Police Week

Narrator - Phil Ewert

Welcome to the hometown hero outdoors podcast . Here is your host , Chris Tetrault .

Chris Tetrault

Welcome back everyone to the hometown hero outdoors podcast , season two . Today we have a awesome conversation that we're going to hold about police week . Police week is an annual event that is held out in Washington DC . May 15th is the annual National Law Enforcement Memorial Recognition Day that is hosted across the entire nation . But pretty cool event occurs out in Washington DC during this time It lasts for a week or more where all the law enforcement across the nation is able to descend on Washington DC to honor those who have served in law enforcement and those that have given their lives for everything . It's been pretty unique Thing that HHO got to engage in .

Chris Tetrault

We have not been out to police week since we have began the organization , so it was a pretty exciting time for us . It was also very humbling at the same time where we were able to spend the time out there , meet different individuals from not only in our own country but from other nations with that work in law enforcement as well . I know that we had some people from Maruba that we had met , believe , germany , sweden , just people from all over the place , and it was just an incredible experience . So today we actually have some of the individuals who were at police week with us . We have our event director from the board , andy Graf , who is also a police officer , sean Olesberg , who is our regional director on the board , and Bill Young from South Carolina , who is our state director down there , and all of these gentlemen were able to join us up at police week .

Chris Tetrault

We also had another individual there , dan Meyer , our president . He was there and my spouse , laura , got to come out and help us as well . So she's always been a huge supporter of HHO and things that we do , so I really appreciate her getting out there and helping us out . But we're going to go around the horn real quick and I'm just going to have everyone introduce themselves real quick for our listeners and who may or may have not heard these individuals met them before . I think this is Bill's first podcast with us , so but we'll start with Andy , then we'll hand it off to Shaun , then we'll go to Bill and we lost Andy , so we'll go to Shaun . Shaun , go ahead .

Shaun Olsberg

Hey , great and great to be here tonight . Shaun Olsberg , regional director for HHO . It was a attending police week was something very special for me and I can't wait for us to go into discussion .

Chris Tetrault

Awesome . Thanks for being here , Shaun . Thanks for all your help . Andy , do you want to introduce yourself ?

Andy Graff

So I'm Andy Graff . I'm the event director for HHO on the board . I'm a navy veteran and current law enforcement officer in the south metro of the Twin Cities here in Minnesota , so police week was really awesome for me . Obviously I come from a family law enforcement and it was way more than I ever could have thought . It weighed just so much more than I ever thought it would have been , so it was wonderful to be a part of that . Can't wait for next year .

Chris Tetrault

Bill go ahead .

Bill Young

Yeah , I'm Bill Young , state director for South Carolina . It was very humbling for me to be out there being a state director and be able to attend to something of that magnitude and , coming from a family of law enforcement , it really brought a lot of things home for me . I'm looking forward to next year .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , you and me both . It's already on my calendar . I already put a vacation in question , just trying to figure out what it is . But so at police week again , it's been established that there's National Law Enforcement Memorial Day is on May 15th every year . So through this time , over in DC for a week or more , there's a celebration for those who serve and those who have given everything for the country and those communities , and it's something that I've wanted to go to as a police officer myself since I started being an officer back in 2008 dating myself now and it's just something I never got to do and I was super excited about being able to include law enforcement into hometown hero outdoors . So it was something that's crossed our mind to go out there . It's just we never had the ability or afforded to actually get out there and spread our mission . But as we've grown into 26 states and we're trying to spread our mission further into the east coast , we thought that it was pretty vital for us to be able to get over to their police week .

Chris Tetrault

One of the things that we have encountered in hometown hero outdoors is you know , we have our , we started off with our military service members , veterans and law enforcement and you know law enforcement were pretty reclusive individuals where we don't stick our heads out very much and a lot of times we're pretty self-reserved and we're kind of worried about the things that are offered to us to see if there's a catch on the back end . And that's not the case with what we do as HHO . So when we go to different events and try to engage law enforcement , you know everyone's got a job to do and everyone's trying to keep the peace and sure everyone's safe . But with law enforcement though , it's been a it's been a struggle for us to expand on that world and get people to trust that there is no catch and it's okay to come to us and go engage with us and then also get some mental health support while you're out in the field and doing our outdoor activities . So police week was incredibly unique to get there and be able to have a lot of these individuals around us .

Chris Tetrault

We got to engage in something called tent city . I was completely unfamiliar with what tent city was until I spoke with Aaron Slater down at along this defender , and he informed me about what tent city was , and it was about a bunch of vendors that get together that are law enforcement supporting and get to sell products or spread their mission with different nonprofits , but what they do . So this year was a little bit of a different dynamic . They had some shift that occurred at tent city out in Washington DC from the previous years . From what I understand , that tent city is typically triple the amount or size that we were exposed to this year , and this year was greatly reduced , but it was still pretty crazy busy .

Chris Tetrault

But we're able to expand our mission and meet a lot of awesome individuals out there . The big thing was also just touching base the individuals and getting our merch out there , because , you know , one of the big things that helps ask questions for people about who we are and what we do is being able to get our logo and our information out there , and so it was awesome to have this team of individuals I have on the podcast with us today who have been dedicated to the HHO mission to be able to get there us be able to not only do some team building and communicate with each other from different parts of the country , but also be able to talk to police officers where everyone was able to let their hair down a little bit in their comfort zone and be able to speak with each other in a very candid space . That was , it was absolutely amazing . So does anyone have anything they want to add to that ?

Andy Graff

yeah , absolutely . Um , you hit the nail on the head . They're talking about law enforcement . Last couple years , you know , as you guys know have seen in the news , it really hasn't been cool to be a cop in public . So this event , which is catered directly to cops , you know , people were open and honest about being a cop and that was really awesome from our organization standpoint . Because if you go to a sporting show at a big city , you know , hey , you know , cop , a law enforcement they usually brush you off because , like , they don't want to talk to you , they don't want to flaunt that they're an officer , that they're , you know , doing this stuff , like this is their off time . So for us to to reach those guys and gals directly and for them to just be able to be openly okay with being a cop yeah , i'm a cop , worry a cop and talking with all , especially all the east coast agencies and people , but and like you touched on earlier just that the nationwide and worldwide presence . You know , canadians , um , aruba , i mean germany . So it was very neat experience and really awesome for our mission to grow and to get into that pool of people easily .

Andy Graff

Um , you know , these guys had their guard down and they're very open and honest with us , talking to us . We had officers sharing stories , showing us their phone . You know , hey , this is what i went through . Look at this craziness . And you know it's like well , hey , you know , come talk to us , come check out our mission . You know , we talked to some officers , um , that dealt with the riots and they're super close to home , who had never been on a trip . So , you know , going out to dc to meet them is , you know , that's cool thing , because they could feel comfortable enough to share that . Hey , i'm a cop , yeah , i've done that stuff . So it was just incredible , you know that's . It couldn't capitalize on that any way any better .

Chris Tetrault

So and andy , i think you and i have a very interesting experience because we've been in the military and law enforcement and , uh , we kind of understand both the worlds when it comes to what people engage in and experience in the military but also law enforcement , and we can also try to bridge that gap when it comes to ptsd or mental health issues on either side and how similar they can be . But it can be difficult for law enforcement because this is our backyard . When you deploy , i mean obviously military individuals can have mental health or create mental health issues from things that they experience stateside here , but a lot of it's due deployments and whatnot so , but a lot of what law enforcement experiences absolutely in their backyard , you know .

Chris Tetrault

So , going from zero to 100 and back down , up and down the spectrum . You know where you're . Either you're trying to deal with , maybe , a death notification of a loved one , or , um , trying to help a child who is no longer breathing at the moment and trying to resuscitate them and then having to go help , you know , at a nursing home with someone who lost a loved one , or it's just your spectrum goes up and down a lot and what that can create mentally , whereas in the military you know you're , when you're deployed you're at 100 quite a bit of the time and it's just something that you're you're used to . So us being able to experience that and understand both sides of that world is completely different . But we have individuals that are on the podcast . Now we'll start with Sean here and Sean Sean's retired military and his experience with being able to be at police week and what it means to him to be able to experience all the law enforcement , the camaraderie that occurred . Just , sean , what did that feel like for you ?

Shaun Olsberg

man , it was amazing .

Shaun Olsberg

So I flew in from Dallas to DC and that entire flight to DC was just full of folks that were attending police week .

Shaun Olsberg

So I started conversation back in Texas , sitting down in the terminal getting ready to go , met some really great people and then , once we flew into DC , i guess I wasn't really expected for what was to come next as we were deboarding the plane , there is , there was a surviving family on our plane and so as we got off the , the United States Border Patrol on our team was there to greet that family and to walk out of the plane and to walk through that honor , that honor guard , with all everybody's saluting . You know , i haven't seen anything like that since the military and it just kind of caught me off guard and , you know , got got , got you in the fields right away . So I guess I might not have really known what I was walking into . So , starting from that point , then I knew , then I , then I , i was there 100% and I knew why I was there you know , as we have a little bit of military reminiscence memories , oh yeah , for sure , 100% .

Shaun Olsberg

The way that the respect in how people carried themselves and I mean in the law enforcement side of the world , was just like the military . It was that brother and sisterhood . You can see it .

Law Enforcement Experience at Tent City

Shaun Olsberg

Andy mentioned law enforcement officers . The guard was down , And that is definitely something that I don't see often . I approach a lot of officers all over the place and the guard is always up . There's always that look like you know what's the catch .

Andy Graff

Exactly . It's too good to be true . Exactly , spot on .

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , so when we were there in place Tent City Tent City was a secure location with a bunch of vendors and live music and it was just a place where everybody could gather and just really let their guard down . It was a secure area , surrounded by everybody in . there was in law enforcement or associated with , And that just opened up and the barriers were knocked down and we were really able to communicate and not only , you know , spread our mission , but it was received , I think , much better than any other attempts I've had working in the law enforcement community .

Chris Tetrault

And there was people from everywhere you know and , as Sean was alluding to , when you know with Tent City and people out in the guard down . It was kind of cool because you'd bump into people that were from where we hailed , from people from home , and the connections that we were able to make and be able to tell people who we are and what we do but we're in there also in their backyard and also the people that wanted to step up and assist us in some way or implement us with their local agency was pretty sweet , but , yeah , it was pretty incredible experience overall . So , bill , also , you talked about being from a law enforcement family , but you're also a Marine back in the day And I mean , what did you feel when you got there and helped out with everything and experienced what you did ?

Bill Young

I almost feel like it was a blessing that I was even asked to go . You know , being it , it was police week . You know I come from a military or a military family , but also law enforcement . My mom's oldest brother , who little over a year ago passed away He served with right there in Maryland , howard County Sheriff's Department , retired from him twice . He went on to work for Homeland Security .

Bill Young

His son-in-law is not working for Howard County and , knowing how those guys are , even around family when we do family events , like you guys were saying , they even still then really don't let their guard down a whole lot . They're always watching what's going on , who's where , what's going on with anything To get there and see them guys just for lack of better terms completely let go and just be a normal human being . For a while you could see they were relaxed . They were just laid back and just comfortable with it And willing to talk , like Shaun was saying , willing to talk to us . You know , like me and Shaun being military background , we don't have law enforcement Willing to talk to us and open up to us . They didn't know me , i didn't know them , but we talked , i made connections with , like you were saying , in our own backyard right here in South Carolina , 30 minutes for me . Chester County Sheriff himself met with me there . I still got your coin .

Bill Young

Yeah , thanks , i will get that from you one day , but it was just like all of you said it's humbling and it was a blessing to be asked to go . I just I can't wait for next year . I plan it to be every year . We do it from here on out . I'll be there Totally .

Chris Tetrault

No , it was humbling . You know , we were pretty fortunate to be able to get a spot . Like I said before , as 10 city was changed this year , things came out pretty late when it came to what the plans looked like for 10 city . This year it ran for two days , which was previous to the law enforcement memorial day , so we actually arrived . Actually take it back a little further , andy and I left Minnesota here with my awesome conversion van , with our HHO trailer , and we rode in comfort , right , andy ?

Andy Graff

Absolutely . I wish we were able to really enjoy the whole aspect of that beautiful van , But no , we you know , it was very nice .

Chris Tetrault

I liked it . Hey , we talked each other's ear off the whole way , which made the trip go faster . So I mean , that's the only way to road trip is to be able to talk to people that you're close with . So we actually left here on May 11th , on Thursday , and we drove for 10 hours And we actually spent the night in Avery , ohio , which actually worked out great , because then we were within six hours at DC . And on Friday worked out even better . We left Avery and we ended up in DC And we literally pulled into the airport as Olsberg was landing And my wife was landing in DC , and we pulled into the airport and made a couple of I think , only two laps . Is that right , andy ? Is it just two ?

Andy Graff

Yeah , two laps . It was a busy airport But actually it was a little easier than I thought with that big trailer .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , i know I was a little worried . We were pulling this large trailer that was 10 foot tall 11 foot tall And I was worried that we're going to get stuck somewhere . But it worked out real well , made a couple laps , olsberg ended up meeting up with my wife and then met us out front , which worked out really good . But what was really cool , too , was when we got into DC there was signage about police week all over the place . We pulled into the airport , went to Reagan and they had welcome officers to police week 2023 . And there was law enforcement everywhere . There was a few coach buses with , as Sean mentioned earlier , with a survivor . They were there for the surviving families to be able to pick them up and escort them .

Chris Tetrault

So there's a couple different nonprofits out there that help arrange different things . There's the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund . They help with coordination , with several different things , but then there's also cops , which is concerns of police survivors , which help support the families of fallen law enforcement officers , and they bring these families out to DC during police week honoring those families and that officer . So really incredibly moving . I know , Shaun , you saw a bunch of convoys and different buses that were down there and honor guards and whatnot . Remember seeing all those .

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , absolutely . And what I thought was really , really special is that there are so many agencies , departments what have you that would send ? they sent their full honor team out And as one of the days we went down and we visit the National Law Enforcement Museum and right across the street is the memorial , and pretty amazing Just to see the different teams out there standing guard and taking their turn and showing respect for their fallen brothers and sisters . It was pretty moving , moving to the point where I went in there for a brief time and I had to step across the street . It was pretty amazing And I guess it just hit so hard . You don't realize the sacrifice that all these law enforcement officers give in . How many law enforcement officers have fallen in line of duty just for doing their job . And so this , yeah , police week pretty awesome .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , and there's a schedule . So anyone who might be interested , if you follow the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund , they actually have an app that you can follow about the schedule that happens on an annual basis . There's also , if you're a law enforcement officer , there's a closed Facebook group that you can join that you have to show your credentials with , but they have a lot of updates about places to stay , things to do and places to be throughout the week . And it was kind of a unique , too Relentless Defender actually had a scavenger hunt that they had hosted through an application that you downloaded on your phone which kind of gave you a list of different things to go check out while in DC . And it's pretty cool And they actually had us on their list to come visit And we had quite a few people come through and they had to scan a QR code within our booth over at 10 City in order to qualify for what they were doing with their scavenger hunt . But back to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund , they do have an app that you can download and it'll tell you all the events . And if you haven't been to DC , just the amount of nostalgia that's associated with it and the amount of history is incredibly humbling . We were only there for a handful of days and I can't wait to go back . There's just so much to see . You can't do it on the time frame you have , especially if you're busy working a booth or whatnot , But it was super cool to be able to be with individuals that support HHO and things that we do , and be able to spend this time with them , having Sean , andy , dan , bill all there And one of our friends from back home , barber Chris , down at Prohibition Barber , flew out and met up with us for a little while , hung out for a couple days and flew back home for his job .

Chris Tetrault

But it was super nice to be able to hang out with all these individuals and share this time and experience with them , and it's just one of those things that will always have a special place for me . But if you go to this app , though , you can see that they have a police community tour where a lot of officers will ride bikes into DC from a very far ways away I think 300 plus miles at times . Andy , we'll dig into this one

Experiencing the Candlight Vigil in DC

Chris Tetrault

. So on Saturday after we're working our booth our booth went pretty late , but we got to sneak away for a minute . We went to go experience the cantaloupe vigil . Do you want to talk about what that looked like ?

Andy Graff

Yeah , that was a recommendation from our friend at Relentless Defender . He said if you do anything this weekend , go to the cantaloupe vigil . So you , me and your wife , we went down there and found some other acts of Minnesota cops . We were standing here , but that's just . it's a big vigil that they list every officer that's been added to the wall , their names have been added to the wall and what's the wall .

Andy Graff

Andy , sorry , the wall . The wall is the wall of fallen officers out there in DC . That's at the law enforcement memorial It has . It's like a big horseshoe and there's so many , so many names on that list And you can get added to that list killed while in the line of duty . And some , some agencies were going back going through some records because I want to say the oldest one that was announced was like 1840s , very old . I think that was a Boston one , it was . It was crazy , yeah . So they were doing some keeping but basically the cutoff , from what I understand , was the end of December of the previous year . So there was a lot of officers who have been taken and especially in our area the Midwest , minnesota and Wisconsin that weren't there . But seeing all that , a good friend of mine he's a Alexandria police officer and his really good friend was Josh Owen , who was tragically killed in line of duty just before we went out there And I remember I was sending him snaps of the candlelight vigil and I said you have to come out here And he and he remember he was telling me right back he's like man , i wish I was there because that was so moving Watching all those people list those names very somber , but all the honor guards were there .

Andy Graff

The crowd was huge . I mean , it flooded that . What was that ? the National Mall , or where was that Chris ?

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , we're on the National Mall looking towards the Capitol , and the Washington Monument was behind us .

Andy Graff

Yes , and it was . I couldn't believe how many people were there and how many people were there supporting law enforcement in the United States . It really not only humbled me but kind of gave me like like a breath of fresh air Because you know , being here from Minnesota we've you know , policing here has been tough last couple of years and seeing the national level of support we have was pretty darn cool . I mean , i don't know , chris , if you felt the same , but it was unbelievable .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , totally , He said . A breath of fresh air , you know . And then not only that , but be able to talk to other individuals who have experienced the same struggles that we've experienced , when it comes to not only just the day to day job but also the political environment that things have been there . It was very comforting to be able to have people that are still engaged heavily in their profession and be incredibly passionate about it , considering everything that has been happening at the same time .

Andy Graff

Absolutely Yeah . So if anyone's ever curious about going to the candlelight vigil I mean probably the most thing I've ever done in my life that I had the highest thing I recommend seeing people there . And then at the end , when they lit the candles and moment of silence , we all raised them up . I know some people got some really good , really good photos of that And it truly shows the magnitude of the people there and the support that is given to those that were taken in a line of duty .

Chris Tetrault

You know , there's a lot of highlights I've had since we've been with HHO and started HHO . but looking back and looking at DC and everything , and there's three massive highlights for me . I mean , obviously the formation of what we do is huge with HHO and the people that was surrounding us , with everyone on this podcast and the things that we do . But different moments and the top three , in no specific order , is definitely the officer Matt's and King Eider hunt him harvesting his birds , seeing that . The candlelight vigil , for sure , and then the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that we got to visit . you know , since we do serve military service members and veterans , that we got to take a peek at the and go watch the Tomb of the Unknown And the change of the guard .

Andy Graff

Yeah , we got to see that . That that's another DC bucket list . But , as you mentioned earlier , i could spend a week there and be like I need another month . I mean , there's museums and you know sites and you know , even just seeing the White House , regardless of who's in it , you know that's our commander in chief from the military and , essentially , law enforcement , because he's the head of everything that brings down the laws and rules And he's in charge of the country which is in charge of pretty much everybody we serve . So even just seeing that , seeing the Pentagon , seeing all the monuments and the memorials , it's , it's so moving . I encourage any American to get out to DC and check that out .

Chris Tetrault

And I think that I've always had a an idea of what DC look like in my head . You know , before I got there , from seeing all the movies and the things that you see in photos , and to me , like when we got there and we walked around DC and saw different stuff , it was nothing what I thought it would look like in my head . I mean , you see these monuments and these ideas of things , but like you always paint a picture and I don't know about you , sean or or Bill , like what did does DC have that look in your mind that when you were there , that was it painted the same picture or is it different ?

Bill Young

Well , for me , I mean , I've got family that lives out there , So I've been out there off and on since I was a kid . But , like you said , the movies and the pictures you see and stuff it , it doesn't portray DC for what it actually is , You know . I mean , like y'all said , people got to get out there and actually see it and go and actually experience it for themselves And it's not something you can do in a weekend , You can do in a week . You got to do multiple trips . Like I said , I've been out there in multitude of times since I was little guy . I mean little guy seven , eight years old And there's still stuff I haven't seen out there . There's still some of the museums I didn't even know we're there , that I'm just now finding out about , you know , 40 years later .

Bill Young

So it's just , it's an ever changing environment . I mean , it's our national's capital . It's never going to stay the same . The monuments are going to be there . They're going to stay there . They're going to carry the same weight as they always have . You know , like for me and Sean , the big thing with us is our military monuments and stuff out there . And you got to the police officers and stuff that stuff . It's going to carry the same weight . It doesn't matter how often you go or how often you don't go . It's going to carry the same weight whether it's today or 40 years from now , But it's a constant changing environment . So the pictures that people get in their head and they see on TV , they need to go and actually see it for themselves . Don't listen to somebody else , Make your own judgment call , and go and see it .

Chris Tetrault

No , totally agree , Sean . what do you think ? Did you have the same perception of what you thought it would look like in your head versus what you saw ?

Shaun Olsberg

I'll go back to flying in . but you know you're flying in the Reagan and you look out the window in the Washington monuments right there Like wow , you're really in it .

Chris Tetrault

In the Pentagon I was saying Yeah , you know , and you're there .

Shaun Olsberg

You've seen it in a million movies and on the news . Yeah , it was exactly how I thought it would be Really all those buildings being in real life and being able to get there and touch them and see it firsthand . My daughter left for a DC trip two weeks after I went there , so I was still hopped up on it and I wanted it . So we were sharing pictures back and forth and texting back and forth , but walking the streets with all those law enforcement officers , you know that's what's special . I'm sure the streets are a little different at this time of year , you know , but walking up and down the streets with everywhere you look , it was somebody to do with the blue , and so that was a real special time to go .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , pretty awesome . I mean , like you said , you know , everywhere you look , someone had a badge hanging out somewhere or carrying their pistol , or set up big pipes or a kilt . You know it's super traditional , like awesome things that you don't get to experience elsewhere . There's a lot of traditional things that happens when you're out there too . They do a lot of big pipe competitions , they do a parade , you know , and one of the more important things that happens every year during Memorial Day for law enforcement is the actual standing of the guard .

Chris Tetrault

On May 15th , you know , officers will take a stand watch at the Memorial for 10 minutes intervals to honor , remember law enforcement officers that made the ultimate sacrifice , and they will switch out after those 10 minutes with another honor guard . And so those honor guards are individuals from their own PD who had lost someone either this year or years past , and some of them have never met any of them either . You know . So it's a pretty humbling time , but May 15th is the day , but there's still activities and different events that occur after the 15th , but a lot of them are leading up to the 15th . But I know , andy , i saw that you had something you wanted to add .

Andy Graff

I'm going to go off what Sean said . just walking around and seeing all the people , whether they're in uniform , you know , bagpipes wearing blue line gear , that is something I know you wouldn't see pretty much on any big city street . So it was like fun , like I don't know . This is a weird thing . you know I'm a cop . I feel pretty safe every day of my day to day life , but I've never felt more safe in a big city during that week .

Chris Tetrault

You know we're walking around In a foreign , unknown city at the hat .

Andy Graff

Yes , completely . you know , and it's like , of course you know every big city has its , you know perks and you know it's negatives , but it just felt like it was really cool . I don't want to say DC opened their arms , the cops , but it was pretty well , well received . Like you said , the Reagan Airport had a big sign welcome cops . It's like you don't see that anymore . So I don't know , like , like Sean like is just seeing all that is just everywhere you look . It was pretty cool Yeah .

Chris Tetrault

And just being able to bond and hang out with you guys and be able to watch everyone work the booth and talk to people . You know it was actually a pretty cool setup at 10 city . There was a . How many vendors were there this year ? 30 to 50 , is that what it was ?

Andy Graff

Yeah , somewhere in there It wasn't . Wasn't a ton , Like they said , three to 400 years past ?

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , you know they had a . They had a big beer garden in the middle for you know later in the evening , but it was pretty cool Cause we had a nice 10 by 20 booth . You know we just got some new swag that we bought from relentless , relentless defender for police week specifically , and some of our old stuff , and it worked out great . You know , we had Mr Sean Oldsburg out there sniping people walking by , pushing them in our booth Have you ever heard of us ? and handed up brochures and then just sharing our mission and then a handful of us in the booth just expanding on who we are and what we do . Andy was in the booth , bill was , i was , and we just had a little system that worked out real well . We were able to talk to people and hand each other off .

Andy Graff

Yeah , that was . I think it was Bill that said right when it opened that first day And he goes Oh the , the hoard is coming like a zombie hoard And I was like what you know ? it was literally like a tidal wave of people . We went from zero to 13 people on our booth in about four seconds and Sean was out there cycling them in and out as quick as they could . But uh , i mean , it was . It was awesome .

Police Week Experience and Coin Trading

Andy Graff

We were shoulder to shoulder in our booth there for a couple of hours . It was pretty crazy .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , it didn't stop until the rain came , exactly You know , i think I don't know . I was like , well , was everyone here because the rain was coming , or is this normal ? I don't , i don't know .

Bill Young

I don't think it really stopped and let up , even after the rain quit . I mean it was just . That is kept going , kept going . I mean it was like nonstop . I mean I've never experienced you know , sean , he's taught me a lot with booth work and stuff , but I've never experienced that kind of foot traffic in a booth . It was like We're going to be wore out by the end of the day . We ain't going to have nothing left .

Chris Tetrault

Oh , we were wore out .

Andy Graff

We were Very , my feet were hurting .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , 13 hours in haydudes , That was stupid .

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , but with that , by being there and us being able to share our mission , i got one little story from one one lady that I met . They hadn't heard from our about our mission at all before . They were from Florida . Her friend was a FBI agent And she was previously . She's the widow of a fallen law enforcement officer who unfortunately committed suicide , and she , through our short conversation , we were able to build enough rapport and trust with each other that she admitted to me that she had attempted suicide , and so her friend , the FBI agent , was there and encouraging her to come and talk with me , and so we sat down . We talked for about 10 minutes And that was pretty special to see people accepting our mission and , right on the spot , right there , making a difference in somebody's life .

Chris Tetrault

So I mean , i had a handful of officers that shared that they had been through a lot of mental health issues and things that they've been through in a couple attempts And they were able to see our mental health shirts that we had there about your story isn't over , and a big catchphrase we like to use is you know , it's OK to not be OK , just don't stay there . And we have these shirts that were there And officers were coming in and swiping them up because it spoke to them based on everything they've been through , and it was really eye-opening just to be able to hear these different stories and experiences and the things that we've experienced as a team in the HHO , but also what these officers are going through , and the vulnerability that was exposed and shared with us was amazing , because it's not something that we get when we're at other events or on trips for the most part even But there was just it was there .

Andy Graff

Oh for sure . And another thing that we haven't even mentioned yet was the patch and coin trading . Now , that was a huge aspect of this event . One of my sergeants is a coin and patch nerd , to put it nicely . Yeah , you still got a coin . There you go . But I mean , honestly , i did not expect that . I only brought a handful of patches to trade And I wish I had had 30 , because I would have got rid of all of them . I wish I had 100 .

Chris Tetrault

That was fun , fun aspect to have a two You know we all brought well , Andy and I brought some agency stuff , but not a whole lot . Don't have a whole lot , but we just wanted to see how things went . If individuals , we put a basket out and said , you know , donate a patch , take a patch , and we had these small little PVC HHO patches and stickers And some other just give me's that we would give out , and we wanted to see how we didn't . Actually It went a lot better than you thought . We ended up coming back with over 130 patches from across the country and even other countries , and it was pretty awesome just to be able to see all this , and we plan to build a patch wall that gets to go back every year , which is even more exciting .

Chris Tetrault

But I know we had a handful of HHO coins that we were able to hand out , which was also pretty awesome , because I know all of us got a lot of pretty awesome coins . I know Bill held one up there a little bit ago , but just some of the ones I have here was I got Fresno Sheriff's Office , deputy Sheriff and Cali , and then Chicago Police . I have Illinois State Troopers . I believe I met their union presidents And he handed me a coin , which is pretty awesome . Los Angeles PD from their training division , which is pretty fantastic , and then also Secret Service . I think all of us got to talk to some different Secret Service agents , uniformed and non-uniformed , while we're out there , so I got a pretty awesome coin . It was kind of funny because we're all trying to one up each other for our Secret Service coins while we're there and just the uniqueness .

Andy Graff

Oh yeah , You're all like look what I got , Look what I got .

Chris Tetrault

That was fun too . I mean , who was the one who had the Secret Service coin that had it ? It looked like a shell casing .

Andy Graff

Yeah , the bullet punch . That was me And that was the coolest little thing . We were just chatting And she was buying a shirt And she flipped open her wallet And there was a Secret Service badge And I was like , hey , do you want to trade coins ? And she's like , oh yeah , and she hands me that . And she was telling me she was the Uniform Division Secret Service . She rides in a patrol car every day , which , i'll be honest , i didn't know they did that . I thought Secret Service was the suit and ties chasing presidents and delegates all over the place .

Andy Graff

But , no , she was a uniform . She looked like me , dressed like me as a cop , but didn't expect it , And that was one of the coolest coins I got . And that was my coolest coin , I'd say . I know Sean got a really cool coin too . Was that Secret Service Or what was that one ?

Shaun Olsberg

Well , I got one from a gentleman from the FBI National Academy , the Texas chapter .

Andy Graff

Oh , that's what it was . Yeah , that's cool .

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , that was pretty cool . I didn't even know there was a FBI Academy in Texas , so that's pretty special .

Chris Tetrault

And he stood and listened to you for a while . I watched him and I watched you And I'm like man , this guy's digging in deep with his mind right now . I wonder who he is . Then you got that coin . I was like , all right , it all makes sense . This guy's analyzing every word coming out of your mouth right now .

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , he could tell me if I was full of shit or not , that's for sure .

Chris Tetrault

He wouldn't have gave you a coin if you were full of shit . That's for sure , i tell you that one Pretty cool .

Chris Tetrault

Sean got a Secret Service coin . I got another one too . I had a Centennial coin for their 100-year celebration . That was in 2022 . That was pretty cool . It was actually a husband and wife and they were super awesome . They obviously don't share with who they are right away , i think everyone I think the Secret Service is a bit more reserved with letting their Secret Service begin with , but everyone else is pretty open about who they are and what they did , but I'm sure the Secret Service is just completely pounded with questions constantly .

Andy Graff

Oh , yeah , for sure , and even some of the FBI guys . I mean , obviously some people don't like those three-letter agencies But it's fun because they're law enforcement too . So they were out there but they weren't flunting And I'd say near as much as the typical deputy or small town agency guy or even the big ones . It was kind of fun to see the groups of a group of Chicago would come by And you'd get that . One group was that from Phoenix that came and stopped by us .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah .

Andy Graff

Phoenix And there was the one also was at Grand Rapids , Michigan . They're just a group of them And I'm like how fun would that trip be ? A bunch of coworkers going on a trip to come down to DC during police week , That'd be pretty awesome .

Chris Tetrault

A lot of people from Joisy Had a lot of those In Texas .

Shaun Olsberg

But you don't know where I live . I live in a pretty small town , ok , but one stoplight . But I'm over in Washington DC at police week And these officers come up and they're actually a captain from the town next to me . I've never even met him 20 miles away . I met so many local Texas law enforcement officers that now I've been in touch with back and forth for two months , and so it's a month already .

Andy Graff

That's so awesome , yeah , so awesome .

Chris Tetrault

I got coined by someone in Woodbury PD , which is in my own jurisdiction for where I work , a city that I help cover , and they're literally like three miles , four miles south of where I live And never met him . But I got a coin from Woodbury PD while in DC Not in Woodbury but in DC . That's kind of a small wave , yeah , that's funny , good stuff , that's the joys of it .

Andy Graff

Someone's like oh hey , i think it was Apple Valley PD . It was Apple Valley And I'm like , well , i'm right next door Chatting , catching up , and then a guy I went to high school with came out and met me . I probably haven't seen him since I graduated high school , since he graduated in 2006, . He's an Iowa State trooper . We've always talked about exchanging patches And I just happened to see his Facebook one morning . He was out there . I was like dude , are you here , come visit ? So he came to my booth , we talked and we exchanged . He gave me a patch And I gave him a patch And we'd trade coins And it was just pretty cool because it's like Iowa State Patrol I'm meeting out in DC , but we'd come from the same small town here in Minnesota And it's just stuff like that . Like Sean said , like you go all the DC to meet someone from you Same with you . How cool is that ? How cool are these stories and these experiences we got to see ?

Chris Tetrault

Oh , super cool . You got a little choppy there , Andy , but that's OK . We figured out what you were trying to say there , So no , pretty unique . So , Bill , do you got any of you if you were to reflect on your time there , besides getting to meet us awesome people I'm just joking What other awesome things ? What was your number one thing that you think you picked for that time ?

Bill Young

Man . It's hard because , like Sean said earlier , there's so many similarities between law enforcement side and military side . I think the best that I can take away from it for me was it gave me an understanding , a better understanding , not an understanding in general , but a better understanding of the mindset on the law enforcement side of it . When you guys are out in the field and what you do and what you see and what you go through . Like you said earlier , chris , you know the ups and the downs . Ups and downs . One minute , your zero mile an hour . The next minute you're wide open And it doesn't matter what the situation is . It gave me a better idea of maybe when I'm talking to police officers around here where I'm at , i can approach it differently now . Yeah , i can put the mission out there , but I can approach it with a little bit of a better

Police Week

Bill Young

understanding . I've been in an environment now where I can bring that to the table like , hey look , i've been to police week , come out . You can come to police week , come check it out . You can let go , you can relax , you can be around your own people , and I think that's to me and being humbled as much as I was If my wife was in here , she would be able to tell you that the experience for me . I still , to this day , i talk about it with friends and family . I still talk about it .

Bill Young

Now , i wasn't just meeting you guys , which that was great . I had a great time with you guys , i really did , and I learned a lot , but at the same time , it humbled me to a point that I don't know how to explain it . It's just it . I have no words for it . Basically , it's just . It's just . It is what it is And I enjoy it every minute of it . Like so that my biggest takeaway was just being able to see them guys . See you guys . Let your hair down for lack of some of us having hair , true , it's you know and be free and talk and not have to worry about somebody behind you . Be yourselves .

Bill Young

Yeah , be yourself that you can't be normally because you got to be on guard all the time .

Andy Graff

Yeah , that's a really good way to put it putting your hair down like that , just , you know , to loosen the collar and just kind of just hang out . I like that .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , and I really appreciate you coming . We we originally planned DC with police week for mostly bored individuals And then we got about two weeks out and realized we needed some additional help . We knew that it was going to be busy , but we didn't know how busy . So we put out a little call for individuals within HHO to help out and build stuff up the plate . Being in South Carolina , how far is your drive from there ?

Bill Young

Not including the traffic . It was about eight and a half hours .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , so it's still a poke , you know . It's half the distance that we had , so it was nothing to scoff at , but it was very helpful to have Bill available , one of the things that I thought was really cool too for us . None of us except for Sean had met Bill in person , and Bill , being a state director , he's being led by board members that he's never really met , for the most part , except for Sean . So it was really cool to be able to establish a relationship with Bill and understand how everyone thinks and him get to hear . You know our vision and our thoughts and the depth and complexities of what our minds do for HHO , so I'm sure that had a lot of eye opening stuff for you as well .

Bill Young

Well , yeah , and a lot of that too . What you know , a lot of our communication has been via Facebook , messenger or emails , actually able to be put a face to it and see body language when it's being said . That adds a lot to when somebody's trying to explain something to you or give you guidance on which way to go with something that body language and people think , oh , body language doesn't make , doesn't , doesn't say a whole lot . Body language speaks a lot And then , unfortunately , you guys know that it speaks a lot . You look at body language all the time .

Chris Tetrault

Amen . So I mean absolutely .

Andy Graff

Bill , Bill , would you say , like myself and Chris were there and Dan , are we more approachable now that you've been able to interact with us and rub elbows ? Do you feel more comfortable chatting with us about things ?

Bill Young

Oh , for sure , For sure . I mean I felt comfortable with talking to you guys before , like just now , that I guess it's a different kind of relationship we've had because we've done an event together . We were able to cut loose and dig at each other a little bit and poke fun here and there and have a couple of drinks .

Bill Young

Yeah And had a good time with it . I guess it kind of opened up that relaxed kind of communication thing . You know , just like here recently I sent you guys and not an event request , whatever the case may be . It was quick , it was simple , it was painless . There was a couple of questions . You guys asked it . I answered it . It was done before . I'd have been like questioning you guys four billion times . Sean can attest to that . I blow his phone up all the time , but that's what he's there for .

Chris Tetrault

I'm glad to hear it , though . No , i totally agree . It was nice to be able to shake a hand , understand who you are and be able to not only get to know you as a person and a human , but you know where you've been , what you've done , then also be able to share our passion with you . And then our biggest thing is , when we meet up with people who are in the field , outside of where we live , is to hand off a little bit of what we know for knowledge and experience of what we do with HHO , and I feel like we did that .

Bill Young

For sure . I definitely agree , and I guess the one thing I can say for you as far as board members meet your state directors face to face once in a while , maybe bring them up for an event here or an event there or something , so you can do the same thing with the rest of them as well , because for me it was astronomical what it did for me .

Chris Tetrault

Can't replace that at all .

Andy Graff

So for sure .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , totally Sean . what was your number one thing or takeaway from , please week ?

Shaun Olsberg

Who number one thing camaraderie to see all those people from all different areas of the United States and and or other countries come together in one spot with one common reason and that was to mourn and or celebrate the lives of those that pay the ultimate sacrifice to protect us on a just going to the work . camaraderie is something in the military side That's , that's a given , you know , something you see every day . But in the law enforcement side , i guess I just figured with how different size departments are and and it's usually go to work and just go home . I didn't know that it was , that that bond was there , but it was super strong in to see it in a environment like that , in that setting and our nation's capital on National Police Week , that that will stick in my mind forever .

Chris Tetrault

And you get to experience it time and time again . Man , that's something that's not going to end . Yeah Well , thank you for sharing .

Healing and Support for Law Enforcement

Chris Tetrault

Andy , andy graph , what do you think ? What was your number one ?

Andy Graff

Man , i don't even know if I could put it properly to words , but just the love and support for law enforcement that I didn't really know existed . And getting to see that and getting to spread our word and talking to widows and talking to buddies that lost you know , buddies , i just I'll take that with me forever . Like you said , i'm going as long as I can , as long as we do it , because and I'm telling everybody to go I came back told my whole department if you haven't gone or thought of going , you need to . You know , and it's tough . You know half of my friends work . You know it's like I work half the year , my other friends work half the year . We all can't go .

Andy Graff

I'd love that , but you know it would . I'd love to get some guys together , you know , even not HHO related , but just get some guys for that I know to come down and go to all these events . They do so many things and just seeing all that support really ignited that fire back in me for supporting my community and my brothers and sisters across the nation . So something I'll never forget and I can't wait to do it again .

Chris Tetrault

Totally No . It was great to be able to spend the time with you and get to know you better , and you know we've known each other since the inception of HHO . But being able to spend that time with you to go out there was been pretty awesome .

Andy Graff

Yeah , that first half of the trip on when we left , that first like 16 hours or whatever it was , the 12 hours it was went by like a breeze . We just just chat .

Chris Tetrault

It's like a two minute drive .

Shaun Olsberg

You know , in to wrap it up , just to see the impact that we made just in that , in those couple of days , you know , as you guys were driving home , going through Pennsylvania , something happened .

Andy Graff

Talking about the person that saw our trailer . Yeah , picture . Yeah , that was . how cool is that ? she's wearing our shirt that she bought at her booth . She spots our big trailer , says God is great to meet you guys , drive safe . Like , how cool is that getting that national recognition , you know ?

Shaun Olsberg

that's right .

Andy Graff

Yeah .

Chris Tetrault

Yeah , you know something that's even more cool on top . I mean that's still , that's super cool . But we just got an email into our info email with one of the police officers who has actually took a photo of him in our HHO swag that he bought at police week while he was in Ireland And he said it to us . So I mean now it's going out of the country . On top of that . Very cool , Super cool . It's just nice to see that people are respecting who we are and what we do . And it's just another . It just helps substantiate what we're doing , you know , and yeah , so anybody listening ?

Shaun Olsberg

Hey , It's okay , reach out to us , you know right for sure .

Chris Tetrault

So my number one thing There's actually two moments , so I'm gonna kind of cheat a minute . One moment was a moment that we were standing in our tent that night and we had a young lady and a young man walk into our booth and I noticed the young lady was wearing a lanyard around her neck with a giant identification piece that that Stated that she was the spouse of a fallen officer and she had her son there with him . And it was later in the evening on Sunday evening . And It took me a second because I haven't been exposed to police week and fully understood who these individuals were . With these lanyards and As we went throughout the weekend and I read them as they went by , you could see that they were either escort family or the actual survivor of the individual that was taken from them or us . And I saw this lanyard and I saw her identification and I got closer and I realized that she was the spouse of a officer who was killed in light of duty and The emotion that pours over you .

Chris Tetrault

And one thing that I'm gonna be a little bit candid here with myself is that you know I've lost a lot of partners And I struggle with their loss and I have a hard time grieving their loss and it's something that I still have issues with to this day and obviously my outdoor experiences or something that helped me significantly and just everything I've been through in the military and my law enforcement I'm getting worse at grieving and to have that individual stand in front of me and I'll never forget the look on her face and her son's face , when I realized who they were and what they've been through , and I just shared some tears and Told him sorry for your loss , and it was a moment and something that I'll never forget . And I asked the , the , the son , are you looking to get something ? What do you want to do here ? and She was he really wants a sweatshirt , he's kind of cold . So I was in a buy of one and so what size are you ? and I walked over and grabbed him one , gave it to him and gave Hug and said it's all yours . You know we didn't sell it , you know it's just . It was just a moment that I'll never forget because she said thank you . And one thing that I hope that she truly Does is I told her about the youth hunt that Sean and his team hosts down in Texas and I Pushed them really hard to try to at least come and experience this youth hunt as a mom and a son and Hopefully in spirit with a father you know to be able to Engage in what we do down there and separate you know reality with some time in the woods with us , and I really hope that they can reach out and do that . But that's something that'll stick with me .

Chris Tetrault

But the one word that I would I would Wrap it all up with is the word healing , and everyone's had some good comments on what they've experienced . But my word for me is healing . You know , i think that's a place that holds when it comes to DC . No , there's , there's , it's just , it's just .

Chris Tetrault

There's a special place and people's heart in our country and our history that we've been through and being able to be there and watch everyone walk through the process of grieving and Accepting what has happened but also being upset about what's happened . But it's closure with healing and I think that's the biggest thing that sticks with me is that whole process is a lot of healing happen , especially with the candlelight vigil and the wreath laying and the standing of the guard . And Just looking back at my career and everything I've been through too . I think it helped a lot too . I was able to visit three of my close friends that are on the walls there and It was nice being able to see that and felt it felt Sad at the same time , but happy to see their names and know that they've sacrificed and it's not gone to waste . You know They're still here , so Yeah , that's a good , good word .

Andy Graff

Healing is a really good word . That's a deep thought , chris , for sure .

Chris Tetrault

Amen well said thank you Well , i appreciate y'all for coming on tonight for the podcast , just so our listeners know . So please speak . 2024 That will happen May 12th through May 18th out in DC , dc , with May 15th for the law enforcement Memorial Day . 10 city will be determined between now and then . We'll do another podcast before we lead up to 10 city , just to let people know what will be .

Chris Tetrault

But I Highly encourage all our listeners , whether you're law enforcement or not , have family and law enforcement . If you're curious , please send people out there to support what our officers go through and what their families have experienced . Help , stand them up , be behind them . If you don't donate to us , necessarily donate to these guys too . I mean , there's so many good organizations out there between the , the National Law Enforcement Memorial Association and cops and No relentless defender has a foundation that is phenomenal for supporting law enforcement . But at least go and experience it and tell the stories of the officers that are there and spread the word , because About that thin blue line , this country is gonna have a hard time . Any closing comments from any of my colleagues tonight ?

Andy Graff

Well , thanks for chatting guys . It was like I said , it is a Lifetime memory . I'll never , ever forget how wonderful it was and get to meet you , bill , and hang with you , sean and Chris and Dan and your wife , chris . I just I'll never forget it . So thanks for Let me take along that was . That was pretty darn special .

Chris Tetrault

No thanks needed , my friend Shaun or bill . You have any closing comments or ?

Shaun Olsberg

Yeah , i just wanted to mention Aaron . You know Aaron Slater and relentless defender , one more time for the dedication that he has to the law enforcement community . He's , he's helped us out and he supports he's the law enforcement Memorial Fund in the museum and Through him We've been able to meet a lot other individuals and organizations in the law enforcement community , especially down here in Texas . I've been blessed to be able to go to his foundation and in visit with with other people and in connect with law enforcement agents throughout the state . So , aaron Slater with relentless defender , if you don't , if you don't know , you need to know and They make phenomenal gear .

Andy Graff

Yeah , amen to that . He is such a great guy , so good for us , so so good for so many people . So , yeah , definitely a special thanks to him .

Chris Tetrault

If you're from Minnesota to , i would say the likelihood is good that he'll be at our banquet this next March in Minnesota Still water , minnesota as well . So if you're from the Minnesota or surrounding areas and plan to attend our banquet , you'll likely get a chance to meet Aaron at our banquet this next year and Hands down one of the best people I've ever met my life . So , bill , any last thoughts or closing comments ?

Bill Young

You know it's hard to follow you up , chris , what you had to say it really is , because you you pretty much hit every nail Right on the head with everything you said there . At the end , i'll be there every year . You guys , let me attend . I will be there every year .

Chris Tetrault

I Appreciate that and thanks for your work down there . I'm glad we got to meet , you know , get to know each other and Looking forward to the future and things that we can do down there . I know that you probably have some people that will be joining staff and time that you met down there , or perspective partners to the north or south , so that's also an awesome venture that we'll get to expand in North Carolina or surrounding states . Yeah Well , with that everyone , thank you for tuning into the podcast and again , please reach out if you have questions about police week or check out the National Law Enforcement Memorial Association , the Memorial Fund or COPS relentless Fender Foundation . But Anytime you want to talk about police week or want to come see us , we encourage you to do it .

Chris Tetrault

We have a special edition law enforcement stuff will be selling there every year , just HHO oriented . The support is where it's at , everything that we can do for our law enforcement . So Again , thank you for listening and this will conclude this episode . As Dan Meyer would say , we will see you out on the water or in the woods . Thank you .

Narrator - Phil Ewert

Thank you for listening to the hometown hero outdoors podcast . For more information , visit our website at www . hometownherooutdoors . org .