1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,220 I'm extremely excited to announce a brand new sponsor for the Behind the Shield podcast 2 00:00:04,220 --> 00:00:06,540 that is Transcend. 3 00:00:06,540 --> 00:00:10,560 Now for many of you listening, you are probably working the same brutal shifts that I did 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,520 for 14 years. 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:18,840 Suffering from sleep deprivation, body composition challenges, mental health challenges, libido, 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:20,540 hair loss, etc. 7 00:00:20,540 --> 00:00:23,800 Now when it comes to the world of hormone replacement and peptide therapy, what I have 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,220 seen is a shift from doctors telling us that we were within normal limits, which was definitely 9 00:00:28,220 --> 00:00:33,160 incorrect all the way to the other way now where men's clinics are popping up left, right 10 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:34,560 and center. 11 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:40,120 So I myself wanted to find a reputable company that would do an analysis of my physiology 12 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:45,320 and then offer supplementations without ramming, for example, hormone replacement therapy down 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:46,460 my throat. 14 00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:50,780 Now I came across Transcend because they have an altruistic arm and they were a big reason 15 00:00:50,780 --> 00:00:56,800 why the 7X project I was a part of was able to proceed because of their generous donations. 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,820 They also have the Transcend foundations where they are actually putting military and first 17 00:01:00,820 --> 00:01:05,440 responders through some of their therapies at no cost to the individual. 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,000 So my own personal journey so far filled in the online form, went to Quest, got blood 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,720 drawn and a few days later I'm talking to one of their wellness professionals as they 20 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,140 guide me through my results and the supplementation that they suggest. 21 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:23,640 In my case specifically, because I transitioned out the fire service five years ago and been 22 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,800 very diligent with my health, my testosterone was actually in a good place. 23 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,320 So I went down the peptide route and some other supplements to try and maximize my physiology 24 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:37,760 knowing full well the damage that 14 years of shift work has done. 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,680 Now I also want to underline because I think this is very important that each of the therapies 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,080 they offer, they will talk about the pros and cons. 27 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,520 So for example, a lot of first responders in shift work, our testosterone will be low, 28 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,360 but sometimes nutrition, exercise and sleep can offset that on its own. 29 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,680 So this company is not going to try and push you down a path, especially if it's one that 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:00,360 you can't come back from. 31 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:07,760 So whether it's libido, brain fog, inflammation, gut health, performance, sleep, this is definitely 32 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,880 one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox. 33 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:17,800 So to learn more, go to transcendcompany.com or listen to episode 808 of the Behind the 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,320 Shield podcast with founder Ernie Colling. 35 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,360 This episode is sponsored by New Calm. 36 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:29,520 As many of you know, I only bring sponsors onto this show whose products I truly swear 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:30,520 by. 38 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:36,200 Now we are an overworked and under slept population, especially those of us that wear uniform for 39 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:42,320 a living and trying to reclaim some of the lost rest and recovery is imperative. 40 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,440 Now the application of this product is as simple as putting on headphones and a sleep 41 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:47,500 mask. 42 00:02:47,500 --> 00:02:53,120 As you listen to music on each of the programs, there is neuroacoustic software beneath that 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,880 is tapping into the actual frequencies of your brain, whether to up-regulate your nervous 44 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,600 system or down-regulate. 45 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,160 Now for most of us that come off shift, we are A, exhausted and B, do not want to bring 46 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,440 what we've had to see and do back home to our loved ones. 47 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:16,500 So one powerful application is using the program Powernap, a 20 minute session that will not 48 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:22,400 only feel like you've had two hours of sleep, but also down-regulate from a hypervigilant 49 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:27,480 state back into the role of mother or father, husband or wife. 50 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,340 Now there are so many other applications and benefits from this software, so I urge you 51 00:03:32,340 --> 00:03:38,800 to go and listen to episode 806 with CEO Jim Pool. 52 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:47,360 Then download Newcom, N-U-C-A-L-M from your app store and sign up for the 7 day free trial. 53 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:51,680 Not only will you have an understanding of the origin story and the four decades this 54 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:58,840 science has spanned, but also see for yourself the incredible health impact of this life-changing 55 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:00,080 software. 56 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:05,280 And you can find even more information on Newcom.com. 57 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:06,720 Welcome to the Behind the Shield Podcast. 58 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,240 As always, my name is James Gearing and this week it is my absolute honor to welcome on 59 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:18,440 the show Vietnamese immigrant, US Army Ranger and law enforcement veteran, Trong Nguyen. 60 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:23,240 Now as you will hear, Trong has an incredibly powerful story from leaving Vietnam as a young 61 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:29,920 child, growing up in the gang areas of Chicago, entering the military, his journey into law 62 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,860 enforcement, working for an agency with a very high standard, then transitioning to 63 00:04:34,860 --> 00:04:41,080 one with a low standard, organizational stress and betrayal, the frustration of a driven 64 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:48,120 first responder trying to thrive in a toxic environment, his transition out, we go home 65 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:50,320 and so much more. 66 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,720 As with any conversation, the goal of this is to bring solutions to problems, but sometimes 67 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:59,840 we have to drag them out of the shadows and Trong does a phenomenal job with that. 68 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:03,680 Before we get to this conversation, as I say every week, please just take a moment, go 69 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:10,200 to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback and leave a rating. 70 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,400 Every single 5 star rating truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making it easier for 71 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:16,920 others to find. 72 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:24,640 This is a free library of well over 850 episodes now, so all I ask in return is that you help 73 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:30,360 share these incredible men and women stories so I can get them to every single person on 74 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,720 planet earth who needs to hear them. 75 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,800 So with that being said, I introduce to you Trong Huynh. 76 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:38,800 Enjoy. 77 00:05:38,800 --> 00:06:01,680 Well Trong, I want to start by saying firstly, thank you for coming on the Behind the Shield 78 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,880 podcast, but secondly, there's an element of synergy because I literally tripped over 79 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:12,680 the documentary and then for some reason you came across my social media feed right around 80 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:13,680 that same time. 81 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,640 So this was obviously serendipitous to have this conversation today, so I want to welcome 82 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:18,640 you to the show. 83 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:19,640 Oh, thank you, sir. 84 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:24,360 I heard a lot of good things about you from Kelsey and a bunch of other great individuals 85 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,440 that I met during my Harvard speaking event. 86 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,880 Yeah, that's so again, I think that was where it came across. 87 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,600 I think you guys were speaking side by side and I was like, wait a second, that's the 88 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,000 guy from the Amazon selection I just saw. 89 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,920 So I'm very, very excited to hear the story. 90 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,960 So where on planet earth we finding you today right now? 91 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,320 I am in Katy, Texas. 92 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:47,320 Good old Texas. 93 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:48,320 Brilliant. 94 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,440 Well, I know that your story doesn't begin in Texas, so let's start at the very beginning 95 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:53,440 then. 96 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,240 So tell me where you were born and tell me a little bit about your family dynamic, what 97 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,240 your parents did, how many siblings? 98 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,280 Yeah, my family and I were born in Vietnam. 99 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:03,760 It was post-war. 100 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:11,920 A lot of families were struggling dealing with communism and the North overtaking the 101 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:13,440 South. 102 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:20,380 And they came in and they ravaged a lot of villages, towns coming in there. 103 00:07:20,380 --> 00:07:23,160 And it happened to my father too. 104 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:27,480 I didn't know my father really because I was so young, but they went into his house and 105 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,480 they took his gold and took his money. 106 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,560 And they were doing that a lot because it's a communist regime and they felt like that 107 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,640 was owed to them. 108 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:44,240 And my family grew up in poverty for a very, very, very long time. 109 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,280 My mom wanted a better life for us. 110 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:53,120 And when the United States intervened in that war, she learned about America and what it 111 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,120 stood for. 112 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:02,240 And she wanted that type of freedom, that type of choice for her kids. 113 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,760 So she literally left. 114 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,320 She told her parents and she told my dad, she's like, hey, I'm taking the kids. 115 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:16,160 We are fleeing Vietnam to try to make our way to the United States. 116 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:22,400 And my brother, half brother at the time, wanted to go to the United States first so 117 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:29,080 that he can get a foothold so that when we arrive, that we have a place to stay. 118 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,320 He kind of understood the lay of the ground and whatnot. 119 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:40,520 Unfortunately, he crossed by sea in a boat about approximately 70 to 80 people. 120 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,580 And pretty much every single person died except two people. 121 00:08:44,580 --> 00:08:46,160 And my brother was one of them. 122 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,400 They died from starvation. 123 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,160 They died from sickness and disease. 124 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,160 From what I was told, it was only like a 70 something year old lady and a very young girl 125 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:58,760 that survived in that boat. 126 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,400 So my brother wanted a better life. 127 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:09,180 And that's the thing with people who come from war torn countries like that. 128 00:09:09,180 --> 00:09:10,180 They want the freedom. 129 00:09:10,180 --> 00:09:15,080 They want a better way of life, a better to do better. 130 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,240 And they will cross vast oceans to try to achieve that. 131 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,120 And many have died during that travels. 132 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:28,360 And my family, my mom literally mustered $10 to her name. 133 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,880 I mean, that was from like her brothers and sisters, her mother. 134 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,920 They gather her approximately 10 US dollars. 135 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:38,960 And we made our trip. 136 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,600 And before we could make it to America, we ended up in the Philippines. 137 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,720 And we stayed there for a year and they were in processing us. 138 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,040 We're at FOP Freedom. 139 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,320 I don't remember much at that point because I was around like two years old. 140 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,680 But from bits and pieces and from what the story that my mom and my sister told me, it 141 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,040 was just a lot of suffering. 142 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,360 There wasn't enough food to go around. 143 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,800 They put us in like little encampments. 144 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:11,120 And my mom and my sisters and I survived for that year before we just went to our voyage 145 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,000 to the United States where we landed in Chicago. 146 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,600 I want to go back for a moment because I had two lam on the show. 147 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:25,080 I know that you guys are friends and the Army Green Beret here in America, but another immigration 148 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,120 story from Vietnam around the time of the conflict. 149 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,760 When you talk to your mother, because obviously you were too small to remember, what does 150 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:37,560 she story tell as far as how Vietnam was when she was younger? 151 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:43,480 And then what she experienced when this war broke out in her country? 152 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,320 She said Vietnam was... 153 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:49,640 Right now Vietnam is very prosperous, right? 154 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,440 Because there's a lot of tours, but back then it wasn't. 155 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,040 There was a lot of occupations from different countries that tried to take over Vietnam 156 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:02,760 and she grew up very poor and she suffered a lot. 157 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,560 During the war, they suffered even more. 158 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:13,920 Everything was... you can't travel during when there was a war breaking out down in 159 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:14,920 the South. 160 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:22,160 It was very tough for her in that environment trying to stay alive, trying to make sure 161 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:28,860 my grandmother, my grandfather, her brothers and sisters, everybody had food on the table. 162 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:30,600 She was a very strong woman. 163 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:37,040 I look up to her a lot and that's where I gathered a lot of my strength is her resilience 164 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:44,000 to be able to withstand all of that, all the suffering, what she had to endure to make 165 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,240 sure that the family had food on the table. 166 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:54,600 We saw a parallel to withdrawal from Vietnam again in Afghanistan a couple of years ago. 167 00:11:54,600 --> 00:12:00,440 And I've had people on the show who have told a story told about what's happened to Afghani 168 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:06,080 or Afghan, excuse me, men and women post-conflict, especially if they were discovered to be helping 169 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:07,360 us. 170 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:12,360 What was happening in Vietnam when we withdrew them to the people that were loyal to the 171 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,360 South? 172 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,280 The same issue. 173 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,600 Some of them got to come to America and some of them got into the hands of the Viet Cong. 174 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,840 They end up in prison camps. 175 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:32,880 I knew stories of when my mother redated somebody, he was a captain in the Southern Vietnamese 176 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:40,240 army and they put him in a prison camp because of what he stood for with the Americans. 177 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,200 He suffered a lot. 178 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,840 That's the same situation that happened in Afghanistan has literally happened in the 179 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:54,120 past with the Vietnamese people is the lucky few got out on Hueys and on airplanes and 180 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:55,120 the majority didn't. 181 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,320 They just had to stay there and suffer the consequences. 182 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:03,560 Obviously, public execution, the North Vietnamese would do that. 183 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:10,120 They would then rape, pillage and whatnot the towns and whoever they can capture, they 184 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,840 bring them to prison camps. 185 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:19,920 It's really sad because when I got rest of soul, he passed away, but he told me a story 186 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:27,440 once and I was sitting down there and I was like, how is the war, post-war and what happens 187 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,440 to you? 188 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,520 During the prison camps, they treated us like animals. 189 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,560 We couldn't stand to pee. 190 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:41,080 They made us all sit down and pee because that's degrading to men and he never got accustomed 191 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,240 to standing to peeing. 192 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,440 He said that till this day, I still sit down and pee. 193 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:51,720 I just felt like the psychological warfare and the physical torment that they went through, 194 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,680 it really affected a lot of these people. 195 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:01,080 I think it's important for us to hear these stories, whether it's the actual state of 196 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,800 the country that a lot of these men and women and children are trying to flee, but also 197 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:11,880 the crucible that they go through to get to this country, whether it's walking hundreds 198 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:17,400 of miles, whether it's risking life and death on a tube coming from Haiti or whatever it 199 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:18,960 is. 200 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:24,640 Because for me, as an immigrant in a country that was founded on immigration, I feel like 201 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:30,920 there's a very anti-immigrant rhetoric by certain people that is extremely dangerous. 202 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:38,680 When you actually look at how incredibly fortunate we are in the US, the absolute terror that 203 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,960 a lot of these people are trying to flee. 204 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:45,920 Of course, you just don't open the floodgates, but I think we've lost some of the compassion 205 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:51,860 for some of the tyranny and terror that a lot of these people are physically trying 206 00:14:51,860 --> 00:14:54,920 to bring their children away from. 207 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:55,920 It's very true. 208 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:00,600 You know the saying, it doesn't affect you until it happens to your doorstep. 209 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,580 I think that's what in America, a lot of people who are born here, they get comfortable. 210 00:15:05,580 --> 00:15:09,480 They get used to living in their bubble. 211 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,380 Everything is now instantaneous. 212 00:15:11,380 --> 00:15:15,260 You can order pizza on your app, on your phone. 213 00:15:15,260 --> 00:15:17,420 You can order alcohol. 214 00:15:17,420 --> 00:15:20,640 Everything is creature comfort galore. 215 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:26,240 And we kind of forget a lot of the world is still suffering. 216 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:30,280 A lot of the world, they don't even have fresh water to drink. 217 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:35,880 They have to walk miles to a well to get water when we have it literally in our homes. 218 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,320 We can just walk to the sink and filter water. 219 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,480 And we tend to forget that. 220 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:43,480 And you're right. 221 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,520 We should have more compassion in life for others. 222 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,260 A lot of people take living here for granted. 223 00:15:50,260 --> 00:15:53,240 And that's why something I always practice is gratitude. 224 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:58,480 Having gratitude for having a roof over my head, food in my stomach, clean, fresh water, 225 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,540 the ability to chase my dreams every single day. 226 00:16:01,540 --> 00:16:06,960 And if I wanted to till tomorrow or even right now to be a nurse, I can literally apply to 227 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:08,320 school and do that. 228 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,880 A lot of people around the world don't have that opportunity that they can just pick up 229 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,320 on the whim and pursue their dreams and their goals. 230 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:16,320 Absolutely. 231 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:21,600 I think that's the thing I had when I first moved here was there is that element of the 232 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,000 American dream. 233 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,800 And to me, it was a roof over your family's head and maybe a little bit of land to grow 234 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:28,760 some vegetables and have chickens. 235 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,560 Very, very oldie worldie. 236 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,520 But that is at its core. 237 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:37,800 When I moved to the US, it was 4,000 square foot houses, Winnebago's, jet skis. 238 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,160 And I'm like, where's the original dream gone? 239 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,160 And I think we need to refine that. 240 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,160 Necessity versus luxury. 241 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,800 This is an amazing place where you can. 242 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,840 I was an American firefighter and now we're having a conversation as a podcaster. 243 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,880 How many people in Syria or Gaza at the moment could pursue any of those? 244 00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:58,880 They just can't. 245 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:04,120 So gratitude, I think, is so important in reminding ourselves that the material stuff 246 00:17:04,120 --> 00:17:10,860 that we're bombarded with, that we're supposedly supposed to have to be happy, is all superfluous. 247 00:17:10,860 --> 00:17:17,400 But the real core hierarchy of needs, we are so, so lucky to have those almost guaranteed 248 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:18,400 here. 249 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:19,400 Absolutely. 250 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:20,400 Gratitude is huge. 251 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:21,400 Gratitude is huge. 252 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,800 That's the one thing I would tell the viewers. 253 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:25,640 Practice gratitude. 254 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,720 Every moment that you wake up, you're alive. 255 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,160 And when people ask me, how are you doing? 256 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:31,440 I always tell them I'm doing great. 257 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:32,440 I'm blessed. 258 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,680 God has given me another day to chase after my dreams. 259 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:37,600 Not a lot of people have this opportunity. 260 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,600 Don't let it go to waste because time is fleeting. 261 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:41,600 Absolutely. 262 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:47,400 With that being said, young Vietnamese boy comes to America. 263 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,960 You didn't find yourself in Bel Air originally. 264 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,760 So talk to me about growing up in Chicago. 265 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:53,880 Yeah. 266 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:59,200 So when we came to America, we were an immigrant family and we didn't get placed in the best 267 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:00,200 area. 268 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,320 Obviously, we didn't get to choose. 269 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,760 And they placed us in Section 8 homes. 270 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:11,840 And I grew up in the inner cities of Chicago for the majority of my youth to my teens. 271 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,000 And I grew up around drugs, violence, gangs. 272 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,560 It was constant. 273 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,840 Being so young and being placed in that type of environment, me personally, I thought that 274 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:22,840 was the norm. 275 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:23,840 Right? 276 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:24,840 Because I didn't know any better. 277 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,920 I didn't know what good living was or what you're supposed to have. 278 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,240 I was just here in the States and I was just happy. 279 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:39,680 But as I got older, I started to process the good and bad and understanding that I was 280 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,920 like, oh my God, this place is pretty insane. 281 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,680 So with that exposure, obviously, you're the other end of a not only a military but law 282 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:49,000 enforcement career. 283 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,340 When you look back, talk to me about the criminal element that you are surrounded by and then 284 00:18:54,340 --> 00:19:01,280 let's unpack the impact the drugs were having on that environment that you grew up in. 285 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,240 Yeah, absolutely. 286 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:10,360 They always say the people you hang out with is how you end up with. 287 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:13,720 Show me your five friends and I'll show you your future. 288 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,880 And I was just hanging out with inner city kids. 289 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,320 And I thought that was the norm. 290 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,400 When we were hanging out in the streets and seeing all these violence and these gang members, 291 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:29,200 they would come up to us like, hey kid, they'll be like, hey, don't trust the police. 292 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,800 They're the bad guys, you know what I mean? 293 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:32,800 Fuck 50. 294 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,720 That's what they used to call them 50 and all that. 295 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,560 And we thought like, oh my gosh, so these guys are the evil people. 296 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,240 Don't talk to them. 297 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,600 Don't interact with them and whatnot. 298 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:51,560 So seeing that and being around that, I grew up first with a perspective that the police 299 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,280 were bad. 300 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,520 And seeing people on drugs and all that, I thought that was normal. 301 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,880 Seeing somebody that's smoking crack or seeing somebody that's overdosed on the streets, 302 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,640 I thought that was just normal day living in the United States because that's all I 303 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:07,820 knew. 304 00:20:07,820 --> 00:20:10,040 And I think that all changed for me. 305 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:16,200 One day when I was playing basketball in the corner, what a bunch of my friends were just 306 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:21,360 hanging out and it was late and this patrol car pulled up and I was like, oh shit, these 307 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,400 guys are about to do something to us. 308 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:30,240 And this officer stepped out the car and he was like, hey, my name is Officer Such. 309 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,800 I wish I remembered his name. 310 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:34,160 He was very, very genuine. 311 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,920 He came up to me and he was like, hey, this is the beat I work. 312 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,520 This is usually the time I work. 313 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,160 I just want to let you know this neighborhood is not, you know, it's very dangerous for 314 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:43,840 you to be out this late. 315 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:45,360 You should be inside. 316 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:47,280 You know, here's my business card. 317 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,560 If you guys never need anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. 318 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,080 You know, I'll pick up the phone. 319 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:53,400 I'll help you any way I can. 320 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:54,400 And that really touched me. 321 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,400 And I was like, oh my gosh, you know, this copper really could have just drove by and 322 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,000 said, fuck these kids, right? 323 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,640 Excuse my language, but he didn't. 324 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,360 He literally took the time out to get out of the car, do community policing and really 325 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,400 approached us and was really sincere. 326 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,000 And that touched me so much. 327 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,520 I was like, dude, this guy, he didn't have to do this, but he did. 328 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:22,520 And that kind of already, that planted a seed like, man, this might be something I want to 329 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:23,520 do. 330 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:29,000 And as I got older and I start seeing what the police was about and what they were doing 331 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,760 to catch these guys on the streets and put them in jail. 332 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,080 And I was witnessing like what these gang members were doing to the neighborhoods, how 333 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:42,440 they were destroying the place that we're living by bringing violence and drugs and 334 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:43,440 all this to it. 335 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,320 And I saw what the cops were doing. 336 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,920 I was like, maybe the cops aren't the bad guys. 337 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,160 Maybe these guys who are saying that they were, are the ones that are really out here 338 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,640 trying to do wrong. 339 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,440 When you're telling that story, I think of the term confirmation bias. 340 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,600 And I think it's huge at the moment. 341 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:05,280 We'll get into obviously your experiences at the end of your career and that particular 342 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,520 city that you worked in. 343 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:13,240 But when you're portraying an image that cops are bad, which sadly we're seeing a lot on 344 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,460 media at the moment, but that's a distorted view. 345 00:22:16,460 --> 00:22:22,240 But if you grow up in Compton in the 1980s, there was a kind of war going on between a 346 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:23,960 lot of the gangs and law enforcement. 347 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:30,680 If you were a young child growing up in that, I can see how your perception would be distorted. 348 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:36,000 But you just kind of underlined the power of smashing that confirmation bias by all the 349 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:41,320 good cops being out there with the community policing element and how important it is if 350 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:46,440 you are a good police officer, which is most of them, that if you can actually insert yourself 351 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:52,680 back into the community, you start to shatter the myths that have been told, either by maybe 352 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,920 some of the criminal element that you've grown up around and or more recently what you're 353 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:58,360 seeing on your screens. 354 00:22:58,360 --> 00:22:59,360 Oh, absolutely. 355 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:00,360 100%. 356 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:06,080 And I think that a lot of coppers to this day is something they shouldn't lose. 357 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:07,240 Don't forget why you started. 358 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,560 Don't forget why you rose your right hand. 359 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,480 It's not for a paycheck. 360 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:13,920 It's not for the money. 361 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,600 It's because you believe in what you're doing and don't lose that. 362 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,400 A lot of cops get jaded after years of service. 363 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:26,120 You got to sit back and remember your why and why you started and the people, the lives 364 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:33,320 that you help because you could end up very much helping someone, a kid like me, that 365 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:39,760 you affect his change and his perspective and his trajectory towards what he wanted 366 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:41,160 to do later down the line. 367 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:42,320 You never know. 368 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,360 You never know how many lives you touch and in what aspect. 369 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:48,320 So don't lose that fight. 370 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,880 I think it's very important. 371 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,040 A huge common denominator of a lot of the guests that have been on that are obviously 372 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:56,280 doing very well now. 373 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,040 That's why they're on here. 374 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,000 Not that everyone has to be doing well, but they've become a good person. 375 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,280 That's a common denominator for the guests is a mentor. 376 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,280 Now it could be a third grade female history teacher. 377 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,080 It could be a wrestling coach. 378 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:11,080 Could be anything. 379 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:16,320 But it's that individual that steers someone down a better direction. 380 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,440 Now you grew up around a lot of these gangs. 381 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:19,440 You talk about it in a documentary. 382 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,240 I mean, you're surrounded by multiple different gangs. 383 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,720 When you look back up to kind of prior to enlistment, who were some of the mentors in 384 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:33,400 your life that sent you down a positive path rather than the gang life that you were surrounded 385 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:34,400 by? 386 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:39,160 You know, growing up, I was trying to seek that father figure because I never had a father 387 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,360 hung out with the wrong crowd for a long time. 388 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:45,680 I thought that was cool. 389 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,960 When I found out it wasn't really. 390 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,480 And I'll be honest with you, one of my biggest mentors is God. 391 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,400 He's the one who really changed my life. 392 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,920 I grew up a Buddhist because my mom was Buddhist. 393 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:01,600 And when I found God, it really changed my life because I talked to him. 394 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,480 I was like, hey, I don't want to go down this path. 395 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,600 I don't want to end up like a lot of these individuals. 396 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,080 I really want to change my life. 397 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,080 And he helped me. 398 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,920 My pastor helped me. 399 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,080 One of my teachers in school helped me. 400 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,280 And then obviously that officer, I kept in contact with him for a little bit and he helped 401 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:19,540 me too. 402 00:25:19,540 --> 00:25:20,640 Those were my mentors. 403 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:25,400 Those were the ones that kept me straight to go down the path that I eventually went 404 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,000 to during my wanting to enlist. 405 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:34,680 And the choices of me wanting to enlist is really because of my mother's best friend, 406 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,160 her son. 407 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,280 He was a lieutenant in the army and he just graduated Ranger school. 408 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:45,680 And I got sent a VHS at the time of Ranger school and I watched it. 409 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:46,920 And that really sparked something. 410 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,320 And at the time there was no internet. 411 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,640 Internet wasn't prevalent back then. 412 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:56,520 So you have to go to Barnes and Nobles and whatnot to do your research on whatever you 413 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:57,520 wanted to do. 414 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:58,520 And that's what I did. 415 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,840 I read on the lineage of the Rangers and that was something I always wanted to do. 416 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,800 I was like, man, this is badass. 417 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,400 These guys are badass. 418 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:08,840 This country has given me so much. 419 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:09,920 I wanted to give back. 420 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,160 So that's how I really started the path in my enlistment. 421 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,920 Now I know 9-11, like so many people on here, was a pivotal moment. 422 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:23,640 So you had the seeds planted, but you were young at the time about Ranger school. 423 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,040 Talk to me about 9-11 and then how you ended up enlisting. 424 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:28,040 Yeah. 425 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,160 Again, you said mentors. 426 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,040 I took Hop Kettle for a long time. 427 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,040 One of the instructors was my mentor. 428 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,360 He served in the Korean army in a special forces unit. 429 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:48,280 And being around people like that instilling discipline in me and what this country has 430 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,400 given me the opportunity to pursue. 431 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,760 After 9-11 kicked off, I was finishing Hop Kettle. 432 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,440 I went to my sister's store because I wanted to help her out. 433 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:04,120 And everybody was like in awe, like glued to this TV. 434 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:09,040 And they were showing the incident in New York. 435 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,280 And at that time, one of the towers was already on fire. 436 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:18,040 And when I got there, literally 10 minutes later, another airplane hit the second tower. 437 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,520 And I was like, oh shit. 438 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:26,440 When I was driving to Hop Kettle, Howard Stern was on air and he's saying, oh yeah, one of 439 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,560 the planes hit the antenna jokingly, I guess, because he didn't understand the seriousness 440 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,600 of the incident. 441 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:38,800 Then when I got there to the shop and I saw what the heck was happening and they confirmed 442 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,760 it was a terrorist incident that occurred. 443 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:51,160 And I was just like, that right there hit the last nail to the coffin. 444 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:55,240 I was like, I'm going to enlist in the army. 445 00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:01,080 And I didn't tell my mom because she, I was one of her favorites growing up and she wanted 446 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:02,080 to baby me. 447 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,360 She's like, yeah, go be a lawyer, go be a doctor, go be a pharmacist. 448 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:09,880 She didn't want me to like go out there, but I always grew up being hands-on, very physical, 449 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,520 going out there, playing in the dirt, playing softball, playing soccer, staying out late, 450 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:15,800 doing all those things. 451 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:22,400 And I knew inside me that working the desk was something that was not something I wanted 452 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,400 to do. 453 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:29,280 And after seeing that video and what happened with 9-11, I made the decision like I'm going 454 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:34,520 to enlist and I'm going to go down this pipeline to become an army ranger so that I can fight 455 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,000 for my country. 456 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,480 Now you mentioned hapkido, what other sports were you playing and how did you prepare for 457 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:47,200 not only the military, but ranger school specifically? 458 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:52,880 So I hapkido, I was always into martial arts because I grew up liking Bruce Lee. 459 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:53,880 I mean, who didn't, right? 460 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,520 I mean, Bruce Lee, I saw Enter the Dragon and all that. 461 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,680 I was like, oh man, I want to be a martial artist. 462 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,720 So there was something that I wanted to do and pursue because I liked the discipline that 463 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,240 is involved in that, right? 464 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:12,320 Because for you to excel in such an art, you have to be consistent, you have to be disciplined. 465 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:16,800 And I was just one of those kids that wanted to play any sports I can get my hands on because 466 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,100 I just had so much amped up energy. 467 00:29:20,100 --> 00:29:26,160 So for preparing to become a ranger, to go into RIP because it was called RIP at the 468 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:32,280 time, Ranger Endoctor Program before it was called RAPS now, I literally went to Barnes 469 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,280 and I looked up what it consists of and I literally trained myself. 470 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,160 I just ran all the time. 471 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:39,960 I did push-ups, I did sit-ups. 472 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:46,360 I prepared myself as much as possible because I understood, because if you go right now, 473 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:52,280 if you go on the internet, there's plenty of apps and websites that prepares you for 474 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,240 special operations. 475 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,280 Back then there wasn't anything like that. 476 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:00,680 And I think it's one of the most important things for anybody who wants to be successful 477 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:05,360 in anything they want to do in life is when you figure out what you want to do and you 478 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:11,320 figure out the standards of that course or that job or whatever, you meet that standard 479 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:12,880 and you exceed it. 480 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:18,820 And that's the one thing that was ingrained into me through my martial arts training. 481 00:30:18,820 --> 00:30:22,440 So I didn't want to be like, hey, I'm just going to sit back, sign a contract and hope 482 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,120 I pass Ranger Endoctor Program. 483 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:27,640 I knew that it was hard. 484 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,720 I knew that the fail rate was high. 485 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,800 I knew that not everybody was going to pass. 486 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,840 So I was like, if I really wanted to take this serious and if I really want to walk 487 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,040 down this path and if I really want to fight for my country and be one of the most elite 488 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:45,680 units fighting units in the United States Army in history, then I better freaking prepare 489 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:46,680 myself. 490 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:52,720 So I took the time to do diligence, to train myself so that when I left to boot camp, I 491 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:58,520 was well prepared ahead of time from my peers. 492 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:05,680 So you watched the attack on the towers, which was a Saudi hiding in Afghanistan, but you 493 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:07,840 found yourself in Iraq. 494 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,720 So first we'll get to the actual deployments. 495 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,120 You detail a lot of the combat on the documentary, so I won't drag you down that. 496 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,760 The question I always like to ask our veterans that have seen combat is this. 497 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,440 It's a two-part question. 498 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:27,180 And I'll preface it every time by saying when we watch the television, it's either a very 499 00:31:27,180 --> 00:31:32,840 pro-war rhetoric, kill them all, let God sort them out, stack bodies, or it's very anti-war. 500 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:34,000 They're all baby killers. 501 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,840 And in the middle are the men and women that we send, arguably children, overseas to fight 502 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,480 for our country. 503 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,520 So regardless of the politics, again, the preface that was disconnected because you're 504 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:51,400 in Iraq, not Afghanistan, regardless of the politics, was there a point where you realized 505 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,720 that there were atrocities happening, there were horrific people that did need to be taken 506 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,000 care of in Iraq when you landed there? 507 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:00,660 Absolutely. 508 00:32:00,660 --> 00:32:03,880 With the unit I was placed in, we had a mission set. 509 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:09,280 We weren't regular infantrymen where we're sent out on patrol or like, hey, walk this 510 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:15,160 path, make sure you clear these houses, clear this block and whatnot. 511 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:16,680 We had a set mission. 512 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:22,200 We knew when you call the Ranger Regiment, they are placed in the most hostile areas 513 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,160 possible or the most dangerous areas possible. 514 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:30,320 And we knew the targets that we're going after were killing soldiers, Marines, airmen, and 515 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,320 civilians. 516 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,240 So we knew who we were going after. 517 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:34,600 There was no shadow of a doubt. 518 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:40,720 They weren't like, hey guys, yeah, go out the gates and just go for a patrol and hopefully 519 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:41,720 you get into contact. 520 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:42,720 Right? 521 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,080 No, it was like, hey, these are the individuals we're going after. 522 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:47,360 This is what they've done. 523 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,400 This is the last time their cell phone was pinged in this area. 524 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,280 And this is, we need to get them now. 525 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:57,580 So I knew every time we went out the gate, every time we went out there, the wire or 526 00:32:57,580 --> 00:33:02,080 whatever the hell you want to call it, that we're out there chasing dudes that were killing 527 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:08,400 or hurting or just being terrorizing that part of town. 528 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,820 So there was without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, the individuals that we were tasked 529 00:33:12,820 --> 00:33:17,400 to go after were not good people. 530 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,920 So the other side of the two-part question is this. 531 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:27,520 Again, we get a very black and white portrayal of Iraq, Afghanistan. 532 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,480 So America is at war with Iraq. 533 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,840 We're at war with Afghanistan where the reality is the people within those countries are being 534 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,360 terrorized by these extremists. 535 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,820 And we never hear about kindness and compassion on the battlefield. 536 00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:43,680 So when you think back to that time, were there moments of kindness and compassion that 537 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,800 you remember witnessing from either the indigenous people or some of the men and women that you 538 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:49,280 serve with? 539 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,040 Yeah, absolutely. 540 00:33:51,040 --> 00:34:01,240 I would say I saw a lot of servicemen and women give out aid to the Iraqi people, food, 541 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,760 water, and whatnot. 542 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:09,000 And I saw the same thing from the Iraqi people where they try to help out and point out the 543 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,000 bad guys. 544 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:17,040 Because hey, like any war, there's no way everybody's a bad guy. 545 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:25,720 There's good civilians who live there and they just want to live a good life and just 546 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:28,400 be normal and live a good life. 547 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,000 And they want to point out the bad guys. 548 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:39,800 And a lot of times they can't because they're in fear of them being attacked. 549 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:44,520 But there are individuals like interpreters. 550 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:49,040 The Iraqi interpreters were such great help to us. 551 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:53,520 They would risk life and limb to help us to try to capture the bad guys. 552 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:55,760 And I think that was so powerful. 553 00:34:55,760 --> 00:35:00,000 They wanted to free their country. 554 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,240 They wanted to destroy evil and they were willing to risk everything to do that. 555 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:05,240 Absolutely. 556 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:06,920 I think we don't hear enough of that. 557 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:13,680 I've heard army vets taking care of the indigenous animals in Iraq, Afghanistan. 558 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:18,920 You said the courage, not only of the interpreters, but the Iraqi Afghan freedom fighters that 559 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:24,000 fought alongside us that sadly a lot of them were left behind when we pulled out. 560 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,840 But I think it's important that we hear that side as well. 561 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:26,840 So thank you. 562 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:32,600 With the SF dudes doing hits on buildings simultaneously where we're doing hits on other 563 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:36,720 buildings, they want to fight for their country too. 564 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:39,880 They want to have that freedom. 565 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,920 And like you said, they're willing to risk life and limb for that. 566 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:50,560 And a lot of those guys are heroes, but they're never really spoken about. 567 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,920 Like the SF unit, the Iraqi Special Forces unit out there right now is still getting 568 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:56,680 some to this very day. 569 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,760 They're still out there capturing all these little terrorist groups that are still in 570 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:05,760 Iraq, but we don't hear about it anymore. 571 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:10,720 And they are as much of our heroes as we are. 572 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:11,720 Absolutely. 573 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:17,360 Well, speaking of the cost of war, I know there was a pivotal moment where you lost 574 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,600 two friends during one of the deployments that you had. 575 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:27,620 So we don't have to dive into details, of course, but talk to me about the realization 576 00:36:27,620 --> 00:36:32,560 of losing brothers and how that impacted you and caused you, not caused you, but became 577 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,600 a strong reason for you to transition out of the military. 578 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:37,840 Yeah. 579 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:38,840 War affects everybody differently. 580 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:42,280 And I talked about that in the documentary. 581 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:48,120 Some people, they can withstand it longer than others, and some it just takes a big 582 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:49,120 toll on them. 583 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,080 And I did lose two friends. 584 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:53,080 One of them was our team leader. 585 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,040 One of them was our squad leader, Bremen Barazza. 586 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,000 And these guys were the epitome of a Ranger. 587 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,520 What you think a Ranger was? 588 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:07,960 Barazza was like a six foot, 200 stout dude who was tactically proficient, who was an 589 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:09,680 outstanding leader. 590 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:14,240 Like when you see him, you look at him, you're like, dude, Barazza is a beast. 591 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:21,240 And there's Bremen, who was like five, six, more, not that big of a dude, but he was a 592 00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:22,760 Ranger through and through. 593 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:26,160 And they were both amazing leaders, tacticians. 594 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:31,680 And that's the one thing that I would like to thank the Ranger Regiment for was the outstanding 595 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:35,360 leaders that I had the opportunity to serve on. 596 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:44,880 They have built me into the man I am today without the lessons be who I am today. 597 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:52,320 And I have those two to pay for, to really contribute for me, for my success, for how 598 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,720 I operate my mindset wise. 599 00:37:54,720 --> 00:38:01,000 And when we're losing them, you think at that time we haven't lost anybody yet in our company. 600 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:05,200 And those were the two first individuals that we lost in our company. 601 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,960 When I first got into the regiment, by the time I got there, Pat Tillman had already 602 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:10,960 been killed. 603 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:12,840 So the gym was dedicated to Tillman. 604 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:19,040 And I met his brother, Kevin Tillman during our EIB, which is an expert infantry badge 605 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,800 course where we earn our EIB. 606 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:27,440 And that was the last time I've heard of somebody in the Ranger Regiment in a second Ranger 607 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,280 battalion that was killed was Pat Tillman. 608 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:31,780 So we thought we were invincible. 609 00:38:31,780 --> 00:38:36,320 I thought, man, we were kicking ass and I was like, man, this is awesome. 610 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:38,320 No one can mess with us. 611 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:43,620 And when we lost those two, it affected everybody because those guys were squared away. 612 00:38:43,620 --> 00:38:48,720 Those guys were studs, but everybody knew there was a mission that has to be completed. 613 00:38:48,720 --> 00:38:54,560 We mourned, they mourned, but they knew the next day, the next following day, it was business 614 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:58,560 as usual that we had to go back out there. 615 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:03,280 They had to go back out there and bring the fight to the enemy. 616 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:19,400 And losing them and going to their funeral in their wake and saluting their pitcher, 617 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:21,540 I was just lost for words. 618 00:39:21,540 --> 00:39:25,920 I was emotionally wrecked. 619 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:32,960 The whole, everything that we saw up to that point combined with the loss of these individuals 620 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,280 really did a pull on me. 621 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:36,280 It really did. 622 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:37,280 It affected me. 623 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:42,600 And for a long time, I strayed away from that and thinking like, oh yeah, I'm a guy, I'm 624 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,600 a Ranger, I'm a tough dude. 625 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:51,240 Thinking about depression and all that PTSD, which wasn't even called at the time, was 626 00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:55,880 for, excuse my terms, bitches. 627 00:39:55,880 --> 00:40:01,720 You always want to put that face up with your other boys going out to drink with them and 628 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:03,200 be like, yeah, that doesn't affect me. 629 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,860 But you can tell there's certain visuals that are affected by war. 630 00:40:06,860 --> 00:40:12,360 And I reached a turning point where I was like, I can't stand, this is too much for 631 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:13,360 me. 632 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:14,360 My mom needed my help. 633 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:19,880 So that's when I decided not to reenlist and head back home to Chicago. 634 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:25,200 And I did, I head back home and I tried the college route for about a year and it wasn't 635 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:26,200 for me. 636 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:33,480 I was being in that classroom with those young kids and going from what I experienced to 637 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,800 that classroom is just, they didn't understand I had no one to talk to. 638 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,680 I couldn't talk to my mom. 639 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:39,680 I couldn't talk to my sisters. 640 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:47,620 And at the time I already had a, I have a little brother from her boyfriend at the time. 641 00:40:47,620 --> 00:40:50,080 So I couldn't tell my little brother anything either. 642 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,000 And I was just dealing with my own inner demons. 643 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:53,220 There was no outreach group. 644 00:40:53,220 --> 00:40:55,540 There was no one I can talk to. 645 00:40:55,540 --> 00:41:00,840 And I just hung out in my room for almost a year straight. 646 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:01,840 I stopped working out. 647 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:03,880 I stopped, my friends called me. 648 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,480 I never picked up their phone calls. 649 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:06,760 I didn't want to go out. 650 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:08,240 I didn't know that what the hell was wrong with me. 651 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,200 I felt suicidal for a little bit. 652 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:15,000 And I thought alcohol would be something that would cure or help me. 653 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,360 But it was like a small bandaid and a gaping wound. 654 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:26,000 And then when I realized, I sat back and I started to talk to God again. 655 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,680 And I was like, hey, I need your help. 656 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:41,320 And going back to church and just working out my internal issues and understanding a 657 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:47,040 lot of the things I went through or seen, there's really nothing I could have done about 658 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,280 it. 659 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,200 And when I came to terms with that, I got better. 660 00:41:53,200 --> 00:42:00,680 And I realized, hey, you didn't make it this far in your life just to take your life or 661 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:01,880 become a piece of shit. 662 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:07,120 So that's when I decided, hey, I'm going to pursue my other dream, which was to become 663 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,240 a police officer. 664 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:16,440 With the mature lens that I have now after seven years of these conversations and a career 665 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:21,480 in the fire service myself, it makes so much sense. 666 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,480 You had such a sense of purpose. 667 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:29,800 You had such tight knit camaraderie and brotherhood in the Ranger Battalion that you work with. 668 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:33,600 You saw combat, you had shared suffering, you had loss. 669 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:38,680 And then you go back to the States where no one understands what you've done. 670 00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:41,000 You don't have your tribe anymore. 671 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:45,600 People are probably bitching about stuff that's so insignificant compared to the things that 672 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:47,000 you've had to see and do. 673 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:51,040 And I think that you just mirrored what a lot of people experience when they transition 674 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,960 even from the military or from the first responder professions. 675 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,880 Yeah, James, you hit it right in the head. 676 00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:58,680 I lost purpose. 677 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:03,360 I was in a unit that was operating at such a high level. 678 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:10,960 When I left that and I came back to civilian world, there's no more shared suffering. 679 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:15,320 Am I going to sit here and lie to you and say the Ranger Regiment was sunshine and rainbows? 680 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:16,320 Absolutely not. 681 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:20,560 It was the hardest freaking thing I've ever done in my goddamn life. 682 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:29,040 But that shared suffering and what I went through really molded me to who I was. 683 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:35,880 And when I left that, and even now when I left this police job, realm, career, there 684 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:37,800 is no more shared suffering. 685 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:42,340 I always tell people, when you do those type of jobs, yeah, there's shared suffering. 686 00:43:42,340 --> 00:43:44,160 Now there isn't. 687 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:48,200 There's no one to carry that weight by yourself. 688 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:53,480 And I have to carry that weight by myself for a very long time. 689 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,320 Now you said you found God. 690 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:56,320 Talk to me about that journey. 691 00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,880 You already had a relationship with God. 692 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:04,160 How did you navigate yourself back to this spiritual communication that was healing for 693 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:07,160 you specifically? 694 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:09,960 I picked up the Bible. 695 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,600 I prayed. 696 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,520 Prayer is a powerful thing. 697 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:25,000 I prayed and I talked to him and I went back to church and that really helped me because 698 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:28,160 I found someone else that I can speak to. 699 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:35,760 And I knew he could understand me because he's God Almighty. 700 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,840 He knows, he sees, he experiences everything. 701 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:47,680 So through the power of prayer and really sharing my suffering with him, it lifted a 702 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:54,280 big boulder off my shoulder and really gave me purpose again. 703 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:58,160 And he gave me purpose again and really like, hey, what the other dream that you wanted 704 00:44:58,160 --> 00:44:59,160 to do, remember? 705 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,480 And I was like, yeah, it's time. 706 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,680 It's time to get back into it. 707 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:11,720 Brilliant, so as you said, you were talking to God, you are reminded of your second purpose, 708 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:13,720 which is your journey into law enforcement. 709 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:19,960 You initially find yourself in a small department in Illinois, braving real policing. 710 00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:24,680 You transition over to California after putting an app in for Chicago. 711 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:29,440 Now I know I'm kind of going past some of your life's journeys, but I want to specifically 712 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:30,440 get to this. 713 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:38,800 So talk to me about the level of training, the expectations, the attrition rate for LAPD 714 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,840 when you joined that department. 715 00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:44,800 At the time I joined, it was about 2011. 716 00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:48,240 And this was my second police academy I went to. 717 00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:52,000 Obviously the first one was with the suburban department in Illinois. 718 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:53,760 And you know, it was okay. 719 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:54,760 It wasn't that bad. 720 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:59,680 It was from what I've went through in the military, it was walking to park really, to 721 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:00,680 be honest with you. 722 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:02,880 Then I went over to LA. 723 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:07,880 They treated at the time, I don't know how things are now, but when I was going through, 724 00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,960 I mean, they were implying, right? 725 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:12,120 I mean, there were standards. 726 00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:15,480 They treated like a paramilitary organization. 727 00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:16,920 The males had to shave their heads. 728 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:20,000 The women had to wear their hair in a tight bun. 729 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,160 We had to double time everywhere. 730 00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:24,160 There were standards to meet. 731 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:28,520 And if you don't meet that standards, you're going to get dropped without a question. 732 00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:32,520 And we started with a class of over a hundred. 733 00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:36,600 We graduated around like, I would say 60 something officers. 734 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:39,120 I mean, they weren't playing. 735 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:45,880 They're like, hey, and to really drive that home, one of our guidon, our guidon is the 736 00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:50,480 guy who got to carry the flag during our academy class. 737 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:52,520 And he was a former Marine. 738 00:46:52,520 --> 00:47:00,520 And he passed all the way to the badge ceremony where we got our badge and we got pin. 739 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:03,200 We literally had four weeks left. 740 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:07,880 And the way LAPD does is like, hey, there's scenario based training that you have to pass 741 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:09,800 and you get two tries. 742 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,900 Your partner is the instructor. 743 00:47:12,900 --> 00:47:19,360 So there's no sneaky peaky, like I got another candidate next to me who's smarter than me. 744 00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:24,080 And I'll just like give him or her all the duties that the criteria is that you have 745 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:25,080 to meet. 746 00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:32,400 No, it's literally you and you're put on a spot and he failed twice and they got rid 747 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:33,400 of them. 748 00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:43,800 And the senior instructor was in the class because he saw our class was like really up 749 00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:49,180 in arms and really sad and angry what happened because that guy was a squared away guy. 750 00:47:49,180 --> 00:47:50,680 He was squared away. 751 00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:54,640 He did everything was asked him to that point. 752 00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:59,800 And we express our opinions to the senior instructor and he's like, hey, we have standards 753 00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:00,800 here. 754 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:05,360 If we drop the standards, if we lower the standards, then he said anybody else will 755 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,080 get that chance. 756 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:10,360 And we're not like that. 757 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:13,640 And when he told us that, it made sense. 758 00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:17,080 So yeah, LAPD was a legit academy. 759 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:21,160 I had so much fun, but it was hard. 760 00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:22,160 It was hard. 761 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:26,720 And I was glad it was hard because then you get a better trained officer, right? 762 00:48:26,720 --> 00:48:30,760 You're not getting the bottom of the barrel that's just pushed through the pipeline because 763 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:31,760 they need bodies. 764 00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:37,080 They need numbers because that's when it gets dangerous, especially now. 765 00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:40,820 We will touch on that, James, about current policing right nowadays and what the heck 766 00:48:40,820 --> 00:48:42,420 is going on. 767 00:48:42,420 --> 00:48:48,520 But back then in 2011, there were standards and people still wanted to be the police. 768 00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:51,360 And yeah, I had a chance to work for that department. 769 00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:52,360 It was great. 770 00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:56,760 I wanted to join LAPD SWAT because being on SWAT was something I always wanted to do. 771 00:48:56,760 --> 00:48:59,720 That was one of my lifelong goals. 772 00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:01,320 But my mother needed my help back home. 773 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:05,880 She was getting old and she didn't want to move to California because she didn't have 774 00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:06,880 any friends here. 775 00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:08,400 She didn't know the way around. 776 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:13,200 So I had to suck it up and come back home. 777 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:18,440 Before we hit record, I talked about how your journey mirrors mine in certain ways, obviously 778 00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:22,520 not with deployments in Ramadi, for example. 779 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:29,360 But the first responder journey, I got hired by Anaheim, California, just south of you 780 00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:30,360 guys. 781 00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:32,040 And again, it was the same exact thing. 782 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:38,120 The bar was so high and we lost 25% of each probationary class in the first year through 783 00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:39,120 attrition. 784 00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:42,160 And they literally would say, look, you're not a bad firefighter. 785 00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:44,820 You're just not the right fit for Anaheim Fire Department. 786 00:49:44,820 --> 00:49:47,800 And so people would go and work for other agencies. 787 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:51,760 And that was this incredibly high standard. 788 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,820 Now I want to get to the contrast of the other side of it. 789 00:49:54,820 --> 00:50:00,760 But before we do, talk to me about with this kind of lens that you have now, how that high 790 00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:05,120 level of training and standards factored into some of the calls that you had wearing an 791 00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:07,120 LAPD uniform. 792 00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:08,720 Absolutely. 793 00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:10,840 Absolutely. 794 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:11,840 It matters. 795 00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:16,360 The hard training matters because you heard this many times, right, James? 796 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:19,880 You don't rise to the level of occasion, you fall to the level of your training. 797 00:50:19,880 --> 00:50:23,680 And if you have shit training and if your department doesn't give a rat's ass about 798 00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:29,880 you and you don't give a rat's ass about you and your profession, the professional 799 00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:35,520 that you claim to be, and then when you meet something that was extremely difficult to 800 00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:41,600 deal with, an adversity, you're just going to suffer. 801 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:49,200 And hopefully you don't end up causing someone else's life or your life in the process. 802 00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:55,920 And that's the one thing that I loved about the Ranger Regiment is because when we train, 803 00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:59,200 our level of training is so fucking hard. 804 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:01,960 It's way harder than war, in my opinion. 805 00:51:01,960 --> 00:51:06,920 And it's made that way for a reason because if they would do us a disservice, if they 806 00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:12,760 trained us at this level and we went to war and it was at this level, then we're just 807 00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:14,280 like, oh shit, right? 808 00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:18,760 Now this is a big gap that we have to try to catch up to or try to survive. 809 00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:24,520 But if our training is at this level and war is at this level, then we're like, this is 810 00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:26,380 easy day. 811 00:51:26,380 --> 00:51:32,320 Because I've suffered more in Yakima, in the state of Washington, out there in the field 812 00:51:32,320 --> 00:51:41,240 with not eating, staying up all day and night, doing fire and maneuvering, live fire in CQB 813 00:51:41,240 --> 00:51:44,080 and all that, than I did over in Iraq. 814 00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:48,240 And when I went to Iraq and I went to war and I did all that, in a sense, it was not 815 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:52,600 that hard because what I dealt with in training was way more tough. 816 00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:55,240 And I was used to that. 817 00:51:55,240 --> 00:52:02,280 I was able to exceed what was asked of me out in the real world. 818 00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:04,280 And the same thing applies with the police room. 819 00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:06,400 It's the same thing that applies to being a firefighter. 820 00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:10,120 It's the same thing that applies to any one of these jobs where you raise a right hand 821 00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:12,360 and you sign a blank check. 822 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:19,920 It's like, you have to exceed the standards in training constantly because you never know 823 00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:23,280 when you're going to go out there and face whatever adversity is out there. 824 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:29,400 Because we already know, both us being from a first responder type of career, that you 825 00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:32,820 go from zero to 100, just like that. 826 00:52:32,820 --> 00:52:37,240 One minute you're having a cup of coffee, the next minute shots fired, active shooter, 827 00:52:37,240 --> 00:52:40,800 a hostage situation that you have to respond to. 828 00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:46,120 Now if you get there and your training sucks ass and the last time you shot was an annual 829 00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,920 qual or the last time you did some kind of defensive tactics or any kind of training 830 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:54,060 was the police academy, shame on you. 831 00:52:54,060 --> 00:52:55,480 And I've seen both spectrum. 832 00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:57,660 I've seen cops who were squared away. 833 00:52:57,660 --> 00:53:03,040 When I went through a call of, I remember vividly, one of the calls I did during LAPD 834 00:53:03,040 --> 00:53:06,920 in the Olympic division was they went after the stolen vehicle. 835 00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:10,680 This guy just did a drive by shooting. 836 00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:14,740 The patrol caught us, seen him speeding through that part of town. 837 00:53:14,740 --> 00:53:17,640 They chased and sued. 838 00:53:17,640 --> 00:53:19,100 They ended up chasing his vehicle. 839 00:53:19,100 --> 00:53:20,240 We were listening to the radio. 840 00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:22,240 We joined the chase. 841 00:53:22,240 --> 00:53:27,420 They came to this neighborhood, they ditched the car and they ran into the city block. 842 00:53:27,420 --> 00:53:32,020 Now LAPD at that time, they had standards and we trained to that center. 843 00:53:32,020 --> 00:53:33,820 They locked down that city block. 844 00:53:33,820 --> 00:53:35,680 So there's no way for that dude to escape. 845 00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:36,680 They set up a team. 846 00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:40,740 All right, you're less lethal, you're lethal. 847 00:53:40,740 --> 00:53:43,300 You're going to be the ones with the shield. 848 00:53:43,300 --> 00:53:47,480 And we put together a team to go look for this guy and the airship came over the air 849 00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:52,320 and they located like, okay, this individual is in this backyard hiding underneath the 850 00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:53,880 shaft. 851 00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:59,820 And when we got there, they put together a well-thought out plan and we tactically executed 852 00:53:59,820 --> 00:54:02,960 to standard to take the dude into custody. 853 00:54:02,960 --> 00:54:06,640 And he had a pistol and I tased them and he's like, you're less lethal. 854 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:08,640 I was the new guy attending. 855 00:54:08,640 --> 00:54:09,880 He's like, hey, you're less lethal. 856 00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:11,280 All right, this guy's lethal. 857 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,580 There's something happening and I'm hands on. 858 00:54:13,580 --> 00:54:18,840 And we came there, we approached tactically in a safe manner and gave him commands. 859 00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:21,560 He didn't abide and we did what we had to do. 860 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:27,460 We took him into custody and that is paid dividends to the training that was instilled 861 00:54:27,460 --> 00:54:29,840 upon us during the police academy. 862 00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:34,160 And not only that, but when we got to the department, the ongoing training that we were 863 00:54:34,160 --> 00:54:40,760 able to still have and the squared away FTOs that we have that really helped with the whole 864 00:54:40,760 --> 00:54:44,320 spectrum of that side of things. 865 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:45,920 So yeah, absolutely. 866 00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:47,200 It matters. 867 00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:53,080 And I've seen it unfold many times, many, many freaking times, hitting a house in Iraq, 868 00:54:53,080 --> 00:54:58,280 explosive breach, entering, knowing your points of domination, knowing when to step into the 869 00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:04,400 kill zone, knowing when to being sharpened up to know not to over penetrate a certain 870 00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:08,900 room because of the angle of the room, knowing when to do all this thing. 871 00:55:08,900 --> 00:55:12,300 It all matters because at that time I didn't think about any of that. 872 00:55:12,300 --> 00:55:13,760 It just happens. 873 00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:16,360 The more you train, the more it becomes second nature. 874 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:21,160 And that's the most important thing that anybody who's listening should realize that you want 875 00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:22,160 to train. 876 00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:23,500 You want to get so good. 877 00:55:23,500 --> 00:55:27,200 That's like what Bruce Lee said, be like water, my friends. 878 00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:28,720 You don't have to think about punching. 879 00:55:28,720 --> 00:55:30,220 You automatically punch. 880 00:55:30,220 --> 00:55:35,920 It's the same thing when you do anything tactically or anything on the fire side, being able to 881 00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:41,120 know what's cool to take the breach of a door or you read the door knowing like, okay, this 882 00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:44,520 is what it's going to need to take is because time matters. 883 00:55:44,520 --> 00:55:50,000 When things happen and seconds count, the more you delay, the more you second guess 884 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:53,840 yourself, the more bad things are going to fucking happen. 885 00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:54,840 Absolutely. 886 00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:59,320 And I think they say what train not to get it right, but train so much that you don't 887 00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:00,320 get it wrong. 888 00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:03,400 And I think that's absolutely the way, especially the basics. 889 00:56:03,400 --> 00:56:07,640 Obviously, we're all jack of all trades, master of none, but the basics, which is one of the 890 00:56:07,640 --> 00:56:14,000 things I see with Instagram is people are trying to invent new ways of doing things. 891 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:16,520 It's like, well, just the basics are there because they work. 892 00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:20,760 Of course you can add tools to your toolbox, but are you proficient at picking a ladder 893 00:56:20,760 --> 00:56:26,260 up off a rig and throwing it on your own and then having to move it if things change? 894 00:56:26,260 --> 00:56:30,420 Before you get that down, you don't need to worry about the fancy stuff. 895 00:56:30,420 --> 00:56:31,540 So I agree 100%. 896 00:56:31,540 --> 00:56:36,320 You drill the absolute basics that you will lean into and then you can start adding to 897 00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:39,600 your toolbox after that. 898 00:56:39,600 --> 00:56:42,960 I'm huge on mastering the basics. 899 00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:50,000 Think of high level athletes, Michael Jordan, dude who can do crazy layups and dunks and 900 00:56:50,000 --> 00:56:51,000 all that. 901 00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:53,240 What do you think he practiced when he gets on the court? 902 00:56:53,240 --> 00:56:54,240 Layups. 903 00:56:54,240 --> 00:56:56,200 He practiced free throws. 904 00:56:56,200 --> 00:57:01,140 He practiced the basics and mastering the basics, like you said, James is huge. 905 00:57:01,140 --> 00:57:04,920 If you don't have a foundation to stand upon, it's going to crumble. 906 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:09,960 Everything else is not going to freak you out if you don't know the basics of your skill 907 00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:12,720 set of your craft. 908 00:57:12,720 --> 00:57:17,880 If you're not a master of your craft of the basics, you can't excel and expect to do all 909 00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:21,320 the other high speed things you see on social media. 910 00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:26,840 But I've seen the unit guys overseas when they were training, when they're out there 911 00:57:26,840 --> 00:57:30,280 on the range, they don't run fancy drills. 912 00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:36,120 They do the basics because they understand the importance of that reload, being able 913 00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:41,320 to present your weapon system stance, all that. 914 00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:47,880 They're doing basic drills just over and over and over and over and over until, like you 915 00:57:47,880 --> 00:57:49,440 said, second nature. 916 00:57:49,440 --> 00:57:50,520 Absolutely. 917 00:57:50,520 --> 00:57:54,280 Even if you think about the martial arts, Hapkido, I did Taekwondo. 918 00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:58,200 When you take your black belt, you start from what you learned in the white belt. 919 00:57:58,200 --> 00:58:01,560 Even in your black belt test, you start in your very first kata you ever did and you 920 00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:02,560 worked your way up. 921 00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:03,880 I think that's a good kind of analogy. 922 00:58:03,880 --> 00:58:08,560 You never ever forget the foundations that your skills were built on. 923 00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:13,800 No, your foundation has to be rock solid. 924 00:58:13,800 --> 00:58:17,840 Like a house built on not a solid foundation is going to crumble. 925 00:58:17,840 --> 00:58:21,800 You have to think of your craft as the same way. 926 00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:25,320 Before you go out there and start trying to do all these high speed things, let's work 927 00:58:25,320 --> 00:58:26,520 on the basics. 928 00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:32,720 Let's be so damn good at it that then you're like, okay, I am now ready. 929 00:58:32,720 --> 00:58:38,360 You probably talked to two and you talked about Miyamoto Musashi. 930 00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:46,400 Towards the end of his life, his choice of weapon was a wooden stick and is kicking people's 931 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:48,240 ass with that thing. 932 00:58:48,240 --> 00:58:49,240 Why? 933 00:58:49,240 --> 00:58:54,880 Because he understood that all these fancy blades and all these fancy things didn't matter 934 00:58:54,880 --> 00:58:55,980 anymore. 935 00:58:55,980 --> 00:59:02,160 When you break down the essence of being a true master of your craft, even with a wooden 936 00:59:02,160 --> 00:59:07,440 stick, you can still kick somebody's ass if you are a master of your craft. 937 00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:08,440 He proved that. 938 00:59:08,440 --> 00:59:09,440 He's proven that. 939 00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:13,360 It's been proven time and time again with high level athletes, with guys who are in 940 00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:17,920 CAG, guys who are in dev group, guys who are high level in what they do. 941 00:59:17,920 --> 00:59:22,920 They are so good at their craft that it doesn't matter. 942 00:59:22,920 --> 00:59:28,160 You can give me a 1990 M16 with iron sights. 943 00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:31,880 I'll still freaking shoot the shit out of that thing. 944 00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:38,800 For example, one of our senior guys on SWAT, he went to an FBI instructor course, pistol 945 00:59:38,800 --> 00:59:46,880 course and every single guy who went to that course from other teams, Illinois State Police, 946 00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:52,720 all these counties, they all had staccatos with red dots, all these Gucci guns. 947 00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:55,520 And that guy, our senior guy, his name is OJ. 948 00:59:55,520 --> 00:59:58,640 OJ, he's a bad motherfucker, by the way. 949 00:59:58,640 --> 01:00:04,480 OJ, he came there with a Gen 3 Glock 17 iron sights and he outshot everybody. 950 01:00:04,480 --> 01:00:09,560 He won top shot of the class. 951 01:00:09,560 --> 01:00:13,720 All the other guys had staccatos and you name it, any kind of Gucci gun you had, you can 952 01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:18,760 imagine with optics and he outshot them with iron sights with a Gen 3 Glock 17. 953 01:00:18,760 --> 01:00:21,680 What does that tell you? 954 01:00:21,680 --> 01:00:23,440 Performance and basics. 955 01:00:23,440 --> 01:00:24,440 Yes. 956 01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:25,440 Beautiful. 957 01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:33,040 Well, I've started with Hialeah, which was a department just north of Miami and they 958 01:00:33,040 --> 01:00:35,000 laid such an incredible foundation. 959 01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:40,160 Then I moved to California for a few years, Anaheim again, I made that 75%. 960 01:00:40,160 --> 01:00:42,320 I was one of the ones that graduated. 961 01:00:42,320 --> 01:00:47,520 And again, with my own eyes saw not only the entry level training, but it never stopped. 962 01:00:47,520 --> 01:00:49,480 I mean, we constantly cut roofs. 963 01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:50,640 We constantly took doors. 964 01:00:50,640 --> 01:00:55,080 We constantly pulled hose and threw ladders and did the medical stuff. 965 01:00:55,080 --> 01:00:56,520 And it was just part of the culture. 966 01:00:56,520 --> 01:00:58,480 You never stop learning. 967 01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:01,480 Then I transitioned back to the East Coast, just like yourself. 968 01:01:01,480 --> 01:01:02,480 It was family first. 969 01:01:02,480 --> 01:01:03,480 And that's why I went back. 970 01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:08,320 We had a little boy and my son's mother wanted to be back near her family. 971 01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:09,800 Oh, what a blessing. 972 01:01:09,800 --> 01:01:15,720 And it was apart from career wise and it broke my heart because I left my dream department 973 01:01:15,720 --> 01:01:20,040 and I chased that same level of professionalism for 10 years. 974 01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:24,440 And don't get me wrong, I worked with some great people, especially that next department, 975 01:01:24,440 --> 01:01:31,640 even the last one, a few good people, despite the department, but the mediocrity and the 976 01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:36,920 lack of standards, the lack of almost understanding the why of what we were even doing as a profession, 977 01:01:36,920 --> 01:01:40,840 the complacency was nauseating and it angered me. 978 01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:44,520 And it really is one of the creations of this podcast was eventually I'm going to fix it 979 01:01:44,520 --> 01:01:45,520 from the outside. 980 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:51,680 But knowing where you should be from those first two fire departments to then seeing 981 01:01:51,680 --> 01:01:57,040 the other side of the spectrum, I mean, mental health wise was detrimental on top of everything 982 01:01:57,040 --> 01:01:58,040 else. 983 01:01:58,040 --> 01:01:59,040 So talk to me. 984 01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:01,880 You've had this amazing bar set now, LAPD. 985 01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:05,800 Talk to me about your transition to Chicago and let's talk about the other side of the 986 01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:06,800 scale. 987 01:02:06,800 --> 01:02:12,120 Oh my God, James, you hit it right in the head and you can relate to what I'm about 988 01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:13,240 to speak of. 989 01:02:13,240 --> 01:02:16,760 And disclaimer guys, I'm not here to bash on Chicago. 990 01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:21,080 This is from my own views of 10 years on that department. 991 01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:22,680 So this is from my experience. 992 01:02:22,680 --> 01:02:24,680 It's not like I'm anti Chicago. 993 01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:27,840 I hate Chicago police department. 994 01:02:27,840 --> 01:02:30,240 Serving as a cop is an honorable profession. 995 01:02:30,240 --> 01:02:33,080 Doesn't matter what department you serve in. 996 01:02:33,080 --> 01:02:37,720 And I worked with great individuals in that department that was square right away, but 997 01:02:37,720 --> 01:02:38,720 you're absolutely right. 998 01:02:38,720 --> 01:02:42,200 The department, the Chicago police department, I have to go through another police academy. 999 01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:44,880 So this is my third police academy I went to. 1000 01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:47,480 And I always treat every single academy like my first. 1001 01:02:47,480 --> 01:02:48,800 I don't have an ego. 1002 01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:52,400 I don't think like, oh yeah, I've been a cop for X amount of years. 1003 01:02:52,400 --> 01:02:57,280 These kids are just off the, from college or whatever, they don't know shit. 1004 01:02:57,280 --> 01:03:00,640 No, I treated like I'm the new guy. 1005 01:03:00,640 --> 01:03:02,680 But it was very unfortunate. 1006 01:03:02,680 --> 01:03:12,160 The culture that the Chicago police department was doing, even in 2013, before this whole 1007 01:03:12,160 --> 01:03:19,240 anti truly anti police rhetoric that they were pushing, defund the police bullshit. 1008 01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:24,400 At the time we could still be the police, but it was so relaxed. 1009 01:03:24,400 --> 01:03:26,960 There was no standard. 1010 01:03:26,960 --> 01:03:28,320 You walked everywhere. 1011 01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:31,960 It was like literally like college. 1012 01:03:31,960 --> 01:03:34,120 They'll give you as many tries as you need to pass. 1013 01:03:34,120 --> 01:03:39,280 You know, there are certain individuals who couldn't pass the pistol qual, but all of 1014 01:03:39,280 --> 01:03:44,600 a sudden they train with the instructors and they shot alone, they miraculously passed. 1015 01:03:44,600 --> 01:03:50,000 When they shot like shit with us during our, you know, our qualification to a point where 1016 01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:54,180 there's no way with this X amount of time, this individual is going to pass. 1017 01:03:54,180 --> 01:03:56,760 There was no standards. 1018 01:03:56,760 --> 01:04:00,920 If you wanted to stay, they'll let you stay. 1019 01:04:00,920 --> 01:04:01,920 Right? 1020 01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:09,240 And I believe no matter what profession you do, fire police, military, there has to be 1021 01:04:09,240 --> 01:04:16,600 a standard because you're setting your officers, your firefighters, and the guys who are serving 1022 01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:19,040 up for failure right from the beginning. 1023 01:04:19,040 --> 01:04:22,800 When you make it so easy for them to pass, right? 1024 01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:26,240 That they will now they're out there in the real world. 1025 01:04:26,240 --> 01:04:29,880 Now they're out there dealing with criminals and killers. 1026 01:04:29,880 --> 01:04:35,440 Now they're like, oh shit, I am not ready for this because the standards weren't set. 1027 01:04:35,440 --> 01:04:40,200 And I saw it firsthand with CPD, coppers. 1028 01:04:40,200 --> 01:04:45,600 When I got to this, like the police academy was a joke. 1029 01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:48,400 It was a complete freaking joke. 1030 01:04:48,400 --> 01:04:54,800 And I was so disheartened, especially with, you know, the name Chicago police, dangerous 1031 01:04:54,800 --> 01:05:00,720 murder capital of the world, you know, all this stuff, but they're not giving these officers 1032 01:05:00,720 --> 01:05:06,160 the correct training that they deserve to go out there to do their jobs. 1033 01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:12,120 And when I got there to the district, the culture was even worse. 1034 01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:18,160 All the old timers, sloppy uniform, like when I was in LAPD, your badge had to be shined, 1035 01:05:18,160 --> 01:05:22,560 your boots had to be shined, your leather belt has to be shined, your uniform better 1036 01:05:22,560 --> 01:05:24,320 be pressed. 1037 01:05:24,320 --> 01:05:27,120 And if you're a new guy, you're sitting in the back of the road, they call you boot, 1038 01:05:27,120 --> 01:05:30,360 you gotta go up there to the teleprompter, turn on the teleprompter. 1039 01:05:30,360 --> 01:05:32,640 Do all these things, because you're the fucking new guy. 1040 01:05:32,640 --> 01:05:39,120 I came into Chicago, all the old timers had these worn out leather belts, maybe one pistol 1041 01:05:39,120 --> 01:05:42,880 mag, you know, their gun holsters like tilted all the way in the back. 1042 01:05:42,880 --> 01:05:44,900 Their uniform is sloppy. 1043 01:05:44,900 --> 01:05:46,360 There was no standards. 1044 01:05:46,360 --> 01:05:47,880 And that's what they bred. 1045 01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:55,680 You know, the females in LA and the West Coast, you have to put your hair up in a bun, obviously, 1046 01:05:55,680 --> 01:06:02,600 because if you wrestle or you get into a situation with a criminal and they grab your hair, you 1047 01:06:02,600 --> 01:06:04,480 know, you're already at a disadvantage. 1048 01:06:04,480 --> 01:06:07,200 In Chicago, they let the females have their hair down. 1049 01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:10,000 So they have their hair down, these little ponytails. 1050 01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:11,800 There was no standard right from the beginning. 1051 01:06:11,800 --> 01:06:13,960 It was like, hey, whatever, kid. 1052 01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:15,640 And I saw that. 1053 01:06:15,640 --> 01:06:25,320 And they don't give their officers any training, real life-saving training, as in, you know, 1054 01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:27,440 the only time that you shot is your annual call. 1055 01:06:27,440 --> 01:06:29,200 And it was like 30 rounds. 1056 01:06:29,200 --> 01:06:30,200 That's it. 1057 01:06:30,200 --> 01:06:33,960 When you get, when you hit the streets every year, the Chicago police department gets you 1058 01:06:33,960 --> 01:06:35,920 30 fucking rounds to shoot. 1059 01:06:35,920 --> 01:06:37,860 Now think about that. 1060 01:06:37,860 --> 01:06:43,080 If you're in a place that the chances of you getting into a violent situation or dealing 1061 01:06:43,080 --> 01:06:45,760 with violence is too so high. 1062 01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:49,000 And this is the type of training they're giving the officers. 1063 01:06:49,000 --> 01:06:54,560 It's a detriment to them, to the citizens and to their partners. 1064 01:06:54,560 --> 01:06:55,560 Right? 1065 01:06:55,560 --> 01:06:59,320 Because then what type of officers do you have at that level? 1066 01:06:59,320 --> 01:07:01,120 Oh, the last time you shot was 30. 1067 01:07:01,120 --> 01:07:05,920 And you see in this bunch of Instagram videos, TikTok videos of this copper trying to reload, 1068 01:07:05,920 --> 01:07:10,440 trying to clear her pistol that she freaking forgot how to do, which is super embarrassing. 1069 01:07:10,440 --> 01:07:15,440 That was a Chicago police officer that recently showed where she got into a OIS, an officer 1070 01:07:15,440 --> 01:07:19,640 involved shooting, and she had a stovepipe that was easily cleared, but she didn't know 1071 01:07:19,640 --> 01:07:21,300 how to clear it. 1072 01:07:21,300 --> 01:07:29,400 Stuff like that is such a detriment to not only yourself, that what you swear, when you 1073 01:07:29,400 --> 01:07:34,320 swear you raise your right hand to swear upon being a professional, but most importantly, 1074 01:07:34,320 --> 01:07:37,340 like I stated, the citizens you swore to protect. 1075 01:07:37,340 --> 01:07:41,640 And the officers in the academy, we didn't get rifle trained. 1076 01:07:41,640 --> 01:07:47,040 If you want to be a rifle trained on the streets, you have to go put it in a little application 1077 01:07:47,040 --> 01:07:52,160 and the wait time, unless you know a fireman instructor down in the academy, you're probably 1078 01:07:52,160 --> 01:07:56,640 waiting over a year to even be rifle trained to hit the streets. 1079 01:07:56,640 --> 01:07:57,640 Right? 1080 01:07:57,640 --> 01:08:00,640 The defensive tactics they taught there was a joke. 1081 01:08:00,640 --> 01:08:04,360 The stuff that doesn't really work. 1082 01:08:04,360 --> 01:08:10,840 And I really feel like every police department should train their officers in jujitsu. 1083 01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:14,120 You have to be proficient because it matters. 1084 01:08:14,120 --> 01:08:19,800 Being able to take a person in a custody as safely and as quickly as possible without 1085 01:08:19,800 --> 01:08:23,880 wailing your baton at them, because that's the last time you train your baton was in 1086 01:08:23,880 --> 01:08:24,880 the academy. 1087 01:08:24,880 --> 01:08:26,320 So you're doing these techniques that doesn't work. 1088 01:08:26,320 --> 01:08:28,200 It looks bad on camera. 1089 01:08:28,200 --> 01:08:31,240 It looks like you're using excessive force. 1090 01:08:31,240 --> 01:08:38,240 But if you're given an officer and their team and their department the proper training so 1091 01:08:38,240 --> 01:08:42,320 that they can handle themselves professionally, because I think a lot of these departments 1092 01:08:42,320 --> 01:08:45,240 don't realize what that entails. 1093 01:08:45,240 --> 01:08:48,920 Does it cost money to have your officers trained? 1094 01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:49,920 Absolutely. 1095 01:08:49,920 --> 01:08:52,960 But you're saving so much lawsuits. 1096 01:08:52,960 --> 01:08:59,560 You're saving your department so much face because now when somebody calls the Chicago 1097 01:08:59,560 --> 01:09:07,640 Police Department or CPD officer, they can be like, yeah, I pretty have a really good 1098 01:09:07,640 --> 01:09:12,680 confidence that the officer who's responding to my call is squared away, is trained very 1099 01:09:12,680 --> 01:09:15,440 well then he can handle that situation. 1100 01:09:15,440 --> 01:09:17,760 I think this is such an important conversations. 1101 01:09:17,760 --> 01:09:24,000 And again, it's not talking crap about the individuals in the uniform, at least the ones 1102 01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:25,000 that are good at their job. 1103 01:09:25,000 --> 01:09:29,920 And I actually have a lot of respect for anyone who's a good police officer, firefighter, 1104 01:09:29,920 --> 01:09:36,040 paramedic if they work for a shitty department because they are good despite the department, 1105 01:09:36,040 --> 01:09:38,200 not because of the department. 1106 01:09:38,200 --> 01:09:45,400 One of the big misnomers that I've seen and it seems to be maybe behind the absolute extreme 1107 01:09:45,400 --> 01:09:51,160 from your positive experience in LA and the negative one in Chicago is Anaheim had the 1108 01:09:51,160 --> 01:09:52,480 bar really high. 1109 01:09:52,480 --> 01:09:58,760 And when I practiced my CPAT, which is the physical agility test for the fire service, 1110 01:09:58,760 --> 01:10:00,560 I had the humility to go, well, let me practice. 1111 01:10:00,560 --> 01:10:01,640 I know I'm in great shape. 1112 01:10:01,640 --> 01:10:05,560 Let me do a practice run in California before I go and test in Florida to make sure that 1113 01:10:05,560 --> 01:10:07,240 I smash it. 1114 01:10:07,240 --> 01:10:12,040 And the guy in the testing center goes, you're the only person I've ever met that left Anaheim 1115 01:10:12,040 --> 01:10:13,040 fire department. 1116 01:10:13,040 --> 01:10:14,400 And I left purely from geography. 1117 01:10:14,400 --> 01:10:19,800 I didn't want to leave Anaheim, but because their standard was set extremely high. 1118 01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:25,380 Now, more so now than ever, there's this philosophy, well, if we lower standards, then we'll get 1119 01:10:25,380 --> 01:10:26,880 more candidates. 1120 01:10:26,880 --> 01:10:29,080 I argue that's completely the opposite. 1121 01:10:29,080 --> 01:10:34,080 Not only is it extremely dangerous, but the real firefighters, police officers of the 1122 01:10:34,080 --> 01:10:36,560 world want to be challenged. 1123 01:10:36,560 --> 01:10:39,760 That's what's going to get you to line up outside the door and obviously having support 1124 01:10:39,760 --> 01:10:42,480 of your department and good training, et cetera. 1125 01:10:42,480 --> 01:10:51,200 What is your perception of the philosophy that created the way that the academy was, 1126 01:10:51,200 --> 01:10:56,240 the lowering of the standards and the kind of devolution of what was probably an incredible 1127 01:10:56,240 --> 01:11:00,960 department a few decades prior? 1128 01:11:00,960 --> 01:11:01,960 I can tell you this. 1129 01:11:01,960 --> 01:11:06,040 When I went to go test with the Chicago police department, they put us in the McCormick place 1130 01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:10,640 because there's over 14,000 people trying to apply to be a police officer. 1131 01:11:10,640 --> 01:11:16,480 Now they're lucky to get people to want to do the job. 1132 01:11:16,480 --> 01:11:23,760 And it plays hand in hand with, like you said, standards has to be high. 1133 01:11:23,760 --> 01:11:25,540 It's not high anymore. 1134 01:11:25,540 --> 01:11:31,160 Even then before it was anti-police, but now even worse when the whole incident with the 1135 01:11:31,160 --> 01:11:35,960 defund the police and you lose out on good candidates. 1136 01:11:35,960 --> 01:11:41,680 People who are physically fit and intelligent, they look at the job of a police officer now, 1137 01:11:41,680 --> 01:11:46,880 especially like big metropolitan departments that are blue states. 1138 01:11:46,880 --> 01:11:49,560 They're like, I don't want to be the cop there. 1139 01:11:49,560 --> 01:11:51,440 They tie my hands. 1140 01:11:51,440 --> 01:11:53,280 They'll hang me out to dry. 1141 01:11:53,280 --> 01:11:56,160 I can be the next YouTube sensation, get sued. 1142 01:11:56,160 --> 01:11:59,200 Worse yet, go to jail. 1143 01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:00,200 So what are they doing? 1144 01:12:00,200 --> 01:12:01,800 They're not going to do the job. 1145 01:12:01,800 --> 01:12:05,240 They're going to go work for the, if they're going to want to be a law enforcement individual, 1146 01:12:05,240 --> 01:12:08,320 they're going to go work for a three letter agency. 1147 01:12:08,320 --> 01:12:10,840 And you're like you said, now you're left with scraping the barrel. 1148 01:12:10,840 --> 01:12:12,160 So how are they going to try and fix it? 1149 01:12:12,160 --> 01:12:13,160 Oh yeah. 1150 01:12:13,160 --> 01:12:16,040 If they, if they have this criminal record, a couple of these misdemeanors, that's, that's 1151 01:12:16,040 --> 01:12:17,040 okay. 1152 01:12:17,040 --> 01:12:18,040 Oh, they don't have a college degree. 1153 01:12:18,040 --> 01:12:19,040 That's okay. 1154 01:12:19,040 --> 01:12:20,620 Oh, you can't pass the power test. 1155 01:12:20,620 --> 01:12:21,620 That's okay. 1156 01:12:21,620 --> 01:12:23,720 We'll work with you just as long as you don't quit. 1157 01:12:23,720 --> 01:12:28,880 Then you start seeing the pool of candidates come that they're not here for what this job 1158 01:12:28,880 --> 01:12:30,940 stands for anymore. 1159 01:12:30,940 --> 01:12:33,740 Because now they're like, oh yeah, well, we can't get candidates. 1160 01:12:33,740 --> 01:12:37,520 Let's raise the salary to make it enticing. 1161 01:12:37,520 --> 01:12:42,480 Oh, we'll pay for your college or, you know, help you pay for your college tuition. 1162 01:12:42,480 --> 01:12:44,120 Then what are you getting? 1163 01:12:44,120 --> 01:12:48,400 You're getting people not wanting to do the job for the right reasons. 1164 01:12:48,400 --> 01:12:51,320 They're in here, they're in it for the money. 1165 01:12:51,320 --> 01:12:57,640 And the, the, the, the, the quality of candidates is so watered down that is super dangerous. 1166 01:12:57,640 --> 01:13:02,040 I don't know if you've seen that most recent video, James, of the four CPD officers who 1167 01:13:02,040 --> 01:13:07,040 try to arrest the shoplifter and they couldn't even place them in a custody. 1168 01:13:07,040 --> 01:13:10,040 I did, sadly. 1169 01:13:10,040 --> 01:13:11,880 Yeah. 1170 01:13:11,880 --> 01:13:14,440 That to me speaks volumes. 1171 01:13:14,440 --> 01:13:15,920 You know, they're out of breath. 1172 01:13:15,920 --> 01:13:20,640 I can tell you like those, those coppers there are pretty much rookies, maybe three years 1173 01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:24,520 on the, on the, on the job because of where they're, where they're located. 1174 01:13:24,520 --> 01:13:28,360 And usually like, you know, you know how it goes when you're the new guy or new gal, you're 1175 01:13:28,360 --> 01:13:33,120 going to be placed in areas that are very dangerous because all the seniority guys get 1176 01:13:33,120 --> 01:13:34,360 out and go somewhere else, right? 1177 01:13:34,360 --> 01:13:37,600 A little bit safer, what you say. 1178 01:13:37,600 --> 01:13:39,840 And so those cops have probably had like three to five years on the job. 1179 01:13:39,840 --> 01:13:43,400 And this is the type of coppers are out there now. 1180 01:13:43,400 --> 01:13:46,300 And it's just, it's, it's insane. 1181 01:13:46,300 --> 01:13:48,240 It's absolutely insane. 1182 01:13:48,240 --> 01:13:50,840 Were you hit on a topic? 1183 01:13:50,840 --> 01:13:54,600 I think that most people don't understand, which is the term false economy and it's the 1184 01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:56,520 same in the fire service. 1185 01:13:56,520 --> 01:14:00,520 You know, we are struggling now recruitment wise. 1186 01:14:00,520 --> 01:14:06,720 And I think what's happening for us is just as you alluded to now, let's say you're an 1187 01:14:06,720 --> 01:14:10,640 18 year old, you know, man or woman and you're like, I think I'm going to be a firefighter. 1188 01:14:10,640 --> 01:14:12,680 I think I'm going to be a police officer. 1189 01:14:12,680 --> 01:14:17,400 And they do an actual diligent Google search on what does a job actually mean? 1190 01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:22,600 And they start discovering this standards lowering, you know, organizational betrayal, 1191 01:14:22,600 --> 01:14:23,600 you know, all these elements. 1192 01:14:23,600 --> 01:14:27,160 Then you've got the marriage issues and the mental health problems, addiction, suicide. 1193 01:14:27,160 --> 01:14:30,840 And then they look at the pay and they look at the hours, they look at the mandatory overtime 1194 01:14:30,840 --> 01:14:36,560 and then they go, Hmm, you know what UPS is hiring or I've been offered this IT job. 1195 01:14:36,560 --> 01:14:38,240 And so that's where they go. 1196 01:14:38,240 --> 01:14:42,560 And this is what we've got to understand is that we as the first responder professions 1197 01:14:42,560 --> 01:14:48,000 have literally hit critical mass where our generation was asked to do more with less 1198 01:14:48,000 --> 01:14:49,680 over and over and over again. 1199 01:14:49,680 --> 01:14:51,480 Fire stations were browned out. 1200 01:14:51,480 --> 01:14:55,360 You know, to me, for example, in law enforcement, the fact that any police officer is sent out 1201 01:14:55,360 --> 01:14:58,000 on their own in a car is fucking insanity. 1202 01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:03,160 How we got there nationally, I don't understand LAPD and some of these two to a car that should 1203 01:15:03,160 --> 01:15:05,000 be the gold standard. 1204 01:15:05,000 --> 01:15:10,240 Less cars, you know, more cars with two, it doesn't matter how many vehicles you have 1205 01:15:10,240 --> 01:15:15,120 to get out that are well trained, that is an absolute force multiplier on one individual 1206 01:15:15,120 --> 01:15:17,160 that may or may not resist. 1207 01:15:17,160 --> 01:15:20,360 One person gets out and the other person is bigger. 1208 01:15:20,360 --> 01:15:21,920 They're immediately on the back foot. 1209 01:15:21,920 --> 01:15:25,460 So now they're either going to get murdered or they're going to, you know, forced into 1210 01:15:25,460 --> 01:15:27,440 drawing their weapon. 1211 01:15:27,440 --> 01:15:31,240 So we're at the point now where people got to understand that we are bleeding so much 1212 01:15:31,240 --> 01:15:36,280 money as you said, lawsuits, medical retirements, workman's comp, overtime, you name it. 1213 01:15:36,280 --> 01:15:40,840 There is the budget, but we need courageous leaders to go enough is enough. 1214 01:15:40,840 --> 01:15:43,400 We've been bleeding money out the back end. 1215 01:15:43,400 --> 01:15:48,520 Our, you know, our brand to use a corporate word is completely fucked. 1216 01:15:48,520 --> 01:15:50,840 So we got to start investing in our people. 1217 01:15:50,840 --> 01:15:53,580 We're going to put the bar back where it needs to be. 1218 01:15:53,580 --> 01:15:57,240 We're going to do a hiring, but to get the people to walk through the door, we've actually 1219 01:15:57,240 --> 01:15:59,400 got to create good working conditions. 1220 01:15:59,400 --> 01:16:03,560 We're going to start saying we offer this, this level of jujitsu, wrestling, judo, whatever 1221 01:16:03,560 --> 01:16:07,520 we're going to be doing all kinds of real tactical weapons training. 1222 01:16:07,520 --> 01:16:12,720 We're going to do, you know, training on, on interacting with the public on deescalation, 1223 01:16:12,720 --> 01:16:15,560 on conversation, you know, physical fitness programs. 1224 01:16:15,560 --> 01:16:19,040 So when you get out the car, your initial thought might be, I'm not going to run from 1225 01:16:19,040 --> 01:16:21,200 that guy or that girl. 1226 01:16:21,200 --> 01:16:22,800 They look like a kill me. 1227 01:16:22,800 --> 01:16:26,480 And in a good way, you know, these are the things that we have to do. 1228 01:16:26,480 --> 01:16:31,440 We can't keep being reactive because we found ourselves literally swirling around the toilet 1229 01:16:31,440 --> 01:16:32,440 bowl. 1230 01:16:32,440 --> 01:16:38,880 As people have said, and this is not scaremongering, if we don't change, there won't be any firefighters 1231 01:16:38,880 --> 01:16:41,580 or police officers to respond to your house anymore. 1232 01:16:41,580 --> 01:16:44,340 That is where we're at in some of these jurisdictions. 1233 01:16:44,340 --> 01:16:49,500 So to me, you know, hearing your story, hearing, obviously I've, I've touched on some of my 1234 01:16:49,500 --> 01:16:51,240 experiences in the past. 1235 01:16:51,240 --> 01:16:56,080 We've both talked about where there were good departments, where everything was done well. 1236 01:16:56,080 --> 01:16:58,540 So it's not, oh, everything's crap. 1237 01:16:58,540 --> 01:17:03,700 It's just the ones that are, you know, that could be the person that's pulling over your 1238 01:17:03,700 --> 01:17:08,080 teenage son one day who reaches in the glove box to get his driving license. 1239 01:17:08,080 --> 01:17:13,800 And that person with a one annual qual freaks out and shoots your kid in the head. 1240 01:17:13,800 --> 01:17:15,320 That's what we're talking about. 1241 01:17:15,320 --> 01:17:20,320 Or stands frozen while someone walks through a school and massacres school children, including 1242 01:17:20,320 --> 01:17:21,380 your own. 1243 01:17:21,380 --> 01:17:27,680 So it's not that we're talking about the carpentry world and now my cupboard door is slightly 1244 01:17:27,680 --> 01:17:29,840 wonky because it was a shit carpenter. 1245 01:17:29,840 --> 01:17:33,360 When you or I are bad at our jobs, people die. 1246 01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:35,480 You are 100% sir. 1247 01:17:35,480 --> 01:17:38,960 You hit that in the head and I think it needs to be realized what's going on. 1248 01:17:38,960 --> 01:17:40,840 Like, you know, let's talk about the one man car thing. 1249 01:17:40,840 --> 01:17:41,960 It's perception, right? 1250 01:17:41,960 --> 01:17:43,280 They want more cars out there. 1251 01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:46,200 So it looks like there's more cops, but you're absolutely right. 1252 01:17:46,200 --> 01:17:49,480 It should be two to a vehicle, 100%. 1253 01:17:49,480 --> 01:17:54,760 And not only that in this day and age, they don't want warriors anymore. 1254 01:17:54,760 --> 01:18:00,360 And what they're pushing out there in society and we see the trickle effect now. 1255 01:18:00,360 --> 01:18:01,560 No one wants to be a police. 1256 01:18:01,560 --> 01:18:02,840 No one wants to do this job. 1257 01:18:02,840 --> 01:18:10,520 The army just missed their recruitment by 15%, which is the lowest it's ever been. 1258 01:18:10,520 --> 01:18:12,520 You know, and what is why? 1259 01:18:12,520 --> 01:18:13,520 Why? 1260 01:18:13,520 --> 01:18:14,560 Why is that? 1261 01:18:14,560 --> 01:18:18,120 It's because of what's being pushed out there nowadays. 1262 01:18:18,120 --> 01:18:19,840 No one wants to do these professions anymore. 1263 01:18:19,840 --> 01:18:20,840 You're absolutely right. 1264 01:18:20,840 --> 01:18:22,320 I can be a UPS driver. 1265 01:18:22,320 --> 01:18:27,760 Like Chicago, they have mandatory like days off canceled because there's not enough cops. 1266 01:18:27,760 --> 01:18:32,720 I've worked so many days off, so many days that was supposed to be my days off, but they 1267 01:18:32,720 --> 01:18:33,720 got it canceled. 1268 01:18:33,720 --> 01:18:34,720 Oh, it's canceled. 1269 01:18:34,720 --> 01:18:35,720 It's canceled. 1270 01:18:35,720 --> 01:18:39,800 And you just have to show up to it because there's not enough manpower and there's not 1271 01:18:39,800 --> 01:18:43,440 enough hires and there's so many retirees that are retiring. 1272 01:18:43,440 --> 01:18:50,440 And we see it, you know, and it's frustrating because there are good cops in Chicago. 1273 01:18:50,440 --> 01:18:53,160 I've encountered many good cops. 1274 01:18:53,160 --> 01:18:58,000 The training, I saw what has happened there and I decided to go out and seek my own training. 1275 01:18:58,000 --> 01:19:03,240 I spent thousands of dollars on my own money to go out there and train myself and prepare 1276 01:19:03,240 --> 01:19:07,280 myself for joining CPD SWAT. 1277 01:19:07,280 --> 01:19:09,280 You know, and not a lot. 1278 01:19:09,280 --> 01:19:11,280 And if you know anything about coppers, a lot of them are cheap. 1279 01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:14,160 They don't want to spend their money on their own training. 1280 01:19:14,160 --> 01:19:17,160 If the department is not going to provide me with the training, I'm not going to go 1281 01:19:17,160 --> 01:19:20,920 out there and spend my own money, which is sad. 1282 01:19:20,920 --> 01:19:21,920 You're a professional. 1283 01:19:21,920 --> 01:19:25,520 What if it's your kid that, you know, imagine you go into the cause and that's your kid, 1284 01:19:25,520 --> 01:19:27,760 that's your mom, that's your sister. 1285 01:19:27,760 --> 01:19:31,880 Don't you want them to have the best, most well-trained officers to arrive to make sure 1286 01:19:31,880 --> 01:19:32,880 that they're safe? 1287 01:19:32,880 --> 01:19:35,520 Isn't that what you raise your right hand for? 1288 01:19:35,520 --> 01:19:37,640 And let's talk about leadership. 1289 01:19:37,640 --> 01:19:41,240 I mean, in Chicago police department, there's something called meritors promotion, meaning 1290 01:19:41,240 --> 01:19:47,480 that they put like, they put 15 to 20% aside that the commanders and whatnot could put 1291 01:19:47,480 --> 01:19:48,840 in like, oh yeah. 1292 01:19:48,840 --> 01:19:52,920 And back in the days that was, it was done correctly, right? 1293 01:19:52,920 --> 01:19:57,480 Because there were cops who were running and gunning who were great officers, but they 1294 01:19:57,480 --> 01:20:00,020 suck at the test taking. 1295 01:20:00,020 --> 01:20:04,680 So those meritors promotions like, okay, John, John's a great copper. 1296 01:20:04,680 --> 01:20:05,840 He's out there getting guns. 1297 01:20:05,840 --> 01:20:06,840 He's in a gang. 1298 01:20:06,840 --> 01:20:10,840 He's doing all this high speed thing, but he didn't test that well as a sergeant. 1299 01:20:10,840 --> 01:20:11,840 Let's put them up. 1300 01:20:11,840 --> 01:20:12,840 Let's make them a sergeant. 1301 01:20:12,840 --> 01:20:18,680 It went from that to now my dad is commander. 1302 01:20:18,680 --> 01:20:24,920 He's putting his friend's son through the rank of sergeant and in return one day you 1303 01:20:24,920 --> 01:20:26,760 do the same for my kid. 1304 01:20:26,760 --> 01:20:34,080 So now we have a rank of people in the police department that are like chief, deputy chief, 1305 01:20:34,080 --> 01:20:39,280 whatever, working the streets who are a bunch of house mouses who never really went out 1306 01:20:39,280 --> 01:20:44,720 there and run and gun or bend the police that, you know, but now they're, they, since they 1307 01:20:44,720 --> 01:20:49,520 know somebody that's a higher ranking individual in the department, they got put it meritoriously 1308 01:20:49,520 --> 01:20:53,240 from sergeant to lieutenant to captain to commander. 1309 01:20:53,240 --> 01:20:56,480 Because there's individuals in our department that made all those rank through meritors 1310 01:20:56,480 --> 01:21:03,200 promotions or in these high level positions that were supposed to be reserved for the 1311 01:21:03,200 --> 01:21:08,020 veteran run and gun officers who was out there for their troops. 1312 01:21:08,020 --> 01:21:13,600 Now you're placing these individuals with no experience in that level, in those positions 1313 01:21:13,600 --> 01:21:16,240 and it just crumbles. 1314 01:21:16,240 --> 01:21:21,280 And I saw it through my 10 years of being a cop there and I got sick and tired of it. 1315 01:21:21,280 --> 01:21:22,280 And that's why I left. 1316 01:21:22,280 --> 01:21:25,360 One of the reasons why I left. 1317 01:21:25,360 --> 01:21:26,400 Again parallels. 1318 01:21:26,400 --> 01:21:31,040 So my last place, and I've talked about this a lot, just to bring change. 1319 01:21:31,040 --> 01:21:32,600 I'm not talking about it to talk shit. 1320 01:21:32,600 --> 01:21:33,600 Yeah, for sure. 1321 01:21:33,600 --> 01:21:39,280 Our operations chief, the one who's in charge of everyone who's doing the job came up through 1322 01:21:39,280 --> 01:21:40,280 dispatch. 1323 01:21:40,280 --> 01:21:42,920 So he spent his career answering 911 calls. 1324 01:21:42,920 --> 01:21:45,360 The chief chief came up through fire prevention. 1325 01:21:45,360 --> 01:21:49,840 So checking fire extinguishers for extinguish dates and sprinklers. 1326 01:21:49,840 --> 01:21:55,040 Neither of those two qualify you to be a ground level firefighter or overseeing the paramedic 1327 01:21:55,040 --> 01:21:57,120 side. 1328 01:21:57,120 --> 01:22:02,760 And that complacency, we had the shooter that ended up going to the Pulse nightclub in Orlando 1329 01:22:02,760 --> 01:22:05,800 came to our area first, which was Disney Springs. 1330 01:22:05,800 --> 01:22:07,880 And this is public knowledge. 1331 01:22:07,880 --> 01:22:14,000 And he's seen on camera with a stroller and under the blanket on the stroller, a bunch 1332 01:22:14,000 --> 01:22:16,160 of automatic weapons pushing it in. 1333 01:22:16,160 --> 01:22:20,840 But when he gets there, there's some sort of shift change from the sheriff's office. 1334 01:22:20,840 --> 01:22:24,920 And so he turns around, gets back in his car, drives up Orange Avenue and then goes and 1335 01:22:24,920 --> 01:22:27,680 murders a bunch of people in Pulse nightclub. 1336 01:22:27,680 --> 01:22:29,360 I'm overseas when this happens. 1337 01:22:29,360 --> 01:22:34,760 I come back expecting all kinds of new training equipment, things I'm going to have to catch 1338 01:22:34,760 --> 01:22:35,760 up on. 1339 01:22:35,760 --> 01:22:38,800 And they were like, what do you mean? 1340 01:22:38,800 --> 01:22:39,800 Basically it didn't happen. 1341 01:22:39,800 --> 01:22:41,820 So therefore we're okay. 1342 01:22:41,820 --> 01:22:46,320 And that complacency again was one of the big things that eventually led to me going, 1343 01:22:46,320 --> 01:22:49,440 all right, I've spent five years trying to make a positive impact. 1344 01:22:49,440 --> 01:22:50,680 I did train people. 1345 01:22:50,680 --> 01:22:51,960 I did do fitness training. 1346 01:22:51,960 --> 01:22:58,320 I did do all kinds of stuff and then left it better than I found it and then transitioned 1347 01:22:58,320 --> 01:22:59,820 out. 1348 01:22:59,820 --> 01:23:06,800 But that was such a giant near miss that most refuse to even acknowledge no matter learn 1349 01:23:06,800 --> 01:23:08,680 from and change. 1350 01:23:08,680 --> 01:23:13,120 You had a pretty horrendous incident when it comes to the Mercy Hospital shooting. 1351 01:23:13,120 --> 01:23:16,440 So again, you've got LAPD. 1352 01:23:16,440 --> 01:23:17,440 Talk to me about that. 1353 01:23:17,440 --> 01:23:22,200 We've got horror stories, obviously Parkland shooting here in Florida with the SO not responding, 1354 01:23:22,200 --> 01:23:28,280 Ovalde recently with the officers, at least the leadership side of the officers not engaging 1355 01:23:28,280 --> 01:23:29,360 that suspect. 1356 01:23:29,360 --> 01:23:35,700 So talk to me about not only the heroism of the officer that you lost, but also if any, 1357 01:23:35,700 --> 01:23:38,920 how that complacency factored into that incident. 1358 01:23:38,920 --> 01:23:40,420 It was huge. 1359 01:23:40,420 --> 01:23:43,520 It was lightning in a bottle. 1360 01:23:43,520 --> 01:23:48,560 That luck happened for the Chicago police department because that could have turned 1361 01:23:48,560 --> 01:23:51,640 180 from what had happened. 1362 01:23:51,640 --> 01:23:55,020 So in our department, we have something called the sort vehicle. 1363 01:23:55,020 --> 01:23:58,880 So on SWAT is called the special operations response team. 1364 01:23:58,880 --> 01:24:05,040 You drive around the city just in case something kicks off that you respond to an incident. 1365 01:24:05,040 --> 01:24:10,260 And luckily at the time, that vehicle, one of our sort vehicles is downtown. 1366 01:24:10,260 --> 01:24:14,420 And instead of making a left towards John Hancock, which is the opposite of the Mercy 1367 01:24:14,420 --> 01:24:18,500 Hospital, they decided to go right for whatever reason. 1368 01:24:18,500 --> 01:24:24,760 So towards the Mercy Hospital, not knowing there was an active shooter that occurred. 1369 01:24:24,760 --> 01:24:30,080 So they were driving and they heard this whole incident kicked off about this individual 1370 01:24:30,080 --> 01:24:37,320 shot the doctor, an officer has been shot, Officer Jimenez, who literally had only a 1371 01:24:37,320 --> 01:24:40,000 couple of weeks, a couple of months on the job. 1372 01:24:40,000 --> 01:24:43,200 He's a brand new probationary officer. 1373 01:24:43,200 --> 01:24:44,520 And he was at the hospital. 1374 01:24:44,520 --> 01:24:48,040 I think he was dropping off paperwork or he was dropping off a suspect or something like 1375 01:24:48,040 --> 01:24:49,040 that. 1376 01:24:49,040 --> 01:24:54,720 But he was there when he got hit in the jugular and he bled on scene and died in the hospital. 1377 01:24:54,720 --> 01:25:00,160 But then again, that's one of those things you could have two days on a job and you get 1378 01:25:00,160 --> 01:25:01,160 killed. 1379 01:25:01,160 --> 01:25:04,720 You could have, and there's stories of coppers who have 19 years on the job, the day of retirement, 1380 01:25:04,720 --> 01:25:05,720 they get killed. 1381 01:25:05,720 --> 01:25:06,720 Right. 1382 01:25:06,720 --> 01:25:08,720 You never know when you're in your stand of career. 1383 01:25:08,720 --> 01:25:11,000 And that's why you should always train and be the best that you can. 1384 01:25:11,000 --> 01:25:12,160 You got to realize that. 1385 01:25:12,160 --> 01:25:17,080 So back to this story, this whole, that whole Mercy Hospital kicked off. 1386 01:25:17,080 --> 01:25:22,760 He, the story behind that was, you know, the doctor that he was dating was his fiance and 1387 01:25:22,760 --> 01:25:23,920 she, she, she called it off. 1388 01:25:23,920 --> 01:25:25,520 She's like, I don't want to be with you anymore. 1389 01:25:25,520 --> 01:25:26,520 We're calling this off. 1390 01:25:26,520 --> 01:25:28,360 And he, and he got mad about that. 1391 01:25:28,360 --> 01:25:31,280 So he's like, okay, meet me outside in a vest of, meet me outside. 1392 01:25:31,280 --> 01:25:35,240 Oh, give me back my ring and we'll call the quits. 1393 01:25:35,240 --> 01:25:42,760 So no, she didn't know, but he had a pistol and he had a box of rounds in his pocket. 1394 01:25:42,760 --> 01:25:45,200 So we can see it over the camera. 1395 01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:49,720 You know, they're, they're talking, and I guess an argument ensued and he killed her. 1396 01:25:49,720 --> 01:25:52,120 He pulled out a pistol and he shot her to death right there. 1397 01:25:52,120 --> 01:25:55,680 He stood over her body for a little bit. 1398 01:25:55,680 --> 01:26:00,600 Then whatever he was processing, he decided to go inside the Mercy Hospital and start 1399 01:26:00,600 --> 01:26:02,600 shooting people. 1400 01:26:02,600 --> 01:26:10,880 And when that call kicked off, our sort vehicle, I was off that day, but my radio was on because 1401 01:26:10,880 --> 01:26:12,920 I was downstairs in my basement and I was cleaning my gun. 1402 01:26:12,920 --> 01:26:19,160 I was on call and this call kicked off and that car luckily was heading towards Mercy 1403 01:26:19,160 --> 01:26:20,160 House. 1404 01:26:20,160 --> 01:26:27,920 They, so it was our sniper and two other guys in the car heading towards that incident. 1405 01:26:27,920 --> 01:26:36,480 And I, we rewatched the, the camera, the body worn camera of the Lieutenant. 1406 01:26:36,480 --> 01:26:38,800 And this is going to fall back to training. 1407 01:26:38,800 --> 01:26:43,640 Oh, the Chicago Police Department on aftershooter, they didn't know how to train their officers. 1408 01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:48,080 And we saw it firsthand in the video because there was a bunch of cops standing in the 1409 01:26:48,080 --> 01:26:50,640 hallway looking for directions. 1410 01:26:50,640 --> 01:26:57,480 They didn't know to close in and kill the enemy or form a diamond formation and go towards 1411 01:26:57,480 --> 01:27:00,240 the gunfire and try to look and eliminate the threat. 1412 01:27:00,240 --> 01:27:04,840 They, you know, of course you fall back to training and you know, I'm not going to blame 1413 01:27:04,840 --> 01:27:09,800 those cops because they were never really trained in active shooting. 1414 01:27:09,800 --> 01:27:15,320 So when our guys got there, we, you know, the one thing that's great about being on 1415 01:27:15,320 --> 01:27:18,200 the SWAT team in Chicago is we train all the time. 1416 01:27:18,200 --> 01:27:20,080 We got a test to get on. 1417 01:27:20,080 --> 01:27:21,800 They don't just accept anybody. 1418 01:27:21,800 --> 01:27:24,320 So when you get on the SWAT team, we train all the time. 1419 01:27:24,320 --> 01:27:29,760 And I wish we, you know, the patrol level or the tactical guys on plain clothes had 1420 01:27:29,760 --> 01:27:31,680 that level of training too. 1421 01:27:31,680 --> 01:27:35,840 But when they got on scene, luckily one of the guys' name was Elvis. 1422 01:27:35,840 --> 01:27:37,680 He was our sniper at the time. 1423 01:27:37,680 --> 01:27:42,480 He responded with the Lieutenant and they close in and at that time they met with Jimenez. 1424 01:27:42,480 --> 01:27:46,520 So it was him, Jimenez, the officer who got shot in the juggler and the Lieutenant were 1425 01:27:46,520 --> 01:27:49,200 going towards the sound of gunfire. 1426 01:27:49,200 --> 01:27:55,480 And when they started bounding towards the incident, it was a T intersection. 1427 01:27:55,480 --> 01:28:01,840 So basically just imagine a big T leading down a deep hallway and another, basically 1428 01:28:01,840 --> 01:28:05,560 an I. The shooter was on the other side of the hallway. 1429 01:28:05,560 --> 01:28:07,520 They were bounding to the next level of cover. 1430 01:28:07,520 --> 01:28:11,360 And that incident when they were bounding, that's when Officer Jimenez got hit in the 1431 01:28:11,360 --> 01:28:14,440 juggler and he started to bleed out. 1432 01:28:14,440 --> 01:28:20,200 And luckily, not luckily, but that guy who was the SWAT guy, Elvis, you know, he was 1433 01:28:20,200 --> 01:28:21,280 our sniper. 1434 01:28:21,280 --> 01:28:26,880 He got down in a prone position and he dialed down his rifle optic so that he's able to 1435 01:28:26,880 --> 01:28:32,800 see the dot clearer in an ambient light environment. 1436 01:28:32,800 --> 01:28:35,840 And he shot the guy and took him out. 1437 01:28:35,840 --> 01:28:41,160 If we weren't there on scene, I firmly believe he would have continued to try to kill as 1438 01:28:41,160 --> 01:28:47,080 many people as possible because he had a bunch of freaking rounds in his pockets. 1439 01:28:47,080 --> 01:28:52,880 So just to underline, so Officer Jimenez without all the training and gear that a SWAT officer 1440 01:28:52,880 --> 01:28:55,520 had still went towards gunfire. 1441 01:28:55,520 --> 01:28:56,520 Absolutely. 1442 01:28:56,520 --> 01:28:57,520 Amazing courage. 1443 01:28:57,520 --> 01:29:01,360 I mean, truly tragic end, but amazing courage. 1444 01:29:01,360 --> 01:29:02,360 Absolutely. 1445 01:29:02,360 --> 01:29:03,360 Absolutely. 1446 01:29:03,360 --> 01:29:06,400 He, he, uh, he could have coward. 1447 01:29:06,400 --> 01:29:07,400 He didn't. 1448 01:29:07,400 --> 01:29:08,920 He knew what was right. 1449 01:29:08,920 --> 01:29:13,200 And he went, he went, he went towards it and God bless him. 1450 01:29:13,200 --> 01:29:18,160 Did that incident have any ripple effect of discussions improving training? 1451 01:29:18,160 --> 01:29:23,400 I mean, like you said, from a SWAT perspective, you know, you guys did what you had trained 1452 01:29:23,400 --> 01:29:29,120 for, but was there an analysis of the lack of training of other individuals in the hospital 1453 01:29:29,120 --> 01:29:31,240 that could be elevated? 1454 01:29:31,240 --> 01:29:32,240 Absolutely. 1455 01:29:32,240 --> 01:29:38,880 But like the department always is good for is they talk about this in their hands. 1456 01:29:38,880 --> 01:29:46,400 And, uh, you know, our, our rifles that we had, uh, like the guy who, the guy who, uh, 1457 01:29:46,400 --> 01:29:53,520 Elvis, who was the shooter, who, you know, eliminated the threat, uh, our department 1458 01:29:53,520 --> 01:29:56,800 rifles that were issues were, were old. 1459 01:29:56,800 --> 01:30:00,880 And there was a, and there was a couple of jams that happened from that incident that 1460 01:30:00,880 --> 01:30:05,400 he tried to return fire, but the weapon jammed on him. 1461 01:30:05,400 --> 01:30:09,400 And, uh, after the incident, we, they came in, they saw like, Oh, a lot of these weapons 1462 01:30:09,400 --> 01:30:10,400 are super old. 1463 01:30:10,400 --> 01:30:13,920 They're like, yeah, we're going to get you guys new guns. 1464 01:30:13,920 --> 01:30:14,920 Never happened. 1465 01:30:14,920 --> 01:30:16,520 They talked about it. 1466 01:30:16,520 --> 01:30:20,840 These guys are still having the same weapon system that, that they used during the Murf 1467 01:30:20,840 --> 01:30:23,000 State hospital incident. 1468 01:30:23,000 --> 01:30:26,360 And that's just how the Chicago police department rolls. 1469 01:30:26,360 --> 01:30:27,560 They like to talk about it. 1470 01:30:27,560 --> 01:30:33,080 They like to put smoke in mirrors, but they'll sit on their hands until some shit happens. 1471 01:30:33,080 --> 01:30:34,800 Then they're like, Oh crap. 1472 01:30:34,800 --> 01:30:37,240 How can we do to fix this situation? 1473 01:30:37,240 --> 01:30:38,240 Right. 1474 01:30:38,240 --> 01:30:45,280 Like the Laquan McDonald shooting where, um, you know, that officer shot that kid 16 times. 1475 01:30:45,280 --> 01:30:49,520 Uh, was, was that kid in the wrong of why he was called there? 1476 01:30:49,520 --> 01:30:50,680 When the officer arrived? 1477 01:30:50,680 --> 01:30:51,680 Absolutely. 1478 01:30:51,680 --> 01:30:56,120 Could the officer be more trained to handle that situation? 1479 01:30:56,120 --> 01:30:57,120 Absolutely. 1480 01:30:57,120 --> 01:30:58,120 Yeah. 1481 01:30:58,120 --> 01:30:59,120 It's just sad. 1482 01:30:59,120 --> 01:31:01,240 It's, it's, it's just sad. 1483 01:31:01,240 --> 01:31:05,840 I think this is the thing is that when we're talking about funding, supporting, training, 1484 01:31:05,840 --> 01:31:11,640 even rest and recovery, it's not focused at making just the police officer's life better. 1485 01:31:11,640 --> 01:31:15,120 I mean, the goal is to obviously save lives on the streets as well. 1486 01:31:15,120 --> 01:31:18,960 And another thing, which I talk about a lot when I'm interacting with law enforcement 1487 01:31:18,960 --> 01:31:22,360 is where is the discussion on making the streets safer? 1488 01:31:22,360 --> 01:31:27,040 Like, we never hear anyone say, you know, this doesn't happen in Oslo, right? 1489 01:31:27,040 --> 01:31:30,000 Or Lisbon, you know, or Reykjavik. 1490 01:31:30,000 --> 01:31:33,240 Like there are countries around the world that don't have their children murdering each 1491 01:31:33,240 --> 01:31:37,080 other because they wore blue or red, you know, or because they're slinging dope on every 1492 01:31:37,080 --> 01:31:38,080 corner. 1493 01:31:38,080 --> 01:31:40,160 So, you know, we always blame law enforcement. 1494 01:31:40,160 --> 01:31:45,560 You're not doing enough, but culturally, where is the discussion on the mental health crisis? 1495 01:31:45,560 --> 01:31:50,180 You know, we talk about guns or all about guns, you know, every time a classroom full 1496 01:31:50,180 --> 01:31:53,680 of innocence is murdered, everyone discards their feelings. 1497 01:31:53,680 --> 01:31:55,560 Like, were you pro gun or anti gun? 1498 01:31:55,560 --> 01:31:57,840 Like, hold on, there's this human being that we just killed. 1499 01:31:57,840 --> 01:31:58,840 Are we not going to talk about that? 1500 01:31:58,840 --> 01:32:01,880 Oh, I don't know, but that's, you know, that's not my podium. 1501 01:32:01,880 --> 01:32:04,600 You know, so it's maddening. 1502 01:32:04,600 --> 01:32:10,560 But yeah, so by elevating training, as we said, you know, you walk out and it's, you 1503 01:32:10,560 --> 01:32:15,560 know, whatever suspect that sadly has made the news because they were killed, maybe in 1504 01:32:15,560 --> 01:32:20,560 that situation, a well-trained fit officer was able to deescalate and never have got 1505 01:32:20,560 --> 01:32:21,920 to the point of lethal force. 1506 01:32:21,920 --> 01:32:24,220 But you don't hear that in the conversation either. 1507 01:32:24,220 --> 01:32:27,440 And then the same with the overtime sleep deprivation. 1508 01:32:27,440 --> 01:32:33,920 Maybe if this officer hadn't worked two straight shifts cognitively, he would have made a different 1509 01:32:33,920 --> 01:32:37,480 decision, but you never bring that into the conversation either. 1510 01:32:37,480 --> 01:32:38,840 Absolutely. 1511 01:32:38,840 --> 01:32:42,380 I agree with you on all ends. 1512 01:32:42,380 --> 01:32:45,880 Go back and going back to like what you're speaking about about training again, because 1513 01:32:45,880 --> 01:32:46,880 I think it's very important. 1514 01:32:46,880 --> 01:32:50,440 We need a harp on this is because look at the Yuvali incident. 1515 01:32:50,440 --> 01:32:55,160 That town was 20,000 people in the middle of nowhere in Texas. 1516 01:32:55,160 --> 01:32:57,680 No one expected that to happen there, right? 1517 01:32:57,680 --> 01:33:00,960 But I guarantee you when those coppers were standing in that hallway, everybody was like, 1518 01:33:00,960 --> 01:33:02,280 this is wrong. 1519 01:33:02,280 --> 01:33:03,280 This is wrong. 1520 01:33:03,280 --> 01:33:04,280 We need to do something. 1521 01:33:04,280 --> 01:33:08,440 But no one had the confidence or the competent or the training to be on me. 1522 01:33:08,440 --> 01:33:09,440 Let's go. 1523 01:33:09,440 --> 01:33:15,480 Because I guarantee you that's all it took is one copper and that stick to be on me. 1524 01:33:15,480 --> 01:33:18,520 Let's move, you know, and people were like, yeah, let's go. 1525 01:33:18,520 --> 01:33:22,080 Because I know a lot of those coppers there would have been like, they're thinking in 1526 01:33:22,080 --> 01:33:24,060 the back of their head, this is wrong. 1527 01:33:24,060 --> 01:33:25,240 So much time is passing. 1528 01:33:25,240 --> 01:33:26,240 This is wrong. 1529 01:33:26,240 --> 01:33:27,240 We need to do something. 1530 01:33:27,240 --> 01:33:29,400 And it falls back to your training. 1531 01:33:29,400 --> 01:33:30,880 Right? 1532 01:33:30,880 --> 01:33:31,880 Training is huge. 1533 01:33:31,880 --> 01:33:34,800 Training makes a big difference and saving lives. 1534 01:33:34,800 --> 01:33:35,960 Let's forget about the lawsuit. 1535 01:33:35,960 --> 01:33:37,440 Let's forget about all that shit. 1536 01:33:37,440 --> 01:33:38,440 Right? 1537 01:33:38,440 --> 01:33:43,800 Just saving lives, doing your damn job. 1538 01:33:43,800 --> 01:33:45,000 Why do we do this job? 1539 01:33:45,000 --> 01:33:46,000 To save lives. 1540 01:33:46,000 --> 01:33:48,480 I'm not doing this for a paycheck. 1541 01:33:48,480 --> 01:33:51,440 We don't get paid enough for what we do. 1542 01:33:51,440 --> 01:33:52,440 Absolutely fucking not. 1543 01:33:52,440 --> 01:33:57,000 Not because it's honorable, because we believe in it, because we have purpose, because we 1544 01:33:57,000 --> 01:33:58,960 want to make a difference. 1545 01:33:58,960 --> 01:34:01,800 So how are we going to be able to do that if we don't get the training? 1546 01:34:01,800 --> 01:34:08,560 We're going to be like that cop like, oh, my department doesn't give me this X amount 1547 01:34:08,560 --> 01:34:09,560 of training. 1548 01:34:09,560 --> 01:34:10,560 So too bad. 1549 01:34:10,560 --> 01:34:11,560 I'm not going to train myself. 1550 01:34:11,560 --> 01:34:14,840 I'm just going to do TikTok videos and dances and ridiculous things. 1551 01:34:14,840 --> 01:34:18,600 You know, where does the professionalism come into play? 1552 01:34:18,600 --> 01:34:22,120 You think because you raise your right hand, you wear that badge, it's all almighty. 1553 01:34:22,120 --> 01:34:25,560 I always tell people, sometimes your uniform does not suffice. 1554 01:34:25,560 --> 01:34:30,800 What happens when your challenge, when your uniform doesn't command respect anymore and 1555 01:34:30,800 --> 01:34:32,800 that individual wants to fight you? 1556 01:34:32,800 --> 01:34:33,800 Then what? 1557 01:34:33,800 --> 01:34:38,960 Are you going to be like, oh shit, I wish I could want to more training. 1558 01:34:38,960 --> 01:34:41,920 I wish I would have taken this seriously. 1559 01:34:41,920 --> 01:34:43,480 And I hope I make it through this. 1560 01:34:43,480 --> 01:34:46,840 Are you going to be that officer who's like, I'm ready? 1561 01:34:46,840 --> 01:34:48,000 I'm well trained. 1562 01:34:48,000 --> 01:34:52,040 You know, if you want to walk down this path, I'm going to walk down this path with you. 1563 01:34:52,040 --> 01:34:55,640 And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that I'm going to come out of 1564 01:34:55,640 --> 01:34:56,640 this alive. 1565 01:34:56,640 --> 01:34:59,320 My partner is going to come out of this alive or the individuals that are involved in this 1566 01:34:59,320 --> 01:35:02,720 incident, the innocent ones are going to come out alive and you're going to pay for what 1567 01:35:02,720 --> 01:35:03,720 you did. 1568 01:35:03,720 --> 01:35:04,720 Yeah, absolutely. 1569 01:35:04,720 --> 01:35:11,120 I mean, even the conversation with the canine, I've had several canine handlers on the show 1570 01:35:11,120 --> 01:35:14,040 and there's been a pushback against the canine program too. 1571 01:35:14,040 --> 01:35:18,500 And people are so short sighted because those are non-lethal options. 1572 01:35:18,500 --> 01:35:21,140 If you don't use the dog, then you use the gun. 1573 01:35:21,140 --> 01:35:22,140 That's it. 1574 01:35:22,140 --> 01:35:23,140 That's your two. 1575 01:35:23,140 --> 01:35:27,640 And more often than not, if you speak to Mike Goosby was one LAPD absolute legend when it 1576 01:35:27,640 --> 01:35:32,080 comes to canine, he can count the number of bites he's got on one hand. 1577 01:35:32,080 --> 01:35:37,280 You know, it's a deterrent again, but we have this optic of, oh, you know, no more tactical 1578 01:35:37,280 --> 01:35:40,200 operating tactical gear for the police and no more canines. 1579 01:35:40,200 --> 01:35:44,560 It's like, well, ideally, yeah, ideally we can go back to the beat cop that's just walking 1580 01:35:44,560 --> 01:35:47,640 around, you know, playing basketball with neighborhood kids. 1581 01:35:47,640 --> 01:35:52,840 But there's areas at the moment that are absolute war zones and taking away tools that make 1582 01:35:52,840 --> 01:35:58,260 it safer for the officers and the person that you're even pursuing is insanity. 1583 01:35:58,260 --> 01:36:03,800 But this political, you know, fucking fairy tale bullshit that's happened the last few 1584 01:36:03,800 --> 01:36:08,760 years, people don't realize that's making it even more dangerous for our children than 1585 01:36:08,760 --> 01:36:10,120 it ever was before. 1586 01:36:10,120 --> 01:36:11,120 Yeah, absolutely. 1587 01:36:11,120 --> 01:36:13,120 Chicago doesn't have bite dogs. 1588 01:36:13,120 --> 01:36:14,480 It's insane. 1589 01:36:14,480 --> 01:36:18,760 Like we've been on calls and I'm like, hey, you want to send in your dog? 1590 01:36:18,760 --> 01:36:22,160 They're like, oh, my dog's not a bite dog. 1591 01:36:22,160 --> 01:36:28,120 You know, like I said, like you said, there's tools to be used to do our job more safe. 1592 01:36:28,120 --> 01:36:29,120 But like you said, it's political. 1593 01:36:29,120 --> 01:36:30,120 It's all political. 1594 01:36:30,120 --> 01:36:36,480 For example, like the explosive breaching program for our SWAT team, we have explosive 1595 01:36:36,480 --> 01:36:41,360 breaching capabilities, but they won't let us use it because they're like, oh, you're 1596 01:36:41,360 --> 01:36:44,760 blowing up the color, you're blowing up, you're going to use it to blow up the community or 1597 01:36:44,760 --> 01:36:48,840 the, you know, they use as a politicized thing. 1598 01:36:48,840 --> 01:36:51,600 But then when you look at it, it's like, it's not that it's the most safest thing because 1599 01:36:51,600 --> 01:36:53,760 it's all math. 1600 01:36:53,760 --> 01:36:57,000 But like you said, it's all political. 1601 01:36:57,000 --> 01:37:00,520 It's like a perception, right, of what it is, explosive breaching. 1602 01:37:00,520 --> 01:37:03,960 Oh, don't want you to use explosive breaching. 1603 01:37:03,960 --> 01:37:09,200 You might be hurting the, you know, the community and whatnot, but no, it's the safest way to 1604 01:37:09,200 --> 01:37:10,200 enter. 1605 01:37:10,200 --> 01:37:15,960 And when you, when you can, I know we've been in incidents where our RAM doesn't work. 1606 01:37:15,960 --> 01:37:17,720 That door is like shut. 1607 01:37:17,720 --> 01:37:22,480 What other ways are we going to get in to the school, this home, if there's like a hostage 1608 01:37:22,480 --> 01:37:26,480 situation and this dude's going to do a countdown, hey, I'm going to kill her. 1609 01:37:26,480 --> 01:37:29,940 I'm counting down right now or whatever, whatever he cues. 1610 01:37:29,940 --> 01:37:33,320 And he has this door barricaded so well. 1611 01:37:33,320 --> 01:37:38,440 Now what are we, and the only tools that are giving us are a bunch of RAMs and we can't 1612 01:37:38,440 --> 01:37:39,440 breach the door. 1613 01:37:39,440 --> 01:37:42,320 How are we going to get in and do our job? 1614 01:37:42,320 --> 01:37:43,600 But they don't care. 1615 01:37:43,600 --> 01:37:44,600 You know what I mean? 1616 01:37:44,600 --> 01:37:46,600 It's just, and the end of the day, they really don't care. 1617 01:37:46,600 --> 01:37:50,320 They're just going to do what, just, just what is enough. 1618 01:37:50,320 --> 01:37:55,780 What is enough to check the box to say that, okay, they're trained to this certain level. 1619 01:37:55,780 --> 01:37:56,780 We're good to go. 1620 01:37:56,780 --> 01:37:58,280 And that's it. 1621 01:37:58,280 --> 01:37:59,360 And it's sad to see. 1622 01:37:59,360 --> 01:38:01,080 And it was so frustrating. 1623 01:38:01,080 --> 01:38:04,640 So, so, so frustrating. 1624 01:38:04,640 --> 01:38:05,640 And that's why I left. 1625 01:38:05,640 --> 01:38:10,640 I was like, I'm not going to sit here and bitch and moan anymore and be like this. 1626 01:38:10,640 --> 01:38:13,160 And I got to a point where I hated going to work. 1627 01:38:13,160 --> 01:38:14,920 It wasn't fulfilling for me anymore. 1628 01:38:14,920 --> 01:38:17,960 And I always, I wanted to be a 30 year cop. 1629 01:38:17,960 --> 01:38:19,400 That was my, that was my passion. 1630 01:38:19,400 --> 01:38:21,320 I wanted to retire on SWAT. 1631 01:38:21,320 --> 01:38:26,440 I wanted to, you know, that was my end goal was being on SWAT and doing 30 years and even 1632 01:38:26,440 --> 01:38:29,440 on the teens, they tied her hands a lot. 1633 01:38:29,440 --> 01:38:31,680 And it was so frustrating. 1634 01:38:31,680 --> 01:38:35,560 And you were wearing on the guys on these long SWAT jobs for like 14 hours and you let 1635 01:38:35,560 --> 01:38:37,080 the negotiator talk this guy ear out. 1636 01:38:37,080 --> 01:38:38,960 Do you want to let us use gas? 1637 01:38:38,960 --> 01:38:44,280 And by like hour 10, you're, you finally decide to pull, to turn off his power. 1638 01:38:44,280 --> 01:38:49,440 Stuff like that is like, they don't care about, I felt like towards the end, it's like, they 1639 01:38:49,440 --> 01:38:50,580 don't care if you work doubles. 1640 01:38:50,580 --> 01:38:54,040 They don't care if you're standing out there exhausting yourself. 1641 01:38:54,040 --> 01:38:55,040 Right. 1642 01:38:55,040 --> 01:38:59,840 We're, they're going to let it play out because it's, they didn't want to make it a perception 1643 01:38:59,840 --> 01:39:03,280 that we're trying to end this quickly. 1644 01:39:03,280 --> 01:39:08,240 And there's many SWAT teams around the nation who have proven like after a certain amount 1645 01:39:08,240 --> 01:39:10,200 of time, they're going to gas the building after a certain amount of time, they're going 1646 01:39:10,200 --> 01:39:13,040 to escalate because they have to. 1647 01:39:13,040 --> 01:39:14,680 So there's just very, very frustrating. 1648 01:39:14,680 --> 01:39:16,560 I'm on my end. 1649 01:39:16,560 --> 01:39:21,360 I want to hit one more area before we transition to your transition out. 1650 01:39:21,360 --> 01:39:25,520 When you think of the city of Chicago in the defund movement, obviously your mayor was 1651 01:39:25,520 --> 01:39:28,060 front and center. 1652 01:39:28,060 --> 01:39:32,760 And I think one of the least discussed elements of first responder mental health is organizational 1653 01:39:32,760 --> 01:39:33,760 betrayal. 1654 01:39:33,760 --> 01:39:37,760 You know, you have sworn, as you said, you've written that blank check. 1655 01:39:37,760 --> 01:39:42,880 You swore to be part of this tribe, to uphold the laws that you're given, to, you know, 1656 01:39:42,880 --> 01:39:47,880 die if necessary to defend the people of the city of Chicago. 1657 01:39:47,880 --> 01:39:50,660 And then you get your legs cut off by the mayor. 1658 01:39:50,660 --> 01:39:57,520 So through your eyes, not only the result as far as crime, but also the impact on the 1659 01:39:57,520 --> 01:39:59,580 men and women you served alongside. 1660 01:39:59,580 --> 01:40:03,960 Talk to me about the impact of that from inside the city of Chicago. 1661 01:40:03,960 --> 01:40:09,320 My last couple of years, there was a bunch of suicides because coppers had nobody to 1662 01:40:09,320 --> 01:40:10,320 turn to. 1663 01:40:10,320 --> 01:40:16,680 They took their lives and I, I, I want to percent feel like it has to have to do with 1664 01:40:16,680 --> 01:40:23,260 the lack of leadership from our police department, the mayor, the DA, all that comes into place 1665 01:40:23,260 --> 01:40:30,120 the days off canceled, not having a time for the cops to recuperate to, to cause we're 1666 01:40:30,120 --> 01:40:31,740 all humans, right? 1667 01:40:31,740 --> 01:40:36,200 People tend to think police officers are robots. 1668 01:40:36,200 --> 01:40:41,240 We get beamed down from some magical planet and, and, you know, we put on this uniform 1669 01:40:41,240 --> 01:40:43,400 and, and we're, we're this robot. 1670 01:40:43,400 --> 01:40:44,400 We have no feelings. 1671 01:40:44,400 --> 01:40:45,400 We have no emotions. 1672 01:40:45,400 --> 01:40:47,480 We, we just go black. 1673 01:40:47,480 --> 01:40:48,920 It's all black and white. 1674 01:40:48,920 --> 01:40:55,360 No, these are citizens who live in the community who wanted to do the job, raise their right 1675 01:40:55,360 --> 01:40:58,720 hand to make a difference in their community. 1676 01:40:58,720 --> 01:41:03,360 And when you don't have the backing and T and you don't have the correct leadership 1677 01:41:03,360 --> 01:41:07,760 to take care of your officers, wellbeing, mental health wise, give them time off to 1678 01:41:07,760 --> 01:41:11,760 be with their families, you know, cause all these coppers, but Jordan have girlfriends, 1679 01:41:11,760 --> 01:41:16,480 boyfriends, wives, husband, kids, you know, how's it going to feel when daddy, mommy have 1680 01:41:16,480 --> 01:41:20,480 continuously days off canceled and you're missing your kids' birthdays. 1681 01:41:20,480 --> 01:41:22,000 You can't go to their events. 1682 01:41:22,000 --> 01:41:23,680 You can't go to holidays. 1683 01:41:23,680 --> 01:41:28,480 How is it going to play on not only your own personal lives and, and, and maybe your spouse's 1684 01:41:28,480 --> 01:41:29,480 life too. 1685 01:41:29,480 --> 01:41:34,600 Now you're, you're, you're leaving your spouse to tend to your, to your, your personal families 1686 01:41:34,600 --> 01:41:36,400 while you're like, Hey honey, I'm sorry. 1687 01:41:36,400 --> 01:41:37,400 I'm out here working the streets. 1688 01:41:37,400 --> 01:41:39,780 I got my days off canceled again. 1689 01:41:39,780 --> 01:41:47,000 And you have this, this mayor spineless mayor who talks shit about the police, right? 1690 01:41:47,000 --> 01:41:54,880 Anti defund the police, but she'll have, she has, when I left, she had not only the mayor's 1691 01:41:54,880 --> 01:42:02,920 detail guarding her home, but she had her own private police squads that she pulled 1692 01:42:02,920 --> 01:42:04,480 to form our own unit. 1693 01:42:04,480 --> 01:42:10,600 Oh, doing patrol around her block, having set up on marked vehicles, right? 1694 01:42:10,600 --> 01:42:16,120 She has all this police protection on her property, but she's out here saying, Oh, it's 1695 01:42:16,120 --> 01:42:18,540 okay if they're destroying your property. 1696 01:42:18,540 --> 01:42:19,540 There's insurance. 1697 01:42:19,540 --> 01:42:21,000 There is going to take care of that. 1698 01:42:21,000 --> 01:42:22,480 Oh, it's okay. 1699 01:42:22,480 --> 01:42:27,360 And she talks crap about the cops, but she uses all these cops to watch her home. 1700 01:42:27,360 --> 01:42:33,040 She even had like a SWAT car sitting at her house 24 seven guarding her house home or 1701 01:42:33,040 --> 01:42:34,040 not. 1702 01:42:34,040 --> 01:42:40,880 You know, and all this coming to play the lack of days off, days off the, the, the, 1703 01:42:40,880 --> 01:42:41,880 all this. 1704 01:42:41,880 --> 01:42:42,880 Yeah. 1705 01:42:42,880 --> 01:42:43,880 It affects the cops. 1706 01:42:43,880 --> 01:42:44,880 It affects them greatly. 1707 01:42:44,880 --> 01:42:49,560 And I saw that they're like, they don't care about who did you have to turn to? 1708 01:42:49,560 --> 01:42:54,560 A lot of them, like you said, like I said before, try to turn to alcohol. 1709 01:42:54,560 --> 01:42:57,560 That's just like a small bandaid and a gaping wound. 1710 01:42:57,560 --> 01:42:59,960 And then they end up taking their lives. 1711 01:42:59,960 --> 01:43:03,480 And there's, there are so many lies that was taken the last couple of years I was on. 1712 01:43:03,480 --> 01:43:08,420 It was just disgusting that these officers needed help, but there was no one out there 1713 01:43:08,420 --> 01:43:09,420 to help them. 1714 01:43:09,420 --> 01:43:16,200 Well, I think as well, I mean, that's worst case, you know, human costs, which should 1715 01:43:16,200 --> 01:43:17,720 be enough to make people change. 1716 01:43:17,720 --> 01:43:18,720 This is what drives me crazy. 1717 01:43:18,720 --> 01:43:23,000 But I, yeah, but you've got to show the, you know, the, the financial gain, which nauseates 1718 01:43:23,000 --> 01:43:29,040 me because all these people worship in holy buildings and I'm pretty sure Jesus Buddha 1719 01:43:29,040 --> 01:43:32,480 Krishna, whoever wouldn't have been like, yeah, people don't matter. 1720 01:43:32,480 --> 01:43:33,480 Think about the bottom line. 1721 01:43:33,480 --> 01:43:38,840 Yeah, I'm pretty sure, you know, but it's also the retention. 1722 01:43:38,840 --> 01:43:40,880 We're seeing this, you know, hiring crisis. 1723 01:43:40,880 --> 01:43:43,200 Well, the other side of the hiring is retention. 1724 01:43:43,200 --> 01:43:48,120 As you said, retirees hanging up their gun belt five, 10, 15 years prior to when they 1725 01:43:48,120 --> 01:43:49,120 may have stayed. 1726 01:43:49,120 --> 01:43:52,200 The young people transitioning to other departments have actually support. 1727 01:43:52,200 --> 01:43:57,280 I know right, wrong or indifferent, you know, our governor here, DeSantis at the time was 1728 01:43:57,280 --> 01:44:01,640 offering people massive bonuses that were leaving other states to come to Florida, you 1729 01:44:01,640 --> 01:44:08,640 know, our gain, you know, so this organizational support, putting the standards back, investing 1730 01:44:08,640 --> 01:44:12,960 in your people, putting training, getting the right manpower staffing. 1731 01:44:12,960 --> 01:44:14,520 Don't see them as a number. 1732 01:44:14,520 --> 01:44:15,880 Yes, exactly. 1733 01:44:15,880 --> 01:44:17,680 That that forges retention. 1734 01:44:17,680 --> 01:44:22,920 You know, therefore the person, as you said, is pulling over your teenage son doesn't have 1735 01:44:22,920 --> 01:44:23,920 two years. 1736 01:44:23,920 --> 01:44:30,880 Now he has 22 years or 15 years and hopefully he or she has the experience to deescalate, 1737 01:44:30,880 --> 01:44:36,000 not have a hair trigger and, you know, your your child gets to make it home safely. 1738 01:44:36,000 --> 01:44:40,760 So there's so many elements of this that are so detrimental over and above the fear mongering. 1739 01:44:40,760 --> 01:44:45,640 I mean, there was that one absolutely heartbreaking video of the retired police chief. 1740 01:44:45,640 --> 01:44:49,920 I think it was in L.A. that was executed on the sidewalk during one of the riots. 1741 01:44:49,920 --> 01:44:54,840 You know, I mean, this this is what happens when you entice the shit bags of the world 1742 01:44:54,840 --> 01:44:57,160 to to rise up and you empower them. 1743 01:44:57,160 --> 01:45:00,200 You get all these stores now where they're beating up the clerks and stealing all their 1744 01:45:00,200 --> 01:45:02,520 stuff because they know they're not going to get arrested. 1745 01:45:02,520 --> 01:45:07,560 You know, ninety five plus percent of the population are good fucking people. 1746 01:45:07,560 --> 01:45:09,080 And we don't want that. 1747 01:45:09,080 --> 01:45:10,800 And we support our first responders. 1748 01:45:10,800 --> 01:45:13,240 You know, we support our military. 1749 01:45:13,240 --> 01:45:17,920 Absolutely hold the ones that fuck up accountable, but also hold the organization. 1750 01:45:17,920 --> 01:45:24,460 If that fuck up is partly, you know, systemic, then hold the head of that organization responsible. 1751 01:45:24,460 --> 01:45:28,800 If they've been well trained and they've gone against protocol, then you just, you know, 1752 01:45:28,800 --> 01:45:30,560 send the individual to prison. 1753 01:45:30,560 --> 01:45:32,560 But support the rest of them. 1754 01:45:32,560 --> 01:45:38,200 Don't jump on some fucking racial or political bandwagon because one person who, let's be 1755 01:45:38,200 --> 01:45:43,160 honest, wasn't a fucking angel in the first place, resisted arrest and then X happened. 1756 01:45:43,160 --> 01:45:48,240 And I'm not talking about the the the cases where the police officer was completely wrong, 1757 01:45:48,240 --> 01:45:53,360 but the gray area or the justified ones where they still riot and still talk shit about 1758 01:45:53,360 --> 01:45:54,880 the police. 1759 01:45:54,880 --> 01:45:58,180 Those people need to be locked up because they're basically enticing riots, whether 1760 01:45:58,180 --> 01:46:03,320 it's the fucking what was it called when they when they went into the government building? 1761 01:46:03,320 --> 01:46:05,720 I forget the term. 1762 01:46:05,720 --> 01:46:06,720 The insurrection. 1763 01:46:06,720 --> 01:46:07,720 The insurrection. 1764 01:46:07,720 --> 01:46:08,720 Exactly that. 1765 01:46:08,720 --> 01:46:10,560 I mean, you know, all of these, it's all the same thing. 1766 01:46:10,560 --> 01:46:16,640 If you are inciting results in the loss of human life, you yourself should be fucking 1767 01:46:16,640 --> 01:46:21,040 held accountable as well, whether you're the mayor of Chicago, whether you're a, you know, 1768 01:46:21,040 --> 01:46:23,500 so-called president, whatever it is. 1769 01:46:23,500 --> 01:46:30,280 If you're inciting hate and division and anger versus community, then we've got to remember, 1770 01:46:30,280 --> 01:46:33,440 it's not just the person in the fucking uniform. 1771 01:46:33,440 --> 01:46:37,280 Follow the chain all the way to the top as well. 1772 01:46:37,280 --> 01:46:39,480 Absolutely. 1773 01:46:39,480 --> 01:46:41,960 Having the back of the officers is huge. 1774 01:46:41,960 --> 01:46:43,380 Having their morale is huge. 1775 01:46:43,380 --> 01:46:49,480 Instead of jumping to conclusions immediately and jumping on the news and saying, yeah, 1776 01:46:49,480 --> 01:46:51,640 I don't believe what this officer did was right. 1777 01:46:51,640 --> 01:46:59,640 Let the letter of the law, the investigation happen before the facts gets gathered, before 1778 01:46:59,640 --> 01:47:05,600 we start jumping to conclusions that this officer or this situation was right off bat, 1779 01:47:05,600 --> 01:47:06,600 wrong, right? 1780 01:47:06,600 --> 01:47:07,600 And we've seen that. 1781 01:47:07,600 --> 01:47:09,720 And that's what happens, that trickle effect. 1782 01:47:09,720 --> 01:47:12,040 And it's been huge in Chicago. 1783 01:47:12,040 --> 01:47:16,360 I mean, the magnificent mile, the mag mile down Michigan Avenue used to be a beautiful 1784 01:47:16,360 --> 01:47:17,360 place. 1785 01:47:17,360 --> 01:47:20,680 There are so many stores that are exiting. 1786 01:47:20,680 --> 01:47:25,480 Like the Water Tower, like the owner of the Water Tower went to the city and said, here's 1787 01:47:25,480 --> 01:47:26,840 the keys back to the Water Tower. 1788 01:47:26,840 --> 01:47:28,640 We don't want it anymore. 1789 01:47:28,640 --> 01:47:30,520 Because crime is running amok. 1790 01:47:30,520 --> 01:47:32,420 Cops are second guessing themselves. 1791 01:47:32,420 --> 01:47:34,360 There's no chase policy. 1792 01:47:34,360 --> 01:47:36,080 There's no proactive policing anymore. 1793 01:47:36,080 --> 01:47:39,040 There's just going to, a lot of these cops are like, oh, you know what? 1794 01:47:39,040 --> 01:47:41,160 If that's what you want from me, fine. 1795 01:47:41,160 --> 01:47:42,800 I'm just going to sit in my squad car. 1796 01:47:42,800 --> 01:47:45,800 I'm going to drink my coffee and I'm just going to wait for my calls. 1797 01:47:45,800 --> 01:47:46,960 I'm not going to drive around. 1798 01:47:46,960 --> 01:47:48,160 I'm not going to look for criminals. 1799 01:47:48,160 --> 01:47:52,040 I'm not going to do my job because it's not worth it anymore. 1800 01:47:52,040 --> 01:47:55,280 And that's what type of culture you're breeding. 1801 01:47:55,280 --> 01:48:02,140 Like when they, there's many instances where in Chicago, there's no chase policy is huge 1802 01:48:02,140 --> 01:48:03,680 and the criminals knows it. 1803 01:48:03,680 --> 01:48:04,680 Right? 1804 01:48:04,680 --> 01:48:10,040 So let's say if you see the guys speeding and you try to pull them over and you turn 1805 01:48:10,040 --> 01:48:13,120 on your lights and your sirens, you go over there, you let dispatch, you know, hey, I'm, 1806 01:48:13,120 --> 01:48:15,280 you know, I'm trying to pull this vehicle over. 1807 01:48:15,280 --> 01:48:16,840 It's not pulling over. 1808 01:48:16,840 --> 01:48:18,880 And they're like, okay, what speed are you going? 1809 01:48:18,880 --> 01:48:21,360 And then the supervisor comes and said, terminate the pursuit. 1810 01:48:21,360 --> 01:48:26,280 And you literally have to turn off your lights, pull to the side of the street that you said 1811 01:48:26,280 --> 01:48:30,520 you stopped on the sergeant or the supervisor comes on scene, looks at you, logs you into 1812 01:48:30,520 --> 01:48:33,840 his thing to show that, okay, this officer stopped. 1813 01:48:33,840 --> 01:48:36,800 And what that does is criminals aren't stupid. 1814 01:48:36,800 --> 01:48:39,720 So they know that they'd like, oh, okay. 1815 01:48:39,720 --> 01:48:45,600 So there's a bunch of tech talk videos out there of dudes carrying pistols with lasers 1816 01:48:45,600 --> 01:48:53,520 on it, with these extended mags driving, blowing lights, and they're filming it under the view 1817 01:48:53,520 --> 01:48:56,320 of you near to see the blue and white lights are on and it continued driving. 1818 01:48:56,320 --> 01:48:58,120 It turns off and they continue driving. 1819 01:48:58,120 --> 01:48:59,960 They just laugh because they know. 1820 01:48:59,960 --> 01:49:05,120 So now there's no fear anymore from the criminals. 1821 01:49:05,120 --> 01:49:07,520 And they know that they're using it to their advantage. 1822 01:49:07,520 --> 01:49:09,520 And they're seeing that these cops are not doing their job. 1823 01:49:09,520 --> 01:49:15,280 They're seeing cops standing by while places are getting looted because the supervisor 1824 01:49:15,280 --> 01:49:20,560 is telling them to stand by because it's only property. 1825 01:49:20,560 --> 01:49:28,480 And they see this and all these kids, they call it gatherings because the new mayor doesn't 1826 01:49:28,480 --> 01:49:30,000 want to call it a riot. 1827 01:49:30,000 --> 01:49:36,160 When they're going downtown and they're destroying shit, jumping on cars and breaking stuff and 1828 01:49:36,160 --> 01:49:39,000 violence to happening, they don't call it a riot. 1829 01:49:39,000 --> 01:49:41,640 It's a big gathering. 1830 01:49:41,640 --> 01:49:45,100 And there's no respect for the law anymore. 1831 01:49:45,100 --> 01:49:48,280 And so these kids, they know that they're like torquing on these cops and they just 1832 01:49:48,280 --> 01:49:49,280 stand by. 1833 01:49:49,280 --> 01:49:50,280 They just stand by. 1834 01:49:50,280 --> 01:49:51,280 And it's sad. 1835 01:49:51,280 --> 01:49:53,320 And you're absolutely right, James. 1836 01:49:53,320 --> 01:49:54,960 I looked at the retirement. 1837 01:49:54,960 --> 01:50:00,720 So I get sent this magazine from the police department every month and it shows the retirees 1838 01:50:00,720 --> 01:50:03,760 and it shows how many years they have on when they retire. 1839 01:50:03,760 --> 01:50:06,920 Now it's like 20, 21, 19. 1840 01:50:06,920 --> 01:50:07,920 There's one that's like 10. 1841 01:50:07,920 --> 01:50:08,920 There's 22. 1842 01:50:08,920 --> 01:50:14,120 Back in the days, you have to pry a copper from his job. 1843 01:50:14,120 --> 01:50:20,280 You always see like 29 in a day, 29 in a day, 30 years, 34 years because they love what 1844 01:50:20,280 --> 01:50:21,780 they did. 1845 01:50:21,780 --> 01:50:24,560 Those times are gone. 1846 01:50:24,560 --> 01:50:28,200 And you're losing all this experience from all these experienced coppers. 1847 01:50:28,200 --> 01:50:30,120 They're saying this is not worth it anymore. 1848 01:50:30,120 --> 01:50:33,800 I'm just going to do my bare minimum to get my pension and I'm going to go do something 1849 01:50:33,800 --> 01:50:34,800 else. 1850 01:50:34,800 --> 01:50:39,120 Or there's even cops like me, where it's like 10 years is enough. 1851 01:50:39,120 --> 01:50:40,400 It's not worth it anymore. 1852 01:50:40,400 --> 01:50:42,440 I'm going to go do something else. 1853 01:50:42,440 --> 01:50:43,440 And it's sad. 1854 01:50:43,440 --> 01:50:45,320 Like you said, it plays hand in hand, right? 1855 01:50:45,320 --> 01:50:48,280 You have all these experienced cops leaving. 1856 01:50:48,280 --> 01:50:53,440 You have all these new people who are not up to standard, but they're hiring them anyways 1857 01:50:53,440 --> 01:50:58,000 because they need bodies coming and be the next generation of police officers. 1858 01:50:58,000 --> 01:51:02,560 What do you think is going to happen? 1859 01:51:02,560 --> 01:51:03,560 It's crazy. 1860 01:51:03,560 --> 01:51:04,560 It is. 1861 01:51:04,560 --> 01:51:05,560 It is. 1862 01:51:05,560 --> 01:51:10,320 Well, speaking of your transition then, what was the final straw for you? 1863 01:51:10,320 --> 01:51:13,720 And let's talk about your transition into We Go Home. 1864 01:51:13,720 --> 01:51:16,520 Yeah, the final straw was all that, James. 1865 01:51:16,520 --> 01:51:24,120 Just this accumulation of a lack of leadership, lack of not treating us like a number of days 1866 01:51:24,120 --> 01:51:25,840 off canceled, all that. 1867 01:51:25,840 --> 01:51:27,520 I just got sick and tired of it. 1868 01:51:27,520 --> 01:51:28,520 And that was the last straw. 1869 01:51:28,520 --> 01:51:29,520 And I was like, you know what? 1870 01:51:29,520 --> 01:51:33,880 I'm done being a police. 1871 01:51:33,880 --> 01:51:34,880 That's what I always wanted to do. 1872 01:51:34,880 --> 01:51:35,880 I always wanted to make a difference. 1873 01:51:35,880 --> 01:51:40,320 And I felt like I can make a bigger impact with We Go Home in a broader spectrum. 1874 01:51:40,320 --> 01:51:45,440 And that's when I decided what you're doing with your podcast is that you felt like you 1875 01:51:45,440 --> 01:51:47,840 can make a bigger change on the outside than inside. 1876 01:51:47,840 --> 01:51:49,600 That's how I felt. 1877 01:51:49,600 --> 01:51:54,400 And that's the message we wanted to push here with We Go Home is accumulation of my career, 1878 01:51:54,400 --> 01:52:03,100 of my experience, of seeing death, of losing brothers, of seeing lives lost and the seriousness 1879 01:52:03,100 --> 01:52:04,100 of this job. 1880 01:52:04,100 --> 01:52:10,480 And that's what I wanted to push out there to the community of firefighters, police, 1881 01:52:10,480 --> 01:52:16,920 first responders, military personnel, that this job is inherently dangerous. 1882 01:52:16,920 --> 01:52:20,200 Every single day we go to, we don't know if we're going to come back home. 1883 01:52:20,200 --> 01:52:24,380 It's up to us to be the best that we can because we can't be jaded. 1884 01:52:24,380 --> 01:52:28,520 We can't have that, oh, I've been a job for 10 years and I'm good type of attitude. 1885 01:52:28,520 --> 01:52:30,960 You got to come in this job every single day prepared. 1886 01:52:30,960 --> 01:52:33,160 And that's the message we want to push that We Go Home message. 1887 01:52:33,160 --> 01:52:38,840 Because every time before we hit the warrant, at the end, the lieutenant was like, no matter 1888 01:52:38,840 --> 01:52:40,920 what we do, we're going to make it home. 1889 01:52:40,920 --> 01:52:45,280 And there's like echo throughout and it was huge for me. 1890 01:52:45,280 --> 01:52:49,920 And that's what I want to do because everybody in this service, in this profession has mothers, 1891 01:52:49,920 --> 01:52:52,400 brothers, sisters, wives, kids. 1892 01:52:52,400 --> 01:52:54,480 They all want to come home to them. 1893 01:52:54,480 --> 01:52:58,840 So let's be a professional and do the job to your best ability so you can bring home 1894 01:52:58,840 --> 01:53:03,200 your brothers and sisters through your left and right, that you bring home the people 1895 01:53:03,200 --> 01:53:06,480 that you swore to protect. 1896 01:53:06,480 --> 01:53:12,560 That when adversity comes and when adversity strikes, it's not if but when. 1897 01:53:12,560 --> 01:53:14,160 Are you going to be ready for it? 1898 01:53:14,160 --> 01:53:17,760 Are you just going to be another example? 1899 01:53:17,760 --> 01:53:19,800 And I say that a lot. 1900 01:53:19,800 --> 01:53:23,600 Set the example, don't be the example. 1901 01:53:23,600 --> 01:53:25,800 And that's the message we wanted to push when we go home. 1902 01:53:25,800 --> 01:53:29,360 Is beyond selling supplements, is beyond selling apparel. 1903 01:53:29,360 --> 01:53:35,760 It's the mindset of what it takes to be a professional and how serious these career 1904 01:53:35,760 --> 01:53:36,760 paths are. 1905 01:53:36,760 --> 01:53:40,840 Talk to me about the entrepreneurial side of it. 1906 01:53:40,840 --> 01:53:46,480 When you leave a first responder profession, you're giving what used to be giving up actual 1907 01:53:46,480 --> 01:53:47,840 benefits and security. 1908 01:53:47,840 --> 01:53:53,360 Now I would argue somewhat of a facade of benefits and security because in my career, 1909 01:53:53,360 --> 01:53:56,000 the pension got cut, the healthcare was almost non-existent. 1910 01:53:56,000 --> 01:53:57,760 Actually, it was. 1911 01:53:57,760 --> 01:54:00,680 When we retired, we got zero healthcare. 1912 01:54:00,680 --> 01:54:02,560 So that was kind of a carrot and stick. 1913 01:54:02,560 --> 01:54:05,480 But anyway, regardless though, you were guaranteed a paycheck. 1914 01:54:05,480 --> 01:54:07,960 You had healthcare while you were in at least. 1915 01:54:07,960 --> 01:54:14,080 It's a brave jump to go out into the world in general, but certainly to say I'm going 1916 01:54:14,080 --> 01:54:15,480 to create something myself. 1917 01:54:15,480 --> 01:54:19,380 So what was that journey like for you? 1918 01:54:19,380 --> 01:54:21,240 Scary as shit. 1919 01:54:21,240 --> 01:54:22,440 And it's still scary. 1920 01:54:22,440 --> 01:54:23,440 It's the scariest thing. 1921 01:54:23,440 --> 01:54:27,280 It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my career to this point. 1922 01:54:27,280 --> 01:54:31,960 Being a ranger, joining SWAT, like you said, it is dangerous. 1923 01:54:31,960 --> 01:54:35,600 We understand the risks, but at the end of the day, there's a safety net. 1924 01:54:35,600 --> 01:54:40,040 You get two paychecks a month, you get a pension, you get insurance. 1925 01:54:40,040 --> 01:54:46,480 No matter what, you could be the top dog cop or you could be a piece of shit one that doesn't 1926 01:54:46,480 --> 01:54:48,080 just answer his calls. 1927 01:54:48,080 --> 01:54:50,320 You're getting paid the same. 1928 01:54:50,320 --> 01:54:56,360 And there's this shared suffering when you're in that type of unit environment. 1929 01:54:56,360 --> 01:54:59,200 Because back when I was on the SWAT team, we bitch and moan, but we had each other to 1930 01:54:59,200 --> 01:55:00,800 bitch and moan about. 1931 01:55:00,800 --> 01:55:07,280 Now when we're transitioning to entrepreneurship, there's no one to bitch and moan about too. 1932 01:55:07,280 --> 01:55:10,920 All the weight and everything that we carry is on our own backs. 1933 01:55:10,920 --> 01:55:13,440 But I'm a firm believer in chasing my dreams. 1934 01:55:13,440 --> 01:55:19,000 I'm the firm believer of not peeking, not plateauing. 1935 01:55:19,000 --> 01:55:22,360 And being a SWAT cop wasn't challenging to me anymore. 1936 01:55:22,360 --> 01:55:24,080 I reached a pinnacle. 1937 01:55:24,080 --> 01:55:25,080 I was a shield guy on my team. 1938 01:55:25,080 --> 01:55:26,360 I was a point guy on my team. 1939 01:55:26,360 --> 01:55:28,120 I knew my profession very well. 1940 01:55:28,120 --> 01:55:29,520 I knew my craft very well. 1941 01:55:29,520 --> 01:55:34,360 I was very good at what I did, making split second decisions and whatnot, but I didn't 1942 01:55:34,360 --> 01:55:36,240 feel challenged anymore. 1943 01:55:36,240 --> 01:55:39,120 This was the next mountain that challenged me. 1944 01:55:39,120 --> 01:55:45,400 And I looked at it, I was like, I can sit here and be like, okay, I'm comfortable where 1945 01:55:45,400 --> 01:55:46,400 I'm at. 1946 01:55:46,400 --> 01:55:50,560 I'm going to go home as a side gig or I'm going to go all in and jump into the deep 1947 01:55:50,560 --> 01:55:53,160 end and really get after it. 1948 01:55:53,160 --> 01:55:55,520 And I did, I was like, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. 1949 01:55:55,520 --> 01:55:57,680 I want to make a difference. 1950 01:55:57,680 --> 01:56:03,200 I want to take this message and affect change in so many people's lives, but I can't do 1951 01:56:03,200 --> 01:56:10,840 it if I'm only putting half in when I'm on the police job because being a police officer 1952 01:56:10,840 --> 01:56:12,560 took the majority of my energy. 1953 01:56:12,560 --> 01:56:17,840 I was like, if I really want this to be something, if I really wanted to really change the lives 1954 01:56:17,840 --> 01:56:21,480 of the people that we were changing, I need to go all in. 1955 01:56:21,480 --> 01:56:22,920 And this is when I decided I did. 1956 01:56:22,920 --> 01:56:23,920 I was like, fuck it. 1957 01:56:23,920 --> 01:56:24,920 I'm going to do it. 1958 01:56:24,920 --> 01:56:26,200 I'm not going to sit here and talk about it. 1959 01:56:26,200 --> 01:56:27,480 I don't want to die with regrets. 1960 01:56:27,480 --> 01:56:33,080 I don't want to wait until, I don't want to suffer through my police career and finish 1961 01:56:33,080 --> 01:56:35,360 it up and then look back and like, what if, right? 1962 01:56:35,360 --> 01:56:36,360 I don't want to live my life. 1963 01:56:36,360 --> 01:56:37,360 What if? 1964 01:56:37,360 --> 01:56:38,360 Now, what about the documentary? 1965 01:56:38,360 --> 01:56:42,280 I mean, you, I just literally, as I said at the beginning, I've just finished watching 1966 01:56:42,280 --> 01:56:45,040 it right before this interview is beautifully shot. 1967 01:56:45,040 --> 01:56:48,080 It tells a powerful story. 1968 01:56:48,080 --> 01:56:53,120 Most people though, you know, that's, that's, if a crew comes to you with money ideas, you 1969 01:56:53,120 --> 01:56:58,480 know, then, then it's going to be easier, but to be part of that and to be a driving 1970 01:56:58,480 --> 01:57:00,640 force of that, I would say was quite an undertaking. 1971 01:57:00,640 --> 01:57:06,560 So talk to me about that experience and then let people know where they can find it. 1972 01:57:06,560 --> 01:57:07,800 Yeah. 1973 01:57:07,800 --> 01:57:14,080 The win was something I was really hesitant in doing, you know, Sean Spencer came who 1974 01:57:14,080 --> 01:57:20,280 did Ranger, which was a powerful documentary about, you know, a guy who was just a regular 1975 01:57:20,280 --> 01:57:23,080 guy who just wanted to do the right thing and joined the Ranger regiment. 1976 01:57:23,080 --> 01:57:25,280 And he talked about his time in war. 1977 01:57:25,280 --> 01:57:26,280 And I saw that documentary. 1978 01:57:26,280 --> 01:57:27,280 I was like, oh, this is super powerful. 1979 01:57:27,280 --> 01:57:30,360 And he was like, Hey, Sean's like, Hey, I want to do a documentary about you. 1980 01:57:30,360 --> 01:57:32,040 I'm like, who wants to hear about my life? 1981 01:57:32,040 --> 01:57:34,240 You know, I was like, I don't know. 1982 01:57:34,240 --> 01:57:35,760 I was like, I'll think about it. 1983 01:57:35,760 --> 01:57:39,680 You know, I was really iffy about it because I don't like to put myself out there like 1984 01:57:39,680 --> 01:57:40,680 that. 1985 01:57:40,680 --> 01:57:42,120 I didn't feel like, you know, I wanted to make a message. 1986 01:57:42,120 --> 01:57:45,960 Like I was like, Sean, I want to do it, but I don't want to make this message about me. 1987 01:57:45,960 --> 01:57:46,960 Like, Oh, look at me. 1988 01:57:46,960 --> 01:57:48,840 He's like, it's not about you, man. 1989 01:57:48,840 --> 01:57:52,600 I think it's a more powerful story beyond that. 1990 01:57:52,600 --> 01:57:59,400 It's a story about resilience of not quitting, of being placed in any environment and thriving, 1991 01:57:59,400 --> 01:58:00,400 right? 1992 01:58:00,400 --> 01:58:01,400 It's on the individual. 1993 01:58:01,400 --> 01:58:04,080 And I think a lot of people need to hear the story. 1994 01:58:04,080 --> 01:58:08,200 So I decided like, you know what, if this is going to change a lot of people's lives 1995 01:58:08,200 --> 01:58:12,600 to help them for the better, if they're struggling through what they're going through and they 1996 01:58:12,600 --> 01:58:15,120 want to quit their path, then I'm going to do it. 1997 01:58:15,120 --> 01:58:18,900 And that's why we decided to put the story together and put it out there so that people 1998 01:58:18,900 --> 01:58:25,720 can watch it and be like, Hey, look, life is going to slap your ass, like it or not. 1999 01:58:25,720 --> 01:58:27,280 It's going to beat your ass. 2000 01:58:27,280 --> 01:58:29,920 It's going to push you down, but are you going to quit? 2001 01:58:29,920 --> 01:58:30,920 Right? 2002 01:58:30,920 --> 01:58:32,240 That's what matters. 2003 01:58:32,240 --> 01:58:35,360 Everybody's going to be, everybody faces adversity in life. 2004 01:58:35,360 --> 01:58:37,240 No one's immune to adversity. 2005 01:58:37,240 --> 01:58:42,920 I don't care if you're born in the richest family to the poorest family, you're going 2006 01:58:42,920 --> 01:58:47,480 to face adversity in your life and how you deal with that adversity and how you are as 2007 01:58:47,480 --> 01:58:53,560 an individual, it's really going to dictate how the future that you're going to have. 2008 01:58:53,560 --> 01:58:59,760 And I want that message to resonate with everybody that, Hey, you don't have to be raised in 2009 01:58:59,760 --> 01:59:03,520 a rich family for you to do extraordinary things. 2010 01:59:03,520 --> 01:59:10,520 It's on you that for you to not quit and have purpose and drive through it and see it through. 2011 01:59:10,520 --> 01:59:13,400 And that's when we decided to do it. 2012 01:59:13,400 --> 01:59:16,480 And he shot it and God bless him. 2013 01:59:16,480 --> 01:59:21,160 And I just felt like the story that just needed to be heard, not just in that side of things, 2014 01:59:21,160 --> 01:59:29,840 but just in general, the humanization of an individual and going to war, working the streets 2015 01:59:29,840 --> 01:59:37,080 of as a cop so they could show people that, Hey, we're not robots. 2016 01:59:37,080 --> 01:59:39,240 We're human beings, right? 2017 01:59:39,240 --> 01:59:42,040 We just want to do the right thing and we just want to help people. 2018 01:59:42,040 --> 01:59:48,000 And that's why we do what we do because we damn well do not get paid enough. 2019 01:59:48,000 --> 01:59:50,200 So that's why we did it. 2020 01:59:50,200 --> 01:59:52,440 And yeah, it's on Amazon. 2021 01:59:52,440 --> 01:59:59,160 You can find it's my last name is N-G-U-Y-E-N when people who watched it said that it really 2022 01:59:59,160 --> 02:00:00,160 helped them a lot. 2023 02:00:00,160 --> 02:00:06,720 And I hope that you guys who watched this find some kind of inspiration from it so that 2024 02:00:06,720 --> 02:00:10,920 it can help you through whatever journey that you're going through. 2025 02:00:10,920 --> 02:00:16,680 What I really found important, and I say this only because you don't see it many places, 2026 02:00:16,680 --> 02:00:21,480 is just the raw frustration of someone who took their job really seriously, who wanted 2027 02:00:21,480 --> 02:00:24,680 to be the best version of themselves. 2028 02:00:24,680 --> 02:00:30,640 But like so many people listening found themselves in toxic environments. 2029 02:00:30,640 --> 02:00:34,080 And of course, like they said, the immigration story is incredibly powerful. 2030 02:00:34,080 --> 02:00:37,800 Like you said, the overcoming adversity and the self-belief. 2031 02:00:37,800 --> 02:00:39,520 But I think it's going to be to be completely blunt. 2032 02:00:39,520 --> 02:00:43,400 A lot of first responders and people in other professions are going to go, that's me because 2033 02:00:43,400 --> 02:00:50,400 I know so many great firefighters, police officers, soldiers, paramedics, doctors, nurses that 2034 02:00:50,400 --> 02:00:54,260 are amazing despite the environment. 2035 02:00:54,260 --> 02:00:59,080 And I know how detrimental that is to their spiritual mental health. 2036 02:00:59,080 --> 02:01:04,280 So that was one thing as a responder and having been through highs and lows myself that I 2037 02:01:04,280 --> 02:01:07,080 really kind of resonated with it was just here's another one. 2038 02:01:07,080 --> 02:01:12,080 Here's another guy who fucking gets it, who understands why we put the uniform on, whose 2039 02:01:12,080 --> 02:01:14,960 fire still burns in their heart. 2040 02:01:14,960 --> 02:01:20,020 And then like me, ultimately transitioned out because the head was hurting so much from 2041 02:01:20,020 --> 02:01:22,000 banging it against a brick wall. 2042 02:01:22,000 --> 02:01:26,400 But that in itself is also a resilient story because you're like, okay, I'm still going 2043 02:01:26,400 --> 02:01:27,400 to serve. 2044 02:01:27,400 --> 02:01:29,040 What does that look like now? 2045 02:01:29,040 --> 02:01:32,640 How can I make a bigger difference from outside these parameters without these handcuffs that 2046 02:01:32,640 --> 02:01:34,680 I've had slapped on me? 2047 02:01:34,680 --> 02:01:39,760 So that's another kind of different perspective for me that I think is so valuable for the 2048 02:01:39,760 --> 02:01:42,360 documentary for a lot of people listening. 2049 02:01:42,360 --> 02:01:45,320 Yes, sir. 2050 02:01:45,320 --> 02:01:48,080 You're not alone out there. 2051 02:01:48,080 --> 02:01:52,000 Like you said, there's many great individuals who want to do the right thing and they're 2052 02:01:52,000 --> 02:01:53,000 just frustrated. 2053 02:01:53,000 --> 02:01:56,720 And that's the one thing, the story I wanted to tell. 2054 02:01:56,720 --> 02:02:01,320 It's not a story of bashing the Chicago Police Department, but it's just a story of what 2055 02:02:01,320 --> 02:02:05,680 happens when you're placed in an environment, a political environment or lack of leadership 2056 02:02:05,680 --> 02:02:10,920 and lack of direction for an organization. 2057 02:02:10,920 --> 02:02:14,320 What really happens from the foot soldiers, right? 2058 02:02:14,320 --> 02:02:18,120 It's not about the leadership. 2059 02:02:18,120 --> 02:02:19,880 The guys are like deputy chief and chief. 2060 02:02:19,880 --> 02:02:20,880 They're great. 2061 02:02:20,880 --> 02:02:22,720 I mean, they got drivers, they're making 200 something. 2062 02:02:22,720 --> 02:02:23,920 They don't have anything to worry about. 2063 02:02:23,920 --> 02:02:25,520 What about the guys who are working the beat? 2064 02:02:25,520 --> 02:02:26,760 What about those guys and gals? 2065 02:02:26,760 --> 02:02:30,440 They have to answer the calls day in and day out knowing they don't have the backup from 2066 02:02:30,440 --> 02:02:33,720 their bosses or they don't have the training, but they have to go out there and still do 2067 02:02:33,720 --> 02:02:34,800 their jobs. 2068 02:02:34,800 --> 02:02:36,920 How frustrated are they? 2069 02:02:36,920 --> 02:02:41,280 And that's one thing I wanted people, when they watch the documentary, realize what is 2070 02:02:41,280 --> 02:02:44,000 going on in these big metropolitan cities. 2071 02:02:44,000 --> 02:02:45,000 It's happening in New York. 2072 02:02:45,000 --> 02:02:46,000 It's happening in Seattle. 2073 02:02:46,000 --> 02:02:47,000 It's unfortunate. 2074 02:02:47,000 --> 02:02:48,960 It's happening in LA now. 2075 02:02:48,960 --> 02:02:54,280 It's happening in a lot of places. 2076 02:02:54,280 --> 02:03:00,720 That was one of my driving factors of why I wanted to make this documentary, to let people 2077 02:03:00,720 --> 02:03:04,440 know what the hell is really going on. 2078 02:03:04,440 --> 02:03:07,600 And from a cop's view, 14 years. 2079 02:03:07,600 --> 02:03:08,600 Yeah. 2080 02:03:08,600 --> 02:03:09,600 Well, it's an important perspective. 2081 02:03:09,600 --> 02:03:13,640 And like I said, with the two part question on war, same thing. 2082 02:03:13,640 --> 02:03:18,760 We need to hear from the actual people on the streets, not the pundits on Fox and CNN 2083 02:03:18,760 --> 02:03:24,040 or whichever politician is looking to get elected next, but the actual people that are 2084 02:03:24,040 --> 02:03:30,120 out there doing the job, getting freaking blood on their uniform on a daily basis to 2085 02:03:30,120 --> 02:03:31,800 protect the people that we serve. 2086 02:03:31,800 --> 02:03:34,000 So I thought it was amazing. 2087 02:03:34,000 --> 02:03:35,160 And what about We Go Home? 2088 02:03:35,160 --> 02:03:36,720 Where can people find that? 2089 02:03:36,720 --> 02:03:37,720 Yeah. 2090 02:03:37,720 --> 02:03:39,400 You can find us on Instagram. 2091 02:03:39,400 --> 02:03:41,840 It's We Go Home. 2092 02:03:41,840 --> 02:03:47,120 Our website is We Go Home Subs, S-U-P-P-S, or you can find us on Facebook, We Go Home 2093 02:03:47,120 --> 02:03:48,120 Official. 2094 02:03:48,120 --> 02:03:50,280 So that's where we're located. 2095 02:03:50,280 --> 02:03:51,280 This job is not dead. 2096 02:03:51,280 --> 02:03:52,880 It's still an honorable job. 2097 02:03:52,880 --> 02:03:54,440 You're still needed. 2098 02:03:54,440 --> 02:04:00,480 There's still a need for warriors to be out there to pick up the mantle. 2099 02:04:00,480 --> 02:04:02,080 Somebody has to stop evil. 2100 02:04:02,080 --> 02:04:03,080 Evil is here. 2101 02:04:03,080 --> 02:04:05,040 It's never going to go away. 2102 02:04:05,040 --> 02:04:07,080 Somebody has to face it. 2103 02:04:07,080 --> 02:04:09,320 So let it be you. 2104 02:04:09,320 --> 02:04:11,120 Be somebody, be a professional. 2105 02:04:11,120 --> 02:04:15,280 And that's the message we want to push on our Instagram page. 2106 02:04:15,280 --> 02:04:23,700 It's like this warrior spirit, this warrior ethos is still alive and strong. 2107 02:04:23,700 --> 02:04:30,000 Don't let it die because you are needed out there because you've raised your right hand 2108 02:04:30,000 --> 02:04:32,000 to you sworn an oath. 2109 02:04:32,000 --> 02:04:33,520 It's up to that oath. 2110 02:04:33,520 --> 02:04:34,640 Don't be jaded. 2111 02:04:34,640 --> 02:04:37,080 People are counting on you. 2112 02:04:37,080 --> 02:04:38,080 So. 2113 02:04:38,080 --> 02:04:39,080 Absolutely. 2114 02:04:39,080 --> 02:04:40,320 Well, Trang, I want to say thank you so much. 2115 02:04:40,320 --> 02:04:43,120 It's been amazing to listen to your story. 2116 02:04:43,120 --> 02:04:47,800 Obviously, your origin story is pretty powerful, but then your perspective as a young man and 2117 02:04:47,800 --> 02:04:52,580 the positive interaction with PD, you know, the highs of your career, some of the lows, 2118 02:04:52,580 --> 02:04:54,820 but I think it's not bitching. 2119 02:04:54,820 --> 02:04:59,080 It's advocating for the people that are still in uniform that are so frustrated that feel 2120 02:04:59,080 --> 02:05:00,080 unsupported. 2121 02:05:00,080 --> 02:05:04,840 And we have to give them a voice and it may not sound like a positive conversation, but 2122 02:05:04,840 --> 02:05:09,640 it is because we're dragging this out of the shadows for the people that are serving to 2123 02:05:09,640 --> 02:05:12,800 advocate for the environment that allows them to thrive. 2124 02:05:12,800 --> 02:05:17,120 And I think anyone who leaves their family and again, so much respect for the families 2125 02:05:17,120 --> 02:05:22,040 themselves that are holding the line while we're, you know, protecting strangers, they 2126 02:05:22,040 --> 02:05:24,360 deserve every ounce of support. 2127 02:05:24,360 --> 02:05:28,680 And the people that we serve deserve the best version of a cop, a firefighter, a paramedic 2128 02:05:28,680 --> 02:05:30,380 that they can get as well. 2129 02:05:30,380 --> 02:05:34,580 So I want to thank you so much for telling us your story today and being so generous 2130 02:05:34,580 --> 02:05:38,760 with your time coming on the Behind the Shield podcast. 2131 02:05:38,760 --> 02:05:39,760 It was a pleasure, James. 2132 02:05:39,760 --> 02:05:42,900 I appreciate you inviting me on and I appreciate this. 2133 02:05:42,900 --> 02:05:47,480 And I, you know, last message to all you guys are all you listeners, just keep the good 2134 02:05:47,480 --> 02:05:48,480 fight. 2135 02:05:48,480 --> 02:05:49,480 You're needed. 2136 02:05:49,480 --> 02:05:54,060 You're needed more than ever, especially with what's going on nowadays. 2137 02:05:54,060 --> 02:05:55,520 You are definitely needed. 2138 02:05:55,520 --> 02:05:56,520 Don't ever lose that purpose. 2139 02:05:56,520 --> 02:05:59,200 Don't ever forget your why and why you started.