If you want to learn more about the topics of
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Okay people, listen up. Here we go. This is Nature's
Secret Service, the podcast that puts you in
the room with the men and women of wildlife law
enforcement. I'm your host, Ed Newcomer, and
tonight we're not going to be in the room. I'm
going to take you out on patrol with a woman
of wildlife law enforcement. When I was a special
agent with the U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service
in Los Angeles, I used to keep my skills sharp
and my relationships strong. by occasionally
doubling up with a state game warden on one of
their night patrols. My favorite warden to work
with was Lieutenant Michelle Budish. She was
in charge of the South Los Angeles squad of game
wardens, who were responsible for enforcing state
wildlife laws in that area. Michelle was recently
promoted to captain, but I thought it would be
fun to get out there on patrol with her one more
time. So I asked the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife if they would let me ride along
with her on a Friday night patrol of the Los
Angeles waterfront Join me and Michelle now for
a night on patrol Are we on we're already yep,
all right, but it's fine we can just anything
that comes up is fair game All right. See what
we get into like old times, Ed. Exactly. It's
fun. We can always edit out anything we don't
like. That's right. Like the **** Bob. The ****
Bob. We might have to tell that story. Best story
ever. Last patrol, right? Uh. That was our last
patrol together. Was that the last one while
I was still working? I think that might have
been. Redondo. Yeah, might have been. Is that
a lobster in your pants, sir? I think the last.
For some reason that. Was during the day, wasn't
it? No, it was at night. Okay. What was I going
to ask you? When did you get, when did you become
captain? It was when? Officially October 1st,
but I interviewed back in July and kind of was
doing both roles for a little while. And what
was the, how many people were in your squad before
you became captain? You were supervisor. I had
six officers. Okay. The 4210 squad I call them
the originals the OGs We have so much fun so
that squad Covers what area is it LA? South LA
so everything from the 10 freeway to the ocean
including Catalina Island and to the Orange County
border That's like Ventura See what they got
it's early too. Yeah out with four We'll go check
out the south side of the harbor. See if anyone's
around there and Okay, drive through the launch
ramp and then go to the north side if we don't
see anyone Okay, that sounds good. And mostly
those people are doing fishing for what? Yeah
right now is lobster season. Okay, even from
Yeah, I mean they'll be out there with hoop nets
or just fishing but the launch ramp here will
have boats at launch and so You never know. There's
a spot here that's good for leopard shark too
on the inside of the harbor people fish for so
we might contact some people in there. Michelle
and I start our evening in the Marina Del Rey
area. There's a large harbor there where people
fish even at night and there's a busy boat ramp
where recreational fishing boats come and go
at all hours of the day and night. So how do
you feel about driving an unmarked vehicle instead
of a marked vehicle now that you're a traffic?
I really miss my truck. Everyone's like, oh no,
this is so much better, but I like having a marked
car. Especially driving around LA. And it's not
like I have a light bar. I have lights in here,
so it is very different. And I had a cage, but
I'm not on patrol all the time anymore. When
I was a patrol lieutenant, I was on patrol all
the time. So now you're more like a fed driving
around with your covert red and blues. Yes. Now
you know what it looks like. This is my wellness
patrol and I was gonna lose it if I didn't get
out in patrol. Thank you for going out with me
tonight. I'm happy to be of service. Yes. which
we should talk about that you're now so you've
promoted you were a lieutenant in charge of a
squad in the south la yes right so tell us tell
me about the uh the wellness captain position
yeah so i promoted in october um interviewed
for this captain position so i work for headquarters
now and it's wellness risk and policy so the
wellness part is peer support and kind of I Guess
expanding our wellness. It's pretty new I'm the
only the second statewide captain for wellness
for our department. So just started a few years
back and in charge of different special projects
Hoping, you know through surveys our department's
done with post and different kind of research
that they've done, whether it's working on recruitment
retention, getting paid, you know, maybe workouts
like you guys have, the feds have, which would
be really good. Just different aspects of wellness
to help our officers. It's become, even in all
law enforcement, like a much bigger thing. So
we have a peer support team. But also working
on expanding that we just recently in the last
like couple weeks Started a peer committee. So
kind of like how a phone tree would work if there's
officer involved shooting in line of duty deaths
Ways we respond and we have to go through like
a training and certification for the peer support
So everyone's vetted. So we're talking when we
talk about wellness We're talking about not only
just keeping physically fit, but also mentally
well. Yeah Or even, I mean, wellness could be
financial. Wellness is a lot, you know, physical,
mental, family dynamics, work -life balance,
you know. So, and then the other side is policy.
So making sure, I'm going to get out of the way
from these people. All our policies are up to
date with Lexapol. And when there's different
state and federal legislative changes that I'm
in charge of it the team that I have working
for me which right now is only two it's supposed
to be four so we're all kind of pulling together
but making sure our policies up to date so it
protects our officers and the department so as
laws change your policies adjust with it so yeah
it's part of your kind of a watchdog for that
and then make sure the policies get updated yeah
And then special projects or duties as assigned
whatever that ends up being so Yeah, you gotta
be careful with that one michelle because if
you have always been what I would call a go -to
person So, you know your game warden or a lieutenant
that if and the fed side if we needed help with
something You were a go -to person you'd get
it done Yeah, and whenever special projects are
attached to a go for it go to that's a dangerous
situation I'm already busy. I don't know how
I can be busier You know going back to the wellness
thing you mentioned post and I know most most
of my listeners will know what that is But it's
oh, yeah, explain post. So post is peace officer
standards and training. So police officers or
peace officers in the state of California go
through, you know, certain training and standards.
It's standardized for all police officers under
the penal code 830. And there's different sections
like point one, point two, but post requires,
there's laws that, you know, post works under
and they require certain mandates, whether it's
like, Officers have to have certain quarterly
training or. the Academy, like whether it's a
CHP LAPD doesn't matter. Everyone has to meet
those certain standards for the Academy instruction.
So part of the wellness we have, it's called
LD 14. It means learning domain. So post has
certain learning domains when any police officer
goes to an Academy, they have to learn certain
things, whether it's, you know, burglary, suspicious
persons, domestic violence, all these different
learning domains. learning domain 14 focuses
on wellness. And so that's also something I'll
be doing is teaching at the Academy. We haven't
done it yet. Even though it's being taught, it
hasn't been taught by us before. So I'm really
excited for that. Cool. I miss like that was
part of when I was a patrol lieutenant, like
teaching at the Academy and being a field training
officer. So That's nice. Kind of changes it up
so you're not behind a desk. Exactly. So I get
to go to the academy. Plus you get to meet the
incoming people and have an influence on how
they approach the job from the get -go, right?
Giving them your knowledge and, you know, experience
and insight into the job. As we sat in Michelle's
vehicle talking, she kept a close eye on the
boat ramp. And it wasn't long before a boat caught
her interest. Oh, look at that. yeah that's the
yeah that's the gotta habit gotta habit guess
what we're gonna have he spotted you yep you
sure did we got two boats so they're gonna be
lobster fishing On the job, Michelle has a friendly
and easy -going demeanor, but woe be anybody
who underestimates her. She is a tough, formidable,
and professional game warden. With her long,
jet -black hair pulled back in a tight bun, her
gear in great shape, and her uniform sharp, she
confidently climbs aboard this fishing boat to
begin an inspection of their fishing gear and
their catch. Twenty -one? There's three of you?
Yep. Awesome. I will take a look. Obviously you
don't need to measure those. If you just want
to get the report cards and licenses? No. Are
they separated this way for a reason? No. Okay,
so I can just count and mix them. It's okay?
Yeah. Okay. You got to count them all. You can
put them back in the tank here and then you can
get them back in. You sure? I could just put
them this way. That way you don't have to. No
gloves, huh? No. I have. Alright, we got two.
You have to remember that normally Michelle works
alone. Three, four. And now she's on a fishing
boat. There are five male fishermen on this boat.
She's got to keep her eye on all five of those
individuals, keep her eye out for possible weapons
or aggressive behavior, all the while keeping
an accurate count of the lobsters she's seeing
on board, taking a look at each fisherman's license,
and making sure that everything else on that
boat is lawfully in order. We don't find any
violations on this boat, and Michelle sends the
fishermen happily on their way. Perfect. Thank
you. My pleasure. Hi. Thank you. Yeah. No, everything
looks good. This is good. Thank you. Thank you.
Oh, they're actually excited. I know. One guy
is very excited. Makes me so happy. Everyone's
been so cooperative. Not that people aren't,
but you never know. You never know. Sometimes
they are. Some people don't want you on their
boat. She's eager to check out some other areas
where she thinks there might be illegal activity
afoot. I mean, no boats are coming in right now,
my thought is. Yeah. Let's go check the other
side of the harbor. On the way, I asked Michelle
to talk a little bit about what it's like to
work alone. And it's hard, like. just now, like
aboard a boat. There's five people there. We
work alone. So, you know. Well, that goes back
to - We're used to it, but sometimes, unfortunately,
like, you do your best with officer safety, but
some things, you're there so well, so. Now, I
remember - When they're complying, that's great.
It's another good example of importance of the
officer wellness, because you do work alone.
And you don't realize working at night in LA
anywhere, but working in LA at night is dangerous.
Yeah. And there are people here who do not like
law enforcement. Yep. And if that has an un maybe
even an unrecognized stress on an officer that
they are so used to, they put it out of mind.
So actually, you know, the wellness thing is
super important. Yeah, it is. Because I think
I told you this when I came back from working
in Africa, I didn't realize how stressed I was
over there. And I felt like I couldn't figure
out why I felt so relaxed when I got back to
the States. And I didn't realize having been
in the kind of deep yellow, light red zone consistently
all the time for so long takes a toll. And so
even if you're working out here and you're doing
something you've done a million times, when you're
on a boat with five people, you're in the yellow
at minimum. Yeah, for sure. They're nicer at
the yellow. They don't want you on the boat.
You're like maroon, you know, you're pretty definitely
deep red. Yeah, you're pretty red. And you're
out alone. Michelle and I eventually decided
to head south toward Redondo Beach. Anytime you've
got two law enforcement officers in a car with
time to spare, stories start to get told. The
stranger the story, the more fun it is. Michelle
and I reminisced about a time we encountered
a subject we suspected was hiding illegal lobster
in his clothing. Unfortunately, we can't tell
that story on this episode. But there were many
instances during our careers where we encountered
people who smuggled wildlife on their bodies.
Between the two of us and between all the people
we know in our various respective agencies, we've
caught a lot of people with **** down their pants.
uh yeah in terms of wildlife not but yeah didn't
you have birds birds we've had birds monkeys
yes uh down the pants we've had yeah yeah yeah
reptiles yeah you name it crazy in their pants
yep lobster that seems very dangerous but yes
risky very risky but not not impossible yeah
that's amazing what people will do to hide stuff
from law enforcement. Yep. Didn't you find somebody
with lobster in a stroller under their baby?
Oh yeah. In Santa Monica? Yep. They put it under
the baby, they wrap it up in newspaper, make
it try to make it look like a diaper or whatever
so you don't but yeah put their kids on top of
it and put in a stroller or have their kids traffic
it off the pier which you know contributing delinquency
of a minor. We saw that at the border a lot.
People would hide things in compartments in their
cars, and then they'd put their sleeping child
on top of the compartment, hoping you would not
wake up their child to look. It's crazy. Oh,
that's one of my guys! You're right, they're
working Palace Verde. Yeah Well, we're heading
over that way anyways, so that's right at the
end on the opposite side of Rodano. Yeah. That
radio traffic was another game warden in Michelle's
old squad. He was working close by in the Palace
Verde area, and we decided to head that way.
En route to the location, I asked her to tell
me another story. But not every story we tell...
is hilarious. Sometimes the stories we tell are
downright terrifying. I asked Michelle to tell
me the story of the time her and other officers
encountered a subject in the Biona Wetlands who
was out of his mind after sniffing paint fumes.
So you've talked about Biona Wetlands. Why can't
people be in there? And what's the issue with
people being in there? Why are you guys involved
in that? So it's state property and It's close
to the public its pens are fenced and posted,
you know three to the mile and It's close to
the public because it harbors a lot of protected
species Native American artifacts. There is a
very small portion where public tours are given
between our department and members of a nonprofit,
but It's close to the public because of the resources
that are in there, but also it's very dangerous
because we do get people that trespass in there.
And we've had people in there with ghost guns,
drugs, sheddies, ATMs. We've had a couple homicides
in there. It just kind of has become a haven
for like people that want to camp and, you know,
don't have somewhere to live. And so. They go
in this area and try to escape, you know. At
one time it was so bad, like a site book will
hold 20 citations. I went through two citation
books and still had people in there. And I was
in there with LAPD at the time, but it just took
a long time to kind of clean it up and get everyone
out, which is why it's important to stay on top
of it. But that one time that you're talking
about, I was in there. We're doing a patrol and
we always patrol alone. But because of the activity
in there, at that time, this is a long time ago,
what we would do is we would have a team, but
we'd split up into different parts of the wetlands.
And if we needed each other, we'd get each other
on the radio. And I came around the corner. And
I'm going to have to cuss on this. OK, I guess
you can't like I came around the corner. and
there's a guy there and and this is walking through
fairly thick bushes there's like yeah trails
that either have been made by yeah you can't
take a vehicle in there no no this is like limited
view you're coming around when you say corner
through the bushes is basically what yeah and
this area in particular so when i walked in on
the right side there's nowhere you could go it's
like a wall or a cliff face and on the left side
a ditch but it's very long it's like a ravine
and so I'm coming down the trail like through
this area and I come across this guy and he's
sitting on the ground and he has a white t -shirt
cut in half and blue jeans and his whole face
is silver and he had spray paint so he was having
spray paint and I identified myself you know
said who I was, state peace officer, and that
the property he was on belonged to the state
of California, and he was trespassing, and he
needed to leave. And he looked at me and just
was cussing, telling me, **** you. And he kept
calling me Mendez. And I was like, not Mendez.
I don't know who Mendez is. And thinking to myself,
you know, and I was like, well, sir, you do need
to leave. And he looked at me. And he said to
me, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave.
And I was like, oh, this ain't going to be good.
Like, I'm going to get in a fight if I, you know,
try to execute my duties as a peace officer and
ask him to leave or forcibly make him leave.
So I decided to back out and call for backup.
And I had, I'm just going to pull over here.
I had called. over the radio and two officers
showed up. And before we went back in, I told
them like, hey, there's only two ways we go in
here. We go in stacked because the ravine on
the side, we couldn't like go side by side necessarily
or really split up much. Or we could come one
from the front and one from the rear, you know,
and then we could contact him. And I said, we're
going to have crossfire. Like if we do get in
a use of force or shooting. Because if we come
in from opposite sides, so we I told them the
area we discuss all the tactics and we go back
in we decide we're coming in from opposite ends
one officer from the rear and then two of us
from the front and So I told the other officer
I was with like maybe doesn't like women your
guy like talk to this person Yeah, I'm not gonna
say anything like you going to make contact and
we go in and he's standing on the ground and
he has a screwdriver in his hand and he's like
rocking back and forth and you know the officer
contacts him and you know he's same thing kind
of talking but then cussing but then compliant
non -compliant and literally when they say everything
goes in slow motion that's exactly what I visually
saw it was everything in slow motion and we got
him to put down the screwdriver And then he picked
up this pair of pants on the ground and started
swinging it towards us. But like in a like how
you would hold a baseball bat and swing at someone.
And as this pair of pants is coming around towards
me and I see everything in slow motion, I see
what looked like the butt of a gun or some kind
of metal object. And the pants were rigid. So
I knew there was something heavy or large inside.
And I wanted to draw my gun, but I saw the other
officer on the other side of him, so I drew my
taser, but the male officer, who was kind of
in front but off to my left, was at a different
angle, had his gun at low ready. The officer
came up from behind him, at the time we could
do karate, tried to come up and grab him from
behind, do karate, and the guy was fighting,
and then I tased him as we were all on the ground.
Yeah, that was crazy. That was the first time
I tased him on. And we had just got our tasers,
I think. And I got tased, so I know how bad that
hurts. And yeah, he complied. And then after
the five seconds expire, you can either re -engage
by pulling the trigger and tasing him again or
stop. And he was fighting the officer. And I
told him, if you don't stop, you're going to
get tased again. He stopped. Long story short,
we end up going to the hospital. He, every time
he saw me, he'd go ballistic. Really? Yeah. Like,
completely ape. I've been watching him with a
helicopter. I'm trying to kill him, all this
stuff. And it was a late night. We had to get
him cleared medically at the hospital right down
the street, Marine Del Rey. And then I had to
take him downtown and book him. I was his fifth
assault on a peace officer. No kidding. And...
Wow. We booked him. He went to prison for he
got a 12 month sentence. But he served, I think,
like nine of those months, maybe. And when he
got out, not even two months later, I got a call
from the sheriff's that they thought he had just
killed someone in the park with a candlestick
holder bludgeoned. this guy they thought to death,
just like an elderly man that was walking through
the park. Turns out the guy didn't die, but he's
obviously mentally unstable and on drugs. He
was inhaling pain when I contacted him. And he
got charged, based on the trial, instead of getting
charged with attempted murder, he got charged
with elder abuse. You're kidding me. It was ridiculous.
And he got out, didn't go to prison, and I ran
into him one day getting lunch. And I look over
my shoulder and I see him there. And I was like,
all right, like, oh, God. Oh, so that's state
parks. Yeah. Different call sign. But yeah, I
saw him and I was trying to avoid them. Let's
hear what they got. And he came over to me and
he said I said, and I know his name, Donovan.
Hi, Donovan, because I'd see him regularly still
in the area. I said, how are you doing? I was
thinking, what do I say to this guy who literally
wanted to kill me and almost tried to kill me
and I would have been justified to shoot him,
but thank God I didn't. He said, oh, I'm really
sorry about what happened. I was like, I don't
even know what to say. And I said, well, you
look really good. And he said, yeah, thank you.
I'm on medication. But then I saw him, like not
even maybe a month later, taking an exacto knife
and carving his head at the launch ramp. Whoa.
That I called fire. But yeah, he, I don't know
whatever happened to him. So he's a guy probably
got mental illness. And then on top of that.
He's doing paint, smelling paint, which is fry
your brain. Holy smokes. What was in those pants?
What turned out was in the pants? It was the
metal pull from a speed limit sign. Oh, that'll
kill you. Yeah. Wow. That was crazy. Yeah. But
I've had many other, you know, instances after
that where I've had to tase someone or gotten
in a use of force and everything in that moment
was slow motion. Like the pants coming towards
my face. Like, I don't know. Me drawing my taser.
It felt like really hard. Everything. I don't
know. It was crazy. Like urine water almost.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. The Palos Verdes peninsula
juts west into the Pacific ocean at the southernmost
part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The
steep slopes of the peninsula are dotted with
expensive homes. Each with an incredible view
to the northeast of all the beach communities,
then stretching across the metro area all the
way to downtown. The rocky shores below those
homes are the perfect location for fishermen
and poachers alike. Just a few weeks before my
patrol with Michelle, the wardens in her old
squad had encountered two Chilean nationals in
this area. The two of them had 236 lobsters between
them. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
regulations allow each person to possess seven
lobsters per day. Michelle and I planned to meet
up with Game Warden Sean Houlihan, who was in
position on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, keeping
an eye on two suspicious fishermen at the bottom
of a rocky cliff. Working a few miles south on
the opposite side of the peninsula, was Lieutenant
Andre Gilbert. You know, I don't know if I was
ever down here. This is like the north side of
Pacific. Yeah, so this is Malaga Cove. Like I
knew where he was when he said, but there's two
access points. God, it's so pitch black here.
It's terrible. There he is. Bright as day. Hey
How are you Good, I'm Ed newcomer Nice to meet
you Sean retired us fish and wildlife special
agent. I think you met him at our Christmas party
What's what who are you watching who's this there's
two guys down here Like headlamps, oh yeah It's
dark where we are. To our left, stretching up
the hillside, are the many lights of the fancy
homes above us. Down to our right and directly
in front of us is a steep dark black slope leading
all the way down to the ocean There are no lights
down there, but periodically I can see the flicker
of a flashlight Sean points us in that direction
and says he's been watching two individuals who
he believes may be illegally fishing for lobsters
He references snagging Snagging is the process
of throwing out large treble hooks, so hooks
with three barbs on them, baited with some type
of meat. When the poacher feels the lobster start
to pull, they yank hard on the fishing pole,
hoping to snag the lobster. That's an illegal
method of taking lobster in the state of California.
Interesting Yeah, he's reading up his gear Looks
like he has a sinker Some lead weights did the
other guy come up to him The other guy's on the
shore, but his lights off right now. From where
that guy is, it's like 11 o 'clock. Oh yeah,
I see him. We watch the two subjects on the beach
for about an hour. We can see that they're still
fishing. It strikes me as suspicious that they
very seldom use their lights. It's only occasionally
that they'll turn on a flashlight for a few seconds
just to see what they're doing. Based on my experience,
it looks as if they're trying to conceal their
presence on the beach. Michelle decides to send
a text to Lieutenant Gilbert and see if he'll
come our way to join us. And she does it in typical
Game Warden fashion. That's right. Yeah, that
was really right. So much for your night vision.
Yeah. Let's see how goofy we look. I couldn't
even see us in the photo. Let me see. Did he
squint? I think both of us are. Yeah. That's
awesome. I'm going to send that to him. We continue
to watch our subjects for about 10 or 15 more
minutes before Lieutenant Andre Gilbert arrives
to join us. Andre. Yeah. Hey, Andre, how are
you? Good to see you. I miss you. Good to see
you. How have you been, man? I've been good.
Everything's good, yeah. The podcast's good.
It's going good. We're recording right now. Yeah,
we're doing the whole deal. Yeah, it's good.
This is the originals. We're just missing feet.
I know. Yeah. I think the podcast is going good
anyway. I don't know. As far as I'm concerned,
it is. It's growing. We got to have all this
on it. This is all our kids' name. You miss working
with me so much that you want to walk down, contact
them with me? I will. Yeah. Do you want to walk
down? If there's a violation, it's mine. Watch
them out. For sure, they're using the hooks.
It's just a matter of what's in that white bag.
There's that white bag that looked like I had
something in it. Yeah I'm pretty sure that that
red truck is the one that that's the one I go
with rich and I and then this lobster they just
lobster and then rich contact again a couple
weeks later and You know, I'm gonna want to go
if they walk down there. Yeah I know you're tired,
but we cannot end the podcast with, well, we
were watching some guys and then nothing happened.
Then it got too late. And Michelle had to go
home. Yeah. That was going to be one riveting
episode. Do you know how to get down there? Yeah,
there's one literally right here. Knowing the
fishermen could literally be there all night.
We hatch a plan to make our way down the steep
slope. Andre will stay at the top to keep an
eye on the fishermen in case they see us. If
they see us approaching, he'll warn us and he'll
observe their behavior to see if they hide anything.
Is it a crazy trail, Andre, like steep? Oh, OK.
Everyone have a flashlight? I left mine in the
car. Oh, no, I have my flashlight. All right,
let's do this. Did I sign a liability waiver?
You wanted to walk this trail in So hey, did
you see which guy Sean was touching the bag before
we go down there Just so they can't like not
claim it, you know, I know this It's now approaching
midnight and we start to make our way down the
dark, steep, slippery slope. We're not using
flashlights. We don't want them to know we're
coming. We finally safely make our way to the
bottom of the steep slope. We're concealed from
the fishermen by a slight bend in the coastline.
I can't see them at all now. We're gonna wait
till Andre's on top of them. For sure. Well that's
good that you can't see them though. We could
make our way down. I don't think we can go much
beyond this bush though. Oh really? Yeah because
they almost got us with their light. It's about
a hundred yards between us and the fishermen
and the beach here consists of nothing more than
slippery jumbled uneven rocks. They're going
to see us. There's no question. So we're counting
on Andre to watch our backs and make sure they
don't hide anything as we approach. We're seen.
Yeah. Our position revealed. We make our way
to the fishermen as quickly as possible. Shawn
is the first one to get there. Do you want me
to stay with him? How's it going? If you could
just stand over here. Any luck tonight? Hablo
ingles? Okay, un poquito espanol. Yo soy policia,
departamento pescado y casa. Tu licencia? Okay,
you checked his license already? Okay, do you
have your license and report card? Gracias. Okay,
yeah, that's good. And you have your report card
for lobster? Hmm. Okay. Because we were sitting
up top watching both of you for like over two
hours. Between them, the fishermen have one legally
sized lobster. They have fishing poles with snagging
gear, but they also have what's called a hoop
net, which is a legal method to take lobster.
Yeah. All good. So he's good. Give him his license
back. All right. Here you go. Thank you. All
right. Have a good night. Be safe. Thank you.
Yeah, I know. This mud is crazy. And that was
the end of our contact. No violation. The wardens
had spent several hours watching these fishermen.
They were in a spot where they'd seen people
poaching for lobster in the past. Not every contact
results in a citation or a violation. That's
what patrol work is all about. So we wrap things
up for the night. And as Michelle drove me back
to the LA County Sheriff's Station where my car
was parked, I asked her what she thought about
patrol work and its importance in the scheme
of wildlife law enforcement. So how, after so
many years working, how do you feel like, what's
your thoughts about how the importance of patrol
work or what these guys, these wardens we worked
with tonight are doing? They're like the blood
of the department. Yeah, they literally like
I know it's like a term the boots on the ground
but like the officers and patrol lieutenants
Are like the roots of the organization I mean
leadership is equally as important I think from
the top down But they're the ones that keep everything
afloat you know that are out there like combating
wildlife crime and Putting their lives on the
line like getting in these precarious, you know
situation sometimes and Writing the search warrants
and doing the investigations. That's what's crazy
about game warden work You do it all what if
what do you think about like the ability to deter
crime and impact on? Well Is it a is it a lost
cause that's a good cause so you're attached
to it or is it it's not a lost cause but we could
definitely use more people because It's non -stop
like we don't have enough coverage. Yeah, and
really We should have partners. I think you know,
yeah, I think it's a different world than it
was 17 years ago and You know Don't think being
solo at night anymore is the best thing in South
LA like I'm used to it because it's what I've
always done and it's not complacency, but You
know anytime I can meet up with another officer
like tonight or I know they're out alone like
I will But we do patrol so we can't not do our
job, you know, we just have to be safe as we
can be but I think We put a dent in the wildlife,
poaching and crime and trafficking, but nowhere
near the impact we could have with more people,
you know. So, that's all funding. How many sworn
officers are in California for California Department
of Fish and Wildlife? Like all the way up to
our chief? Yeah, all of them. We maybe have 400
now. Oh, okay. That's surprising though, 400.
You know Florida has 800, almost 900. Wow. Yeah.
It's wildly variant by state on how many wildlife
officers they have, right? Yeah. And in California,
where you have everything, you have hunting,
fishing, you have commercial fishing, you have,
you know, a huge coastline. Fish businesses.
Yeah, fish businesses. And we're in charge of
marijuana now. Import export, marijuana grows
on public land. Yeah, oil spill oil spills you
have you have a huge remit But there's also you
know the balance between your deterring, you
know your presence tonight is a turn right? Yeah
definitely Don't always have to catch people.
Yes have to you have a patrol present be present
be out of the Out like you said boots on the
ground, right? Just show up show up This was
so much fun tonight. It was fun. I miss patrolling
together. I know, I miss it too. I think we need
wellness patrols once a quarter, Ed. You want
me to be the official wellness, the wellness
ride -along? Yes, you're gonna be my official
wellness mascot for the 8200 Squad Car. I can
be the wellness ride -along. Yeah. Debriefer.
Well, thank you for doing this even though you're
so tired. You're welcome. No, I totally enjoyed
it and it was so much fun. It was super fun.
Yes, thank you. You're welcome. You have an incoming
call. Fish and Wildlife. Hey. Hey. How are you
doing? Fantastic. I just wanted to check in on
you, see if you're still tening. You are amazing.
I was just going to go over the radio and tell
you I was going to be clear of the ride -along
and I was going to be en route to HQ. Okay, I'll
put you en route to HQ. I hope you were right
along and had a great time. He did. It was so
much fun. Awesome. All right. I'll put you en
route home and I'm heading home myself. You have
a great day. Thank you. You too. Bye. I want
to thank the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife for giving me permission to record an
episode while on patrol with Captain Michelle
Budish. It's always a pleasure to work with your
game wardens. Thanks for listening. We'll see
you next time. 8200 1010 have a good night Nature's
Secret Service is written and produced by me
Ed Newcomer and is co -produced by the DH TV
team here at California State University Dominguez
Hills Follow us on social media and connect with
us online at naturesecretservice .com