Latest / APD Pod Squad / Episode 9; SPO Christopher Strumolo, Sgt. Jonathan Collins, & Chief Mike Lamb

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Episode 9; SPO Christopher Strumolo, Sgt. Jonathan Collins, & Chief Mike Lamb · APD Pod Squad

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is the APD Pod Squad.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Rick Rice, and on this episode of the APD Pod Squad, getting to know Sergeant Jonathan Collins, we'll ask the Chief.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: We've got three questions that have been submitted, and we'll get the answers from Chief Mike Lamb.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll find out what's happening in the Asheville Police Department's Community Engagement Division from Senior Police Officer Christopher Stramolo.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Starting things off today by getting to know Sergeant Jonathan Collins.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining us today.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: So uh if you've heard this before, the APD Pod Squad, you know we just got just a couple of questions that we use as a jumping off point.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: The first of which is where were you born?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I was born in Emporia, Kansas, uh 1989.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: I guess uh this is too easy, but you're not in Kansas anymore.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've heard that more than once.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Sure you have, but I I just couldn't resist, you know.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: There's got to be a story to that from Kansas to Asheville.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: So when did that happen?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Why did that happen?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: I moved around quite a bit, but wound up settling back in Kansas in second grade.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: My freshman year in 2003, we moved up here.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: My father took a job.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: So the family moving here was the reason you came here.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's correct.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I lived in uh Joplin, Missouri, uh, at one point in the mid-90s.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: So not big Missouri fans.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: We fought a war against you, so we're not.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was a it was a thing back in the day.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: It was like Kansas and Missouri did not like each other.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Still don't, yeah.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Is that is it that's still the case?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then you guys went to the SEC, so that whole thing, right?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: I uh this is what I remember from Kansas.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: It is super flat.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it is just like uh my apartment in Joplin, Missouri faced west, and I could see a storm coming like a couple of hours away.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: I could time it out.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: I could be on my uh porch having a beer, getting ready to light the grill, see a storm in the distance, and say to myself, uh, I got about an hour and a half.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: I got to the point where I could really nail it.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just it's there's nothing stopping it.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: It is just nothing but flat.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: So this has got to be a change of pace.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: My father, who took the job up here, he's originally from East Tennessee.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I was familiar, at least with this terrain, you know, just just an hour away, coming up here for Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes staying a few months during the summer.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So but I always liked the mountains, but it was uh I do have a nostalgic look at the the flatlands and the prairie for sure.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I experienced one big tornado when I was there in Joplin, and uh it's kind of known as Tornado Alley, the part that I was living in.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's like that area of where Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri all kind of meet and it goes through Texas and the whole thing.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Emporia is a little bit away from that, but did you experience any of that when you were there, anything along along those lines?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've seen, I mean, there there's been several tornadoes.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: My my hometown, Hutchison, was also hit by a uh tornado fairly recently, uh near Wichita is where I'm from, or where I you know I grew up at.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember any of Emporia.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was in at Fort Hayes State University for a Boy Scout camp.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: The the very little time I was in Boy Scouts when the storm came over, it was an EF4 that would wound up dropping on Hoysington, Kansas that night.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and wiped it off the face of the map.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: There was a real bad one in Joplin, about what was it, 10, 15 years ago, give or take.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: And that particular one was right down the street from the apartment complex that I lived at when I was in Joplin.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: And the apartment complex was wiped off the map.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't living there at the time, thankfully, didn't have to experience that big one.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: I was gone by then.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: But that's the kind of thing that can happen out there.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my brother lives in Springfield, Missouri.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: So Springfield's a very nice area.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, and just south of that is a very beautiful part of the country that not a lot of people are familiar with, the Ozark Mountains.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now, for people that live here, they would probably feel a bit of a kinship to the Ozarks because it's kind of similar in just general style.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: We've got Gatlinburg, they've got Branson.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of the same thing.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we're getting to know Sergeant Jonathan Collins here today on the APD pot squad.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: The first question was where was he born?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: And Poria, Kansas was the answer to that.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: Now here's the other question we like to ask.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: What is one thing that most people don't know about you?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: I say most people are initially surprised.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoy creative writing.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've always enjoyed writing, reading poetry, uh, and then fiction.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell So why do you say people are surprised?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell I don't know.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Most I think most people just don't expect people to say that, I guess.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's not I don't think there's anything uh inherently weird about it.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think everybody likes doing their own, you know, everybody has their own hobbies, but that is something that I think most people aren't expecting me to say.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Creative writing was definitely more of a thing back in the day.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, I I hate to say 1700, 1800s or early 1900s, but it's true.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of it was because of, well, lack of entertainment options for one.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of people were writing and, you know, reading uh more often.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so is it more short stories?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Is it poetry?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: What do you lean towards?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Well, the only thing I actually finish is poems.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I never finish a book, unfortunately.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have too ADD for that, and the writer's block catches in, so I'll just skip to something else.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'll come up with a different idea.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: But we're talking about man from Nantucket kind of poetry?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: I do like well, I do like rhyming, like rhyme and meter prose.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that that's my interest.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh more, you know, like Wilfred Owen's my favorite poet.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you're familiar with him.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that was going to be my my next question.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a certain writer or writers that you lean towards that you're they're your favorites?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like Percy Shelley, the you know, the Ozzie Mandius poem.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: But Wilfred Owen's my favorite, and it's also because of the story.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he was a uh British man who joined the uh British Army in World War I, and he wrote several.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: There was a there was actually a large number of World War I poets, specifically I mo know mostly, you know, the the British ones, like Siegfried Sassoon and uh Wilfred, and those two had actually kind of worked together a little bit when they went to the hospital.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: But Wilfred wrote a bunch of really poignant poems.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've got his whole collected works, and then he wound up dying the day before or the week before the armistice was signed, and his mom got the letter the day that it was declared that the victory happened.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: So he wrote, you know, Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dolce et decorumest, and then kind of a a lesser-known one, which is one of my favorites, is the the parable of the old man and the young.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: So when I was growing up, I probably do impress girls, I tried to get into poetry.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I I tried to pretend that I really liked it.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it ended up, I ended up liking it.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you start doing it, you start reading it to try and you know be something that you think is cool when you're a teenager, because you know, you're just trying to do anything you can.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I read a lot of uh Thoreau uh and I uh Longfellow and some of the older, you know, the way back in the day ones, not the modern poets and things of that nature.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually turns out I really enjoyed uh some of that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't necessarily understand it as as well as I probably could have.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: I had to have someone explain it to me a lot.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: It turns out it didn't score me any women either.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, and I uh I I've not taken enough college English classes, maybe myself, but uh I also prefer, you know, the older poets.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think most all of the ones I have their works are dead, you know, W.B.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yates and and like I said, Percy Shelley and and Wilfred Owen.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're getting to know Sergeant Jonathan Collins talking about poetry of all things.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: So uh as long as we're talking about that, let's let's kind of take that, translate that into uh say modern pop culture.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So movies like Dead Poet Society.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: What are your thoughts on that movie as far as You've never seen it?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: You've never seen You've got to.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about poetry and a teacher and expanding the minds of the students.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: So you gotta put that on your your list of it.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it's Robin Williams, and he's just absolutely brilliant in that.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm familiar with scenes from it.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think I you know I've seen obviously you know, we're uh we're very short clip, you know, attention span these days with the reels and the TikToks and all that kind of stuff.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So they put out enough scenes that you see in the YouTube shorts and everything.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen the scenes from it, but I've never sat down to actually put it on.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta sit down one time and just give yourself a couple of hours and watch that movie.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Promise me, okay.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: How about uh music when it comes to is there any musicians, any songwriters that you consider to be true poets?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: I would say any singer, songwriter, somebody that writes through them writes their own like lyrics.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you would consider them of sorts to be a poet?
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, court, yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean if it's if it's rhyme and meter and it meets the, you know, like if you if you I don't know, if it's catchy enough to you, it's it's essentially poetry.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's all it's poetry emotion, literally.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's moving to a beat and got a rhythm and a melody.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's something to that.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think most you know, even like when you think back to like epic poems like the Epic of Gilgamesh or something like that, you know, that's like typically sung in Sumerian.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so I mean, I think they go hand in hand.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Don't want to put you on the spot, but do you have anything you have written you would like to share with us?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh not in particular.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: I usually write under a pseudonym.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've been in I've I've entered a few competitions I've never won.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: So one day maybe.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing, huh?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've got a lot, but no.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've got the voice for it.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe I could get you to voice over.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: We could do that.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: We could do that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: We'll make a plan for that.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sitting down with us today talking a little bit of poetry, a little bit of uh Kansas.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: You're a sergeant now.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Aspirations to go higher.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, I don't know.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm very happy where I'm at right at the moment.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like to take things in stride.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I am ambitious, but not uh overly so.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I like how that sounds.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: Sergeant Jonathan Collins, thanks for joining us today.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Time now for Ask the Chief, and it's been a while to Ask the Chief.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: We're back into our regular APD pod squad mode now.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Chief, we've got several questions.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they all arrived via email, so we don't have any actual voicemail this time, but we've got some good ones.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it looks like it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Our first one comes from Annie Dance.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Chief Lamb.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: What role does technology, such as surveillance cameras or automated license plate recognition, as we call them the ALPR systems, play into your department's crime prevention strategy?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And how do you balance public safety with privacy concerns?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a that's a good question.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, most agencies now have a variety of technological enhancements.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the main technology that we use right now, we have LPRs within some of our vehicles.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have stationary LPRs yet.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And for the for the listeners, uh LPR is license plate readers.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we uh take certain data and you put that into the database for the license plate reader.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And an example would be if uh one of our patrol cars has a license plate reader in the in-car camera, and that license plate is displayed on a car that's got a hit on it.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's a stolen vehicle, if a murder suspect is driving it, if there's an amber alert or a silver alert uh attached to that vehicle that'll notify the officer driving the car that, hey, this vehicle is either wanted or it has somebody who's missing inside of it.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the LPR technology.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're planning right now to do an RTIC, uh real-time intelligence center, and we will have stationary LPRs at different places throughout the city, depending on what crime data shows us as far as where that's needed.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: But currently we have LPRs in a lot of our patrol cars.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we populate that with like who are the most violent offenders.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if there's somebody that's wanted for a violent crime, if there's a murder murder suspect, if again a stolen vehicle, we we don't populate any minor crimes within the the data that generates the hit for that patrol officer.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um but unfortunately the reality is now that we're not able to use that as proactively as we want to just because of our staffing situation.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: So primarily we use the hits on in our technology, the LPRs, uh reactively.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if we have a crime that has been committed, the officer can go back and look and see, well, here's where that that tag was in proximity to this crime that occurs, has has occurred, and um use that to be able to solve the crime, find who the suspects are, and then bring them to justice.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Then we also have body worn cameras that every uh every officer has.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um every officer has the body worn camera running whenever they are doing a police action, whenever they're having an encounter, answering a call for service, anything like that.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that uh, you know, helps the officer to be able to document what uh the call was, what the person said, maybe what a suspect said.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um if it's a crime in progress, it documents the officer's actions and also the suspect's actions and uh can be used in court.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then the last thing we have are drones.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we have drone or drone technology and we deploy drones um as an overwatch.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if an officer is dispatched, say, for example, to a person with the knife, person with a gun call, the drone launches, goes to that location, and provides the officers uh a real-time, um up-to-date information, like so that the officer can safely answer the call.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the drones go out and they will actually cancel an officer before they get there because it could be somebody called and they're based on their perception, they're seeing something that looks like it's either a critical incident or it is a uh crime in progress or a dangerous situation.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then the drone pilot uh flies the drone over there and and sees that it is it is not something that needs police attention.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that actually helps keep officers in areas where they can do more crime prevention and they can be in those are in those areas that uh we're having, you know, a hotspot in violent crime or something like that.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we always balance the use of the technology with the right for privacy.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess a good way to think about our cameras or our drones or other cameras that we have, not necessarily the body worn cameras, but uh drones, LPRs, other cameras, they're think of them as like a business surveillance camera.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: So they're in public areas.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um they're in areas where, like say you go to McDonald's, there's gonna be a camera looking outside of that McDonald's.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it it's in areas where there's not really an expectation of privacy there.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it's it's in public areas.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And when somebody's in a vehicle, there's a limited expectation of privacy there, but not like you know, somebody's castle, not like somebody's home.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we we we're always balancing that, making sure that we're being cognizant of people's right to privacy, uh especially with the Fourth Amendment.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh public safety as well.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like Captain Obvious to say that uh technology is the wave of the future.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: But it's true.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And the things that you had mentioned, uh not only can they help as far as crime fighting, but they also help as far as allocation of resources, uh preventing us from, like, say, sending an officer somewhere where it may just be a wild goose chase, but something along the lines of it's much ado about nothing, and then he, you know, then he's used for that period of time that he can't be doing something else.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so with the drones and things along along those lines, it's certainly very beneficial in that way.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: So uh using the limited resources that we have, uh humans, which is the most valuable, yes, uh, by using you know technology, which can cover a lot more ground.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: So great question by Annie Dance.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: All right, question number two comes from Stan in Kenilworth, who emailed Chief Lamb, what are the rules or policies regarding what an officer wears or carries, like gun, baton, stun gun, et cetera?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: Is it different for detectives or how about you?
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen you in uniform and also not in uniform, and it's different.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: So how do you answer that?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: So we we have a directive and a memorandum that outlines uh, you know, which all officers get which equipment.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's dependent on their their role.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: So for an example, you know, detectives get different equipment because they're not in full duty uniform.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um they have full duty uniforms, but that's not their what they regularly wear.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um so they'll they will have different equipment issued to them as opposed to somebody that's on patrol who's in full-duty uniform, um, and then that differs from somebody who is saying in logistics or some other assignment.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it also depends on if they're on a specialty team, because different specialty teams have different equipment.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: For example, you know, the bomb team has their big bomb suit that they can deploy.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh SWAT team's gonna have their SWAT equipment, uh, bike response team's gonna have a different uniform or if they're on the bicycle, something that's highly visible.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So those are some examples of the the different units, different equipment that we have, but then we no matter what the equipment is, the only equipment that officers are and detectives are allowed to have on them are department-issued authorized equipment.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then the officer has to show proficiency in with that equipment as well.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, using myself as an example, you know, I'm in full duty uniform right now, and I'm wearing my uh police uniform with my badge, my name tag that has the date I was hired or the year I was hired, and then I have my my vest on.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime I have a uniform on, I always have my vest.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's just up to something that I've done for the last almost 27 years.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is that mandatory?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you're wearing your full uniform, you have to have your vest?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: We have a bulletproof vest grant where we get these these bulletproof vests.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: I d it doesn't feel right to me if I'm wearing a full-duty uniform and I don't have my vest on.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's it's part of the uniform.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: As an officer, when officers wake up each day and they go out, you know, they never know what the events are gonna happen that day, you know, what what dangerous situation is gonna unfold in front of them.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's it's really important that those officers um have that availability for that equipment.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the the vest we replace every five years, they have basically have a five-year shelf life.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but then I've got the other equipment on me.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've got my duty belt on.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: As a chief, even, you know, I'd like I I like wearing all my gear because it's the same gear that I've I've worn over years and um and I've trained to know where each piece of equipment is.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: So for an example, it's it's rare these days, but if I have to arrest somebody, I've got my handcuffs and I know exactly where my handcuffs are, and I know how they're positioned, I know how to apply them, get them and apply them without even looking at my handcuff case.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with my baton, my taser, uh, just qualified with the uh new Taser 10 the other month.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have to show proficiency and that we're training on a regular basis and that we we adhere to the training so that if we deploy and use these different tools, um that that documentation is there that we we did the training.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've got my pistol magazine or magazines, I've got two magazines, I've got my radio, I've got um my glove pouch holder.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, used to be wouldn't wear gloves that much out on the road, especially when I was out on patrol.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but especially when I was captain over community engagement, we were getting in a lot of different situations um with folks that were struggling and suffering from addiction.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's the drug game is so much different now than it was, say, ten years ago, with especially with fentanyl.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I tell officers like do not touch anything that you suspect is fentanyl uh without having having gloves on.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um just just to keep yourself safe.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, uh fentanyl exposure is so dangerous where officers can overdose as well if they're exposed to it.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: So and then then the pistol that's on my side as well.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we also have gear that where officers can respond to like an active shooter in progress.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we got the they have the helmets, the rifle plates, uh, the carbines that are that are assigned to them.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, there's just there's a variety of equipment out there, but it's all officers train with it on a regular basis, they qualify to with their equipment.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: We also do inspections on a regular basis also to make sure that um each officer is keeping their equipment maintained uh to the level that it should be.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: Does it feel weird like when you're just being a civilian and let's say you're on vacation or somewhere else to not be all suited up for lack of a better term?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: You you don't have your service weapon with you, you don't have your anything else.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: Does it feel kind of awkward, odd?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, especially if somebody's having a staycation, you know, they may have their their service weapon on them or a um a concealed weapon, because it's um, you know, officers unfortunately and unfortunately have the gift of situational awareness.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for example, I remember I was uh last year I was in DC with my family and we were walking around and I saw somebody in front of me on the sidewalk that was in in mental crisis, uh screaming at a tree, just acting erratic.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so look seeing that it was probably about 50 yards ahead, and I I said, you know, we maybe we need to cross the street here, go to the other side, and then and then walk down there.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: So um of course DC is a place where you can't have a gun unless you are the active law enforcement, military on the job right then and there.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Rules are very stringent.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: They're in like New York City as well.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's there's some other municipalities where and vacation spots where we have a reciprocal agreement to where officers from outside jurisdictions can still carry.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh, you know, a lot of officers carry off duty, carry on vacation, it's because it's that calling to protect the public and protect and serve.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so officers are myself included, will oftentimes carry in other areas to where uh we're making sure that we're keeping our families safe and also the public safe around us.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Great answer.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Great question from Stan and Kennelworth.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: We appreciate you sending that in.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the final one today is actually I guess we'll we'll give ourselves a little bit of kudos from this one, and it's uh giving us some nice words for both of us.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh hi Rick.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Want to extend my kudos for creating the podcast.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I didn't create it, I do execute it.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the podcast was uh created uh prior to my arrival, and then we started it, of course.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm loving the format of introducing the officers on a personal level and allowing the community to gain insight into the human beings behind the badges.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: I also applaud Chief Mike Lamb and the fabulous job he's done to begin restoring the Asheville Police Department.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: I believe he is committed to his officers and improving the safety and security of the community.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: I do have two questions.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Here's the first one How has the Chief overcome the presumed challenge of working with the city council that has been extremely anti police?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Since uh I've been chief.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I b you know, I became interim chief uh back last December, uh December of twenty twenty three and then became was appointed in uh February of of twenty twenty-four.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I've gotta say, since I've been chief of everything that I've asked for from council, they've approved council has been I've been very supportive of the Asheville Police Department at as my time as chief.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, but I've been able to work very very well with them, have open communications with them, and they've been helpful in giving advice as well.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um and also sharing concerns that they've had uh from like different areas of the community that have experienced crime.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I I really have experienced that we have an open line of communication so that we can together as a as a community um address crime concerns.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I also have have grown to understand in this position that you know council just doesn't oversee the police department.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's a difficult job.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: They have to, you know, oversee and are responsible for the operations for of the entire city and everyone that lives within the city.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we've really seen that over the last you know couple of months, couple of weeks with the restoration with the the hurricane, you know, and the police department has played a role in that recovery and the safety and security during during the recovery efforts, but for a large part it's been you know public works uh working on on the streets and the cleanup and the water department restoring, getting the water back, and then you know, in an amazing time frame getting drinkable water back.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um so kudos to them for doing that.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, we've also got the fire department and we've got parks and rec that oversee, you know, like recreational activities, because you know, health and wellness parks and rec is is part of that, health and wellness of the community.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I'm very aware that you know we are one cog in the wheel when it comes to city operations.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so um so it's it I've just I've been thankful that they've been so easy to work with over this last year.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, as an outside observer, someone's lived here for 20 years.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: What I what I noticed was kind of what this uh alludes to a little bit as a presumed anti-police sentiment, which wasn't entirely inaccurate.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think what happens though, and what I've seen happen over and over is somebody comes into office with a certain set of ideas.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: They arrive in office and then they're there a certain amount of time and they actually see things from a different perspective.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: And they seem to maybe I don't want to use the word understand necessarily, but it perhaps it becomes clearer the role of certain departments that you mentioned, and police, of course, whereas they may have had certain political philosophies, leanings, whatever it was, they maybe see that not everything they believed prior to them coming in was accurate.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I really think communication is key.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, having being able to have a conversation and being able to hear somebody else's perspective, understand that perspective, you know, and if we don't understand it, dive a little more into it and ask some pertinent questions as far as, you know, what what is driving this perception or this philosophy and then work together to try to have a better understanding.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, police operations are so so difficult at times.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: And and so it it's important for us to be able to explain um the needs of the agency, the needs of the community, um, what's driving certain crimes in certain areas, um, but having that communication is key.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the second question that comes from, and by the way, I didn't mention this before, Farah Callaway of Fletcher actually sent this in.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: So not city city resident, but from Fletcher.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh how often does the chief get told that he resembles Ralph Macchio, aka Daniel LaRusso, which of course a karate kid reference.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: So is this the first person that's ever mentioned it, or has other people mentioned this?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, this is the this is the first time that anyone has ever mentioned it.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing it now.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I can I and I definitely understand, you know, Ralph Ralph Macchio is uh Italian Greek descent, incredibly handsome young man.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course, you know, a movie star and the whole thing.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I totally get it.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, now that this person mentions it, Ferris says it, and I'm like, okay, yeah, a little bit.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: So now have you looked in the mirror and said to yourself, all right.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: Especially the the more recent photos.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, I could, I could see that.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think he's what, in his early 60s, yeah, I believe.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: So he's older than you, of course.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: But uh not a teenager anymore like he was in karate kidd.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, yeah.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I and I God, I used to love those movies too.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: I remember I think I was around nine or ten years old when the first one came out.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I went to the the Innsbruck Mall Theater, which was the tw one of the twin theaters that was kind of where Office Depot now, the theater was off to the left.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I I liked the movies so much that I started taking taekwondo after that.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: So then I I went back and watched the Karate Kid 2, Karate Kid III when it came out.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was a fun time.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I used to love the movies.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody ever swept your leg though, right?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: Sweep the leg.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sweep the leg.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sweep the leg.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: No, it didn't happen.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: No, but I did a little wax on, wax off, you know, and painting the fence.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: That was the only thing that I learned about that was how to properly wax from Mr.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Miyagi.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I may have tried to catch a fly with chopsticks at one point, but you know.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I was ever successful at it.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Anyone has ever been successful with that.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I it's gotta be just Hollywood, right?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I that's what I attribute it to.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much for your submissions today.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks to Farah from Fletcher, also to Stan from Kenilworth, and to Annie Dance for your email questions and ask the chief.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: If you've got a question for Chief Mike Lam and you would like to ask the Chief, you can call and leave a voicemail at 828-250-8800.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: Do that any time of the day or night, 247-365, or you can email us at apd podcastfeedback at ashevillenc.gov.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: Once again, apd podcastfeedback at ashevillenc.gov.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: Chief Lamb, thanks again for joining us for another edition of Ask the Chief.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's been my pleasure.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining me now, Senior Police Officer Christopher Stramolo.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sitting down with us today.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's my pleasure to be here.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so here's the thing.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we haven't spoken too much prior to today, right?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: So we're both kind of getting to know each other with this.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna put you right on the spot.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, this will be kind of a version of the getting to know segment that we do.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: So where were you born?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Brooklyn, New York.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Brooklyn, New York.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: You don't sound like Brooklyn, New York.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: Deb.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: You worked hard to get rid of that?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_04: Uh it was uh I I believe actually it was an accident that did it.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_04: Uh when I was very, very young, um, I was in a BMX bike accident.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_04: Oh.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_04: And um had a lot of damage, shall we say, to my teeth and and mouth and some reconstructive stuff done.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_04: So I think uh my palate didn't let me adapt to the to the New York accent.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_04: Brooklyn, as they say, that whole thing.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: So you're probably the only one in your family that doesn't sound like you're from Brooklyn.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's correct.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: So how long have you been in Asheville?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_04: Uh 17.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_04: Since 2017, we moved here.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_04: So we're coming up on eight years.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: And how many years with the Asheville Police Department?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_04: Same amount of time.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: So you came here for the job then?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_04: Fantastic.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_04: We came here on vacation in July of 17, applied in August of 17, and was living here by December of 17.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, fantastic.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: And you're a member of our community engagement division right now.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: How long have you been with that department?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: About a year and a half now.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Real good chance to meet the people in the community and experience things with them in kind of a I don't want to say a non-policing way, but it's it's really kind of cool some of the things that take place in community engagement, some of the uh the coffee with a cop and you know, playing chess down at Pritchard Park and things like that.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you're not cracking so many skulls in the community engagement division.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: You're more engaging with the people.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_04: Correct.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_04: You enjoy that?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_04: I do.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_04: I do.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_04: It's another side that I didn't really know was available in this profession until I started working here.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Powell So we've got a lot of things coming up in the month of December.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: I know we've got a busy month, but we're coming off of uh something that everyone's had to deal with here recently.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you can call it Tropical Storm Helene, which I guess is the official National Weather Service designation based on what it was when it arrived.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: But some people get prickly about that.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, listen, that thing was a hurricane.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: And we all dealt with it in different ways.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: So how did you and your family come out on the other side?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: Everything okay there with your house and your Yeah.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_04: So luckily we did not have any property damage.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_04: So I live in an apartment complex uh in northern Asheville, Monfred area for UNCA students.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_04: I'm the courtesy officer there, so as best as I can, I try to handle uh whatever police related issues they have.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um gives it a little bit more of an intimate feel.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_04: We've got a lot of people that come from out of state and they're only there for a short period of time, and it helps to build a good rapport with them very quickly when they only have to deal with one officer as frequently as possible.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm the public address announcer for their basketball teams.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I've sadly never been to a game.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, you got to.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_04: I think I've only been up to their uh sports thing.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_04: Kimmel Arena.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, just to do um our collaboration with MNCA.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_04: Well now our fitness testing.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now you've got to come to a game.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: They get some good crowds in there uh for those games, and at least the last eight, ten years or so, the men's team especially has done very well.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: And this year the women's team has a new head coach, and they're uh they're being very competitive so far this year.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: So now that you know all of this, it seems like you have to come to a game, right?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_04: I do, I do.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_04: I think when we moved over there, uh we recently had a baby, and so she's coming on three and a half years old now.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_04: So I think she can make it through a game.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, she can be and if she doesn't, then you're out of there.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: So what's coming up in community engagement for the month of December?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Where can people see the APD out and about?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: How can they uh hang out with police officers and do some cool stuff?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_04: So we've got two events coming up soon.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Friday, December 6th.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna be out at Ingalls at 151 Smokey Park Highway and joining them for the Ingalls Eblin Toy Drive.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um the actual drive is a few days.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 5th, 6th, 7th.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_04: But we will be there that Friday, somewhere between the hours of 6 a.m.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_04: and 7 p.m., probably right in the middle of it there.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and then after that, we are having a blood drive here in our building, Hundred Court Plaza, brought to us by the Blood Connection.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_04: And that is going to be on December 11th on the fourth floor.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_04: And that's from 10 a.m.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_04: to 3 p.m.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'll need to put that on my calendar because uh I was able to donate a pint last time they were here, which was uh right before Helene, I think.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: They were here right before that.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: And there's there's usually a nice little incentive, like there's some cookies and some juice afterwards, and uh sometimes you even get like uh an Amazon gift card or something for donating.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: They usually have something like that.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_04: Aaron Powell That's correct.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think on this one, um, I don't know the specifics of it, but you can get up to a$40 gift card, if I'm not mistaken.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: How about Oreos?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: Are there Oreos?
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because last time there were Oreos.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: I hope there's Oreos.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then of course it's the Christmas season, right?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: So we got all that going on.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I know you guys are gonna be busy out and about with that as well, right?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_04: We uh we were most recently out at the Asheville Outlets, we did a tree lighting with them.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: We decorated our uh APD golf cart.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_04: We put some good lights on there and some holiday spirit, and we joined them in their parade and lighting the tree.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we were just recently out at the holiday jamboree down here at Pac Square.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_04: A little chilly for that.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_04: It uh it started off strong, but unfortunately, I think a few vendors had to bow out a little early, but we still made the best of it.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_04: It was it was a very good time.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it makes it feel like more like Christmas, at least to me when it's colder.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: I I lived in Charleston for a couple of years.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: I swear it was like 80 one Christmas, and I'm like, this does not even feel like Christmas.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: So to me, when it's colder like that, it makes you think holiday season, you know?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: I agree.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: Well, again, you're from Brooklyn.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's it.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: How old were you when you left Brooklyn?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_04: So didn't spend much time there.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_04: I think I was seven or eight years old, somewhere right around there.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_04: I know the Rangers won the Stanley Cup.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's big.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: That was that was with Messier.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yep.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I've heard things about the pizza in Brooklyn.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's do you remember the pizza?
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: Can you still taste it?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes.
• 34:39
  unknown: Yes.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: You still go back?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: You have family up there still?
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_04: My wife has family in the area.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_04: Uh wife's family is from New Jersey, just outside of there.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_04: But uh all of my family has moved south.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_04: They're down in Florida now.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_02: Ah, the smart ones.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_04: What else is coming up?
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_04: Anything else we need to know?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_04: So just some reminders.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we just wrapped up our fall edition of the Citizens Police Academy.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that was great.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we had a great turnout.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_04: Almost 30 folks showed up to that, uh, spent a bunch of weeks with us learning the ins and outs of the department, how everything works here.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, if all goes to playing, keep an eye out.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna be doing a spring iteration as well.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_04: Summer Junior Police Academy.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: I know it's a little crazy to think about summertime, uh, but it'll be here before we know it.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_04: I think our dates for that are gonna be June 16th through the 20th.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_04: It's a week long.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um, we get the chance to hang out with some teenagers and really get in sort of at that grassroot level and uh just get a feel for what the police department is about and them sort of learning how we are uh outside of uniform and just interacting in a very natural way.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Let's give a shout out to the the graduating class of the Citizens Police Academy, because they had to deal with some things because that started the Thursday night.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: The very first one was Thursday night, right before Helene landed.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I think we had one that happened the week before the storm.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_04: And then we started getting some warnings uh about the storm coming.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_04: And then the second one was the night uh I believe that the storm actually happened.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_04: And that one was canceled.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then we put the whole thing on pause for like a month and a half or so.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so then there's that, and then you kind of rejoin the whole thing.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then so they had to put up with a lot of stuff.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: They even designed their own challenge coin.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: I got one of those.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: That was pretty cool.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_04: They are, they are very nice.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_04: I'm very uh privileged to see this one this year.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so there's something uh for the next one.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: Look for that in January.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: We usually post uh applications, which is kind of a formality more than anything else.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: You don't got to like give us your resume or nothing.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: But to sign up for the spring edition usually lands, I think, in January, right?
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_04: Right about then?
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_04: It should.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_04: We've we've taken a long hiatus from this.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_04: So we had a spring and fall one in 2024.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_04: So um if all things are equal again, we will be putting them out somewhere around that time.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and a little selfish note, we have it on Thursday nights here, which always means there's leftovers from the food on Friday morning.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I personally always look forward to Fridays because I know there's some great food that has been leftovers.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's actually part of it, people.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: You don't there's no cost to you if you join the Citizens Police Academy, and you're fed each time.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_04: That's correct.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_04: See?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_04: We use local vendors from around here.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_04: Food is brought hot and fresh, and you know, if you like it, you can always go back and support local business.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Senior police officer Christopher Stramolo, thanks so much for sitting down with us today.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Enjoy talking to you.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was my pleasure.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: Next time you go to Brooklyn, bring back a pizza.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: I will.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's it for another edition of the APD Pod Squad.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: Don't forget to like, follow, subscribe, whatever it takes so you don't miss a single episode.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: If you've got a question for Chief Mike Lamb, ask the Chief and we'll work it into the next episode.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: You can just call 828-250-8800 and leave a message if you like 250-8800, or if you'd like to email, you can do that.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: Send it to APD Podcastfeedback at AshevilleNC.gov.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's APD Podcastfeedback at AshevilleNC.gov.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Rick Rice.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the APD Podspot.