Born to Die, Trained to Win: The LAPD Officer Who Refused Comfort

A hidden birth, a one-way flight to LAX, and a badge that taught him how fast life can vanish. Alex—host of Purpose Over Pleasure and former LAPD and Santa Monica officer—opens up about being adopted in Uzbekistan, nearly dying as an infant, discovering the truth at 13, and why that shock wired him to choose purpose over comfort. We walk through the realities of big-city policing: academy highs and lows, how debriefs build better tactics, what dispatch and air support get right, and the quiet ways standards slipped after 2020—even as the job got harder.

Alex breaks down the moments that shape a cop’s judgment: pulling a gun when you see the bulge but keeping your voice calm; spotting a quality witness on a chaotic murder scene; flipping to a TAC channel while your partner calls positions; and knowing when the spirit of the law beats writing another citation. His rule is simple: heal first, then train relentlessly. Mindset before muzzle. Fitness, diet, dry fire, grappling, and sleep are not extras—they’re survival tools. He’s blunt about leadership too: managers count forms, leaders carry people. The best bosses protect their teams in public and fix problems in private.

We zoom out to faith, fatherhood, and entrepreneurship. Why did he leave LAPD? Pay, politics, and the choice to bet on himself. How did a former felon become his business partner? Shared survival mindset and accountability. From patrol cars to boardrooms, the code doesn’t change: control your ego, speak clearly, set standards, and do the work daily. Be a good cop, not a perfect one. If you care about law enforcement, mindset, masculinity, or building a life on your own terms, this conversation hits hard and stays useful long after the credits roll.

If this episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and drop a review—then tell us the one mindset shift you’re committing to this week.

Transcript

Origins, Adoption, And Identity

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome back to our channels, Warriors. We are still growing today. Another banger for you guys. We have none other than the host of Purpose Over Pleasure Podcast, Alex, a former LAPD and Santa Monica police officer, turned entrepreneur, serial entrepreneur, and multiple business owner. What up, dude? Hector Bravo on him. Chaos is now in session. Hey man, good to be here, brother. Thank you for coming down, bro. Was there any traffic?

SPEAKER_04 0:35

Honestly, not really. Not really. I got here early, like I was telling you. I was like an engineer, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

I'm excited about this one, bro, because I want to dive deep into your mindset. Bro, I know you're huge on that.

SPEAKER_04 0:45

Yeah, oh, yeah, you know, you already know.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

You're 36.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

What year were you born?

SPEAKER_04 0:51

89.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

1989.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Like the tail end of the 80s, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Had the Super Nintendo been out, or it was the Nintendo, what did you grow up playing?

SPEAKER_04 0:59

Honestly, I'm an immigrant, bro. So I didn't, I didn't get I didn't get to touch my first like Nintendo until like maybe late 1990s. Well, we're a little behind in in Russia, bro. We didn't have all the technology that America had here.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

There we go, bro. Russia. Yeah. What is your, and I don't know if I'm using the correct terminology, race, ethnicity? What is that?

SPEAKER_04 1:22

So I was born, so I'm a mixed blood, right? I was born in a uh country called Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

So it's dirty professional boxers from there?

SPEAKER_04 1:30

Yeah. But now nowadays, yeah. Nowadays, yeah. Uh that Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the whole region is now blew up in the last decade. But I'm part Uzbek and part Russian, and then I'm basically a mud, dude. I'm a dirty mix, but uh I got some Mongolian gangstum blood in me. I see it, bro. I see it.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

I'm watching the more you're telling me, the more I'm starting to see it.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

Yeah, so it's a big, it's a former Soviet Union Republic, so it's a mixed culture, but a beautiful country, 2,500 years of history, good people, good food, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

2500 years of history. Okay, now now I would like to know what side was your father, your mother, like where did the So technically, if you really want to dive into this, the bloodline.

SPEAKER_04 2:09

Yeah, the blood into the bloodline, which is a whole different story of me becoming who I am. I was adopted. I was given away by my biological parents. I was I was not wanted, man. I was a hidden baby. I grew up, I was born sick, barely nearly died a couple of times, was in coma. Um, yeah, it was a pretty, pretty, and as a teenager I found I was adopted, which was a disaster, and I lived with that secret for 20 years until I finally healed from it. It's a whole different story. But what happened is my biological father is my uncle. Wait, we're gonna have to take the slogan. It is, bro.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

It is about to get aware. Your biological father is my uncle.

Childhood In Uzbekistan And Coming To America

SPEAKER_04 2:47

My mother's brother. So my mother's Is that incest? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. So let me break it down to you, bro. This is funny. My biological father had me, I was like a one-night stand type of deal, right? I was I was an accident. And because I was an accident, like nobody really wanted me. My biological mother was hiding me until like the last minute. And so I was born a sick little tiny baby. And then so my grandmother at the time brought me to my mother, my adoptive mother, and she's like, Hey, like, well, he's born now. Let's try to figure out who we can pawn him off to, right? Can you just take care of him? Because you know, have kids. Can you just take care of him meantime? Because she can't. So they were taking care of me while trying to figure out what to do with me. By then, my my parents, my adoptive parents, already had two uh kids, my my my stepbrother, my stepsister. So some time passed by and they're like, they're about to, I guess, you know, sell me to some other family of a cop and his wife, you know, it's a funny story. And by then, my my dad's like, fuck no, like we already I love this little baby, like we're keeping him. Yeah, so they kept me, they officially adopted me and uh raised me. And I didn't know until I was like 13 years old, bro. It was random because I was like getting ready to come to America by then, like fast forward, right? I'm getting all my documents ready. I had to go collect my birth certificate, and I remember they put it on the envelope. I was like, why the F did I put it on the envelope? What's so secret about it? I remember seeing it at home, like I'm 13, bro. I'm thinking my parents are my parents, my siblings and my siblings, right? So I popped that envelope open and I just see like just said straight up, like, you know, there's a biological parents, and this is a dubbed out of parents, and that shit like was the biggest traumatizing event of my life at the time. And then I kept it a secret until this year or last year, yeah, this year. For 20 plus years, I kept it a secret. Uh, and I was like ashamed to admit it, ashamed to accept it, ashamed to admit it, ashamed to admit to my mom that I do know about it, and yeah, man, and through like healing and and and you know, just talking and therapy, I was able to find like sit down and have a conversation with her, and uh that is huge, bro.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

That is major because like me growing up, I had a kind of a weird thing of like, what if I find out one day that I'm adopted? Right? It's almost like children fear that fucking thought of some sort, right? But you actually read it and you saw it, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And you and it's trauma. It is trauma. And you and I both know about trauma and the effects that it has. Like, did you what were some feelings? Were they like shame, like fraud? Were you feeling fraudulent? I wasn't feeling fraudulent, I was feeling like I didn't belong.

SPEAKER_04 5:36

Betrayed?

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Was there any betrayal feelings?

SPEAKER_04 5:38

No, not at all. See, the the the the thing I gotta admit is that nobody in my family ever made me feel like I don't belong. Well, that's a good thing, bro. Ever, besides my grandma. And here's a funny story. My grandma was oh, it was a hell of a lady, man. Um, towards the end of her life, she got like diabetes, glaucoma, and she was just a she was just a just a crazy lady. I I love her, right? And when she would get mad at me, she'd always say, like, you're adoptive, you're adoptive, like you before I found out. It's like verbal abuse. You don't belong to this family, you're adoptive. We like found you, somebody brought you in, we took you in. And that's before I found out I was adopted. So I was like, man, she's crazy. And everybody found me, she's crazy. Don't, don't, don't, don't listen to her. She's just a crazy old lady, right? So when I found out, it clicked. I was like, wow, that made sense. She is actually telling the truth. And that's verbal abuse, bro. Yeah, but it's so good that that lady was gangster, man. You know, I had not too.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

I think all grandmothers are a little tripped up back then, too. I think they were fucking raised different, bro.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

She she was gangster. Like, don't make it like that no more. She raised a whole generation of families.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Was she into religion by any chance?

SPEAKER_04 6:40

She was, but it's like that old school, like you know, like old school Mexican, like abolita type of like religion, and she was like old school, like Russian Orthodox Christian. And uh was she religious?

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Yeah, but okay, here's Russia. I'm looking at Russia on a map. Where were you located? Where like where did you grow up? So to the left, to the side.

SPEAKER_04 6:58

So Pekistan is at right below it. So that's Russia, Kazakhstan, or Bekistan. Underneath it. Yeah, it used to be part of the Soviet Republic. Yeah, it was like multiple different countries, you know, part of Soviet USSR. Isn't that where the Chechnyans are on the bottom? On the bottom, too, to a little bit to the side, yeah. So that's still a region that belongs to Russia as well. Did you grow up around Chechnians?

SPEAKER_02 7:17

No, no.

SPEAKER_04 7:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

I mean, I know a little bit about the uh region.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

That whole region is now is famous because of you know the UFC and uh and uh Normagamedov and all that stuff, so they blew up and that they're like that. They're warriors. There's a whole different history about them.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Did they get cold as fuck there?

SPEAKER_04 7:34

In Russia? Yeah, like where you were like I always yeah, same where I where I was born to Uzbekistan. It's like in the negatives, right? You got all seasons. Yeah, you got four seasons. You got snow, you got hot as summer and cold as summer.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

So what was it like growing up, bro? Because I dude, I I remember back to like being five years old, six years old, seven years old, WWF when Ultimate Warrior fought Hulk Hogan. Yeah, that was WrestleMania 6. Yeah, what did you what do you recall? What was it like growing up there, bro? As a child. So it was a little behind always, right? What whatever technology when you say behind, how did you guys know you were behind? Or did you know you were behind at the time? I didn't know I was behind at the time.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

I like skipped shit, dude. Like in this country, I was like, I'm used to like whatever Nintendo was at the time then, and I were like multiple generations ahead. I was like, oh shit, I I skipped in time, I traveled forward or what? But uh uh it was a trip, but it was it was it was cool because um it's just you know the the button looking back at it now, I'm glad it was like that, bro. Because I I I grew up outdoors, I'm like the last generation. Both of us are the last generation of kids who like grew up outdoors doing stupid shit, you know, playing with stakes and freaking throwing rocks, throwing rocks, and just you know, leaving the house and you know during the day and coming back when when the sun is already down, like you know. I'm happy that happened. We literally are the last generation now.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

We are the last generation, bro. It's important we put the emphasis on that because I want to try to bring it back, bro, because it's wild these days. It's wild.

SPEAKER_04 9:02

And like I have a daughter, and I was telling my wife now. Supposedly, like I guess all the babies who were born 2025 now are called generation beta. I was like, what kind of weak ass? How old is your daughter if you don't mind me asking? Three months.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Yeah, I was like generation first child, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

Oh, bro, it's the best thing ever, dude. I know, I know. And they grow like this overnight in a in a blink of an eye, bro. Tell me about it, man.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

I know you have you have a you have a she's now seven, she's half, she's as halfway as tall as me.

SPEAKER_04 9:28

Yeah, yeah, I I see your page, I see your posts of every day.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

She's crazy, dude.

SPEAKER_04 9:32

Hey, watch out, bro. Watch out. She's good looking too, man.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

I know, but hopefully uh she has that mentality already at seven, bro. She's you know what I mean? Yeah, good. So you were raised by stepparents, but they're pretty much your parents, bro. It was traumatizing. You what was the migration from you from that area to um the United States looked like airplane?

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Yeah. So from from Uzbekistan, I lived briefly in Russia in Moscow. That's where I have my family as well. And I'm from there migrated here to this country. I still have family in Russia, pretty, pretty heavy family.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

But where did you land first? Where did you touch down?

SPEAKER_04 10:10

LA, baby. No fucking way, bro. LAX, yeah, yeah. And I grew up in uh what year? 2005. 21 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

You got to Los Angeles, California in the year 2005. Yes, sir. And that was the your first time putting foot on American ground? Correct. What thoughts and emotions and sights and smells and bro, I was happy as shit, man.

SPEAKER_04 10:36

I could not wait because I was waiting for that moment for like five years. Because my mom came here in 1999, and then came back in 2000, and came back here again. And for five years, my mom worked for 25 freaking cents an hour. 25 cents an hour to pay to an attorney to bring me here for five years. And I was that kid, like, oh, like everybody in school knew, like, oh well, you're supposed to go to America, you're supposed to go to America. And at some point, I was like, well, shit, where am I gonna go? But one day it finally happened, and I came to America. The everything was the new smells, new new foods, new new things, you know, everything was was was was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Do children in your area get that opportunity to come to America?

SPEAKER_04 11:19

Um, yes, and no, no, no, not not much. I was one of the lucky ones. Yeah, I was one of the lucky ones. Because you gotta have visa. You gotta have full visa to come to America, you gotta get it approved. Like, I my mom had to fire an attorney to bring me as unification, a family unification. Like she's the mother, so she needs to unify with with the child and bring me here. So she paid a lot of money for that and to not to bring me here. Um, yeah, so I got lucky, man. I'm pretty blessed. Like my my entire life, dude, and I can tell you right now, like being adopted, right? First of all, I should have been right right now. First of all, I shouldn't be dead. Because I was in coma as a baby, starting as a child. I was so freaking sick. My mom had to go to uh and I nearly dying so many times. My mom had to go to a psychic to ask her, hey, is this child gonna survive? You know, it's a whole different story. So I should be somewhere in the village right now in Uzbekistan, just I don't know, doing some village work and shit like that. But the fact that I'm here in the United States, doing what I do, bro, living the life that I live. I am blessed. I should have been dead multiple times, I should have been not here. It's everything worked out for me ultimately. I I am blessed, and um yeah, I just I'm just happy, man. I'm just one of those unique situations where uh I shouldn't have been here.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

I'm horrible at math, but you get here in 05. Are you still in the school system?

SPEAKER_04 12:36

So I'm sorry to admit this, but school system here sucks. Like it's so weak in comparison? In comparison to like what I grew up in. I can point out so many different things about this the weakness of the United States education system here. Let me put it, let me start with this man. I graduated high school at 16 over there already, right? Granted, I started a year early because I was one of those talented kids, whatever you want to call it. But at 16 I already graduated because usually you graduate around 16 over there. So I graduated there, and in our senior year, we already study like pre-calculus.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Damn.

SPEAKER_04 13:15

Yeah. So I come here and I'm like ready to go to college. I already knew some English, you know, like I knew I was coming to America. My mom, my mom would pay for years for like a private tutor. I didn't speak like this the way I do now, but I had you know foundation. And um, I'm ready to go to college, bro. I don't want to go back to freaking high school. And um, they shoved me into a high school, bro, like 10th grade. I was like, what enough? Yeah. I dude, I hated that shit. Because first of all, I'm sitting there and I'm like, you know the movie Idiocracy? I never heard of it. I recently saw that movie. Like, I was 36 years old when I saw that movie, like last month. It's stupid as hell. Like, I saw like 20 minutes of it, I had to turn it off. But I got the concept. It's basically I feel like I'm the smartest kid, but in a dumb way. Like, how am I still sitting here and these I'm really not trying to cut not trying to cuss, man, because you're a horrible influence.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Oh yeah, don't cuss, bro.

SPEAKER_04 14:05

I mean you can cuss, but yeah, yeah, I'm trying not to also. Yeah, uh, it's it's I'm I'm the butt influence. I've been cursing my entire life. Um, dude, like they put me in algebra too, and I'm like straight A plus student. I was like, what the f man? Like, this is so easy. Like, why am I here? And I was only placed in in in high school because of my English level, but dude, like geometry, algebra, all that, all that stuff was easy for me. So I was like A plus student, so I couldn't wait to get out. Senior year, I already started college. I was like, please, I did a jumpstart program, like I just want to get the hell out of here. So it was cool. I went there for 10, 11 years, I would spend two years in high school, started college, junior college, community college, and then went to university after that. I was supposed to be a doctor. I don't know if we talked about that, and I became a cop instead, and now an entrepreneur. So yeah, I come from family medical workers, so I was supposed to be a doctor.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

That never happened. I'm still stuck on the whole you were in algebra too, and it was easy for you because Oh, speaking of the educational system, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:07

Um, I'm sorry to say this, man, but first of all, first and foremost, the United States education system points out the way the education system is structured here, and I realize that it's making students realize that first of all, we are the center of the universe. We're not. There's um like growing up in Russia, you have world history and you have whatever Russian history or Uzbek history, right? Here it's United States history and world history. So to give it a little blimp.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Or United States geography, world geography. Now, with your hindsight and your experience, what do you think the reason for that is? There has to be a reason. The reason for that is um that's a good question.

SPEAKER_04 15:46

I never thought about that. I don't know, honestly. I don't know what the reasoning behind that is, but I tell you that it has a very negative side effect. It makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

What is the side effect? It makes people what?

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Egotistical. People think that the United States is the greatest country on earth. And and it is and it is not in certain ways. But first of all, like ask people where's the country of Georgia? And they're gonna say, well, it's one of the states. No, Georgia is there's a country, Georgia, there's a state, Georgia, right? There's well, like ask them how many countries are out there, how many states out there? Like, it's there's so many downsides to to the the the way they structured our educational system. First of all, and first and foremost, it's made to enslave. It's like robots, it's a production, it's a manufacture of robots. Think this way, act this way, speak this way, follow this way. They don't create free thinkers, they create followers.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

100%. You know this better than I do. No, I do know this, but let's get but I'm thinking maybe that creates patriarch patriism. If you if you highlight where you're from, the red, white, and blue, the United States of America, we are big, we are bad. Maybe that creates um patriism. And I say that because when I was in Iraq in 2004, there was something about Americans, American troops that were like, dude, we'll die for our fucking country. Like a hundred percent we'll die for it. No problems, no questions asked. And when you would we would watch the Iraqi people, they lacked that patriotism for their country. They were scared, bro. Not that we weren't scared, but they lacked that that factor. You know what I mean? Do you think that it has to do with patriotism?

SPEAKER_04 17:24

I I definitely think it caught it has something to do with bringing out patriotism, but I also think some countries people are more patriotic based on the culture and uh the lifespan of the country. Like people like China or countries like China, Japan, even Russia, or even Pakistan, people like that's hundreds of years of history, it's embedded in your DNA. 100% patriotism comes from that. We don't have that, so I think you may be right. Maybe the the fact the way our education system is has something to do with the fact that it instills patriotism. But then where is it now? Like we're not we were past that shit now. Like, where's the all the patriotism now? Look at it.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

We still got true, we still got youngsters signing up for the military, which is good for me to see for us to see because we're the last year or two.

SPEAKER_04 18:11

Yeah, let's not count the last year. And the last year, thankfully, we have people youngsters going back into military, going back to Christ, right? But before that, like what the hell happened before that on like the last administration? Recruitment videos? Don't ever give me started with army recruitment or navy recruitment videos.

Patriotism, Education, And Mindset

SPEAKER_02 18:31

Yeah, they had a lot of like homosexuality, yeah, like freaking cartoons with LGBT flags on them. Like, are you serious? 100%. Um, and that's just the truth of the matter. They were not focused on country, like the defense of the country.

SPEAKER_04 18:46

They were focused on political DIY and all that crap, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

DEI.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

Yeah, you're right. DIY is though yourself. Never mind. D you're right. I stand corrected. DI.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Yeah, it's a when did you first see a police officer in the United States where you thought, damn, that looks cool as fuck. Hey Warriors, if you haven't already signed up for our all new website, HectorBravoshow.com, make sure you sign up at the link below, HectorBravoshow.com, to watch explicit, uncensored, never before seen prison footage. With that, love you. Keep pushing forward. Back in the motherland in the movies.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

You kidding me? Really? I grew up, bro. My first gun was a beretta, the classic beretta. Where? You probably carried it too here. Because I grew up watching movies, and the cops in the movies carried that beretta. F92 FS? The 92 FF.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

I never had one, I never carried one. I did fire one.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

They were the army issued. Yeah. I grew up so watching movies back then, you know, growing up. I was always like, man, that looks those guys look sharp. They're like studs, man. Well, first of all, I always had respect for military and uh and um and law enforcement. Not so much law enforcement in Russia, because if you're a cop in Russia or anywhere. In those countries, you're paid. You're trash. How it's like Mexico, it's very corrupt. You basically put people over and they have to bribe you to let for you to let them go. It's super corrupt.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

What about the military where you're originally from?

SPEAKER_04 20:11

Military, I had respect for that because my biological father wasn't a military. He was a lieutenant. I think by the time he retired, he was a lieutenant.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

Did your military there fall under Russia military? Uh or separate country.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

Uzbek Uzbek. So my biological father, my uncle, um, was uh was in the Uzbek military. So he started under he started under Soviet Union. Okay, you know. And then when Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, he was under the military Uzbekistan. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

Now had had they been at war with anybody? Uzbekistan or Russia? Uzbekistan.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Uh I don't think they've been at war. There's like conflicts because you know we border like Afghanistan and stuff like that. So as a kid, I do get to travel with my father and my uncle, or which is a trip, my apological father and my stepdad, to those to those border, uh, border stations. So I first hand saw like you know what it's like to be at the border at a at a at a post, I guess, or a military base where there's with guards and there ain't shit going on.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

You got like sandbags, there ain't shit going on until it does.

SPEAKER_04 21:17

Yeah. And it's like, you know, it's just just basic stuff. But it was kind of cool thinking back at it now. But yeah, and you know, as maybe like back in the 80s when there was like a war with Russia and Afghanistan, all that Chechen war and stuff like that. Yeah, but then like Uzbekistan didn't really have anybody any conflicts with anybody. They're pretty peaceful for the most part.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Was LAPD the only agency you applied for? Oh, absolutely not. That's the only agency that hired me at the time. Why?

SPEAKER_04 21:41

Because I my background was crap. What other agencies did you apply for? I applied for at the time. I did uh Anaheim, I did I think Santa Ana, I did I think Pasadena, Beverly Hills, I don't know, a bunch, man. They all turned me down because I had you know a bunch of speeding tickets. So you had a bunch of speeding tickets? Yeah, smoke weed, I had speeding tickets. I was I was not the perfect candidate, bro. I'll tell you right now. So like five, six departments turned me down until at what point did these departments turn you down?

SPEAKER_02 22:10

At what point in the process? Background investigation?

SPEAKER_04 22:14

Uh a few of them I did make two backgrounds. Uh yeah. I I know I know I've taken all the physical for all of them, and I would pass and I would either get Were you this physically fit at that time? Maybe not as fit, but yeah, I was in I was in good shape. I was in good shape, yeah. I was I was I took it seriously, bro.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

I was like shit, I was running. So written examination was a no easy for you, no-brainer. Physical exam, easy in the back. Then you start your process, and then it's like, hey, so yeah, you get your letter. Uh you did not pay.

SPEAKER_04 22:42

I would get denied because of first of all, the the tickets, the traffic tickets, like speeding, this, that, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then uh, you know, I had some detentions and stuff like that, and some encounters of police. What do you mean? Do you had detentions or arrest? No, detentions. Okay. Detentions, yeah. Uh yeah. I I've I've gotten away with a lot of stuff in my life. I'm not gonna talk about that. I mean, I can't. No, don't talk about it. I I can't. I smoke weed and stuff like that in college, you know. Uh, I wasn't, again, I wasn't supposed to be a cop, dude. It was gonna be, I was supposed to be a doctor. So I never doctor, a gynecologist? Yeah, no, I'm serious. I was saying it, I was joking when I said that. No, for real, for real. I was I'm I'm a perv, dude. Dude, I really I had a 25-year-old porn addiction.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

I think you did mention that, bro, when I was on your podcast. Yeah, dude. I kicked it barely last year. I was addicted to porn like crazy, dude. But was that your motivating factor for you to be a gynecologist?

SPEAKER_04 23:36

No, no, really, believe it or not, not that. I I had a believe it or not, um, I want to be a gynecologist because um there was this doctor I was very inspired by. I knew I was I wanted to be like a surgeon, but I was like, what kind of surgeon do I want to be? But it was a doctor who took care of my mom at the time, he was a surgeon, and he was a very good, very professional. He did multiple surgeries with my mom. When I met him, he was very like very you know, professional, you know, guy. I was like, I want to be like him. I want I want to be a doctor, I want to be OGYN surgeon. And I was like, that's why I wanted to be not because I was a freaking pervert and I was gonna like do something with my patients. I just I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. Um, if I ever wanted to be a doctor, I was gonna be a surgeon. Why? Because the idea of like cutting people open? I just like hands-on work, number one. Number two, like my grandfather was a very famous eye surgeon. You know, he's a World War II veteran, eye surgeon when he passed away before I was born. He was like his funeral lasted for like a week, hundreds of people came and stuff like that. And then my uncle, one of my other uncles was a famous surgeon as well. So doesn't it require a skill set? It does.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Like if I if I wanted to be a surgeon, I'm pretty fucking sure I could not be a surgeon. Yeah, you know what I mean? I'd probably just start fucking shit up.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

No, I I knew if if I wanted to, um I don't want to say without being cocky. Like if I really wanted to, like, dude, I've like dissected animals in college. In college, right? Bro, all my Jeffrey covered shit. I know, I know, right? And it was easy for me. Like, I know how to do like hands-on work, I know how to do precision work, I know how to do I can hunt and skin an animal and chop it into parts and separate you know, crap from good and like freeze it. And like I had those skills, I'm good with a knife, bro. My dad was a knife maker. Like, I'm good with a knife, I'm good with flesh, and like I I can survive, brother. That's cool, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

I mean, that's that's a that's a skill set.

SPEAKER_04 25:12

I grew up doing that. Like, right now, think about it. If something was to happen, bro, the first thing I'm gonna do, I'm gonna pack my shit, I'm gonna go to the mountains. I'm getting the hell out of a major city. Tell you that right now, because the first people to go would be at the major city. Because within a week, we'll start eating each other. Go to mountains, I'll hunt, I'll skin.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Do you have a preference in the type of blade, whether it be like a bowie knife that goes like this, or do you have a preference, or those like fillet fish fillet type of knives? It depends for what because like for your for survival, what would you choose? For survival?

Law Enforcement Aspirations And Gear Talk

SPEAKER_04 25:43

Well, first of all, I have my I have my EDC, right? Um, I got an EDC too. I got my EDC book. Yeah, I don't want to show my EDC because uh my EDC is is uh is from the from the law enforcement days, so I don't even know if I'm allowed to carry it still. I don't know. Because you know it's it's a switchy switchy, so yeah, but it's a famous company and they do the quality stuff. Matter of fact, shout out to MicroTech knives. There you go. Okay, great guys, quality product. Um, if I were to pick a survival knife, so I have uh I have a set of knives that have uh kind of like a rainbow knife but smaller, but in the handle I have a couple of matches, string for fishing, fishing hook, like a seal pup. Like, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So fundamentals, just a good, nice, good blade, straight blade is fine, and uh and a sear cutter in the back with some with some teeth in case I need to crush through through like a tree stick or a bone, stuff like that. You know, not nothing not nothing crazy. I mean, any knife, dude, will will do the job. You don't need to get fancy with knives, man. Any good knife with a good quality blade will do the job.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

So you have this background, bro. Yeah, you're great at knives, you have a tactical survival knowledge. Being a cop requires survival knowledge. Sure does. And once you get accepted into LAPD, what did that process look like? Well, prior to the academy, what did the congratulations letter look like?

SPEAKER_04 27:07

Or prior to the academy? Oh, dude, I was stoked. When I was accepted, first of all, what was it?

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Like a letter, a phone call? What was it?

SPEAKER_04 27:15

I don't remember. I think it was a letter. I think it was a letter. Because LPD is a big machine. And you didn't you did a polygraph examination? I did a polygraph examination, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Um was that your first polygraph? That's the first agency you made it that far.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

Yes, yes. I think I had to do it twice too, if I remember correctly. I don't know why. They called me in two times. Yeah. I don't know why, but whatever. I told them what I told them. Um they questioned certain things, but I was like, listen, I'm gonna you can ask me multiple different ways, and I'll tell you the same answer. Like, I did what I did, I didn't do what I didn't do. You know, you know right. Um the polygraphs are you anybody who's smart enough, who's who's got common sense, can bypass the polygraph. So you either tell the truth or you or you if you quick enough when you feed you, you can you can like bypass it. But it's not. I know it makes sense why polygraphs are not admissible in court, tell you that. Okay. Because uh it's not 100% for sure. Like I wouldn't trust the polygraph. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

Um is that because you know you lied on the well, I don't even know what going. Is that because you know from experience that it was not an accurate test?

SPEAKER_04 28:17

Yeah, okay, yeah, and granted, um, I don't sound like a like a scumbag. I didn't I don't have any I my conscience is clear. Okay, I didn't do it. I hear what you're saying. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you do. But it's like I know it's not 100% true. There's no way you can detect it because there's ways around it. Not that I have done it, but you gotta kind of keep it cool. I said I spoke the truth, but I knew like there's certain things I could avoid and they wouldn't catch it. Because I just I was just I was kind of calm and I had my composure about it, and that's it, bro. But if you're tripping and you know something you have something to lie about, you'll get caught. You'll get caught. I had nothing to lie about, so maybe that's why I was past it, and there was never a question. Do you uh where was your LAPD academy at? I got a chance to experience all three. What do you mean all three? Elegian park. So LAPD has three academies Elysian Park by Dodger Stadium, okay, which is like the main center one. Then you have the uh the Pacific one, which is close to the airport. Okay, and then you have the big one, which is all the way up in the valley, Devonshire Division. That's what all the ranges are and the track for racing and all that stuff is. That one was fun because I love shooting. I love shooting, so that was my favorite. Who determines where which one you go to? You have a schedule. You have a schedule like this week you're here, this week you're there, or half the week you're here, half the week you're there. Is that the way it's always done? Or does it normally that's the way um it was at least with my class and like all the classes before me and after me, but I think that's the way it's always been done. I know for a fact at some point it was only two academies because they were like rebuilding or you know, remodeling one of them. What year was this? So I went to the academy in 2016, 2017. 2016, 2017. So I'm class of 1216.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Golly, bro. Oh man, that was not yet the George Floyd. That was not yet the George Floyd era. That was not yet the George Floyd era. Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_04 30:08

I'm the George Floyd generation of cops, but I'm not the George Floyd like we'll get into it.

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Um was uh instructors putting on a show like a drill instructor type of show. Yeah, it was some of that. It was some of that.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

But I tell you what, man, I enjoyed it in the sense that after I left, shortly a few years after that, it went downhill. Like recruits started suing the eyes, and now you can get PT'd in the eyes office. It was kind of weak as shit, dude. Were your instructors seasoned, experienced cops? Yeah, yeah, for the most part, all of them, especially like tactics guys. I love them. Those guys were on point. I saw stay in touch with some of them. Um the only ones were kind of fluffy were like the the fluffy topic instructors, I guess. But like the tactics, the firearms, uh, the archon, rest in control, seasoned season solid instructors. Maybe not decades on patrol, but what they were teaching, solid. I can I can so I'm I'm pretty happy that I got caught those guys.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Did you have anybody in your class or did you observe anybody just quit because, like, hey, this isn't for me? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

Oh yeah. First of all, first week, dude, the people that showed up, that's that show was not for them, anyways. You already know, like the black line. Oh, I remember black line like it was yesterday, bro. What is that? Black line when you show up the first time, the first day, you line up. It's like five in the morning or four thirty in the morning, still dark, Elysian Park, you line up all in suits, in formation, and you just wait. And I remember this one instructor DI came out. He's like, All right, we're about to start. So you guys know from now to the to the day you graduate. He said, Be like the duck. Like it's like, what does I say? Like off your shoulder, like what water off your shoulder, something like that. Basically, don't take shit personal. Oh, okay. Okay, it's all business. And he said that, and it was like, all right. And that's it, man. It was game one after that, man. It was game one after that. But you know what? Uh it was tough, it was challenging, it was sleep depriving, but I loved it, man. Ultimately, I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

So uh there's no doubt in my mind that in the LAPD Academy they introduce they uh induce stress.

SPEAKER_04 32:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

And I'm assuming the reason for that is because when you're on the when you're working the patrol, you're working the streets, you're gonna encounter stressful situations.

SPEAKER_04 32:29

Yeah, if you ask me, that don't induce stress enough, I think. I think it could have been cranked up a little more, maybe maybe just me thinking physically or mentally?

LAPD Hiring, Polygraph, And Academy Life

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Mentally. I mean, with this is either what podcasts are for, bro. Maybe there's somebody from the LAPD that has some nuts and some reins, and it's like, hey, let's crank up our fucking. Ah, you know what?

SPEAKER_04 32:49

Let me tell you what, now that I'm retired, bro, and I don't want to talk smack, but I will talk smack. It's weak as shit nowadays, dude. I think everything's people who like tell me things, and I was like, Are you serious? Like, it's gotten so weak, especially after George Floyd. George Floyd riot changed a lot, and the standards have been lowered, brother, like below minimum.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Well, the American people are tired of being pussyfied, so we're bringing it back, bro. We're bringing it, we're letting these youngsters know it's not okay to be a fucking bitch, and you will get the fucking taste slapped out of your fucking mouth. Bro, uh, I really want to. Right? Yeah, 100%. I mean, do you agree or you don't agree? 100% agree with you. People are tired of being victimized for like motherfuckers not holding themselves accountable or other holding other people accountable, right?

SPEAKER_04 33:30

100%, dude. We just listen, people don't understand this one. Bad guys are always gonna be bad guys. Facts, bro. You're not gonna pussyfy bad guys. If anything, if you pussyfy the rest of society, bad guys only gonna get more balls.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

The gangsters never change their tactics. Never, dude. I've watched, bro. I've watched. Wow. You may have pussyfied the COs, the correctional officers, the cops, but the gangsters were still. That's that's that's the only life they know. I mean, yeah, they have Edgar haircuts now and skinny jeans, but they're still willing to pull a fucking trigger into your life, which is surprising.

SPEAKER_04 33:59

Right now, right now, I look at these gangsters now. I'm like, first of all, you can grow like a homo. It's weird, yeah. But you're a gangster and you talk like a like sometimes you do talk like a gangster, but you look and you're Mexican and you're now using the word. Yeah, dude, that one is like what's up with that, man? I don't get it. It's like every other word, like it's more than than the black people do. Correct. I'm surprised you haven't gotten your ass whooped yet. Exactly, bro. You know, you're walking around here like this like I don't know, do black people allow it now. I was like, is that allowed now? Is that what? Is that you know what happened to the culture, bro? Me growing up to this day, I was like, you know, and I have a lot of friends who are black, but I would never drop that word of respect.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Yeah, there's a respect thing for sure. Maybe what we got ahead of ourselves here. That was interesting. So I don't want to talk about how much the department is like pussified now because we get it, right? And I think they get it. I hope they get it. They have to get it, bro. I don't think they like being victimized themselves because there's a result, right? You're either with it or you're not professionally. Yeah, but who where where does the line get drawn? Well, we're gonna draw it on this fucking episode, right? Right, that's the beauty of podcasts and the truth and experience. The truth, man. You can draw the line in the sand and be like, this is cool, this is not fucking cool.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

I think there's certain podcasts that and your yours one of them, and I would even say certain episodes of mine, because mine's not is just about police work, it's about business and masculinity. Cops should watch it. Cops should fucking sit and watch things of the shit we talk about. Like you, what you talk about, I think all the correctional officers must watch your shit, bro. Because it's better training than what the departments offer. It's actual correct hands-on experience. Like you speak not out of your ass, you speak from wisdom and experience, and you got what 16 years of it, bro. That's valuable, it's valuable. So when you I see out there on your social media page, you dropping knowledge, you know, listen up, you bubosos. I have to dumb it down sometimes. You do, and you know, nothing wrong with that. But I was like, that's that's actual valuable knowledge. Because like I like what what you're saying sometimes, part of it because it's funny and shit. Part of it is because you actually dropping knowledge. I'm like, okay, cool, that makes sense. Right. I've never been a CO, but it makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Well, it doesn't matter whether you were a soldier, a police officer, or correctional officer. The if you're in a job that requires you to take a life or your life can be taken, it's all the same shit, bro. Yeah, it's all the same again, back to survival.

SPEAKER_04 36:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

So uh did you have any issues during the academy as far as like I mean, maybe you're shooting, you you qualified past like flying colors?

SPEAKER_04 36:30

Yeah, but the only issue that I had I found out later, I was um I could never hit enough score. This is a funny story, for uh to be a distinguished shooter. Okay, I think I was uh I was one below.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

You know, I didn't know that they rank you guys.

SPEAKER_04 36:45

So in LAPD, you get to shoot for score and you get the medal and you get like a pay raise. Like I don't know. That's like the army, bro. Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

So expert marksmanship sharpshooter or expert sharpshooter marksman.

SPEAKER_04 36:58

Yeah, is what it is. So I was, I think, not the top, you're the one below. And I knew it was my fucking gun, dude.

unknown 37:05

That's it.

SPEAKER_04 37:06

And I even told him, hold on, stand by. I can back it up. I can back it up. And I don't give a shit if it believes me or not. But first of all, I know I'm a good shooter. People can justify I'm an I'm an instructor, a state certified instructor, for God's sake. I have to be a good shooter. Uh, I always loved it, but I couldn't hit the score, and I was like, that's my gun, dude. It's my gun. I'm telling you, yeah, the MMP that they issued me in LAPD. Um, and like, and I shot it and I shot it again, and they're like, no, it's not. And as a recruiter, I remember one time I was cool with one of the instructors, and I brought her up to her. She's like, Okay, let me shoot your gun. And she shot it, and it's like, no, it's you. I was like, I'm not gonna question it. So whatever. I took my whenever whatever metal I shot, right? Not the top one, but the second one after that. I go to probation, I finished probation, so now I'm clear probation. Now I'm just a P2. I go back to the range, I'm like, hey, it's my gun. And the guy at the range checks it, he does something with a laser, it's like, oh yeah, it's your gun. You're like a quarter millimeter off on your front side. That's where you were you weren't hitting the score. Because by then I already started adjusting my freaking shooting grip to the left because my group was to the left, so I had to adjust it. Yeah, so I had to adjust my own uh grouping right manually, whatever. That's called Kentucky windage in the military. Yeah, um, there's there's certain certain in military and law enforcement have different terminology, but I but yeah, Kentucky Windage, we use that as well. Okay, anyways, long story short, I was like, so I was like, Yeah, sorry, boss, you know, here's your gun back now, you're all zero. And I go in there and I now I shot the score. But by then I didn't give a shit. And it's like, I'm like, these motherfuckers like when I was a recruit in the academy, no believe me, but now I'm on P2, all of a sudden, yeah, they checked my gun.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

After you graduated or during your graduation, is it a big ceremony? They give you a badge. How does that how does that day look like?

SPEAKER_04 38:46

So you stand there, it was a big day, it's a ceremony, you know. You're out there in the Legion Park Academy, you know, all the family members there, command staff, the chief there, they'll line you up. You're wearing a cover, white gloves, sharp, you know, you're standing with your gun, you know, slide, you know, gun is empty, slide cock back, you know, you stand there. It's it's beautiful, it's a beautiful ceremony. My family, my friends were there. Um, helicopter flies by. Oh shit, that's cool. The chief walks up, it was a chief back at the time. I dude was tall, man. I'm tall, but that dude was tall. He walks, he shakes your hand, everybody, congratulates you, etc. etc. So it was a big deal. It's uh it was it was a good event. It was a it was a memorable event. I have a lot of pictures from that day, and uh, yeah. It was a big deal for me.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Do they give you the weekend off and then you start working on a Monday?

SPEAKER_04 39:32

I don't remember, honestly. Do you go straight to work? I don't think I don't think it was the day after. I think I think it was a few days after, and then uh yeah, you're rolling to work.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

And then your what division or little headquarters did you get assigned to?

SPEAKER_04 39:48

So you get to put in three choices, right? Your top three picks. I picked, I think I picked Rampart.

unknown 39:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 39:55

Oh, I well let me tell you why I picked Rampart. Okay, first of all, let me tell you a funny story. I think every generation of cops grew up watching a certain movie, right? You have Adam 12, you have Colors, you have whatever uh certain movies in between, not watching and the watch, and then uh now is like the stupidest show called Rookie, whatever. Okay. Guess what generation of cops I am? What training day? The most crooked cop movie. No, that's a badass fuck movie. It's a badass movie. I love the movie I've seen a hundred times. But I'm saying that the irony in it, three for sure. Yeah, for sure for me too. But the irony of it, like I grew up watching one of the most crooked cop movies out there, and I went and I became a cop. And I was inspired by it. Not to be like Alonzo, but I was just inspired by it. You know, I love LAPD. I still have bad respect for it. So I was like rampart, like number one, you know. And then I was like, okay, cool. I asked her on like who's what's the second best division? Okay, Newton, shooting Newton, yeah, because you know, whatever. And then the third one I think was 77 or something. I didn't get my first pick, but I got my second pick, shooting Newton. But LA is big.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

LA's huge. Where does it matter where you live versus where you work? Did you take your location into consideration?

George Floyd Era And Standards Shift

SPEAKER_04 41:08

Uh no. Well, I kind of did, but I was living at Delay. I was living in LA at the time. I was living in Glendale, so it's kind of like in the center. Glendale is fucking at the top. Glendale's at the top, but in Glendale's like you I can go south and downtown. I can go way south to like I can go north or east to valley divisions. A five-mile drive is an hour and 45 minutes. No, it wasn't too bad for me. It was like 30 minutes without traffic. An hour with traffic, yeah. So going into work wasn't too bad at all at five in the morning. So like 30 minutes. And um, so yeah, so I got my my pick. I was I got shooting newton, which is kind of ironic because uh shooting newton is number 13. There's 21 geographical divisions, they're all numbered.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

There's 21 geographical divisions within the Los Angeles Police Department, yeah, plus traffic divisions, so they're all numbered, and in academy have to memorize it.

SPEAKER_04 41:57

Like Central, Rampart, blah blah blah, North Newton was 13.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

North Hollywood, one of them.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Yeah, I think it's number four or six. Yeah. So we have to memorize them in uh because you get the user on the radio. Like for us, uh in Newton it was like 13 atoms, whatever, 13, you know, that's your call sign. Will sure be like seven atoms, you know. Rampart is one atom, for example.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

Do each of these stations utilize a different radio frequency?

SPEAKER_04 42:20

We they share frequency, so you can switch and you can hear all, but you like Newton shared frequency with 77 a lot of times, so we heard them and they heard us because we're neighboring divisions. Do you guys hear each other talk or you talk through a dispatcher? I talk through a dispatcher, like like everybody else, right? You know, we talk to the dispatcher or to each other. So the dispatcher.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

You guys can talk to each other?

SPEAKER_04 42:41

Yeah, yeah. No, we talk to each other. Yeah, we give each other like the same thing was for Santa Monica. We talk to each other and the dispatcher. Dispatch overhears everything, and then we hear the communication with dispatcher.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

Mind you, I've never been a police officer, right? But I guess from what you see, and what you see in police shooting videos, you always hear the cops say, um, shots fired, shots fired, and then they relay it to dispatch, and dispatch relays it to the rest of everybody else.

SPEAKER_04 43:08

Yeah, so dispatch repeats it. So when you drop, when the shots fired call, right, or a help call, you you you you say it on the radio, whatever you want to say, and then dispatch packs it up, picks it up, and uh basically spreads it out. And it sends you units if you need to, and basically puts boost to does a job for you.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

But is it also practical if me and you are going and I get on the radio and I say, hey, Alex, go left, go left.

SPEAKER_04 43:31

So there's a tag channel. So you switch off, you go to a private tag channel. We've done that, you know. Again, LAPD had that, Santa Monica and other departments have that. You switch off and you go to a tag channel. So we do that a lot, you know, work in special details. Or for example, if we do a home home clearing and stuff, we switch off and if we talk to each other now. Dispatch can hear that as well. Right. Because they can switch off and you know they hear that for safety reasons. Um, I gotta give a shout out to LAPD dispatch, they're the sharpest, most knowledgeable, quickest, just top-notch dispatchers. And I believe that's because you have cops working alongside them. That's awesome, dude. So there's a whole division. If you go to LAPD dispatch, the whole building, there's cops standing there, sitting with them, and they basically working with them. So those dispatchers know exactly what the tactics are and what the communication is and how cops operate. So the sharpest dispatchers that I ever heard, bro, it's LAPD guys, LAPD dispatchers.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

If you're an officer assigned to the dispatch building, is that because you got in trouble and they relocated you?

SPEAKER_04 44:29

I don't think they don't I don't think they assign police officers to be dispatchers. There's dispatchers and then uh cops are assigned to dispatching units. Far as I saw when I was there. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

If you're assigned to a dispatching unit, is that because you want to be there or because you're on uh some type of administrative detail?

SPEAKER_04 44:45

I don't know, brother, honestly. I don't know. I don't know because never questioned, but I hope not because you're in trouble. Because to be a dispatcher, okay, you have to love that shit and be on point.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

Yeah, it doesn't sound like people. Cops' lives depend on it.

SPEAKER_04 44:57

Yeah, cops' lives depend on it, dude. That's cool though. That's awesome. I think that's why it's effective. No, it's very effective. They're sharp with it, man. But their support and a dispatch and LAPD is top notch.

SPEAKER_02 45:06

So the Department of Corrections also has a TAC channel, just as you stated. So if a riot kicks off, if you're the incident commander, you say, hey, everybody go to TAC one. Everybody goes to TAC one, everybody can talk to each other.

SPEAKER_04 45:20

Same thing, TAC 1, TAC 2, and then SWAT have their own, and you know, I think all these fucking radios are encrypted now, so we're not giving away any pressure. LAPDs is encrypted, right? And trust me, the public has been fighting them for years to get it open, but I think only LAPDs, all other ones are not.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

Let me ask you this because I'm a nosy motherfucker and I used to love to listen to police scanners back in the day. How do you feel about civilians being able to listen to police radio traffic?

SPEAKER_04 45:42

That's a no. Why? I'll tell you why. It's a simple, it's a the answer is simple. Safety for the officers. Safety for the office for everybody. For everybody. For everybody. First of all, safety off for officers, hands down. Why would I compromise myself and my fellow officers? Number one. Number two, why would I put these photographers, first on scene, freaking video camera, fucking journalists, whatever I want to catch the hot shit people, right? In the mud in the middle of my crossfire. Stringers.

SPEAKER_02 46:09

Stringers, whatever you call those, those I like stringers, bro, because I get to see the action.

SPEAKER_04 46:14

Yeah, that's that's nothing wrong with that, dude. If you got the balls and the patience for that, cool. And you have the the you I've I've seen a lot of them. Like if they they follow us, they that that's a lot of effort. Nothing against those guys, but I don't want to put them in a in the line of uh fire.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

So it's a safety issue. Safety 100%. So you've experienced performing your duties as an LAPD officer or a Santa Monica, and the stringers are right there with you. Yeah, yeah. It gets annoying when it's a hot call, dude. Are they red are they familiar faces to you or are they different every time?

SPEAKER_04 46:43

No, there's familiar faces. There's there's guys who like dude. First of all, um, there's a one guy that I foll follow, and he does LAPD only. Really good photos. He produces really good photos. Uh Brazy? I don't know. LA Brazy.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

Um I think I know who you're talking about, but I also follow him too.

SPEAKER_04 46:59

Maybe. This is really good. There's just to be not a guy before that, but he got a little too cocky and stupid, so I don't follow them. And he would always show up to our to our calls, uh everybody's calls. But um, here's the thing, man.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

He takes pictures of like attractive officers, females types.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

Yeah, that too. Okay. Yeah, yeah, that too. Um I'll I'll I can find your sending to you later. Yeah. But uh, yeah, I think safety first and foremost, man. Why that compromise if you open up the channel to public, that compromises safety. Not to mention that people can do stupid shit and get away with it. Like, if I know there's a hot call going on somewhere else, I'm gonna go rob the house and somewhere else in the other end of the city. Easily. Because by the time they're gonna get there, I'm I'm done with my burglary. You know?

SPEAKER_02 47:36

You know, me being a regular civilian, one would think, oh, these cops don't want us listening to them because they're up to no good. So you're telling me that's not the case? No, no.

Division Assignments, Radios, And Dispatch

SPEAKER_04 47:45

How much up to no good are you gonna do on a fucking recorded dispatch line, dude? I mean, you can be like that deputy who was banging on duty. Which one? There's so many. No, no. San Diego? No, no, no. There was a it's like three, four years ago, three, four years ago, maybe three years ago, there was an LASD deputy that left his mic on, or some people say that the lady pressed it on purpose, and he was straight banging the chick, dude, on duty. And the funny thing is, my disp the dispatcher who was on duty was a friend of mine. She was like, that was one of the most embarrassing things. I kept calling him out. I kept calling him out, and the guy didn't hear mic. Dude, it was a hot mic, then you can hear him just going at it, dude. Just like and the chick is like loving it, and I don't know what wrong. But that's straight stupid. And I think that by all she deserves to get fired if you ask me, dude. Like, you can't wait to get off to get off work and go take care of business later. Like, come on, like you, you're an idiot for the food for that.

SPEAKER_02 48:37

100%.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

But yeah, dude, um, how much stuff you how much stuff you're gonna do when you you know it's recorded, the dispatch, everything is recorded. So I'm all for transparency, man. I I like cameras, I think cameras are a good thing. You know, I started with cameras, I don't know any better. And if you're not a crooked cop, not a piece of shit person, right? Cameras, they save my life. Like Marlon, you know, Marlon, the I the IA guy, dude. I'm all for it, man. Cameras save your life. All my AI investigations got cleared because of the cameras, bro.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

Shout out to Marlon IA podcast, IA, yeah, YouTube channel.

SPEAKER_04 49:07

The IA guy, yeah. He was my effectually rep for my the my first lawsuit with LA PD when I was going to my lawsuit. He was my rep, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:13

He was a side while he was an active what a small world, bro. What a fucking small world.

SPEAKER_04 49:18

Yeah, yeah. That guy's hilarious, man. He was my first rep, and then he got switched off to somebody else now as I was continuing my lawsuit, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:25

So shoot and newton is what you called that station. What number was it?

SPEAKER_04 49:30

13. 13. Can't call shooting no more, brother. Just like you. Why? Why do you think? Because everything is pussyfied, bro. You can't call shooting Newton. So why would you?

SPEAKER_02 49:40

Why was it called shooting Newton?

SPEAKER_04 49:41

It was called shooting newton because there were the number of OIS at a time, you know, for years and years, you know. That's why they slapped the cameras on shooting newton division because cops were just wild there.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

Shout out, shout out to the shooting newton division, man. Bring it back. Yeah, make it Newton great again. Bro, yeah, it's great. So you can't call it the jungles anymore.

SPEAKER_04 50:00

You can't call the jungle the jungle anymore. It's lower ball heights or some shit like that.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

But when I think of the jungles, I think of them the training day, the the cul-de-sac of the birds are yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:10

That's the jungles, it's the jungles, yeah. That's so I don't know if that that cul-de-sac is part of the jungles. I don't think I've I've I don't I think I've been there, but I don't know if that area is the jungles, but I I think so. But but now the area's called lower lower ball and heights, whatever. Whatever the name you call it crap dog.

SPEAKER_02 50:25

Who means you tell me political correctness? Well, no, obviously it did, but like what happened? People were calling it shooting newton and they were getting in trouble for it. Yeah, oh well Newton, first of all, they're proud cops, dude.

SPEAKER_04 50:36

They're gangster cops, man. And then you drive into a station, it says fucking shooting newton, bro. On the wall says shooting Newton, like everywhere. You know, the bottles, everything, engraving shooting newton. How do you spell Newton?

SPEAKER_02 50:47

E W T N.

SPEAKER_04 50:48

And no, N-E-W-T-O-N.

SPEAKER_02 50:51

Like Isaac Newton. Newton, okay.

SPEAKER_04 50:53

Yeah, so division number 13, and this is funny because holy shit. I was born on on 13, technically, my my actual birth date, now what they put in my official one after they adopted me. 13's devil dozen. So I was born on 13th, shooting Newton is division number 13th, my locker number was 13th, and the day I started was 13th. Wow. 13 was always been a lucky number for me, so I don't really give a shit.

SPEAKER_02 51:22

How many approximately uniformed officers are assigned to Newton?

SPEAKER_04 51:30

I think each division is about a few hundred officers, if I remember correctly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because it's dude, each division is like the size of a city.

SPEAKER_02 51:40

That's a lot, bro. Yeah. And how many patrol cars approximately? Is it like two officers per one car?

SPEAKER_04 51:49

In LAPD, like granted, I lateraled out in 2020, so I can't remember everything now, plus things changed. But when I was there, yeah, you don't do solo cars because LAPD is dangerous. You don't do solo car when it's like traffic for uh assaulting a shit.

SPEAKER_02 52:00

I didn't even know that, bro.

SPEAKER_04 52:01

So everything is an atom car.

SPEAKER_02 52:03

Adam is what? Two. That's awesome, bro. No, because safety. The moral of the story is fucking safe. Yeah, not to get murdered on patrol. 100%.

SPEAKER_04 52:13

I want to give a shout out to LAPD also for their tactics. I think there's there's a lot of great things about LAPD because people think I think I'm talking shit about APD. No, there's a lot of great things about it.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

You have yet to talk shit about it.

SPEAKER_04 52:22

I'm yet to talk shit about it, but their tactics are fantastic. They're great tactics and they they teach you good tactics, and especially in a division. What I loved about LAPD is that we did debriefs. After every incident, that was significant enough. We'd huddle together and we'd do a debrief. Hey, what went wrong? What went well, what we can do better, which I think is a great thing to practice. Absolutely. Not all departments practice that. When I let out the Santa Monica, it wasn't like an everyday occurrence, which I think it should be. You learn a lot. You learn a lot and hands-on experience. So as an Adam car, right, your partner's cover, you contact and cover. Well, the role switch, you can be become covered in the partner, it can be contact depending on who's talking, who's taking a lead. But one's always covered once always contact. So that's that's safety is very important.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

Is the cover contact officer designated before the shift, or is it something on the fly?

SPEAKER_04 53:12

It's on the fly. It's on a fly. But it's it's imperative that you and your partner are on the same page and you talk tactics. So my partner and I always, first of all, we were doing a lot of COIA. LAPD is all about CYA. You cover your ass, and even if you cover your ass, you're still in trouble, but you cover your ass. Okay. So when we work different details, but my partner and I were hunters, dude. We were always hunting.

SPEAKER_02 53:34

Male partner or female partner?

SPEAKER_04 53:35

Male partner. Okay. And by hunting, I mean we're always like I get what you're saying. Because people might not know nowadays.

SPEAKER_02 53:40

I don't even trip.

SPEAKER_04 53:41

But I'll turn my camera on. Yeah. Camera on. I'll say, okay, partner, your contact, I'm cover, I'm covering your contact, pulling over the car for so and so and so. And we would go in and we start our traffic stop or our pet stop. It was always on camera. And uh but roll switch, roll switch, because the situation is dynamic. I mean, we had situations where I'll I'll pull up with somebody and I I see a strap already bulging out. I was like, okay, you know, I yell it out and roll switch. Now we're both guns drawn and we call them for backup and I would both kind of like contact, right? Because we got guns out on on colourful, colorful knuckleheads.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

So are there police officers that have absolutely no business being police officers?

SPEAKER_04 54:19

Absolutely, 100%. I'll be the first one to tell you that. I've always said that. First of all, I'm one of those cops who was who was not liked by everybody, and I don't never give a shit about it. I was I was that guy. Part of the reason why, you know, I am who I am is I was fucked, I I point shit out, dude. It's my culture.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

I mean, I understand what it's like to be great. Yeah, you know what I mean? I don't even want to. I don't mean to toot my own horn, bro, but people are fucking threatened, they feel threatened, they shouldn't. Somebody that they appear, yeah, is fuck that, dude.

Tactics, Debriefs, And Contact-Cover

SPEAKER_04 54:51

I I first of all, let me tell you something about myself, man. First of all, I'm Russian, okay? In my culture, thought you were Uzbest to stand. Uzbekistan, motherfucker. You're kidding. So what I'm mixed, right? So I for the I'm mixed, I'm part Russian, part Uzbek, but people in America have no idea where Uzbekistan is at, so I just say Russian. Thank God they know where Russia is at. So I keep it simple, stupid, right? So, with that in mind, our culture is very, very simple, dude. It's the country was destroyed by World War II. So all people had left was their word and their balls. Okay, we're very direct, we're very sharp, and if you're full of shit, I'll tell you to your face, Hector, you're full of shit. Right. So a lot of times people think I'm an asshole. I'm not an asshole. Like my as a as a boss and I was an entrepreneur. My guides know I'm very direct. Okay. And if I if I hire a new person, I always tell them, listen, you start in here tomorrow. I'm gonna tell you one thing, one thing about me. Well, a few things. One of them is this I'm very direct, I'm very straightforward. It's my it's a cultural thing. I'm not an asshole. Try to be an asshole. But I'm Russian, it's in my culture, and I was a cop for almost a decade. I get shit done. I'm a problem solver. Don't take it personal. If you have an issue, tell me, we'll discuss it. Everybody knows all my guys know about it, and the same wasn't as when I was a cop. So take that into a police culture, not being a kiss ass, being far from being a kiss ass, being very direct, yeah. I always call shit out. And bringing it back to what you the question you asked, yes, there's absolutely some cops out there who should never have been given a gun and a badge. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 56:25

Being direct is one approach. Being passive aggressive, being like uh skirting around the issues, have you seen that as well? Yeah, yeah. Do you believe that is effective? Passive aggressive? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:41

Well, give me an example of of what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 56:43

I mean, a lot of people are fucking uh um a lot of people are turned off by the direct approach, right? But they're the same type of motherfuckers that will play games and beat around the bush and be passive aggressive, you know what I mean? Uh fucking gaslight, gaslight people.

SPEAKER_04 57:00

All right, let me let me tell you this, man. This I was told not always, but as a cop, first of all, it's not your fucking job to babysit people. You do if you need to, right? It's not your job, it's not our job to be how do I put it this way? I'm not an angel you want, I'm a monster you need. Hold on.

SPEAKER_02 57:25

I am not an angel you want, I am a monster you need. Let me tell you why. Tell me, please.

SPEAKER_04 57:31

When you pick up this phone and you dial 911, you must be going through some deep shit in your life that you yourself can't resolve. You don't have any of the mental capacity, the physical or capability to resolve it. Okay, you can't do it in your own. Your life is upside down right now. You need help. And if you call a cop and a cop responds to help you, allow that person to do their job the way they're supposed to do their job. Now I'm not saying every cop is perfect. Yes, that's when the standards come into play. Hopefully, the cop that responds to help you is a professional who has balls and common sense, right? And knows how to do the job. But allow that person to do your job. Don't tell that person how to do their job. Now I understand when a 22-year-old gets called to deal with domestic violence call of a couple who's been married for 30 years, it's kind of like, you know, I've been there. You know, I would show up as a 27-year-old to tell a 50-year-old how to deal with his wife, and they'd be married for as long as I've been alive. Granted, there's there's there's a there's a fine line there. You gotta have common sense and life experience.

SPEAKER_02 58:43

I'm so glad you fucking just said that. Because my next question would be like a domestic violence question, but you just hit the nail on the head. So you're not a fucking monster 24-7. No, no. You then I'm glad you're there.

SPEAKER_04 58:54

Yeah, but just it's simple. I'm not an angel you want on the monster you need. Let me do my fucking job, dude. I'm here because you can do it yourself. Let me come, let me de-escalate the situation, take control, put everything to places, and then once I have a big picture, I'll start resolving things, you know. It's just it's a puzzle piece. But when I respond, I gotta see the big picture.

SPEAKER_02 59:14

Now, this is a and I'm not picking a side by any means, but I'm probably gonna ask questions that the audience might want to hear. Technically, you're a public servant. Yeah, right? So maybe they feel like they have a say in the in the matter. Do I you're asking me if if I feel like they have a say in the matter? I mean, yeah, you're saying, hey, let me do my job the way I want to, but technically you're a public servant. Correct. So do you see it from their perspective?

SPEAKER_04 59:38

I do, and this is where we're saying the second part, this is where the professionalism common sense comes into play. This is where it falls on a department to one select good recruits. No, yeah, select good recruits, two, train them properly, and three, just continue that training, man. Like if you hire trash and you Give them bare minimum training. What do you expect they're gonna do, bro? We know. We we already know. We see we see, dude. I I foresaw what was coming, what's happening to LAPD right now. What is happening back when I left. First of all, dude, um, let me tell you this way: when I was when I left in 2020, the standards of hiring were already like low. I saw them hiring rookies on the job, these new recruits, they were just like barely running one standard. I'm like, okay, these rookies are being squeezed in through the cracks like by orders, like pass them. But I had a background investigators, like, listen, man, I would not pass somebody, send them paper upstairs, they send it back down to me and say, No, we're shorter people, pass them, make them pass.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

Oh, so like that, like that. There was a um hiring need.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:49

Hiring need. And right now it's even worse. And so I'm like, Why is it worse? Because hundreds of us left. Why did you guys leave? Because of the George Floyd because of the first time. In 2020, when I left, I was one of the first wave of 600 officers that left that year successfully. I'm not talking about the ones that tried it and got denied. 600 of us left successfully in that that year. I'm one of them. Okay. For me, I don't know about everybody else, but for me, I'll tell you what it was, man. And I have no shame to say that. Number one, number one, it was two factors: the department politics and pay. Pay was shit in LAPD. What was the pay like, bro? Bro, pay was like barely 100. I think base was like a Hondo. Yeah. Which is nothing, bro. I I left a corporate world. I was already making 100 before I became a cop. And the politics, you said?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:37

Like the culture, the politics.

Paperwork, Pursuits, And First Big Calls

SPEAKER_04 1:01:38

So culture, politics, man. This is what this is what was what bothered me in LAPD so much. Okay. The officers in LAPD, and I'm pretty sure it's the same way because I talked to my friends, the officers of a department are more scared of the department than the streets. And that's wrong. That's wrong. When your department doesn't have your back, and on a country goes after you worse than the criminals, bounce. And I bounce, dude. When you have no backing from a department, I bounced. And I'll tell you why it's important. Now, as a serial entrepreneur, as a boss, as a leader, my troops know I have their back. And I tell and I appreciate it. Like, you guys do your job right with common sense professionally, I'll have you back. If you fuck up, you tell me first, I'll have you back. But if you do your job like trash, don't represent my company and myself, you know, I'm not gonna throw you under the bus. I'll take the blame for you because I'm the boss. But when I come back to their office, your ass is ghost, it's gone. Because that's not how we do things here. But they know I have their back, dude. They go out there and they do my the job knowing that I have their back. Because I know what it's like when your department does not have your back.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:53

Where did this change drive come from from your perspective? Where did these so-called leaders where did this push derive from agenda?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:09

I would call it. It's not maybe it's the agenda now, but back then it was it all starts with a good old boy club for guys and all and for girls, you know how that starts. You know how women and in law enforcement get promoted. Not all, not all. There's some outstanding female officers there that have my mad respect, but you and I both know how stripes are gained a lot of times. Yeah, we both know that, bro. And um when you promote people based on nepotism, favoritism, and good old boy club, and not based on their merit, skill, professionalism, and experience, it's trash.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:53

And was that the culture at that time? Yes, not 100%, but yes. But as far as the job goes, bro, you're driving around with a gun, a badge, and a police car. Was that fun for you? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:08

Absolutely, bro. If I were to remain a cop right now, I would never promote higher than a sergeant. I'm a people's person, bro. I'm not a politician. I don't like politics. I'm a people's person. I like to be like hands-on.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:20

Were there any major incidents that stand out to you when you were employed with the LAPD? As far as what's any like crazy calls or oh yeah, there's there's there's a handful. There's a handful of things. Which ones would you like to talk about?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:34

Well, there's always the first ones. Like you never forget your first drive-by, first murder. What do you mean drive by suicide, first dead baby?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:43

Like your first drive-by that you responded to? Yeah. And what does that look like? A shot up the fuck house?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:49

Uh Ped, shut up, shut up gangster, rival gangster. They put out they put holes in him, and uh it was so it was shooting Newton division. My FTO at the time, was it my FTO or was I just working with them? I was already anyways. I was still on probation. I think I was already off-training, but on probation. First of all, I had a crazy FTO. My second FTO was crazy. His name was Tony Hurtado. Fucking I was his 27th confirmed pursuit. That guy was a wild pursuit, like magnet. Shout out to Tony Hurtado, man. Crazy guy. It's crazy, it's crazy. He'll say that it's crazy, like an old school type of guy. Yeah, it's a solid fucking copper, dude. Um, shout out to Tony. My first day with him, right? And he's my second FTO, but my first day with him, people told me, like, hey man, this guy has a pursuit magnet. Be ready. Know your pursuit policy, know how to drive. Load the car, go out, go have breakfast. We're on the way to have breakfast after roll call. This fool spots a car, game on. We're in pursuit, dude. Day one with this guy. We're like, holy shit. What do you mean? What do you mean spots a car? What would the car doing? He's the car was it was a S it was a Chevy Tahoe. I don't know what the violation was, but he spotted it. The guy's a trained cop. Like, he knows he sees shit, he knows it. I mean, dude, over 30 confirmed in policy pursuits, like, guys knows what he's doing. I was number 27. And we're in pursuit. I don't I don't know what the fuck happened. I'm just like broadcasting.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:12

You're in pursuit because the driver refused to pull over like you're supposed to.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:16

No, so what happened is we spot the car, we're on the way to get breakfast. We spot the car, he spots the car first, he busts to you, tries to follow the car, car takes off. Before he even lights it up, the car is so we're in pursuit now. So I'm broadcasting, blah, blah, blah. Apparently, I wasn't broadcasting loud enough because he snatched my mic and he's like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He told me that, like, hey man, we're in pursuit. You gotta sound like you're in pursuit. You're super calm, collected. Yeah, we're in pursuit of it's like, no, make the sound fucking urgent, urgent, bro. It's it's happening, you know. Don't be screaming, but make it sound urgent. Anyways, we're in pursuit, car crashes, people bail out, perimeter, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, fun, fun times, right? Uh, so he that was the same guy with what responded to later to the drive-by. Who are these fucking people? Gang members? Yeah, it was a car full of gang members. It was some fat chick, she didn't get far. She gets out of the car, and wobbled away, wobbled away, and it's like, okay, I give up, you know. So you're a cop, bro.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:11

You're an L E P D. You're with this guy. You see four people book it. Do you just get to pick who you want to go after?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:19

Or was it? No, what I did is because um, so he was driver and I was a passenger. The car crashes, and uh, I think I come out of the car. You don't run past the car in tactics because you never know who's in the car can blast you. Smart. So we jump out of the car, guns drawn, we approach the car, and we like we guns drawn the car, and we put we're putting out like hey, so-and-so, male black in this direction, female black in this direction. You already didn't well by then you already have people responding, airship, airship and LAPD response quick, dude. Another great service LAPD has top-notch air support, dude. Top notch people, and I know that because some of my guys will work there and they're sharp dudes, sharp dudes. And I've done ride alongside the airship too. So um, so yeah, we got them all obviously, and they crashed and stuff. Yeah, needless to say, we didn't have breakfast that day. It was a long day, but uh, but it was fun. It was fun, you know. The um that's just how it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:09

Is in a in an instant like that, dude. How what are the duties and roles of a police officer? Because I'm sure do detectives come on scene or do they don't come on scene?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:19

Uh detectives usually come on scene when it's like a uh murder, big yeah, big stuff happening.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:24

Does a supervisor come on scene?

Witness Work And Airship Coordination

SPEAKER_04 1:08:25

Yeah, yeah, supervisor on scene. There's a bunch of other cops, you know, the supervisors came on scene because they have to see what's going on, what's happening, make sure everything's in policy, nobody's hurt, nobody's injured, and no. So, how much paperwork goes into that? Shit ton. How much, bro? I don't know, but what I hated about APD at the time, dude, everything was freaking paper, dude. Like not computer? Paper. It's a computer you type to report, but you still print it, and you take the whole stack of papers to the watch commander, and he goes to list by list, this form, that form, this CYA form, that CYA inform, DA's form, property form, and then finally fucking report, and he sits there and he like fixes it, which I enjoyed in Santa Monica PD. It's just one application online where I go in there, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, send it to him. I just sit in the office until I get called in to fix my shit or I get a notification it's approved.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:13

If you were the LAPD chief, would you reduce some of those forms? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:17

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:18

Is it possible to reduce some of those forms and still keep the integrity of the information?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:23

Yeah, dude. Other departments have it. Why would an LEPD have it? It's like they're so advanced in certain things, but they're behind the ball in other fucking things. I don't understand why, dude. Like, why do I have to carry this stack of papers, boxes of it, and then copies of it and save it for decades after that? It's a waste of paper.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

Is getting into a fucking car chase with gangbangers worth the paperwork? Absolutely. Oh, it is? Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:45

It's three minutes of fun and 30 hours of work. Wow. But it's worth it. Okay. Well, I mean, we're also gonna chase a gang banger or you know, draw out your pistol, you know, get into a scuffle and do some gangsta shit and then whatever. I'll sit there and police work is five percent fun, 95% of paperwork and shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

And I don't think people put in this that much uh explanation on that because nobody really knows about the paperwork and showing up to court for these cases.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:11

Yeah, that should be that and IA should be discussed in the academy right away.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:15

How much IA? Zero. I was given zero IA in the academy. No, but how much IA is actually part of a being a cop. Will you be under an internal affairs investigation at some point in your career?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:27

Yeah, if you do, if you if well, granted, if if you're a cop, yeah, anybody can say, make a bullshit complaint about you pull me over because I'm black. Well, I'll pull over because I can fucking see who's driving the car, your windows are so tinted, uh-huh, you know. Um, yeah. But if you do your work, if you do your job, and if you're a hunter like my partner and I were, bro, all day. We've been beefed all day, dude. All unfounded, but if you do your work, man. That sounds about right. Yeah. Which is also discouraging.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:53

Because you do you recalled the first time you showed up to your first drive-by gang member being shot? What was that like?

SPEAKER_04 1:11:01

Oh man, so like I like I mentioned, you remember your firsts, and this guy gets shot up. We get a call, we respond there, we're first on scene. I remember arriving there. He's already in his brother's hands, like he's dying. He's shot. We jump out of the car. My partner and I, I run up to the guy because he's already on the floor dying. His brother's holding his arms. People screaming, people yelling. My partner, Tony Urtado, he's putting shit out, right? Already this and that. I need this perimeter, this is what we have, right? Units are responding. I run up to the guy. I'm trying to ask him what happened. Obviously, he's not talking, he's dying. And I remember, I will never forget, dude. He's looking at me, he's got holes in his body, his body's holding him, like kind of like yelling. I'm looking at the dude, he's looking at me, and that look, bro, he's looking at you, and he's looking through you. That's how you know they're out. So you never forget your first man. Yeah, and that's that's that was it, dude. He just that was it, and I was like, then and there? Yeah, in his brother's hands and with me in front of him. He's like, I'm the last person he saw. His brother's last person who held him, and the last I'm the last person he saw. Because I saw his soul leave his body. That that look doesn't escape you, dude. It stays with you forever. And I realized, okay, he's dead now. There's no point in me sitting here looking at him. So I I stand up. I'm like, gotta do the work, look for work. Snatch the first person that I saw as a victim. What'd you see? The first person that you saw as a witness. I'm so sorry, a witness. I apologize. That person that witness ended up being a good witness because that witness is like, hey, there was a so-and-so-looking vehicle with so-and-so number of people inside that went this direction. Boom, I've got my mic, I put it out. I put it out. Neighboring divisions, I think it was 77, hears it, sees the car based on my description, they get them to pursue. So now the phone's spilled out to them. They're chasing the car now. I guess the car crashed. Same thing, bailout, everybody's in custody. But because of that, I'm not saying I'm a fucking great cop, but because of that first person I grabbed, first witness, and the broadcast that I put out, I they later gave me some kind of accommodation for it. That's awesome, dude. That's awesome. Um, that's how the neighboring division 77 found the car, got into pursuit with them. They had fun on our behalf. And uh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:28

Was it the murder suspect?

SPEAKER_04 1:13:30

Um were they involved? Yeah, yeah, for sure. That was that was them. Yeah, that was them. Yeah, I don't remember having to go to court for it. I don't know what happened, or I did go to court. Shit, that was 2018. It was 2018, but I don't remember anymore.

Evil, Trauma, And What Cops See

SPEAKER_02 1:13:43

Now I'm sure nobody teaches you how to be a cop, bro. But and I'm sure, well, I know for a fact you gotta make decisions on the fly. What gave you the what drove you to make that decision? You see a brother holding the victim, the victim just died. You have multiple options. You can either A, start rendering aid to the victim, right? You can separate the brother and the and the victim, but you chose to snatch up a witness immediately. What why was that?

SPEAKER_04 1:14:09

Training. Training, bro. Do the work, find work. Find work. Because okay, you were when you respond to a situation to a call as a cop, why are you there? You're there to do some kind of work, find work to do. I don't need you to respond. The one of the things I hated when cops will respond to my call unnecessarily, and then just stand and shoot the shit, especially if it's a hot call. Find something to do. So what I do, okay. The guy is dead now. Can I render aid? Yeah, but then I know fire's on the way, but maybe they're already there. Let me what do I what's next? The guy is dead. What's the next best thing I can do? Grab witnesses, figure out who shot this guy. So that's what I did. It's the same thing in firearms training, same thing in martial arts, same thing in military. How many drills do you guys do day after day after day? And in in rifle clearing and mouth function clearing, so that when you get into shit like a firefight, you do it on autopilot. 100%. You're an autopilot. So that's what I did, bro. Just did what I was trained to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:12

What other crazy shit did you come across, bro? Because right now you just said a fucking car chase, a victim bleeding out. I mean, did you other did you were there other fucked up situations like that? Oh, yeah, dude. Oh, yeah. I mean, because as a police officer, you see the worst that the world has to offer. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:30

I I think the only people who see maybe worse than what police officers do, is you, COs. Or you just see the pure evil of the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:39

Or ER people working in the ER trauma.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:42

They see also the most unfortunate of the world. So I think this is what I think, man. Police officers see everything altogether. ER, emergency and paramedic firefighters, they see the trauma, the physical trauma, which is devastating. You see the pure isolated evil of the society after like we do our job and we send them to you guys. But altogether, we see just yeah, we see the worst of the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:09

A lot of cops say, Oh, I could never be a prison guard because I can never be in there. But that's a perk to knowing you're gonna show up and deal with fucking shit every day. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:18

I'll tell you right now that I'm not afraid to admit it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:19

I never wanted to be a C and the inmates.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:21

I never wanted to be a CEO. Could I be a CEO?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:24

That was a joke, but go ahead and inmates.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:26

I get it now. Took a second, but come on, bro. You gotta be quick with it. I know. My bad, man. I'm getting getting rusty. Um, yeah, I give you props, man. I give all CEOs props. And uh like I have friends who are CEOs. I'll tell you right now, bro. Uh, I never wanted to be a CEO. I never wanted to be in there locked up with these fucking animals, bro.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:44

From a former police officer, you're out there doing the Lord's work, chasing motherfuckers, tackling them, shooting at them, getting shot at. How do you like the thought of when these guys get to prison, the state rewards them with like bicycle shows, car shows, the inmates, uh, skateboarding demo demonstrations, paint your face? Uh, how do you feel that, like, hey, I did all this, I did all this hard work capturing this criminal. Now they're going to a California state prison, and now they're gonna get rewarded with dunking booths. You know, you throw the ball and the little inmate falls into the dunking booth water. That's a fact. Uh, I got the pictures. How do you feel that like it would you expect them to be going to like a rough environment?

SPEAKER_04 1:17:38

First of all, what the fuck you're talking about?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:40

I swear to God, bro. Are you serious? Dead serious. I'm surprised you haven't seen any of that. What goes on? Bro. But what did you expect? Did you think these dudes were gonna get hauled off and do hard time?

SPEAKER_04 1:17:53

Way to burst the bubble, bro. Well, let me put it this way. I didn't know you didn't know, bro. Well, I I kind of knew, but like, not to that extent. 100% of crap and what you're gonna say, bro. Norwegian freaking uh prison system. We really adopted that shit, didn't we? That's so. Well, that was a scam.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:09

That was a scam, that was a money laundering scam by Bree Williams from Amend. Yeah, that's trash, bro. Okay, that's trash. I had to get that good laugh out, dude. But that's the truth, man, because we're tying the whole enchiladas together. Yeah, uh the cowboy.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:24

That's poor line. First of all, okay, let me let me let me put it this way, right? Is every criminal a type of criminal that deserves to rot in jail? No, probably not, not really. Not everybody is just out there for for murdering people, but we were not putting the emphasis on that, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:39

Yes, 100%, bro. There's people in jail and in prison that are yeah, they're they're they they fucked up. Yeah, but they fucked up. Everybody fucks up, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:48

You know, let me put it this way. There's there's there's the evil of this world, right? And I think they deserve to rot in jail, like literally rot in jail. Hey, when you were a police officer, did you encounter evil? Absolutely, dude. Absolutely. I've had I can recall at least one incident where the person was just pure evil, like in the DNA, in their bones.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:08

What was that like? Was it a call?

SPEAKER_04 1:19:10

It was a call. There was a call of this guy, man. Just it was um, he's just first of all, you know, believe it or not, you can sense somebody's energy 100%. And that person was just evil to the bone. Like that person, I remember going to court and I'm thinking, like, dude, like, I don't ever wish any any any anything upon anybody, right? I I'm I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, and I would never want to wish anybody. I'm like, you are evil. And if I were to wish something upon you, I think when you go to jail, you deserve some severe punishment.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:45

What was his offense?

SPEAKER_04 1:19:47

I think it was a ADW on somebody, but he really hurt some person. He like knocked somebody's teeth out, hit him in the head, like hurt officers. You you know, he was just you could tell he didn't like

SPEAKER_02 1:20:00

murder anybody or mayhem but you could tell that person is evil to the bone like the way they talk the way they look at you I'm like if this person is released in society and allowed to do what they do he's gonna hurt so many other people man it's just to the bone evil person if an unexperienced brand new LAPD officer encountered such an evil man would they would that per LAPD officer be at a disadvantage?

Control, Respect, And Streetside Tactics

SPEAKER_04 1:20:23

Any unexperienced cop would be disadvantaged why but why because look man let me let me give you this example which an old school cop told me a long time ago when I was a rookie still starting they said listen man we're out here training shooting fighting right you know whatever we do in our training hopefully we go home to a comfortable bed to a comfortable house right sit in our car drive home these guys out here they're born into this life they walk out the door knowing that the chance they're old they can die or kill or having to kill somebody their mentality is survival you're gonna tell me there's people out there that have that mentality every single day go to war with the world expect to either die or have to kill somebody you tell me every cop has the same mentality fuck no bro not even every CO has that same mentality that's a mentality that you know in business dude I took the same mentality with me to business. So did I yeah you know you know it's funny I'll tell you I'll tell you something my business partner my best friend and I'm happy to admit that as a foreign police officer my best friend and business partner is a is a is an ex-felon oh 100% bro I get what you're saying not a violent crime because it's a mentality you're talking about the mentality well we both have mentality the mentality to win his mentality to win in prison and survive right is helping me in business my mentality to win and survive on patrol with gangsters is helping me in business let me clarify this for the reviewers that don't understand because they fucking can't seem to grasp or the level that we talk about right you gotta break it down I worked at a prison right with people that thought they were the shit were they really the shit they thought they were the shit I leave I start interacting and conversing with felons felons here we start picking each other's brain oh shit you know this I know this you know this let's help each other let's thrive and excel in business two totally separate backgrounds right but same mission excelling surviving and thriving exactly it's that simple it's also it's it's so you either fucking stay behind being mediocre or you fucking thrive and you excel yeah do you see it that way yes but the but the thrive and excel is a very little minority one percent yeah one to like maybe three percent three percent one three one to five percent but everybody else is a well first of all and I was discussing that topic with my partner right not everybody can be can be a leader you need followers you need followers you need ro robots you need people people aren't able to if everybody was a leader you're also gonna have too much conflict everybody's alpha chiefs not enough Indians that's what they used to say back in the day yes but also right now there's there's a difference between a manager and a leader facts we have way too many fucking managers not enough actual leaders 100% I bet you you know that you came from that from that business good bro we're on a this fucking show is all about helping people and I just dove into your background like a motherfucker there are officers working the streets right now LA and LA is wild wild west bro everybody knows about LA what can you tell them from your perspective as far as saying like hey dude you're young you're new you're wet behind the ears you are dealing with a whole new monster and animal you need to change your mindset what kind of advice could you give when it comes strictly to mindset we're not gonna get into tactics yet okay this is what I'm gonna tell you bro first and foremost get your own shit together get your own mindset together heal your internal boy or girl inside of you just because somebody gives you a gun and a badge just because you passed the polygraph and you graduate you passed the academy you graduated top of your class don't mean shit your mindset is either gonna get you killed or brought home every day your mindset is gonna get somebody else's killed your partner killed civilian or a bad guy first of all taking somebody's life you know them as well as I do is not easy it's not glorious not Hollywood you live for that shit with that shit for the rest of your life okay it's not easy second of all are you prepared not to come home one day are you willing to do that every single day from the day I started to the day I retired I said a prayer every day I put my vest on every single day I had my St. Michael picture and in my locker I put my vest on I said a prayer and God carried me through now I'm blessed and grateful. But the mindset is this heal the little boy or girl inside of you because if you don't have that person healed you come to work with that internal bullshit you bring home to work you bring home to work you're already disadvantaged your disadvantaged as is already facts you're we're behind dude we're we're reacting always facts because the bad the cops will never make the first bad no no we're always reacting that's number one right understand that you're already behind the curve right and then you if you have your mindset you're not all together you're talking about you think about your girlfriend your wife whatever your internal drama bullshit your personal childhood trauma whatever it is you're even further behind the curve right get clear your head heal your trauma be confident who you are once you heal all that internal trauma and all that childhood experiences whatever you become a better person you you get rid of the ego you can't have ego in the job brother ego is huge you can't have ego it will get you killed ego is a motherfucker in law enforcement bro get us in trouble gets us killed somebody else killed and hurt so now what would be the next step you're a brand new cop hey dude I heard what you said man I I cleaned up my I had a drinking problem I stopped you know I argued with my wife I've become more commutative attentive like what's next what's the next step in being quicker to the draw when it comes to the bad guys it's simple bro train train I don't know why I was expecting you to come up with some miraculous fucking solution but you're right it's that's the thing fucking simple but people are lazy look at these fat ass cops out there 100% who can't even run run a you know a quarter mile dude or can bro as a firearms instructor I cannot even tell you I question myself so many times like how are you on a job? Who passed you before I had to pass you and if I have to pass you I hope to God I never have to share a ride with you or you respond to my call because if we get into shit stay the F away from from my line of fire. When you say train are you talking about like dry fire? Everything dry fire shoot fight run fuck man have a diet don't be a 300 pound police officer your own life is in danger is that too much to ask we we should have a stand on the cross man like when you say train I think lifestyle my training was my lifestyle yeah what your lifestyle I know your lifestyle because I watch you I follow you same shit with me bro that's lifestyle it's a lifestyle exposed to everything 100% eat like shit if you don't work out if you just it you you're gonna be a piece of shit person if you train you eat well you stay in shape you know you you pray you just be a good person you'll be a good cop man there's no sticker to being a cop or any profession just right just because you can be a plumber and apply the same fucking principles wake up early eat healthy work out be a good person help people you'll be an amazing fucking plumber you can be a plumber you respond as a plumber you're nice fit good looking professional cool you respond as a plumber you're fat I see your belly or your ass sticking out then you smell like shit yeah it cop or plumber it doesn't matter bro right it it's the image is disgusting come on man like you telling me you're a CO right there and no C I know you guys had a hiring standard six foot minimum 200 pounds for a reason when it comes from you being a foreigner initially you there's a thing called standards right do you believe that police officers should be upheld to a certain standard yes all day all day I I'm very outspoken about it I sat on a job or I got in trouble for it. What did you say I said first of all motherfuckers can be fat okay because that's just dangerous for themselves and their partners number one number two I think police officers before getting on a job need to first go to college okay and have some kind of degree I'll tell you why not because degree makes them smarter no but because if they have to go to college right most likely they have to get some kind of a job most likely most jobs out there have are customer service based so it gives you foundation of customer service what is police work customer service so not only you're obtaining a degree you're also most likely to have some kind of a job some kind of customer service equipment experience life experience common sense development right so when you become a cop you already have that on your books maybe like 25 24 25 years old I think it's a good age because I had a class I had a classmate in my academy who turned 21 in the academy granted that's young he was a good guy shout out to uh uh to um I forgot his name good guy solid dude he's still a cop but I know he's a minority I know there's some cops who are 25 and they're still children should I work with some of them so raise the age throw in a degree you get a lot more life experience because cop you know bro it's common sense of life experience now I would imagine being a police officer is not not all about being like a muscular brute person right you do have to have a sense of penal code law how do you factor that in what kind of advice would you give to police because I dude you're not a dummy by any means right now this is just me reading you like what kind of advice would you give to new correctional or correctional officers police officers when it comes to learning the law common sense bro I'll tell you why what do you mean common sense? I'll tell you why there's letter of the law and the spirit of the law okay yes you can do a letter of the law all day right walk around with a ticket book hook and book everything but the spirit of the law and we have spirit of the law like you know infraction or minority it's your decision your discretion right um I'm sorry infraction or or or misdemeanor I said minority you don't have to but you can but sometimes what good I have encounters bro with like teenagers and people who like I pull over and having a bad day what good am I gonna do if I just give that person a ticket and they have a shitty ass day. I agree can I yes should I it's my discretion and if I let my ego in the way and I've done it I've had situations where I let my ego take over and I'm like no I'm throwing a book at you every line is a penal code violation. But as I got older I'm like listen man I've had situations where I'll just finish a call with a with a little girl being raped and I go to a traffic stop where a person calls me a pig a scumbag and a crooked ass cop and then I work for them and their taxes pay my salary okay but I just came from a traumatic call it's no different from me pulling somebody over for a stupid violation because I'm doing my job and they just had a worst day of their life. Same shit right I can throw a book at them where I can be like listen man I get it shit happens. Please don't do it again I've never given any adult a citation for a seatbelt why if you're an adult and if you don't put a seatbelt on you want to kill yourself by all fucking means do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:59

Child yes I'm throwing a book at your ass adult I don't give a shit that's almost common sense that is common sense bro because if you're not wearing a seatbelt that's on you.

Standards, Promotions, And Leadership

SPEAKER_04 1:32:08

Yeah your child all day dude you know right but if you're an adult if you want to do it this is a concept broce so it's yeah so that's what I mean by common sense you gotta have common sense and life experience when it comes to now did you ever pull people over that were not wearing a seatbelt? Yeah dude of course what do you tell them pull them over that I don't have a seatbelt and what and they say oh yeah officer I know I didn't have a seatbelt why why do people don't wear seat belts do you think that's kind of I don't know but let me tell you something as a as a as a hunt when you're a police officer and you're you're out there hunting you gotta know chicken shit violations because that's your bread and butter baby like how do you how do you look when you spot gangsters and criminals and shady shit on the street a lot of that is is hunch and a training experience by all means but you gotta do it by law right you can't just pull a car over because you it's a hunch hey expired tax tainted windows missing plate now wearing sitbelt cell phone blah blah chick there's a whole section that I had written down it's called chicken shit violations all day I just need that to stop the car once I stop the car oh I can smell weed or I can see the behavior or I can spot a gun bulging out and you get the picture right um everything is but by law right but um what was your question I deviated no that was a good question that was a good response when you see a gun bulging out right what should be the immediate actions well don't fucking scream you know don't do that every time I I had a situation with that I was calm and collected um I I draw my gun you draw your gun I draw immediately because I'm justified by policy and I draw my gun on the person or do you angle it down in a little rabies if if there's a person with a gun right by policy and I can either see the gun or articulate it's a gun and I believe it's a gun articulate it I'm pointing at them. I'm pointing at them and dude I had a situation where I pull over a a car one time and uh with my partner and I see the gun and I draw and I yell I'm like don't reach for that gun. So my partner hears it because the busy street you know he's like four feet away from me so he hears it and he draws too so now we both know it's a gun. I'm calling for backup and I'm like don't reach for that gun don't move you fucking reach for it you'll get shot I had a situation where I pull over a couple of gangsters and I'm the guy super cool right on parole gangster uh certified or registered gangster I'm talking to him shooting the shit and we gotta have a skill I'm shooting the shit I'm like oh pro this and that cool I'm gonna pat you down cool you get it he turns around I start patting him down clear as day bro he's wearing t-shirt and shorts he's strapped so I put my hand on strap I'm like dude I squeeze his hands behind his head I pull out my gun put it against his back I'm like you reach for that gun I didn't yell my my partner's behind me you reach for that gun I'll blast you so now he knows my partner knows he's buddy who's detained everybody knows my partner knows to call for backup and we just kick it till I got more units coming in units come in I hook it take the gun off hook the guy business as usual but it's common sense it's not like I'm gonna oh my god God kick him off that dude's demeanor like chill bro it's it's respect man it's common sense same shit with you guys you realize you oh fucking I just got caught yeah what is he gonna do but this doesn't want to get shot but I treat him with respect from the beginning I told him you pull that gun I'm gonna blast you bro 100% all day no and I get it bro do you believe that that situation could have gone different with an inexperienced police officer or you think that that paroli that paroli was just so fucking cheap I can't speak for the paroli I don't know his experience in life but the kicker is we never want to leave it up to the bad guy to make the decision take control take control situation right now I want you to elaborate on cops taking control because they might not understand right you need to dominate the situation yeah and now not with ego correct so what are some ways that you can dominate utilizing like maybe posturing up like you said you grab you squeeze the dude letting it open kick your feet open well put on first of all in that particular situation to spread your feet you kick their feet open because if they decide to run the first to get their feet together to take a step forward to lunge when they kick feet kick spread open where is it gonna run bro he has he can't run and then the head's behind the head and I'm got a hold of him or fingers like this and I got a hold of the fingers like that. Kind of tilting them back a little bit tilting them back bro there's there's ways like I said train okay Academy is there for a reason right watch videos train Archon and stuff so yeah but then before you even get to the situation before you even put your hands on somebody that's when your again common sense personality and life experience comes in the way you talk to people okay if you sound like a square hello sir can you please take a step back and like no like what's up OG hey do me a favor about I like blah blah blah where you from I see the tap blah blah I see the colors where you're from you're in no wrong neighborhood what you're doing here you're pro on probation where you at who you claim you know this and that so they know you're not a rookie like when I started as a police officer yeah I was a rookie but I was 27 years old as cheesy as it sounds I've seen a shit ton of fucking gangster movies right I've done stupid shit in my life I had friends who were may not have been affiliated I know the lingo right I've cursed my entire life so I knew how to get by bro like I wasn't a square never it was a square so gangsters read that how many percentage cops are like you as a whole unfortunately brother not many not many not many because my background is different you know I grew up I grew up on the streets man I've I've had I grew up seeing violence drug it's physical violence drug abuse filed on alcohol if you're a horrible cop can you become a liability to your partners yes all day I've seen that happen I've seen that happen all day long bro all day long as a as not only as a firearms and tactics instructor but also I've experienced that my myself dude you know if your partner can fight for shit or if your partner's a female even with the best intentions a female is is not as strong as a male dude I've had a situation where I have to fight somebody and the female just was doing the job so I was fighting for two I don't want to shy about I don't want to shy from this topic uh did LAPD go through the 30 by 30 hiring more females on push was there a push in the LAPD to hire more females or to highlight that I can't say I witnessed that when I was with LAPD but I know some of the old timers told me that did happen. That did happen like hey we're just starting to see a bunch of what I saw happening bro and I might be wrong but what I saw happening if you are a female okay of certain color okay or group sky's the limit you get promoted quicker than you probably get promoted if you're on your knees and you get what I'm saying. So you saw that so you did see I saw and again I don't know what behind closed doors but when you see somebody incompetent just climb your ranks and then LPD had scandals when I was there bro this scandal orgy scandal this captains with deputy chiefs and blah blah blah come on pictures of flying around we've seen pictures of naked captains wives and commanders whatever it's the same bullshit everywhere dude right so you know nobody's immune to it bro it's it's it's whatever yeah yeah it's in every agency I'm sure nobody's immune to it now for the record since we're on the topic um was there any females that were fucking solid yeah cops yeah there's females solid and I'm sure they were more solid than some male cops yeah yeah dude like I had in the academy I had my um my classmate uh shout out to Raya Chalet I think she I think she might even mean made D team by now but in the academy she was squared away dude that chick is gang Still, like she, I would take her as a partner all day, every day. She's squared away, you know. She was uh uh one of the recruit um leaders, I believe. My recruit leader, uh matter of fact for her. She's just but again, solid character, solid human being, common sense, dude, just good person overall.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:18

I think that's what it boils down to, bro. We've been doing this long enough where it doesn't matter what you are, what background you come from, bro. If you're a piece of shit, you're a piece of shit. If you're a good person, you're a good person. Yeah, period. It's that simple, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:32

Yep, doesn't matter where, what profession, I'll tell you the same shit in business. Bro, I shake hands now with big people out there. I don't want to brag with like the CEOs of big multi-million dollar corporations.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:46

You were telling me I checked up the warehouse. What are your purposes?

Faith, Entrepreneurship, And Life Lessons

SPEAKER_04 1:40:48

And you know, in the beginning, when I was kind of in my uh in the beginning of my entrepreneurial career, I was like, wow, kind of like who the fuck am I? You know, like this person is a multi-million, 200 million dollar company. Like, who am I? Their product is on every store. But I'm like, talk to that person, shake their hand with a little flimsy handshake, and see the insecurities like fuck, man. I chased gangsters. 100%. You know, fought from my life with them before. You're you're no different. If anything, yeah, you might have created a company, but strip away the company, just like if I strip away the rank, I'll I'll kill you with my bare hands. 100%. To me, it's like, again, my life experience served me well. So I'm like, I go in there like solid, dude. Like, hey, I'll tell you what to do. It doesn't matter if you're a multi-million, I'll tell you what to do and how to do things better for you, for your company, if you need my help with it. Same concept. Not the monster, not the angel you want. I'm the monster you need. Because at the core, we're primal. Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:38

Main we're supposed to put hunt, gather, and protect.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:41

Yeah, exactly. And society will disagree with you now because it didn't try to pussify us and take away masculinity. That's why my podcast is dedicated to three simple things: freedom, right? Faith, freedom, masculinity, and entrepreneurship. The four things that build this country, which makes us patriotic, dude. We're we're we're brand new kids on the block, but we're patriots. What's the name of your podcast and where can people find your show? My podcast name is Purpose Over Pleasure Podcast. Uh, you can find me on YouTube, right? Just type in Purpose Over Pleasure Podcast. Easy to find me. Uh, the logo is easy, it's a it's a fist in a circle. And I'm also on Instagram and TikTok. Yeah, so I run my Instagram page just like you do, and I have TikTok only because whatever, it's there. I don't really pay attention to it, but for some reason it gets a ton of views.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:26

What's the biggest lesson you've taken away from being your time as a cop, your time as an entrepreneur, and being a podcast host?

SPEAKER_04 1:42:34

Biggest lesson from three of them?

SPEAKER_02 1:42:36

From your experiences in life and dealing with people.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:42

Well, it's kind of hard for I can't speak for entrepreneurship because again, I've been the business owner in the business for like maybe a couple of years. I'm still I just got a shit ton of am I successful? Fairly, yeah, but I still got a lot of things. I'm I'm still got a lot to learn. It's it's never ending in in no matter what you do in life. I'll tell you what, I tell you what, man. Police work taught me a few things. Number one, tomorrow's never guaranteed. Never. Once I grasped that concept, once I almost died multiple times, I realized, well, fuck this, man. I'm not gonna be here until I'm 59 and a half. I'm gonna take my chances in the real world. That took me into my podcasting, which took me into business. Okay. Which changed my mindset to like, I'm gonna do what I want to do. I want to get one life, one shot at it. I'm gonna take my chances, I'm gonna die trying, or I'm gonna achieve what I want to achieve. I'm not settling for this shit. I'm not settling for some pension with a longevity of five years after that. No, I'm gonna do me, bro. I'm gonna do me.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:38

That's a fact, bro.

SPEAKER_04 1:43:38

Yeah, that's a fact. So that the police work showed me things that I was like, like open up my mind, dude. When you see people lose their life at the wrong place or wrong time, literally, when you nearly die yourself at least once or twice, it changes you, bro. Life is precious, man. Tell your loved ones you love them, tell forgive your fucking enemies. This shit is not worth it. Hate is not worth it, bro. It's gonna eat you on the inside. Just and do what you want to do, man. And have no fear, bro. Have no fear. It's crazy because as cops, or we do we do some fearless shit. We bust through doors out there with people armed inside. We do some crazy shit. But then we go back home, we're like, oh, I want to start a business, but I'm scared. What the fuck are you scared of? Okay, you lose your money. Okay, I'm terrified right now, bro. I have a three-month-old baby, right? Right. I retired, I pour all my money into business, right? I'm doing shit. Can I fail? I can, but I have faith and I have balls, bro. So that's it. That's all I got, man. And the good people and good people around me. I'm blessed with God. Blessed me with a lot of great things in life. One of them is coming to this country, one of them is getting adopted into the family and just my circumstances. Another one is my great friends, dude. God blessed me with an amazing wife and a baby, but friends. It's one thing I'm most grateful for. God's blessing with some amazing friends who I wouldn't be here without my friends, bro. And I'm very grateful. And I always give them shout-out for that. Including the people who's been there at certain stages of my life. They're not here anymore. Right. But they serve their purpose. Absolutely. Shout out to them too, man. No hard feelings. I got I don't hate nobody, bro. I got love for everybody. Um, I'm kind. I'm I'm violent, but I'm kind, bro. Like in my, you know. My only my I have a few fears in life, and one of them is I don't ever have a I don't ever want to have to go to primal ways. And now that I'm getting older, wiser, I'm a father, I'm a businessman, I'm a leader, public speaker, peer support counselor, man of Christ. I read the Bible. I really try to read read the word of God and get to know him. And he's just forgiveness and forgiveness and forgiveness and what you speak, right? I'm working on my cursing. But I just hope to God I never have to go to a situation where I have to go primal and hurt somebody because I'm capable of like it's the story of the two wolves.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:57

Which one do you feed, the good one or the bad wolf? We both have the good, uh, we both have the both wolves inside of us.

SPEAKER_04 1:46:03

You gotta control them. You gotta control the bad one though, because it's really easy. And that's the issue with men, brother. And you notice you you you bro, you you work with evil people your entire life. You're you're a grown masculine man capable of violence yourself. Jordan Peterson said it himself: uh a man who's a pacifist is not a good man, that's a weak man. Right. A good man is a man who's capable of great violence, but he is under control. Facts, you know, and and it's not just like yeah, I'm walking around and I can kill you, I can skin your life. No, it's ego, anger, words, because your words can destroy people. Bro, I've been I've been the biggest shit talker for years, for years. I've hurt people verbally, to the people I love, bro. But now, like that's that's a sin, and that's not a good way to do things, bro. Why would we and cops would do it all the time? The non-stop shit talk and gossip. We do it 24-7, bro. Facts it sucks, brother.

SPEAKER_02 1:46:56

Well, I want to thank you for driving all the way down here, bro, and sharing your story, man. That you're like to me the epitome of what a fucking cop is supposed to be, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:47:03

Thank you, brother. That you know, I won't I'm only gonna say this, man. Um, I'm standing on the shoulder of giants. I became a good cop because of people who train me well, people who poured knowledge into me, poured wisdom into me, took care of me, mentored me, and I learned from them. So I'm only as good as the people who I learned from. Oh, yeah. And I remember in the academy, one cop said that to us, my entire class. He said one thing that I at the time I didn't understand. He said, Don't ever try to be a great cop. Be a good cop. I'm like, what the fuck are you talking about? But by then he said, We try to be a great cop, you try to be a perfectionist, and you can never be a perfectionist. When you're a good cop, you do your work, you go to work, you be a good cop. Right, you do your job, you go home, you feel good, you sleep good. So, for all you guys out there who want to be cop, don't try to be a great cop. Be a good cop or be a good person or whatever you do. Cool. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:52

Thanks, bro.

SPEAKER_04 1:47:53

Anytime, brother. Thanks for having me.

Be A Good Cop, Not A Perfect One

SPEAKER_02 1:47:55

There you guys have it, folks. Another banger. Always try to give you a different perspective of people's life experiences. If you like what you saw, make sure you hit the subscribe button. Love you, keep pushing forward.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:17

Story never ends up.