comes from training and repetition and all that and not panicking, you know, just being do what you need to do to get the job done and then decompress later on. So it's a small apartment, there's kitchen, living room. I quickly clear that space. We're in small PD. I knew my team, they were on their way. And they're calling me on the radio. And I'm not going to the radio because I'm so focused on making sure that I'm not about to encounter something,

Starting point is 00:46:16 whatever threw her out the window or however she got out the window. I hear a baby crying. I hear her. I move to the bedroom. I look in the bathroom. I clear that. I mean, this is all happening really, really fast. And I go over to the baby and there's blood all over the wall. I mean, it's like, it's like, holy shit. And I pick up, I never, I picked up the baby. I looked at the baby and laid the baby back down. And then I went to the window. And the window, it only had like two feet or three feet of wall.

Starting point is 00:46:49 The window was low. So if you leaned out, you'd almost go out with her or out out there. So I had to kind of lock my knees up under it. Put my gun, I had my gun away. They're calling. They don't know what's going. going on. And at the time, we wore, I had a short sleeve shirt on. Now that the trend is the outer vest, guys are wearing the outer vest, the tactical shit. My vest was underneath my shirt.

Starting point is 00:47:18 So I went out after her and I leaned out to grab her, but she was so covered in blood that it was hard getting any type of grip. And she wasn't a small woman, you know, So I grabbed her by like her belt loops and I'm trying to get it. And I remember the belt loops starting to break. They're yelling. The wires are starting to give and I could feel her pulling me out with her. And I just did everything I could to get her up. And then she started climbing over me to pulling my shirt, like getting onto my gun belt and

Starting point is 00:47:57 getting up and I got her in. And I'll never forget us I got her in the window. everyone arrives you know and they see what I see and they're like holy shit and I was covered in blood covered

Starting point is 00:48:11 and they thought I was injured or something happened to me and I did too I thought there was glass I didn't see when you have all that adrenaline flowing

Starting point is 00:48:19 and they're like hey and everyone's coming out they sent two other towns like all the fucking shit's going on you know and there's a fun part of the story. So my buddy's like, hey, my partner at the time, he's like, you got to get out

Starting point is 00:48:37 in the ambulance. Like, get out, I want to get out of that shit. You know, they were treating her. Everything was stabilizing. And the night before, I was out. And I was at a gentleman's establishment drinking. And like, one of the, um, one of the, uh, gentlemen's establishment drinking. And, like, one of the, Young ladies gave me a shirt. It was a black shirt. And it had the name of the establishment and hot pink across the front. Yeah. Right.

Starting point is 00:49:12 No one's ever been there. So it's not about the bar. It's about getting a T-shirt, right? So I go home and I have to leave my house about 4.30. I like to be early, you know. But I, man, I was like overslept. The alarm went off. I got up.

Starting point is 00:49:32 And underneath our uniforms, the rules were navy blue or black shirt. I looked down, I grabbed this black shirt. I knew my vest would be over. What the fuck's ever going to know, right? So now I'm going to the ambulance to get shit to wash off my own, like get cleaned up. And I peeled off my shirt, right? And I noticed that it was soaked, that it had soaked through to my body armor. and I peeled off my body armor, took that off, and a reporter took a picture of me, like,

Starting point is 00:50:09 with this, like this, this damn, almost said it, with the name and his place on my shit, you know? And the reporter was really cool. I sent you, we did a bunch of articles. He did a bunch of articles on me. And they took pictures. And when they sent the pictures over for review, we were like, hey, can we leave this one out? You know, that was pretty funny. And I ended up taking that shirt off anyway, too, because that, you know,

Starting point is 00:50:31 out. And so the long story short on that was the article say that she had went to take the garbage out and she was accosted at the dumpster by two black males, her description, two black males, forced her back into the apartment. And they hit her in the head with a pipe and threw her out the window. do you believe that so what i think they reduced it or deduced at the time it was a domestic and the husband had fled and that she went out the window to get away from him and he got caught or no i don't i don't even know i don't even remember how that you didn't follow up with it after you know it was years ago maybe i did but i do know i remember she was at the first valor ceremony when they talk about, you know, the heroic, all the, the bullshit. And I say that, like, I always say this about that. I work with so many great cops. I mean, amazing guys. Even ones I would hate later on

Starting point is 00:51:39 on my career or dislike later on my career. I work with so many good cops, right? That if they were there, they would have done the same thing. That's the problem. People don't understand today. And we'll talk about the politics of policing and what those guys or gals. may have to do to save your life. I mean, like, the people don't realize, and thank God, they don't have those traumatic situations and really realize what the police, the first responders, are doing to save their lives. And it irritates me sometimes because you don't care if it's a man or a woman, black, white, green, yellow. You don't give a shit when you're in the throes of your worst moments or your child's not breathing or something's happening. You just hope that they're there and they can do

Starting point is 00:52:33 their job. And it was just me on that day, right? I was just like, I was just there that day for that occasion, you know. Could have been my partner. Could have been anyone, you know. Who knows? It worked out. Thank God. I feel like my life now is basically podcast, airport, hotel, event, repeat. And when you're constantly traveling and buying stuff in different places, the last thing you want is to look at your phone and see a charge you're not sure you made. That's actually one of the things I like about using Cash App. And considering I spent years in the entertainment business, literally booking concerts when I was 18, I also would have loved some of the perks they have now, because Cash App isn't just about sending somebody money anymore. If you weren't up to speed

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Starting point is 00:55:00 Visit cash.com slash legal slash podcast for full disclosures. But, yeah, that was a fun time. But going back to the dogs a little bit, too, as we progress, the agreement with the county was at the time, they weren't 100%. like on the dog working with doing apprehensions or doing, you know, the possibility of the dog biting someone, you know, which at the time, it would have been, and I say this in jest, but it almost seemed like less paperwork if they got shot than the dog bite. The dog bite was like civil, this whole thing, you know, and everyone was worried about the dog bite, what surrounded the dog bite, you know, and a dog was always mechanical force, not deadly force, you know. one night I'm working and it was a rainy Wednesday night you know and I think I saw one of your podcasts where one of the guys talked about the Q word yeah you know and uh it was that and a car came speeding by that its headlights I'm like okay and I didn't care like so I was that cop it could be raining or snowing I'm getting out of the car pulled the car over and I it by the

Starting point is 00:56:21 This time I had a lot, you know, not a lot, but I had some training and narcotics. That was my thing. And drunk driving was my thing and whatever. And the car pulls over into a bar parking lot. And I approach from the driver's side and the driver puts a window down and it's dark and it's raining. And the driver and the passenger are staring straight ahead with sunglasses on. And the driver's hands were up in the Frankenstein. right and i'm like immediately recognized it when i told the driver take your glasses off

Starting point is 00:56:59 let me see your credentials and he had what's called resting nystagmus and that means the eyes were just bouncing back and forth right and i recognized right off that was pcp fencycletine right like right off and i knew the stories like in the training that you know you might blow their head off but they're still coming so i immediately call for backup you know that was one thing i did a of work, but I did work. I wasn't, I wasn't doing it on my own, like just by myself and trying to be a hero. My backup arrives. It was a sergeant I worked with a lot at this time. And I asked the driver to exit the, I told him, I said, hey, man, we're going to have a little bit at this, let's just keep everything nice and smooth and slow and quiet. We're going to work

Starting point is 00:57:53 through this, right? He comes out of the car and when he gets out, literally gets out with his arms in front of him. And I say, hey, man, put your arms down. Relax. He goes over to the sergeant's car, because I had come in on a little bit sideways. The sergeant came in behind. He's standing there and I go get the passenger. Passenger, same thing. I have to almost pry his hands off the dashboard. He gets out too. And he almost, it's almost, everything is like Frankenstein, right? Everything's tight and so he goes to the car and there's a bottle of PCP

Starting point is 00:58:29 and I have it now so I take it and hand it to the sergeant I said I'm going to get the dog and I'm going to run the dog on the car to see what we get as far as indications go sergeant puts the PCP on the windshield wiper of the car

Starting point is 00:58:49 of his car so the windshield It's sitting there. It's like this, right? And they're just standing there. Just whatever. Totally disassociated. I get the dog out. I start running the dog.

Starting point is 00:59:03 And as the dog comes around the passenger side, I look back and the passenger jumps on the hood of the police car over the sergeant and goes for the PCP. A sergeant I was working was like 6'4 is big guy. He grabs him. And the dude bites him in the hand. Now, I turn with the dog and look at the driver. And the driver does like the cartoon with his feet. And I'm like, don't do it, man, don't do it.

Starting point is 00:59:35 And he fucking takes off. And at the time, we had the edict. The dog, we can't use the dog for apprehension. Because I would have put the dog on someone's ass. You know? I put the dog, this amazing 80-pound check shepherd. in the car. She was, right?

Starting point is 00:59:56 I put her in the car and now I'm chasing this guy down across the, we're calling for other cars. And at the time, we wore a New Jersey trooper uniform. So we had the Sam Brown, the cross strap. We had all the jewelry, like the whistle aneward and all the, like the shit on our collars. We look so good. I mean, we look good, right? I'm running after this fucking guy. And as I'm going, we get into the.

Starting point is 01:00:21 woods. I'm screaming stop, right? And my shit's ripping off. The radio comes off me, which is, again, all these, you learn from these experiences, you know, he stops, we're in the woods. He circles back, like we're going back, and you hear the sirens, right? And he stops and he starts doing that Frankenstein walk again, and I just crush him from behind. Like, boom. He does a full, I probably weighed 210 at the time, maybe 220, maybe 210, I don't know. He does a push up with me on his back, maybe 220 because all my gear, right, that it was on and shit. When I just whisper in his ear, I go, hey, man, no one will hear us. And he, for some reason, just took that as scary enough threat, I guess, that he put his hands behind his back.

Starting point is 01:01:16 And I handcuffed him as fast as I could. when I handcuffed him and got him back to his feet, he wouldn't move. So I'm like trying to drag this guy out of the woods. I'm soaking wet, dirty, my shits off. Communications is calling for me. And the town that now arrived to back us up, the sergeant had this guy under control. He's like, hey, my partner's off in the woods with this other dude. We need to go.

Starting point is 01:01:45 We need to go. We need to find him, right? I haven't heard from them. Just as I'm coming through, they sent two guys come in. And they're like, hey, man, okay, we took custody of this guy and everything like that. And it was a, that was an interesting experience. But again, I always look back on that. The dog would have been a, might have been an equalizer in that case because I probably

Starting point is 01:02:07 would have sent the dog on the dude that took off. Now, again, I've seen dogs take people high. And they just, you know, there's that fame. You probably don't even know. maybe some people do, but there's a famous video of a Belgian melanawa hanging off a guy's arm on PCP and he's just looking at the dog, just looking at the dog. I mean, that's like, yeah, okay, you know, so you don't know in those situations. Those are very dangerous situations.

Starting point is 01:02:34 Another story is now long into my career, I don't know if I was a sergeant or not, but I was out on a, again, I worked a lot of midnight. I worked 15 years. That's where all the action was, I think, you know, for the most part. you chose to do midnight? I did, you know, because as a, I was a drug recognition expert. I was an instructor, a canine guy, right? All the calls were at night for service. And remember, if we go back, I was the only patrol dog in the county in like two counties. My first year out, I did so many callouts. Like all the towns were like, hey, we got a dog, we got a dog. Let's go. And, you know,

Starting point is 01:03:08 even on my nights off, I would go out to help, you know, do an open air sniff on a car, do a, do a track, whatever. But I hadn't had a dog this time. I stopped handling in 2016. So I had two dogs. My first dog that we've been talking about, she bloated and passed. Her stomach flipped. She passed away. And that was like tough because she did.

Starting point is 01:03:33 There were so many, we did so many great jobs. I mean, I was just an idiot. And she made me look like a hero. Like, you know, they look at you. And I'll tell you a story about a tracking word I got after this one. Well, I'll tell it to you now. The dog was really regulated. And the chief wanted to know where I was going and what I was doing with the dog if I was going out of jurisdiction.

Starting point is 01:03:58 You know? And I was in Patterson at drug recognition expert school. We were doing our clinicals, right? And I'll tell you a little bit about the DREs and what we did. And it was a hot summer night. and we're, I'm coming back and the chief calls me. He's like, hey, the chief of this town just called me. And he's dealing with a kidnapping and a sexual assault.

Starting point is 01:04:27 And the dude fled and they're looking and they need a dog. I'm like, I said, so I'm green. He's like, you're green. All right. So I get out there on this highway in New Jersey. And it's a four lane highway. two, one way, two, the other way. And I get the story, I get up on it, and the car, the van is pushed into the Jersey barrier.

Starting point is 01:04:54 And the cop tells me, you know, you get the brief, you know. He was coming up the highway, and there's this half-naked woman from the waist down coming down the road with her arms. It's a busy area. You know, he's like, here we go. She had taken her husband to work in Newark. She had her child with him. I think the kid was, I don't even know how young, two, three, I don't know. She got carjacked, abducted.

Starting point is 01:05:27 And the dude was sexually assaulting her while driving around, you know. So I think he made some sort of comment that he, was going to kill her or something. And she's like, all right, if this is it, I'm going to go out swinging, I guess, you know. Runs the car in the Jersey barrier. He goes over the, he bolts, flows over the barrier, over the guardrail, down, and gone. All right. It's hot out, August night. So I take the dog, we start tracking, and the dog starts going. And I have a couple guys with me that back up because it's my job to watch the dog and obviously if we get into anything you want to you know and we're tracking and we're tracking under all kinds of conditions so we're

Starting point is 01:06:19 talking hard surface we were in the woods we were on the railroad we were in a development we're tracking and it's fucking hot and just as i'm about to give up on this track i think we're a mile in maybe i remember look at the mat the dog i see something with the dog And I look and the dog's got a credit card in her mouth. He dropped it. And I'm like, holy shit, this really works. You know, we're on our way, right? So we're tracking, tracking, tracking.

Starting point is 01:06:55 The dog was spot on because we get to a fork. We go right. The dog goes right. And we go to a dead end. And on the other side of the dead end are stones, a drop off down until like a stream and shit. and just as I'm about to think about it, the dog turns around, it comes back. And now we start heading out. We get to the corner and we make it right.

Starting point is 01:07:21 And the dog's carriage changes. You can tell something's about to happen. And I see a bike on the sidewalk. And we're in a little bit of an industrial area now too. And the dog gets to the bike. stops and does what they call a headspin does a hard turn left and now we're on a sidewalk street lawn hedgerow about three feet high and a wall and the wall was a business of industrial business right and i turn and this fucking guy no shirt on sweating bleeding he comes out like

Starting point is 01:08:05 from the bush now i turn her and now i'm going to cut her I'm like, give her the voice inflection, watch them. And I'm getting ready to say, get them and cut her loose. I can't believe it, man. We're like the two cops that were with me are riding on the hood of the police cars that were following us. And I was getting so hot that I didn't want to burn the dog out. It was just at the end of it, you know. I'm getting ready to cut her loose.

Starting point is 01:08:35 And this little, I say little respectfully, female cops. female police officer, linebackers, this dude, comes out of nowhere and just waffles this guy. I can feel my fingers coming off the collar to send the dog, right? And then it was pile on the rabbit. I rehooked up the dog. They couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. So this one, I follow him in an ambulance along with other.

Starting point is 01:09:09 police vehicles from that jurisdiction. We get to the hospital. And I want to interview the guy because I want to know were we on that track? Was it coincidence or were we on the track, right? We were on the track, you know? So I'm leaving and one of the guys, a sergeant shows up with a styrofoam diner container with a fucking steak and mashed potatoes. and I'm like, hey, man, thank you.

Starting point is 01:09:40 I'm really hungry. It took a lot out of me. He goes, it's not for you. It's for the dog. So I was like, all right, that's great. Yeah, my dog had a, had a, when we were out of school, I think we were out of a cent. I don't know what we were, but her real first 10 hours on the road, she had a drug arrest.

Starting point is 01:10:02 We found drugs in a car, yeah. But so she passed when when she was, for we had won some competitions. We competed. You know, it made me a better handler. It made her a better operator. I wanted to train all the time, you know, because I've been on jobs before where we're called out. And when you're there, everyone's looking to you.

Starting point is 01:10:28 And if you're not training, then they look at you like you're a joke. But if you're squared away and you train with the dog, you can't ask a dog to do something if you're not training. right um so then there was a brief um a brief period when i didn't have a dog very brief and then um and then i got my my next canine nico he was a big male and so when she would get out of the car beba her stage name was freedom the kids named her we did a naming thing for 9-11 they called her freedom i always called her beba when she would get out of the car she'd go to work And the funny thing about having the female, we go back to that, is when I competed on the, so there's a obedience field, agility field, a box field. And there's boxes. There's six and there's a decoy that hides and shit and whatever. But anytime she would go, the handlers behind me would be pissed off because the male dogs would smell the female and kind of, you know, that's that natural tendency to want to sniff and. do all kinds of shit.

Starting point is 01:11:39 But she was all work, right? She was all work. At the time I was dating this girl and she was yelling at me for something. And she came right into a heel next to me. And I'm like, okay. She had your back. Fuck yeah. That dog would tear anyone limb from limb for me.

Starting point is 01:12:01 And that's why it was devastating when she passed. The loyalty there, like you'd be tracking. and you'd have some guys with you, but they couldn't keep up. And now you find yourself the bad guy, you and the dog. And the dog's like, hey, man, I'm not going to let you down. And our Danny McSweeney, those guys, when we would work apprehensions, they would tell you, you got to get in there with the dog. Don't be that soft bitch that stands back.

Starting point is 01:12:31 The dog's not going to respect that. Get in there with the dog. Don't let anybody hurt your dog. Are those dogs trained to evade bullets or weapons or evade them? Yeah, like can they get shit? Like if they're taking gunfire, can they maneuver at all? No, that's John Wickshit. I don't think we can do that.

Starting point is 01:12:48 No, they're not. I mean, are they trained to notice if a gun's being pointed at them at all or no? I don't know. I don't think so. But, you know, with the war on terror, right, you look at the teams, the SEAL teams, special forces and I think other teams that deploy high-speed dogs. The training has become so much better. I mean, we talk about bedbug dogs, cancer dogs, dogs that can detect.

Starting point is 01:13:14 I think there's like 220 million olfactories. I mean, you're using the dog for the dog's nose, no matter what it is. The nose is the primary thing you're using a dog for. But she just was a no-shit animal, right? And I'm happy at the time I wasn't married and didn't have kids because she just wouldn't. yeah she just don't pet me just i want to work you know just where when are we going to work you know and you know losing her was tough on me because of the loyalty the training you think about it she was with me for 12 hours a day on the road and then we'd go home together so you're with the

Starting point is 01:14:00 dog like and or you're trained like you're always with the dog you know and i had that attitude that she would protect me and I would protect her. So my male came into play and Nico. And he was kind of the opposite, right? When we get on a job, he didn't want to get out, he'd want to piss, he'd want to sniff something. You know, and I'd have to pull him, I'd have to straighten him out and get him to work. But when he worked, amazing dog, right? Love my children.

Starting point is 01:14:36 And they loved him. him. And that's the emotional part of it. He got cancer. And, you know, the first dog, we did a big ceremony, did a memorial service. A lot of cops came, you know. The second dog, I knew it was time, right? So I had limited his patrol work as he was getting sicker. And then it came to the point where I limited his search work for narcotics. So I'd leave him at the house. I lived a town away. And I would go pick him up and then bring him to work.

Starting point is 01:15:18 Because they want to work. They want to, you know, they're in the car spinning and ready to go. The lights come on. They know and they want to go. And then in the end when I knew he couldn't work anymore and it was getting close. And the doctors were like, hey, you know, do the human. make do the right thing you know so that i called the vet and um my children went to school they were young i think they were like in kindergarten i'm not sure whether kindergarten or first grade i'm not sure

Starting point is 01:15:51 you know i was married at the time and um you know i put on my dressing uniform and um it was tough still to this day you know took them Blade with him. A lot of guys wanted to come. I said, let me just do this on my own, you know, and did.

Starting point is 01:16:15 And, uh, went home and the toughest thing was telling the kids that he was gone. They didn't understand. And there's a picture my ex-wife took of my son running out to my patrol car. It was all blacked out, the windows and stuff, and him laying on the back, looking, trying to look through the,

Starting point is 01:16:39 window saying it can't be gone that was hard that that that wrote my heart out so that was that was tough that was tough and uh that was the end of my canine career that was it that was it i was going to be promoted going to move on to some other things other other aspects and shit the laws are amazing you know they're just amazing creatures that you know just so many great things to say especially people in the military or in police work or even, I don't know, Roscoe the bed bog, dog and shit. When you get to work with a dog, there's a bond, you know. It takes a little while for you to reach that apex where the bond happens. But there's a bond.

Starting point is 01:17:26 And we had an amazing career. We did a lot of fun shit. Saw a lot of things. You know, I tracked a guy one night. Alzheimer's patient. I think said it right. My girlfriend always corrects me. He's out in the woods. I can't find this dude, you know. And for some reason, Nico was relatively friendly, but he didn't like this dude. We found him. And he's laying in his tidy whitey's in a mud puddle. And the dog tracked and found him. And I'm like, he doesn't want to move. So I have to tie the dog off to a tree. I think that's what upset him. And I have to go in and get. get this guy. And I go in and get this guy. And the same thing, right? He wants to go back in the mud puddle. I got to carry him, like, out. Not too far because I called and they were coming, you know,

Starting point is 01:18:23 and I said, I have to go back and get my dog, you know, but he found that guy. Then I guess that'll lead us to my second Valor incident kind of along the way. I was working one cold night of February night. It was like, fucking 12 degrees outside freezing cold. And we, another town had pulled over a subject in our town. And we were going over to back them up. And in our town was a canal system. And it was frozen. And then there was a path. And they used to pull these barges on it years and years ago. And the other side of that is a Rountain River. So we go up, I get out. And the guy that is going to the arrest, he's a, he's a veteran, and he did a lot of DWI, so I knew he knew his stuff, you know, and he gives, he knows his guy's a resident. So he kind of wants to see what's

Starting point is 01:19:25 going on, maybe Kurt, I don't know what he was thinking, but he gives, he does this to me, and I'm going to nod my head, just like, just like that, right? He sees this and he takes off running. We run after him across the street, and this dude does a sitter onto the ice and slides out into the middle of this canal where the ice

Starting point is 01:19:51 breaks. Holy cow. Oh yeah, man. February, like 12 degrees outside. So we call, and everybody's calling for help. My partner goes to the other side. I'm on this side.

Starting point is 01:20:03 Everyone's coming. I'm like, come on. What are you doing, man? This is nuts. What, like, what's got, like,

Starting point is 01:20:11 and get the fuck you. I'm going to kill my. myself, I can't live anymore, and all this bullshit. And I knew this guy. So the fire department arrives and they're trying to get the boat and trying to get the shit together. And he turns and he's like, save, he's calling me officer fit. He's like, save me. He's like, save me. And there's a waterfall right there, by the way. So at the time, I don't know if he was chief or lieutenant, but he's there. And I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, I took off my gum belt.

Starting point is 01:20:46 He goes, what are you doing? I go, someone's got to get him. Like, I'm not going to, we're not going to be in the paper tomorrow saying local police let dude die because they don't like him. So he took my gum belt, but he was a volunteer fireman too. They put a, I put a life preserve run real fast over my uniform and they hooked the line to me. And, you know, I grew up at the shore, I surfed, used to some of that. It was cold. And I started walking out and started getting deeper.

Starting point is 01:21:15 and deeper and I'm like, I'm coming, calm down, I'm coming, deeper and deeper. And now it Ved. Now, just before I step off where I can't touch anymore, I looked at them. I'm like, I'm about to grab you if you do anything. You know. So I did, and just for good measure, I gave me a little dunk, flipped them around and then grabbed them and then started working my way back out. I was going to send the dog. So going back, I was going to send the dog out on a long line to grab them, but whatever. We get out, you know, now everybody's there. And I know that the condition I put myself in was very bad. Shivering, like, so I'm going to get in the back of an ambulance. I'm going to get out of all my clothes, get everything off as quickly as possible. And I get down to my underwear,

Starting point is 01:22:14 and I'm wrapped in an aunt. There's two or three ambulances. There's two or three ambulants. And I wrap myself up in a blanket and the heat's running. And the volunteers open the back door and they're going to put him in the ambulance with me. And I'm like, you know, beat it. Go put him in another rig, you know, you know, anyway. So the guy worked with at the time instead of saying, hey, it's like four in the morning, you know, or five in them or, yeah, 3.30, four in the morning, whatever. Go home. Let's call in a night.

Starting point is 01:22:43 He's like, do you think he can work the rest of the shift? I'm like, yeah, let me just go home. Change and I'll be back for the two and a half hours. So that's a funny story. I get in my police car in a towel. All my shit's wet. It's in the kennel with him. I go home and I lived at this time like another couple miles away.

Starting point is 01:23:08 And I pull up and I got all this shit. And the girl that was at my house at the time, who became eventually became my wife you know I kind of kicked the door and have my key and all this shit she comes down and answers the door right and I thought I'd a little levity for the situation

Starting point is 01:23:28 she's like what happened you know I got all this shit as I'm coming in the door and I'm like you know late nights I got really tired I guess the car was in drive and you know I canine car of my own car and I go, you know, I fell asleep and I drove into the canal.

Starting point is 01:23:50 First thing she says to me, it's a dog all right. I said, no, dog's fine. And then I told her the story. So yeah, and then I got, I jumped in the shower, put on another uniform, back at it. But wasn't the other guy in worst condition because he was in there longer? Well, he went to the hospital. They put him in another ambulance and he went, he went to the hospital. Wouldn't it been risky to just wait for the fire department anyways to get there?

Starting point is 01:24:14 They couldn't get their boat blown up. And this guy screamed and saved me. Yeah, so someone had to jump in, right? Well, someone had to go in. And, you know. I'm surprised you guys even waited for them to get there. Well, it all happened pretty simultaneous. And you're assessing the situation.

Starting point is 01:24:29 You're not, it's not a long spans of time. Things are happening as you're trying to make these determinations and talk him out, hopefully get him out. It's 12 degrees outside, 15 degrees. And you're going to be going in to put yourself in that situation. Again, some people say it's silly. you know, others, whatever. So that was the...

Starting point is 01:24:47 He probably couldn't move, though, right? Like, he was pretty fucked up. He was pretty fucked up. How he, I don't know if the alcohol or the crazy kept him. Oh yeah, he might not even felt it with the alcohol. I don't even know. I don't... That's great.

Starting point is 01:24:58 Yeah, it was nuts. So that was number two in the long line of, you know, in the long line of a thousand things and, you know, pursuits. And I was going to, I was going to Duncan Duncan, Donuts in the jurisdiction next door. People say, what a surprise. Cop going to the donuts store. And the town next door had a lot of bars. And I was in a slick back.

Starting point is 01:25:29 So the car was marked, but it had no light bar on top. And they were dark blue cars. And I pulled behind a car that was stopped in the middle of the road. It was like a range rover. and I thought it was somebody letting someone out. There was a woman in the passenger side standing looking in the window. I'm like, okay, someone's getting let out of the car. No big deal, right?

Starting point is 01:25:57 And the next thing you know, the reverse lights come on and it rams me. Hard. And I'm like, fuck. So now I start to chase the vehicle and the car is not going to make it. I mean, the windshield's up, like the hood's up. It's crap. I mean, like, thank God we didn't go that far. He got out, bailed, backup was there, pile on the rabbit. We're good to go. But that dude had just did a burglary, stole the car. That woman, he hit that car and stopped. She came out. They were talking or conversing. And she's like, they're to cops. And he reversed and hit me. So, I mean, you just never know. You know, you never know. You never know. know what's going to happen. And it goes back to like what we do, right, as police officers out there.

Starting point is 01:26:57 It's changed so much, I think. You know, it's become like, they say like we're being built for comfort, right? Everything is comfort driven. Like my parents had no power steering, no power brakes, no air conditioning, you know, and then they go to it. You had to get up to change a TV channel. Now you have remotes. Now you have your phone, right?

Starting point is 01:27:20 New cell phones. Policing has evolved a lot of that way. And I was like in an era of policing where we got the MDTs in the cars, the cameras, the body camera, like everything changed, you know. But I think that I was talking to somebody about this the other day. They were lamenting over the fact that they can't find qualified candidates, which blows my mind, right? More people see it as a job and not a career. and they're more concerned with their Xboxes and their private lives and they are kind of doing the job. Like I was paying guys are getting over $100 an hour to sit on construction jobs.

Starting point is 01:27:57 Not overtime, man. Well, I love the overtime. I loved it all, but I couldn't get anybody to work, you know? And like I said to you earlier, it was tough getting that job. You know, I really cherish the work as, you know, you went through and learned the different aspects of the job. and I was fortunate to be involved in a lot of different things. The dog did a lot of work with a town next door, SWAT team, the narcotics guys and things like that.

Starting point is 01:28:27 But it just doesn't seem to be, well, he was telling me, there's not the same drive, right? There's not the same, like, this is a career. I really love it. I bleed blue, et cetera. It's hard getting candidates. And a lot, you know, He told me that where we would have, and people that know me, we would have like 10, 15 arrests in a weekend.

Starting point is 01:28:56 And that's what they have in a year. And I'm not like, things change, right? It's a different dynamic now because I think politics is involved, right? The politicians don't want to be left on the hook. Therefore, the administration, and I was, they don't want to be left on the hook. So things kind of like, you know, let's just take it easy. And with the press and podcasts and cameras and CNN and Fox and you get these 30 second clips and you don't know what goes on. I mean, what looks bad really could there could have been a ton of things that led up to that.

Starting point is 01:29:34 And no one's going to want to sit there and hear your side of the story. It's easier and more politically expedient to kind of say, hey, Thank you. We appreciate it. But, you know, we need to move on. We had a great relationship with, in our town at the time, we had a great relationship with the business owners. I was a union president for the local and a state delegate for the PBA. And it was great. We had a great relationship with, I think, our politicians, the business owners, the religious leaders. And I wanted to make that a part of it. I love the town I worked. I love the people, you know. I really took it seriously. And it was a good career. And there were a lot of stories. And I could probably go on forever. Just a million stories. And that town was weird like that.

Starting point is 01:30:28 They always said it kind of drew in. Here's one that you have what they call NCIC. I don't know if you're familiar with NCIC. The database, right? Yeah. Yeah. So you'd be running license plates and you would get these association hits, a DOB, a number, this or that, that. And I think 99% of the time when you call them it in,

Starting point is 01:30:50 if you were on that stop or whatever, it was just an association hit, right? Like, it wasn't that person, but there was something that matched that person that you were with. And one night, on a stop, we got a hit. And there was no ID. And there was this, you know, this guy was a Nigerian or somewhere, right? He was with his friend. It was late. Nothing added up. Nothing added up. The hair in the back of my neck. No one could figure this out. So I said to that one particular sergeant, I said, I'm locking him. I'm going to bring him in, right? I'm going to bring him in. And we'll look to see if this warrants him or not. So this guy went from polite to you're going to lose your job. You're a piece of shit. You're a racist. You're the devil's spawn, right?

Starting point is 01:31:45 And I remember when we got, he had one receipt in his pocket. It was a FedEx receipt. And it had some name on it that I couldn't even pronounce, like every letter in the alphabet. We bought him in, we put him on our bench, and the warrant was from the Secret Service. So I realized I'm sitting there at that point and I'm like, fuck. Like, how am I going to find someone, answer the phone, whatever? Well, I got lucky and I got this secret service agent on the phone. And he's doing the same thing I am.

Starting point is 01:32:25 Like, right? Brown eyes, brown hair, brown skin, black male. He's like, no tat. He's like, hey, man, I don't. He's like, I'm sorry. I can't be more of a help. you know and this guy's screaming that he was you know he's oh wait a minute i got something i go what he got he goes ask him and i'm looking at the receipt right and i don't even know he was

Starting point is 01:32:51 asking him if his wife's names um fu-fool do da diluted da da da and i'm reading it and he see he must see my eyes looking at the fed ex receipt because he shuts up and his head drops and i stood up and i'm like got you he's like yeah it's me he was he was Nigerian national wanted in a fraud. He was turning state's evidence. He fled and he was back and we got him. Wow. And then one of the cases that was another fun one, which made national news was we had a domestic one night. I was working with this guy. God rest of all. He was an amazing guy. He was an amazing guy. It wasn't a good police officer. You get a lot of those, right? And I think he hated we got together he hated working with me because he knew i'd be locking people up and

Starting point is 01:33:45 getting into shit and turning rocks over but he was great about it man he would do the paperwork and i think he later on felt that you know we rode together and shit or not rode in the same car but the same shift and we had a bad domestic and it was just like one of those early domestics it was a headache, a lot of paperwork, a lot of shit going on, locked up. And we were waiting for a team to transport this guy to the county. And someone came in headquarters and he went out and took it. And I was doing all the paperwork. And he walked in, he looked down at me.

Starting point is 01:34:22 I was sitting there typing away, you know, the one thing. And he's like, you're never going to believe what's in the lobby. And I go, what? And he goes, there's a guy out there. He goes, you know what? there's a guy out there telling some story, but I'm going to let you figure it out. Now I'm in an ornery mood anyway, and I go out and see this guy, and he doesn't look like, like, I don't know, he's, he looks like Cracket, right?

Starting point is 01:34:53 He just disheveled and like, eh, you know, whatever. And I go, I'm like, what do you want? What's up? What can we do for you tonight? And he's like, oh, I've got to tell you this story. He was, I think my wife. is poisoning my food and I used to do a lot of cocaine and I know it's cocaine and I'm not high. And I'm like, so you're telling me that your wife is poisoning your food with cocaine and you're not smoking Coke anymore.

Starting point is 01:35:21 You're not snorting coke anymore. He's like, I swear to God, I'm not. I swear to God, I swear to God. I'm just like, what the fuck. Sit here and wait for me. I go in, I go, this is crazy. This is like, where do we begin? where do we begin right so at the time and i still think they have to we have to contact the county

Starting point is 01:35:41 prosecutor to look at these chart like what we're going to be doing and shit like that and the guy that i contacted the time was an asshole nobody liked him and i told him i'm like i know i'm contacting you and i know what you're going to say and he did he's like don't call me back until you have a confession this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard right so it was a little bit of a a little bit of a rough thing click i go back out there i go tell me your story he's like well you know i like spaghetti i'm like okay you like spaghetti i like spaghetti too and there's tomato tomato sauce i go i know the spaghetti and sauce he's like and you know parmesan cheese and i'm like yeah yeah come on come on come on come on he's like she's putting coke in my food i'm like all right

Starting point is 01:36:29 I'm like, all right, because I can feel it. So I go, where is she? He's like, well, she, a few weeks ago, came down with this kidney disorder. I go, okay, like Friday night, right? And every Friday night and some Saturday nights, she has to go for dialysis. And I'm like, Friday and Saturday nights, she goes for dialysis. He goes, yeah, between like seven and ten. And then she comes home.

Starting point is 01:37:00 She gets all dressed up. She gets all dressed up. Then she goes. I'm like, really? And he's like, yeah. I go, give me your phone number. I'm looking at my partner. I call her because she's supposed to be a dialysis.

Starting point is 01:37:19 She answers the phone. Now, for a split second, I don't know if it's the dialysis or she's running a marathon. on quickly I realize it all goes up right she's getting laid i said hey i said sorry she's like she was nasty tit what do you want who is this i saw the you know i'm like look i go officer fitting i have a little bit of a problem here and it would be really really great if i could clear this up by morning and then i use some of my gift of gab to get her she goes i'll be down there in a little while. I'm tied up right now.

Starting point is 01:38:07 Literally. So I go like this. I go at dialysis and she hangs up the phone. So I said, I think she's going to come down, not literally, but come down to the come down, right? So we isolate his ass and she comes down. And I take her in a conference room. there's no like there's no real way to prove like we're lost at sea on this i need a confession so again i'm sitting across from her she sits down she's good looking girl and um she's pissed

Starting point is 01:38:47 you know she's like what am i doing here and i'm like hey and i did the spiel it might be wrong might be right but i'm like you're not under arrest i just need to talk to you You just want to let you know, you have the right to remain silent. And anything you say, Ken will be used against your court law. I've written attorney, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So she's looking at me. And I go, all right. A little crazy.

Starting point is 01:39:11 Appreciate you coming down on such short notice. But, you know, thank you. She's go, all right, let's fucking get to it. All right. I go, you're married, right? She goes, yeah. I said, okay. I go, how are you feeling?

Starting point is 01:39:27 issues. She goes, what do you mean, how am I feeling? Well, your husband said that you came down with some sort of rare kidney thing and you're getting dialysis every Friday and some Saturday nights. So she kind of scoffs at it a little bit. It doesn't say anything to me. And I kind of sighed out my partner a little bit. So now I'm going to go in for the kill. I'm like, yeah, well, he's also saying that you're spiking his pasta with blow. Right? Her head drops. And I remember looking up and going, like, no, like, we're about to dance, right?

Starting point is 01:40:12 This is true. And here we're dismissing this poor bastard. She picks her head up and she slams her hands down. She's like, I hate that fucking bastard. Fuck him. She goes, yes, I'm having an affair. Yes, he had a cocaine problem. And I want to call Dyphus, and I want him to piss hot so I can take the kid.

Starting point is 01:40:32 And she's going. And I'm not saying anything. I'm just letting her go. And we're recording all the way. And I'm like, you got to be shitting me. I said, okay, you're under arrest. Like we, you know, it comes at the matter, the whole thing. I called that prosecutor back.

Starting point is 01:40:48 I'm like, hey, let me play you the tape. Even he was like, no shit. So that made national news, woman that spikes husbands. How much time did she end up getting? I don't even know. She did time. There's like a case in that in Richfield in the town we're in. I don't know if the guy died.

Starting point is 01:41:07 She tried to poison her husband. I think she's out on bail fighting the case. She tried to poison him with something over some type of whatever. We got a search warrant. We found the Coke. us it was down in the laundry room. We did all that. I did a job one night. The county calls us on the radio and says, hey, can you go inside and take a phone call from the New York City Police Department? Now, I got to remember, right? Big jurisdictions like Newark and New York City,

Starting point is 01:41:38 they don't come out very often. Like, you get a guy in a Newark warrant at the time for like 300 bucks, they're not coming to get them. And now you're stuck with this bastard, you know, whatever. So I go in and they give me the number. This dude answers the phone. He's like, hey, man, Manhattan Homicide North. And I'm like, okay, what's up? And he's like, hey, do you have this person in your jurisdiction and I found this name? Do you have a record of her? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, yeah, yeah, we actually do. Matter of fact, she had a domestic the other night. Did it, da, da, da, da.

Starting point is 01:42:16 He's like, do me a favor. Go scoop her up. And we're coming. And I'm like, yeah, no. I said, you have a warrant? They're like, we're coming. Can you get her? I'm like, no.

Starting point is 01:42:30 He's like, come on. I was like, all right. I said, you better be coming. Don't give me this bullshit that you got over the bridge or the tunnel and you, you know, whatever. I was a supervisor. I think it was a sergeant. I don't even know.

Starting point is 01:42:45 Called my buddy and called my partner. I'm like, yeah, I got to figure this out. So we went around the corner and they had the domestic and I'm like, okay, I'll tell them, which they didn't. There were mistakes in the domestic. So I said, hey, I get to the house. The mother answers the door, this woman. And I was like, is your daughter hung? And she's like, what the fuck do you want?

Starting point is 01:43:08 I go, hey, listen, I need to get a statement. I need to do some additional paperwork. Not my mess, but it would really help me. Like, I'll give you ride, you know, pick up a soda. Like, please help me out, right? We'll be down to 10 minutes. All right, now the clock starts. I got them.

Starting point is 01:43:29 They're coming. He goes, we're on our way. I'm like, well, hurry to fuck up. So we bring him in, put him in a conference. room and I start. I'm like, can you fill this out? Can you fill this out? Can you give me a statement? Can you fill this out? Can you fill this out? And it is ticking. And they're like, I'm like, going to buy him dinner, whatever, right? Call in the, like, where are you? And they're like, well, you know, we don't come out of the city very often. We're lost. I'm like, we are lost. What do you mean you're lost? He's like, my partner missed the turn. We're not on 78. We're on a southern highway. I'm like, do you have a red light in that car? And he's like, yeah, I go. turn it on or they're going home. So I sent my partner up onto the highway to expedite this. I go find them, get them here.

Starting point is 01:44:17 They do. So two well-dressed detectives, a male and a female, totally like you see in the movies, right? Even the guy's got an ankle holster, pinstripe suit on. And they come in, they shake our hands, very little is said, whatever. So he says to me where do they live and I told them he's like can you put can you ask one of your guys to sit on the house? I'm like, okay.

Starting point is 01:44:48 He comes in the room with his partner, a male and a female and they start talking to her. Now I noticed too that her hand was wrapped up and I'd asked her how to it happened and she told me from something else. I thought it was the domestic. So they introduced themselves now. They're like, hey, NYPD detective, NYP. And they're like, yeah, we're not in New York. What's the New York City Police Department doing here? Now, I'm waiting here too because I'm a little confused why there's two homicide detectives sitting in my in my PD.

Starting point is 01:45:22 And they start talking. And they start getting into her and they're kind of speaking in code in a way. Like she's like you you don't know these people and they're going back and forth, but I still can't grasp what's happening. And he turns and looks at me and says something like, do you have a, I forget what they're called in New York, not assistant prosecutors, DAs. Do you have a D.A. I'm like, finally I'm like, yo, let's go outside, right? I'm like, what's going on here? Like, what's going on?

Starting point is 01:45:55 you know and just at that point my partner calls and says there are about six people that just came out of the bushes and he's like they're my guys so now we have like eight to 10 NYPD detectives in this postage stamp I'm like what's going on and he's like I'll show you and he takes a video of McGee Hickey who's on the New York 11 news and she's interviewing this guy who is eviscerating the New York City Police Department, like incompetent idiots. This crew was going around Manhattan, smashing counters and taking the cell phones.

Starting point is 01:46:41 And the guy was like, the NYPD even has her license that was dropped. So he's like, I go, well, I still don't understand. Did someone die? He's like, no, but you have to understand that when the mayor, the police commissioner, and the chiefs see that, everyone gets brought in to this mess because we were embarrassed or we were like being called out on our shit, you know, best police department in the world, arguably, you know, the third largest standing army. And he's like, The person that dropped her ID is sitting in that room.

Starting point is 01:47:32 And we want to do our thing with her. Flipper. I think it was a cell phone thing with a gang stealing the phones and reselling them and doing some shit up in part of Jersey. Now we have to worry about it. So he's like, hey, can we get a search warrant for that? We go through his whole process. And it was almost like inviting the vampire in. I got the search warrant or the consent to get into the Africa, which it was.

Starting point is 01:48:01 And when we did, so they got, they cleaned this. Like, they bum rushed around me. They found the sneakers with the blood because it was her hand. They found the sneakers with the blood, self. They found all kinds of shit. So now they have to extradite her. And they ended up. She ended up voluntarily.

Starting point is 01:48:28 I'm not into the legalese shit. She ended up voluntarily going with them back to the jerk, back to NY and the New York City Police Department. And it was funny because we were left with these other guys. And I had told my partner, they were there to do like technical work. I said, hey, man, go get these guys, get a box of Joe, get a bunch of donuts that are in our house. Let's show them hospitality.

Starting point is 01:48:53 They loved that. And they were like, it was like dudes that never left the city. Like they were like, wow, these are the burbs. Like, look at this is beautiful out here. I'm like, really? I'm like, you guys don't get out often, you know? And then they had this one guy. I'll never forget it.

Starting point is 01:49:08 He was like, I don't know what he was, but he didn't look like a cop at all. And I think he said he was one of these technical guys. He sat in a basement. But this dude, they were talking to him. He's like, yeah, he goes, I can get him on this camera coming out of the subway. I can get him on this camera at 34, like at the street. I can get a camera pull from one of the tat. Like this dude was like, like marking it out.

Starting point is 01:49:32 It was crazy listening to him. He knew everything about it. He's like, yeah, I got a camera everywhere. He's like, I can find you in the city. And I'm like, holy shit. I'm not going to the city anymore. But yeah, so that was. Did you follow the outcome or you didn't care?

Starting point is 01:49:48 I followed a lot of these outcomes. You forget about them. I'm not the best memory. Like, there's so many stories and there's so many things that go on that, like, you know, then I don't, I laugh. I shouldn't start it by laughing. Then I almost shot this guy, me and my partner. We had a call for a man chasing a woman with a knife at the same apartment complex, right? And I'm only like right around the corner.

Starting point is 01:50:17 So I'm going to be on top of this in a second. So I am. I pull in and I know the dude, but he's got a knife and a box cutter in his hand. And he is like turned towards the victim who's this, she was like in her 20s, real pain in the ass. And he was turned towards her. And I came in, got out and drew my firearm and took my firearm and took. said, hey, look at me, drop what you're going to drop, you know, drop the knives. And I remember this cartoonish, like, moment.

Starting point is 01:51:01 She turned to run more and, like, she weighed a few pounds. And she slipped and fell. Like, I just see her feet come up in the air into the bushes. Now, he's walking towards me. And I'm telling him, you know, stop. And at the time we had MNPs, but we had these crimson trace lasers on them. He had a white shirt on. And my gun was right on him.

Starting point is 01:51:35 And I could see the laser on his white shirt. I can see the mark. And I'm yelling, you know, everything I can, don't do this. Stop. You're under arrest. Don't. And I'm out, like, ready to go, right? And I had made the determination that if he crossed over.

Starting point is 01:51:51 the curb to come around the minute he crosses the yellow curb line, I was going to pull the trigger. And my partner's coming in too. And he's, there's a video. I've never seen the video, but he's got his gun out too. And he stops right at the curb. And he's standing there staring at me. And I'm like, put down the fuck. Put him down. Put him down. Put him down. And he's just staring at me. And I'm like, oh fuck so he drops to he goes down in like a position drops both of the things partner comes in we flatten him out and handcuff him i'm like what the fuck honestly almost you know he was right around george floyd toes like oh fuck me holy shit right he goes were gonna shoot me i go yeah so he's home chilling out and he's usually a chiller

Starting point is 01:52:52 dude anyway. He always gets into trouble, little domestics. The girlfriend, whose daughter it was, they have domestics all the time, throw each other out, fight, whatever. Well, he's home chilling, feet up. He's eating her watermelon. She comes home and sees him eating the watermelon and says, I'm going to call some pipe hitters from the two jurisdictions away, some bangers, and they're going to fuck you up they're gonna shoot you so she's on i guess with them he gets a knife and a box cutter and i think she was the girlfriend called mine and one one he follows her out to hear if these dudes are going to be coming and he's gonna he's uh he called me ulster fit ulster fits i was gonna be ready for him i'm like okay right so that's how that and she said it he got come home that lazy

Starting point is 01:53:50 motherfuckers eat my watermelon. I work all day and he's got his feet up and shit. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. People are crazy. So we go to court. I think we charge him with harassment. He's like, you're going to charge me. I'm going to charge you. We go to court. And I would, when we had court duty, the judge would sit to my right and I would sit up on the bench. It was a council chamber bench, like nothing crazy. And I would look out at the audience, just watch. And they call it. um first appearance and they come and he comes up and the judge is reading it and his girlfriend who was a character stands up and says your honor can i speak he's like go ahead what i what do you

Starting point is 01:54:39 have to say she goes awesome fits could have shot him and he would have been justified in it and then he chimes in and goes he would have been justified your honor i had the you know he's like telling him this and they're going through this that he really could have shot him and he did a great job and he didn't shoot him and you know they said they said you know how them white cops are they shoot everybody and he looks over me like what is going on and i'm like and he's like do plead not guilty not guilty right we go into chambers later on he goes so it was it was a pretty interesting that was an interesting interesting thing and i would see him all the time too and he would be like hey man thanks for not shooting me.

Starting point is 01:55:19 Well, thank you. Are you staying out of trouble? He ended up getting a job and doing his thing. And, you know, you run into so many different things and goes through a point, right? And why I'm here today and to talk about resiliency is I saw so many things and did so many things. There were highs and lows. And the most important thing is being able to readjust and being able to get up off your knees, get up from from the problems you had and make things happen.

Starting point is 01:55:53 Not every day is a bad day. I think people get fooled when they think that they deserve happiness. Like happiness is just going to be piped in. Every morning when you wake up, a plate of happiness is going to come to you and you get to eat it and spend the day happy. And that's not the way life is. You know? So through all of these things you learn,

Starting point is 01:56:14 you take away the lessons from the people that you deal with, some good, some bad. Sometimes you act the way they act. You know, you deal with a lot of bad shit and see a lot of bad shit. You know, I was working, I was working. I was working, I think it was a day after New Year's with a guy. And this woman who was an older woman lived across from one of the parks we had. She hated everybody.

Starting point is 01:56:47 and we had an ordinance in town where you couldn't play basketball after the sun went down, like the park was closed after dusk. She would call, like, it would be dusk by the Weather Channel app, but it really wouldn't be dusk. You know, she would call, call, call, call, basketball, basketball, basketball, every night, every night. In the summer, we were always there, clear to park, blah, blah, blah, so much so that we all, our chief at the time. they changed the policy that you had to do these park checks. So the call came in for an unresponsive mail, her tenant on the second floor. So we respond, it's two-car response. We talked to one another.

Starting point is 01:57:34 Generally, the one car is going to grab a jump bag, O2, the other car is going to bring a DFB in. The guy I was working with at the time got there before me, went up the stairs, and turned left. I followed. And we almost headbutted one another because I came up and he met me back at the door and he was like it's a homicide. It's a homicide. He has no head. And I'm like, what? So now he draws his firearm and goes past me to start clearing.

Starting point is 01:58:10 And I go down the hall and I see down the hall the legs. Like somebody would be sitting there with their legs at a 90 degree angle. I see the legs. So I get into the room and I see a rifle on the floor and this dude's head is gone. And on the bed, his face looks like a rubber Halloween mask. And we end up getting through all this, you know, and there's an interesting side note to that in all this. in all this macab humor like all this stuff you always cops have really really uh weird sense of humor you know the m e comes out find a suicide note it was a world war two mouser rifle you know and the m e comes out

Starting point is 01:59:11 and she's like oh yeah you know oh yeah he's dead and well you know his head's missing his teeth are in the ceiling And then the medical examiner, the meat wagon shows up, for lack of a better term, the two men that come, or women, or whomever they are at this case or two men that come to package him up and transport him. They come up. And the one dude, they go into the room. And the one dude's like, uh-uh, uh-uh, no way. No fucking way. I didn't sign up for this shit.

Starting point is 01:59:47 And he bolts out. It was his first day on the job. He got hired like January 1 to start. Now he's here and sees this poor bastard with his head blown off. So then that was kind of the fun, not fun, the levity, the funniness of it, watching him say, I'm not going into that room. And then we're left helping them, you know, them straighten up, straighten up the mess a little bit. But that was it.

Starting point is 02:00:13 But again, the pain that he must have felt prior to doing that, we contacted a family member. And it just, they didn't seem to really take it the way we thought they would. I mean, death notifications are. I think any police officer has done death notifications. I've done a few in my career. They're difficult to do, you know. That's a tough, tough, tough part of the career, you know, if it's kids or, you know, your loved one. I always think about that when I've been around people.

Starting point is 02:00:51 Like that, you know, I was around one where a woman was going out and she, a big water truck, like one of the kinds that delivered water, came in and they went off the road and crushed her. But you could see her, you know. And there was a rookie cop there. And I get there. Because it, you know, it was. It was. chaos down below like up top was calm you have the i saw the tire tracks and i saw the police car but that was really it and i get out and get out and he is i could tell us the first time he had seen anything like that and he's there and he goes i think she's dead and i go she's dead yeah she's gone you know and i talked to him for a little while and he had that same feeling you know she just woke up She was an older lady. She just woke up retirement community. She got dressed in her Sunday best to go meet her friends.

Starting point is 02:02:00 Now she's dead. He's like, do you think she knew? Do you think, like, I don't get it. You know, one minute you're here and the next year, you're gone. And I'm like, that's right. That's right. So thank every second for every day that you're here and put it out of your head. And I'm not expert in any of that stuff.

Starting point is 02:02:21 you know, I've seen enough bad things in my career that I think as I retired, they've played apart a little bit and sometimes the way I manage certain things. But yeah, so. How long was your career? 25 years with special time and my regular time. So I got to see some critical. crazy shit. Oh, with the same department. No, I had a couple years in Seaside and then up to this department. And that, I guess, leads into my last, the last Valor award that I received at the end of my career, which is an interesting story about leadership. So I'll talk about a little bit about the specialty work I did as a drug recognition expert. I was an instructor. And what that is,

Starting point is 02:03:16 is an individual trained to recognize people under the influence below the legal limit, right? So standard DWI is. Someone gets arrested. Alcohol. They come in and they blow in above the per se. So I think it's 08. You know, you blow 1-1 or 1-2, so forth and so on. So now you put that same theory of, let's say,

Starting point is 02:03:45 it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Someone runs off the road, hits a porch, police arrive, they smell alcohol. They do standardized field sobriety test. The person's all over the place. They bring them in,

Starting point is 02:03:57 and they blow like an 03. And then they're like, what happened here? That's where they bring the DRE in. So you can think about like prescription medications or recreational. You know, like there's always the easy one heroin,

Starting point is 02:04:12 you know, pinpoint locked pupils on the knot. and things like that. So that was my other specialty. The big arrests, the big push for me was DWIs. I did a lot of those and saw a lot of people under the influence. And that program is a nationwide program. You have to get your nationwide certification, standardized systematic program of 12 steps and the whole thing. I won't get too far into it. But the end of the training, you have to do live subjects, right? So we were in Patterson and there's a grant and detectives go out and find people under the influence and they agree to come in and sit with us.

Starting point is 02:04:59 And then we take their pulse and their blood pressure and we look at their eyes and we give them standardized field sobriety tests and we start to really understand what that person looks like. And I did a lot of work. They're task forces. I don't know if there are any more in New Jersey, but there are task forces. And I was on a task force. I did work for the state police at our county barracks when they would need help and stuff like that. They would bring me in and stuff. And you saw a lot of funny things, right? I mean, I'm sure you've seen drug use and what people are like. We talked about PCP, you know, marijuana. Marijuana is, I don't know, probably the most I would say used and mundane.

Starting point is 02:05:43 I don't know, you know, but when you're talking about other stuff, cocaine, fentanyl heroin, and fencycladine, and, you know, all kinds of things. People, you know, act differently. And I remember when we first got Narcan in our town, you know, they only limited us that we only had like three Narcan boxes, you know, and there was that one time that we had a female. not that it matters, but she, they narc her in the morning, they narcant her in the afternoon, they narcotics and we're like, we're out. She don't go to the hospital. We're out. Like, better not, you know, better stop.

Starting point is 02:06:28 But anytime you gnar, well, not anytime. Let me back up. A lot of times when you narcant someone and you bring them back, they're not very happy to see you. I think you're impeding on their high. you know um but yeah anyway so my career droned on and um had a lot of interesting experiences served with a number of great police officers and police departments i mean i think it takes a lot to put on the badge especially now too i say that even though i'm kind of talking about the quality police officer i think it still takes a lot to get in there and

Starting point is 02:07:08 even more so in this hyper, in hyper anti-police environment that we're in now, I think it takes a lot for men and women to go out and want to do that. You know, it's a very, very, I think it's even more dangerous, right? Because I feel that it's more lawless. Like, I'll, like, I'll shoot you. And maybe I'll do two years or maybe I'll get out. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll say you're this or that, you know, and you're gone.

Starting point is 02:07:42 And they say I was beaten as a kid or whatever, my feelings and all this stuff. And they do a couple years in the puzzle factory and then they're back out, you know. And that's the other issue. Like somebody asked me the other day, we're talking, we're having this debate. And, you know, you can probably chime in a little bit about prisons in the United States and incarceration and, the latest case with the woman and her children. They talk about should she go to prison? Should she go get help?

Starting point is 02:08:13 What's the right answer? And, you know, everyone talks a good game. Everyone talks a good game, but they don't really put their foot in it. You know, prisons should be a place of reform, right? and you want to talk about mental health education. And I don't know enough about it. So I know there's a bunch of people who are probably going to be like, you don't know.

Starting point is 02:08:46 But to really go in there and reform people is by giving them good educations and giving them hope and giving them a reason. So when they get out, they're better prepared. Because I think a lot of times people that end up in those positions aren't prepared for life. They're not prepared for the social, construct or the there's a kid, a young kid in town. I watch this in a lot of ways.

Starting point is 02:09:14 We used to have these little kids and we'd grow, we'd go through their life, locking them up at different levels. I had a lieutenant. He was a patrolman and a sergeant lieutenant with a great guy. And he used to say to these kids, he hated doing juveniles. Like, hey, I'm just going to wait until you're 17. Then I'll pull you over and give you tickets and take your license. little fucker. But we had this kid. It's a very sad story. And his mother would call us and just didn't want

Starting point is 02:09:46 anything to do with him. Right. Take him. Like, where do you want us to take him? Like, what do you want, here's mother. Like, what do you want us to do with him? Be a parent. And he was, he was talented in football. He was intelligent. But when your own parents are really driving on you, I don't even think you have a chance. And we try. You know, there were good cops that would try and talk. And I used to talk to him and be like, hey, man, play football. Do this. So long story short, we watched him progress to the point when I think he was 18 or 19 and he shot somebody in a city nearby us during a drug deal. He shot him in the head, you know. And I think that's like a waste. You know, I think a lot of processes failed him. Social services. In New

Starting point is 02:10:41 Jersey, we have DIFIS. I think there's a lot of failures. But at the end of the day, it's like your parents. You know, I have kids. And at the end of the day, how they are is direct reflection on me. I'm the, I'm not perfect. But you know what? Walk in the room. Be polite. Have a firm handshake. Look somebody in the eye. Tell them your name, be as helpful as possible, you know, be as loving as possible, you know, or whatever. I don't want to get mushing and shit because I'm not. My girlfriend will tell you that, you know, I yell too much. But the system failed him. So going to these reforms, I think there needs to be, it's like police officers, right? They did this whole resiliency thing in New Jersey. They had these resiliency officers, you know. And They're there to help cop to cop, prevent suicide, talk about our mental well-being as police officers.

Starting point is 02:11:38 But no one mandated in a police department. No one, you know, no one mandated, you know, and there may be some for physical, like being healthy, running, lifting, all that, right? But what about the mental side of the whole thing? You're mandated quarterly just to go talk to someone. We're not saying you're crazy. We're not saying, just go talk to someone, right? Every police department should have a mental health professional like that in. And maybe they do, maybe they don't.

Starting point is 02:12:02 But because I've been out for a bit. But you have this resiliency program. And I always thought about it, right? That like in life, there are bad police officers. It's just the way it is. There are bad cops that need to be taken off the job, put away, whatever. That happens, right? But some of these guys see a lot of,

Starting point is 02:12:31 bad things and then they have bad relationships. And I've seen it where their partners have made things up and they were able to get restraining orders. And then the police officer loses his guns because he can't have guns and then he loses his job and then he has bills to pay, right? And in some cases, police officers do need to lose their jobs and not carry a badge a gun. There are those cases, right? But there are other cases where now you're talking about police officers well-being and mental fitness, what are you doing to intercede to package up family health and work towards solving these problems and maybe saying, okay, you had, you screamed and fought and you have a rocky relationship. Now, I know there's a ton of people

Starting point is 02:13:24 smarter than I am and they'll comment on this that taking a gun and not letting this guy do his job is the only answer. And I don't think it is the only answer. I really don't. I think it makes things worse. And as we've seen in some cases, the bad guy will always find a way. We'll always find a way, you know. But I won't go too far into that. I won't go like that's not, you know, but I know that police today have it, it's hard. It's really, really hard. And I credit the men and women that go out there and they engage. You know, there are guys out there to don't. They'll be like, okay, you're out of town, you're gone. I'm not going to, I'm not going to stop a car because I'm afraid I'm going to get a complaint against me or, you know, because you'll pull someone over and give me a

Starting point is 02:14:19 ticket, they'll go complain even though you did the stop 100% right, you still got to check against you when they come in and say, you know, he was a prick. Well, no, he wasn't. You just didn't like how he gave you a ticket, right? But anyway, so it leads into the last part of my career. You know, I was just taking over the police department. And I had earlier an old military injury. my rotator cuff. And it was kind of injured again. So my loved ones are like, hey, go to physical therapy. There's a shout out for physical therapy.

Starting point is 02:15:05 So I go up to physical therapy. Now where we live, it's kind of a, they call it the mountain. You're up higher at this place. And I'm going to physical therapy. And I'd go in there and I'm like sitting there waiting. You know, they put some heat on you before it starts. I'm sitting there waiting. and the dude comes in, he's like, hey, man, we're closing.

Starting point is 02:15:23 I'm like, why? He's like, see it outside? I'm like, no. I'm like, what? He's all, it's coming down. We're closing. I think it's a remnant's a hurricane item. I'll probably be killed for this, but for not remembering that.

Starting point is 02:15:38 As you've known through our interview, remembering some things isn't my strong suit. I'm like, all right. So I go out and get in my police vehicle. I had a chief truck, you know, and it's coming down. And my radio start lighting up. Their traffic starts, you know. And I'm going down this hill. And as I'm getting to the bottom, I feel the vehicle, like I feel like I'm not in touch with the road anymore. And as the bottom of the hill is coming, there's a torrent of water in front of me. And I'm like, Yeah. So I hit the gas to regain the traction as I'm turning and I shoot through this gas station and get on the road. And behind me are two police vehicles coming because I'm hearing radio traffic. They're on a frequency where there's people trapped in a car. They get swamped. They get swamped. And I'm calling my son and I'm like, I have a bag in my room. I'm going to pull up.

Starting point is 02:16:50 up, get it. And then, you and your sister go unlocked, whatever, you know. But I'm also calling headquarters where at the time I had a lieutenant, great guy. He was in his office and really didn't know either. And I'm like, hey, we need to fire up these vehicles. So we had an Army MRAP, a military, it was a mine, I forget, mind, resistant, I don't know, whatever. but it's this huge six wheel big tank looking thing. And we had a deuce and a half and we had a Humvee. And the town didn't like this big, scary looking MRAP. They thought it was militarized policing, you know,

Starting point is 02:17:37 in a town that floods all the time, by the way. And they wanted us to get rid of it. Because, you know, sometimes it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, right? So I'm like, hey, I call him. He's like, what's going? I go, hey, fire up the vehicles, hold the day shift. Like, all hell is. And it was coming. And all hells. We used to have flooding, but it would come, right? Not flash flooding. So I get into town. And immediately we go, I'm the only one at the time that could drive this big thing. My military experience and bullshit. I was, could drive these M113s. Bradley's, I was taught how to drive the Abrams, deuce and a half five ton, whatever. And I could, I could, and I was a firearm, intro, fire trucks, an ambulance, whatever. But I could drive this thing. And we're starting to get water rescues.

Starting point is 02:18:35 We're starting to, like, this thing's working. And just as things are stabilizing in our little part of the world, the rest of the county is getting slammed. They're losing emergency vehicles. People are dying. And so we set up, this was one of the, one of the, it was a great time because the mayor, the police commissioner, the council people, some of them were volunteer firemen, whatever, they're townies. You know. And they're all, we're all congregating at the firehouse trying to get this thing together. Now I'm brand new in leadership and, you know, it's, it's me.

Starting point is 02:19:15 And, um, and I, I applaud them. for being at the tip of the spear, like coming out and seeing how can I help? What can I do? Right. So just as we're getting our game plan together, I get a cell phone call from county communications, and it's one of their supervisors. And, you know, sometimes it's chief or whatever it was, but he's like, hey, Rick. And I knew the guy. He's like, hey, there's a family trapped on top of their car at this intersection, a few towns away. And then, you know, I know you guys got the vehicle. If you don't get to them, they're probably going to die. They could die. You know, they get washed out streaming shit. So I'm like, all right, you know, I'm going to make this decision. So I'm going to leave in this million dollar vehicle to parts unknown, leaving our jurisdiction. And let me just say that about my police officers. The team that we had working that night, I felt that was part of that decision making, confident. But you're still leaving, you know so the lieutenant said hey i'll go with you obviously i needed someone to go with me he was

Starting point is 02:20:24 going with me and we were going to grab a fireman who was this young lady she's like i'll go okay the three of us we left town and it really was like armageddon abandoned vehicles da da da da da da da da da as we're getting there and there's a video of this actually we get down to this intersection which is generally dry like three towns away and i have to position this thing in. Now, I don't know really the full capability. I don't know if the thing's going to float away or not too. I mean, it's heavy. It's a big, big vehicle. I'll send you pictures of it. So I'm going to back into the car and we're going to pull these people off. And it was getting really dicey, you know. There's always people like yelling to help. They're always yelling or they got

Starting point is 02:21:09 their cell phones out like, you know. So we were successful. We took those people off the roof. bought them to dry land. Now they, I think the police officer there said, hey, we have another situation right around the corner where a father and son were washed downstream and they're in a tree and we can't get to them or we're having trouble getting to them. We took this huge vehicle and I backed it down into the water and we were able to, I think, I don't know if we sent my lieutenant Either way, we tied off to this thing and sent them downstream to get these two. And we bought them out. And then it was like, for me, I was like, I got to get back to town.

Starting point is 02:22:00 Like, I think that, you know, we've used to stop our nine lives with this thing. I got to get this thing back to town in case something goes wrong there. And sure shit, we get back to town. And in a little cul-de-sac in town, the storm where there was flowing water had knocked a house off. its foundation and the gas was just blowing but these people too were kind of trapped so i put this mind-resistant armored vehicle into the cul-de-sac and cats and dogs and kids and grandmothers and everyone's getting in right and i'm thinking okay if it blows you know we're safe you know and people are stacked i had like sitting next to me like i had some grandmother like sitting next to me and

Starting point is 02:22:47 So we got them out of there. So then the rest of the night we were managing. Everything was being managed, you know. So, and we stayed, you know. And then the call came for, we had a, a, I won't say the name of it, but it was like a tire plant nearby. And they were, they trapped like 20 people in there rising waters and shit. So me and the lieutenant were like, we'll go over there.

Starting point is 02:23:23 Now, we've been up for a while. We were up for a while. And we get there and they're staged and are like, hey, can you go in and get them? And I don't know, boats were, people were doing everything everywhere. It's not like we were the only ones working. They had lost people, unfortunately. They had lost emergency vehicles. Everyone was working.

Starting point is 02:23:45 And we were just, you know, there were so many heroic things done that night. weren't the only quote unquote heroic actions. And I certainly couldn't have done it alone. But we looked at the team that was standing outside. We had to go down a long driveway all the way back into the building and shit. And we're like, huh, I don't know. So the lieutenant and I were kind of going back and forth about, you know, should we do this? Can we get in there with this vehicle?

Starting point is 02:24:15 Are we going to swamp? Like, we don't know. I'm like, we're going to go. we're going to go. So we're going, and we're going slow, and I'm realizing that we're hitting cars in the water. Like there's cars that we're, and now I start having doubts. And he's like, hey, man, too late now. You know, toothpaste is out of the tube. Let's go. So we get to the door and we back in. And I think we did three or four trips and got everybody evacuated. Wow. Yeah.

Starting point is 02:24:49 So that was the last one. I mean, there's so many other cool stories. But yeah. But like I said, a lot of these stories, you know, it's the people that support you. And, you know, that, you know, leads into me retiring and talking about what I taught to people about today, about resiliency and leadership. Reinvention. It's so hard, right? and I was talking to someone the other day about it.

Starting point is 02:25:19 We retired, and I knew it was time, and you know, you want to be, you want to try and be as young as possible to retire. I appreciate the shout out and say my age. You know, you go into something, if you've been in a career like a police officer, you're siloed. And I think that happens to a lot of people.

Starting point is 02:25:40 I mean, you started something and built it. I'm sure you have bumps in the way coming, and there might have been times of doubt. There might have been times like, you know, why the fuck am I doing this or whatever? And you get those feelings and there are people that say you can't, people that say you shouldn't.

Starting point is 02:25:59 There's people say there's not enough money. People say you don't have enough money, too old, whatever the case is, right? And that's like what I found going into my next career. It was a bitch, transitioning to technology, transitioning to corporate speak. transitioning a lot, you know, and there was times, like I was telling this guy, you want to give up.

Starting point is 02:26:19 Like, this is too much. And you feel like you're only good at one thing and you're not, you know? That's the point of this whole thing, I think, is that I think anything that's hard, the rewards are there if you can get through them. If you can push through them and get going, you can do it. You should never give up. You should never quit, right? You should never quit. especially if you have a passion for something. And I think the rewards on the other side of the, which I've found now in my retirement are amazing. Like if I'd given up and kind of went and done something

Starting point is 02:26:57 a little less challenging, it wouldn't work out well. And I tell police officers today, I'm like, listen, make sure you're planning for your second career. Don't get too siloed. You know, work hard, work hard and get out there. And I always believe that. I wanted to give my fullest. People say, well, you're overzealous or you're crazy or you wrote this many tickets or you made this many arrests. I gave the town all I had because they paid me a good salary for the job, you know? And yeah, I broke a few eggs along the way. But I kept going, you know, you reinvent. But during that reinvention period, they always talk about animals shedding.

Starting point is 02:27:40 It's painful. Whatever it is, you know. It's like you trying to reinvent yourself. and bring that resiliency and say, I'm going to do this. And when I was commuting to the city and shit, there were days, I was like, what am I doing? Like, this is too much. I raised two kids, you know, a single parent. It was a lot.

Starting point is 02:28:04 It was a lot. But you just have to go. You have to point the bow of the ship into the storm, have faith that there's a sunny day on the other side of it. I saw this thing with this guy John McPhee, who they call him the sheriff of Baghdad. I don't know if you knew that is. They call him Shrek. I saw him on a podcast. He's an Army Delta Force Sergeant Major who does these podcasts.

Starting point is 02:28:30 And I saw him and I thought what he said was very interesting about being. And I'm going to mess up the whole quote. But I think the gist of it was, you know, your life isn't defined by one shitty chapter. Like turn the goddamn page. Go to the next chapter. Like it's on you, right? No one's going to pick you up. You can ask for help. I have support friends and family that are amazing. But at the end of the day, you're the one that has to put your nose to the grindstone. Practice what you preach. We're not perfect, you know, believe me. I've slept in and all the nonsense, whatever. But he said that. Don't let one shitty chapter define your life. Turn the, turn the, turn. You know,

Starting point is 02:29:15 If you find yourself in that chapter and it's the same shit over and over and over, turn the page. Go get the help you need, find it, and progress. These veterans and cops, they're good people, good hearts. You know, I'm not saying everyone, right, but the majority of them. And I know it's hard for some people. I've dealt with people that have taken their lives and people that wanted to take their lives and things like that. And it's real. You know, it's real.

Starting point is 02:29:41 People look down into an abyss and they can't see the light. They can't see how it's going to change. They can't see how the day is going to be a better day. But that's when you take it in inches and not miles. Some days you can take it in miles and you're hopping along and got an ice cream in your hand and got a bunch of money in the other hand. And, you know, the favorite movie comes on, get a good night's sleep. And then the next day of the bottom falls out. But you have to be able to deal with that.

Starting point is 02:30:09 I always say to them, and I, you know, to my friends and family. Everyone will stick with you when the times are good, right? When you're popular, when you're the talk of the town, everybody wants to know you and be a part of you and ride on whatever successes you have. Look at the people that are around you when the rains come, when the storms come. You know, and you'd be surprised, I think. I was surprised by some of the people that stepped up during some difficult times in my career that reached out and lent a hand or reached out and gave advice. I was surprised. And that helps. All of those things help. But again, you have to continue to move forward. You have to build that resiliency. We talked about that last valor or leadership, making a decision where, like, I was a new leader, right? What if I lost that vehicle? Like, what if it didn't work out? What if we were floating downstream? And then the town needed the vehicle to save other lives, you know? Thank God most of the decisions I've made have worked out. Some haven't. You know, But get up.

Starting point is 02:31:16 Failure, the seeds of success. A lot of people think failure is the end. It's the beginning, right? What makes us good at canine is that repetition and consistency? You fail, you go back at it, and you learn. You learn through failure. If you knew everything, it wouldn't be fun. You would never, like, I don't know.

Starting point is 02:31:34 So, you know, that's where I am today doing, working for, a Fortune 50 company overseeing a large security footprint on the East Coast in Canada. I'm working with an amazing group of guys who were hired by senior law enforcement guys throughout the United States as well as other jurisdictions, again, learning. So I've been fortunate, you know, but I still want to go 100, like you met me 100 miles an hour, right? I'm still traveling. I'm still grinding. I have responsibilities. I have my kids. And I want them. I want to set a good example or the best example I can set for them. You know, and that's pretty much where it is. And I hope to continue like this. So, you know, my uncle, who's an amazing human being, we have a small company with a federal firearms license and FFL. We do, you know, transfer it like this cornerstone arm. and consulting, thinking about writing a book on some of this stuff. But I was going to write a book and I got contacted.

Starting point is 02:32:51 And it was almost like I got scammed in a way. Like it turned out to be like nothing, you know? And, you know, it's sitting out there. She's like, you should know better. Right. So, you know, there's that. There's a bourbon thing we're looking at. So I'm keep moot.

Starting point is 02:33:11 You know, you got to keep a lot of balls. in the air, right? Yeah, you got to see what sticks. You know, you shoot them out there. You know, being here is amazing, like with you. Honestly, this opportunity to kind of talk about shit and go back and forth, you know, I wasn't thinking about the podcast, like, kind of like, I don't know, like, I don't know. Do you put yourself? There are people that say, don't do that. Don't go out there, you know. And I said, well, I've spoken to people. I've helped some people, you know, like we talked about earlier, I was invited. I don't know what happened to speak at the at the police academy in Ocean County at a graduation. And I hope I can help. You know,

Starting point is 02:33:49 I hope there's some words of wisdom that came from all the years of these stories. I hope I can pull and impart lessons to other police officers or even any other people that I speak to sometimes about reinvention and resiliency and being able to, you know, get up and do it again and go. said being here. I've read about you, looked at your story, looked at your success, and it's an honor to sit across from someone who knows what dark days look like, right? I mean, I mean, how do you feel about where you are now? It's not been an easy ride, has it? No, I mean, it continues to be hard. That's all part of the journey, you know? That's right. That's life and reinventing and pivoting. But you feel like you feel that. You feel that.

Starting point is 02:34:42 that success is sweeter, right, from where you came. Nobody wants to go through. It's the hard times. Nobody's asking to put hard times in on themselves so they can realize the goals, right? I'm glad I wasn't handed to me, you know? Like, I look at, I'll meet people that are, that come from money, and they're handed that business, and they don't value it the same way. They don't value that success, uh, the same way. So I won't mention who, but when I got out, the company I went to work for, um, That was a real problem. So the company had great success, and they worked with athletes, let's say.

Starting point is 02:35:25 And, you know, the athletes that professional athletes, you know, they don't become professional athletes because someone said, hey, you want to become a professional athlete, right? So they work hard. And the people at the time worked hard and understood that. They took the risks. They came in at 4 in the morning. They left it 2 in the morning. And they did it day after day after day. What I realized is, and I say I knew the CEO because I had been around him a few times,

Starting point is 02:35:59 I realized that, and I heard this from some of their employees, that they're the children of that success. They don't value it as much, right? They're still riding on the coattails of those successes. They're not being innovative. And I can say, I wish I could say it, but I'm not going to. I'm going to keep it siloed. But this guy didn't need to be the CEO of that company, but he came back, right? And I saw him literally almost, I don't want to say the word lamenting, but I saw not lamenting.

Starting point is 02:36:36 It's the wrong word. But I saw him like care, like a CEO like care, like really care about what was going on, right? And I could tell. He knew people's names. He was engaging. And he cared. And the other thing is he didn't need that shit. And he did, he engaged employees.

Starting point is 02:36:55 I remember this, right? And afterwards, and I don't really, I didn't really say anything because I was a contractor. And I remember someone saying he's full of shit. Like it's a canned corporate bullshit speech. And it triggers something in me. And I kind of went over and I'm like, hey, are you talking about so-and-so? He's like, yeah. I go, hey, man, let me just tell you.

Starting point is 02:37:23 I think you're off. I think that you're off. I said, I saw this guy like praying in the garden. You know, I saw this guy really caring. I said, and do you really think he needs to come down and blow smoke up your ass? I said, maybe it should be the other way around. Maybe you all should be worried about the stock price. Maybe you all should be going out and acting like the professional athletes you represent.

Starting point is 02:37:51 Maybe you should be the ones bleeding in the garden. Maybe you should be the ones praying in the garden. Maybe you should be the ones working that hard. Like, this guy didn't need that. What are you doing today to contribute to make things better? You see, yeah, man, you're right. You know, you're right. But like you said, some of these things get handed to people.

Starting point is 02:38:10 And I think it's an old adage where, yeah, when shit's handed to you, you don't value it the way you did. And I think I wanted to be a police officer so bad. It wasn't handed to me. And nothing in my career was handed to me. And I end up garnering a lot of respect for that. I came up through the ranks the hard way. So from patrolmen, I was a union guy, president. union delegate, whatever.

Starting point is 02:38:37 But then I went to sergeant, then lieutenant, then chief, you know. And it was, it wasn't a straight path. It never is. It never is, right? I mean, yeah, there's some blessed people out there that step and shit like my son. He's, he'll be pest and I said that. They both kids. But I know some guys that have had the hand of God and said, oh, you're, you made it, you made it, you made it, you made it.

Starting point is 02:39:04 But at the end of the day, I don't think that prepares you either for some of the things that have to go on. Definitely. But yeah, man, I think that's about it. And I just want to, again, you guys, an amazing crew. Thank you. We appreciate you. No, I appreciate you and being here and hopefully getting a chance to come back and regale you with some more of my crazy tales and tunes. Yeah, I'm sure the audience will love to have you back.

Starting point is 02:39:33 Yeah, man. I see some of your audience, you have a great audience, I think. And I think that really drove me to this. Like I said, I don't know if I was going to want to come out. People were saying, you shouldn't do that. But if something I said today could connect with someone or, you know, even in the future, you know, I've spoken in front of groups and gone and whatever. I mean, I don't have the, I'm not the magic bullet. But, yeah, but that's about it.

Starting point is 02:40:01 You're a good talker. Yeah. Thanks, Rick.

Locked In with Ian Bick - I Was a New Jersey Cop for 25 Years — These Are The Moments I Can't Unsee | Rick Fittin

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