Latest / Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement / #009- "there is a war on cops in this country"

Transcript

#009- "there is a war on cops in this country" · Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement

0:00
SPEAKER_01: On the west side of Chicago, the murder rate is the equivalent to Tijuana, Mexico.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: If we were as bad as you thought we were, you'd have a hundred videos a day from the 800,000 cops.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: And like listen, folks, whether you like to admit it or not, there is a war on cops in this country.
0:23
SPEAKER_03: Welcome back, listeners, watchers, viewers, voyeurs.
0:30
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's Blue Grit Podcast.
0:33
SPEAKER_03: Before we get jump into this, uh hit that subscribe like button.
0:36
SPEAKER_03: Uh if you guys like the content, if you guys need to reach out to us, hit us up at BlueGrid at TMPA.org.
0:41
SPEAKER_03: We got an awesome, awesome guest today that uh, man, I I I I'm a big fan, huge fan.
0:47
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
0:47
SPEAKER_03: Uh Joe Gamaldi, vice president of the national FOP.
0:51
SPEAKER_03: And are you still I what's your title, I guess, with HPOU?
0:54
SPEAKER_03: Did you have to step down to the So I'm the past president of the HBOU?
0:58
SPEAKER_03: Okay, got you.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Got you.
0:59
SPEAKER_03: Uh he drove in from Houston today, and then we have our big boss.
1:04
SPEAKER_03: Very attractive, stunning looks.
1:08
SPEAKER_03: Uh TMPA executive.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: I see it's getting thick already when we just got started.
1:13
SPEAKER_03: Kevin Lawrence.
1:14
SPEAKER_03: Evaluations are coming up.
1:17
SPEAKER_03: I love you, man.
1:18
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, I hope my I hope I hope your breakfast this morning was great, and I I meant to cook those eggs perfect, and your coffee and creamer were were is it awkward getting to massage during breakfast?
1:28
SPEAKER_03: Is that weird while you're trying to eat?
1:31
SPEAKER_03: Oh god.
1:32
SPEAKER_03: And uh anyway, this is gonna be a good episode, I think.
1:35
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be fun.
1:36
SPEAKER_04: We've had some heavy episodes with um all shootings and and Uvaldi and some things like that.
1:44
SPEAKER_04: So this will be a fun episode.
1:45
SPEAKER_04: And uh got some good characters to cut up with.
1:48
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:49
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:49
SPEAKER_04: That was a sombre episode.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: So anyway, so we're gonna kind of jump into it.
1:54
SPEAKER_03: Um Joe, you're from New York.
1:56
SPEAKER_03: You grew up born and raised.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: Born and raised.
1:58
SPEAKER_03: And then you uh ended up here in Texas.
2:00
SPEAKER_03: Uh got a got a pass to come down here and hang out, and I guess you never left.
2:04
SPEAKER_03: So uh if you want to kind of d give us the intro of where you were born, uh, where you were raised at, how you got your law enforcement career, and then we'll just kind of dive off into it.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was born on Long Island in New York and uh born and raised out there.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, getting out of college, looking for a job.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, I always had an interest in going into law enforcement.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: It was always something that I was interested in.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh wasn't sure what department I wanted to work for, but you know, the NYPD was hiring, so you know, you take you take the first job you can get, right?
2:32
SPEAKER_05: They had a few openings.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: They did, they did, and they still do to this day.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: They're they're always hiring.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I decided to take a job with the NYPD and uh, you know, did the academy, and you know, the funny story that I love to tell is, you know, first day out of the academy in the NYPD, you're like, man, this is gonna be great.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, you're gonna have a field trainer, you're gonna have this, you're gonna do that.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: So I show up to roll call for the first day.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: There's no field trainer, not at all.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: They just hand me a map, and on that map, it's highlighted to city blocks, and they say, your post, your foot post is about three miles away.
3:07
SPEAKER_01: Go and walk your ass out there, and you're gonna go ahead and run all the calls in that two block radius, and we want you to write some tickets and arrest some folks too.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: So it's like literally, I walk out of the front door with a map, and by the way, if that's not like a you know red herring to everybody in the neighborhood that you're like the new guy, rookie.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh my God.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: So I'm walking out there to my post with the map.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm getting batteries thrown off the roof at me from the housing projects, dirty diapers.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: They're like, Welcome to the neighborhood, rookie.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Jesus Christ.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: What did I get?
3:41
SPEAKER_05: Was there like an R on the top of the T?
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I was like, what did I get myself into, right?
3:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh my God.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: So you walk out to your post, and then it's literally, it creates an environment of sink or swim.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: So you're either gonna figure out how to do that job, or you're gonna go hide, you know, in the alleyway and not do it.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: So you would just start running calls, and the, you know, the adjoining footpost would come over and give you some backup.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: And once the older guys gonna kind of handle that you knew what you're doing or that you were making the effort, they'd come by in a car and be like, hey, you kind of screwed that one up.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you how to do it.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
4:13
SPEAKER_01: That's your field training.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's your field training.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: And you just learn by trial and error.
4:17
SPEAKER_05: Was it at least a precinct close to home, or did you have to like ride the subway all the way into Manhattan?
4:22
SPEAKER_01: No, so like from where I grew up, once I got the job at the NYPD, I moved a little closer.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: Uh I lived in Long Beach's right on border in Nassau County and Queens.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: So my commute to the uh to the precinct I worked in in Brooklyn, which by the way, I worked in the 7-5 precinct of Brooklyn, which is an absolute uh shithole.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it led no, I'm serious.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it led New York City and to this day in murders that precinct every single year.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's also been several documentaries done on the 7-5 precinct, which y'all can go watch on Netflix.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: All that stuff happened before I was there.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: So all the you know, cocaine doing and uh shaking down drug dealers happened well before my time there, but it's it's very well documented.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: Um but no, it was an extremely busy precinct, you know, learned a lot.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: And then so as I'm getting towards the end of my you know run at a foot post, and I'm I'm not the war story guy, but it it's it's an interesting story, and it's also a cautionary tale for rookies in general.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I was working a foot post in one of the worst housing projects in New York City, the Louis H.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: Pink Houses.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: By the way, they have a sign out front that says, it's a wonderful community, and I shit you not, there's bullet holes in the sign.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: So it just gives you an idea.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: So I'm working a foot post there, and it's getting towards the end of the shift.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: It was like a mandatory overtime program, and uh all of a sudden I hear pow, bow, bow, bow, bow.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: Somebody shooting up down the block, right?
5:42
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, all right, well, let's go investigate and do another foot post.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: So we start walking down there, and I see this big guy on the other side of the street running up the block.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: He's probably like 6'4, 6'5, and he's got you know dreads that are very long.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: He looks like the predator.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
5:56
SPEAKER_01: That's how big he was.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, I'm gonna be a hero right now.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna run across the street, I'm gonna tackle this guy with a gun.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Like, I this is this is what you do, right?
6:06
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like fully expecting that I'm gonna run across the street, I'm gonna tackle this man, arrest him, and I'm gonna be a hero, getting a gun off the street.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who he just shot, whatever.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: It didn't work out that way.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: So I run across the street, he does not see me.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: So as he's running up the other side, I'm kind of running diagonally, he doesn't see me.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: And when I get about 10 feet away, he sees me.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: And he turns and he shy he shoots two shots at me from about 10 feet.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: So in the middle of me completely like crapping my pants, you know what I mean?
6:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm able to get like one shot off from my hip, and it ended up in a second story brick on the, you know, the housing project.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: And my second shot hits him in the shoulder.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: And you know, for those of you who aren't police officers, not like in the movies when someone gets shot, they fall down.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: No, it just turned him and he kept running.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: So now I'm chasing him, you know, and he ended up getting into a housing project.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: And as he's getting into a housing project, there's other two foot posts that see him with the gun.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: He points at them, they start shooting at him.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Well, here's the thing I'm running behind him, so they almost shoot me in the process.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: I have to stop chasing him.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: He got into a building, and you know, basically K9 was able to attract the blood trail and they got him into custody and the whole deal.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: But it it was a certainly a teachable moment, you know.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, I was a stupid rookie who really thought I was just gonna run in there and tackle him and uh So do you talk to the guy often?
7:32
SPEAKER_03: You check on him every Christmas to make sure he's doing okay?
7:34
SPEAKER_01: I I put a little money in his commissary to make sure he's doing all right, you know what I mean.
7:38
SPEAKER_03: What episode is this on Netflix?
7:39
SPEAKER_03: I gotta I gotta look at this shit.
7:40
SPEAKER_03: This is insane.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: So uh so yeah, and but it was also uh a learning moment that kind of sent me a sign that I needed to get out of New York because despite the fact that this gentleman shot me and all the evidence was discovered and everything else, I mean, they went right at me in the media.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, they they he shot this man, this is wrong, blah, blah.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: Despite the fact that we had witnesses from the housing project saying that this guy shot at me and everything else.
8:05
SPEAKER_05: So you moved to Houston where stuff like this never actually happened.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: Not saying that it wouldn't happen, but uh, you know, just expecting a much fairer shake.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, after that, um, you know, I got into uh after that they put me in a patrol car where I got to meet uh my old partner who I'm still friends with today, who really taught me how to be a police officer.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: I owe a lot to him because he really taught me how to do the job.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I was living in a shoebox apartment there, you know, the type that's so small when you open your bedroom door, it hits your bed.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: That's how small it was.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: And I just started thinking, is this really how I want to live my life?
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: How am I ever gonna have a family?
8:43
SPEAKER_01: How am I gonna buy a house?
8:45
SPEAKER_01: You were not married then?
8:46
SPEAKER_01: No, no, I was not married, I was single.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm just like, I I just don't see a future here, you know, for for the cost of living and for what I was making there.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: And I but I liked what I did for a living, you know what I mean?
8:56
SPEAKER_01: I still want to be a police officer.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: So I started looking around, like, what can you get for the money, you know, depending on where you go.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: So I looked at a couple places in Arizona, and my brother had lived in Houston at the time for like eight years.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: He's like, hey, why don't you just come down and see what you get for the money, you know?
9:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: So I go down and visit, and he had like the recruiting trip planned.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: I think I went from the plane to like the model homes, you know, in the neighborhood.
9:19
SPEAKER_04: It was an intervention.
9:21
unknown: Yeah.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: No kidding.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: So I toured these model homes, and I'm looking at this, you know, whatever, it's thousands, you know, 2,000 square foot house for like 160 grand.
9:30
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, where do I sign?
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Like right now, where do I sign?
9:35
SPEAKER_01: And I uh contacted HPD and they were during one of their hiring kicks 15 years ago.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: So I call up and I just I cold called them.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, hey, uh, are y'all hiring?
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Do you have a test coming up?
9:47
SPEAKER_01: They're like, can you come down right now?
9:48
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I was like, uh yes.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Can we send a car to pick you up?
9:55
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't far off.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: So I went down there, went through the process, got hired a few months later, and the rest is history.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
10:02
SPEAKER_04: Was it a foot patrol with a map?
10:04
SPEAKER_04: Were you having to walk around one of the wards with a map?
10:06
SPEAKER_01: It was not.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: You know, the funny thing is, like, when people talk about the NYPD, they think, man, they've got these vast resources, they have all the best equipment, blah, blah.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you're on like the joint terrorism task force or some of these like elite units, yes, absolutely.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: But the rank and file patrol officer in New York is shit on on a regular basis.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Let me be honest.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: You know, the cars they drive are old.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: If they have a computer in the car, it probably doesn't work.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, it it's bad.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it and it was an extremely bad situation.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: HPD is my you know, light years ahead of the NYPD as far as things like that.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: And especially the field training program, too.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: It's it's extensive.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Whereas in New York, it was literally like sink or swim, get your ass out on the corner.
10:44
SPEAKER_05: That's crazy.
10:44
SPEAKER_05: There's no foot patrols in Texas.
10:46
SPEAKER_05: And Houston works with all two man units, don't they?
10:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: So well, uh when you're training, um, and then when you get out on your own, you can make the choice.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: So if you have like a steady person that you want to ride with, they'll let you do that.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: But some of our guys and gals choose to ride by themselves.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm a sergeant, I ride by myself every single day.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: I still work night shift, you know, and uh I ride by myself, and a lot of the officers, it's kind of like 50-50.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's insane.
11:10
SPEAKER_03: Was it so when uh whenever you graduated from MYPD?
11:14
SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's such it's so rich in history.
11:17
SPEAKER_03: But I mean it's an awesome feeling, I'm sure, to walk.
11:20
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I guess when you tell your family and you and you and you and you leave MYPD Academy, what's what does it feel like to graduate from there from that iconic academy and that iconic department?
11:28
SPEAKER_03: I mean prior to the batteries.
11:31
SPEAKER_03: How big was your graduating class?
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so my class started with 2,200 people by the time we graduated, we had like 1,600.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh so um, yeah, there was 1,600.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Now, don't get me wrong, like when you're graduating, it's like Madison Square Garden, you know, uh you're you're going out to Shanks and Ops.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in my graduating class.
11:52
SPEAKER_05: New York PD's got what, 35,000, 38,000 cops?
11:55
SPEAKER_01: Like 35 now when I was there, it was like 42,000?
11:58
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ, I have no idea.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: They would be the eighth largest standing army in the world if they were an army.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Think about this for our audience.
12:06
SPEAKER_05: How many departments in Texas employ 1,600 police officers?
12:10
SPEAKER_05: And that was the size of his academy.
12:13
SPEAKER_05: The ones that graduated, the ones that made it through.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: Um So it was great.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, graduating in Madison Square Garden, you have the white gloves, and you do the whole thing and you throw the gloves up in the air, everybody's hugging and kissing.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just it's a great feeling.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: It's the Netflix moment.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: And then and then next day You're getting diapers thrown at you.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: Then get your ass out in the armpit of Brooklyn and start getting batteries thrown at you, getting shot at.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: Like it's that is it's a reality.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, uh it was interesting to say the least.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: So you've been at Houston how long now?
12:44
SPEAKER_01: So I've been at Houston.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: I will be in Houston uh 15 years next month.
12:48
SPEAKER_05: And how how long had you been there before you started getting involved in the union?
12:52
SPEAKER_05: When you when you became part of you know the leadership of HPOU.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so funny story about that.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: When we were in the academy, you know, the union does a presentation, right?
13:01
SPEAKER_01: So uh Ray Hunt's in there.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: And for those of you who don't know Ray Hunt, he's a legend in the law enforcement labor movement, a great man.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: So he's doing the presentation in the academy, and I'm hitting them with questions.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, what kind of raise are you getting this year?
13:14
SPEAKER_01: What kind of raise next year?
13:15
SPEAKER_01: Asking about benefits, blah, blah.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: So, like halfway through me and peppering with questions, he's like, All right, stop.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: What is your name?
13:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, uh, you know, now Joe Gemaldi.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Joe Gamaldi.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: So he's like, okay, I'm I'm gonna remember you.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, all right, whatever.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: So like two years later, he calls me out of the blue and he's like, Hey, you remember me?
13:36
SPEAKER_01: I did the presentation.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: He goes, We got some contract negotiations.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: We need a young, youthful perspective.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Would you like to be on the negotiating team?
13:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, all right, sure, I'll do it.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: You know, whatever.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about it.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: So uh, so I did that, and at the end of it, he goes, Hey, you know, I think we're gonna have a board position coming up.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: Would you be interested in in, you know, running for a board position?
13:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, you know, I don't really know.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: I said, uh, I'm not sure I want to get involved in that.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, sometimes unions get a bad name, you know, you know how all that stuff, all the typical stuff that a regular officer who doesn't know any better would say.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and Ray looks me dead in the eyes.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: And this moment kind of changed my my career path.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: He goes, How do you expect anything to get better unless you get involved?
14:21
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, damn.
14:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
14:23
SPEAKER_04: I was just gonna sit in the audience and keep asking tough questions.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: He just kind of threw that shit in my face.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
14:30
SPEAKER_01: Because it's real easy to sit on the outside and throw bombs and say, Why aren't you doing this?
14:36
SPEAKER_05: It's like sitting on the roof and throwing those batteries, but yeah, it sure is easy, you know.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, as uh I guess luck or serendipity would have it, uh that very night there was a HPOU board member who had a little too much to drink at the rodeo cook-off and threw a smoke bomb into a neighboring tent.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: And he had to resign, and I guess he ended up getting fired.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the end result was, but they literally like appointed me to the board a week later.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: I got involved and you know had a passion for it, ran for second vice president a few months after, worked my ass off on that campaign to make sure I won because I was up against an officer who had a uh, you know, who had been around a long time, had a reputation, and I was able to win.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, I studied under the tutelage of Ray Hunt for several years as his second vice president for five years.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't know, like I said, Ray Hunt's exceptional.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh he's been my mentor now for you know well over ten years, and he's like a father to me.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll throw that right out there.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: I go to him with all sorts of advice.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: And um he just mentored me and brought me along.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: So after five years as a second vice president, cutting my teeth, I then uh ran for president and won.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: So that's uh it's that's the story of how I got involved.
15:43
SPEAKER_03: It's pretty amazing.
15:43
SPEAKER_03: And and we watched, and you're on Fox News quite often, uh, as you should be, because the way you present yourself, uh you don't you don't take any shit.
15:50
SPEAKER_03: And that's what I love about it.
15:51
SPEAKER_03: Uh the first time I got to watch you, you're doing a presentation, I believe, on some benefit package before the city council, and you tore their asses up.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, who is this guy?
16:01
SPEAKER_03: What's his name?
16:02
SPEAKER_03: You know, and so anyways, it's just fascinating.
16:05
SPEAKER_03: Fascinating.
16:05
SPEAKER_03: So what what how did you what led you into the national?
16:10
SPEAKER_03: What what made you go?
16:10
SPEAKER_03: Man, I want to be a part of that.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: You know, uh it wasn't something that was on my mind.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: Like it was it wasn't at the forefront.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: Like I wasn't thinking, like, hey, that's that's where I need to be, you know what I mean?
16:22
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like the next step that I was thinking about.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: I was happy being the president of the HPOU and uh I was happy fighting those fights.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: I think it just came about, you know, there was some shifting going on at the leadership of the FOP, and and several people approached me and were just like, hey, you know, would you be interested in this?
16:40
SPEAKER_01: And I thought about it.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I had to talk about it with my wife and you know, make sure uh she would bless it, you know, because without that, that ain't happening.
16:47
SPEAKER_05: Um and I really thought first answer, by the way, I was one of those people.
16:52
SPEAKER_05: You go ahead and throw me under the bus.
16:53
SPEAKER_05: Go ahead.
16:54
SPEAKER_05: His first answer to me was hell no.
16:56
SPEAKER_05: I ain't no way.
16:59
SPEAKER_05: Nope, nope.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: It it was just uh so I like I had to think about it, I had to talk about it with a lot of people until I finally made the decision.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: But then I just realized like I felt at the time what we were sorely lacking as a profession was just a strong opposing voice to all the bullshit.
17:19
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: And I and I will tell anyone when I go on these interviews and when I do these stuff, I believe in making factual, passionate arguments.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
17:30
SPEAKER_01: Because I I'll just be straight with people.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: When you watch the news and you see somebody out there that that's just real monotone, and and yes, we've had uh a number of shootings and they're up 13%.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's already tuned out.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: How do people watch TV now?
17:44
SPEAKER_01: They watch TV and they scroll their phone while they watch TV.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: So if you're just putting out facts but you're not passionate about what you're talking about, guess what?
17:51
SPEAKER_01: No one's gonna pay attention to you.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're just passionate with no factual information to back it up, well, congratul congratulations, you're a Black Lives Matter activist.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: Because that's just passion with no facts behind it a lot of the times.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: That's the arguments they're making.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: So you can't just be passionate.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: You have to be giving facts and be passionate at the same time.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: That resonates with people.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: People stop scrolling on their phone, they look up and go, whoa, this guy's passionate, or you know, anybody who's doing is passionate, but he also has all the facts to back up what he's saying.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: That means something.
18:25
SPEAKER_01: And it's also something that can then be cut into reels later for social media and everything else to show people, hey, you know what you're talking about and give them those little quick little clips.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: But I just felt like at the time we were just missing that strong national voice.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I'm gonna do it.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: And then uh, you know, running obviously had a ton of support from a lot of people, you know, obviously the Texas FOP, obviously TMPA, HBOU, the Dallas Police Association.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then just people across the country, like, you know, I wasn't that well known in the FOP community.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, people knew who I was, but there was a bit of a like, well, who's this guy?
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people were just like, all right, just Google him.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just Google him.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: If you if you don't like what you see, don't vote for him.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: And then uh, you know, I went to the conference in New Orleans and I just hit the ground running.
19:14
SPEAKER_01: I just campaigned and rest is history.
19:17
SPEAKER_05: Well, and gave and gave the speech of a lifetime.
19:20
SPEAKER_05: I mean, he brought the house down with his campaign speech, his whatever you call it there, and uh got more votes than any other candidate on that slate.
19:30
SPEAKER_05: It was it was really impressive.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a fun time.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: That was a fun time, and uh yeah, and I appreciate it.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: But uh I I couldn't have done it without everybody's support, though.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, everyone says, Oh, yeah, you you got elected.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: I was like, we got elected because there was a lot of people working very, very hard to get me there.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: And uh I I'll never forget all the support I had.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, it it was it was it was a nice moment.
19:53
SPEAKER_05: And almost immediately, I mean, you you hit the ground running.
19:56
SPEAKER_05: Almost immediately, you were all over the news everywhere we go.
19:59
SPEAKER_05: And by the way, this is my one question for you because everywhere we go, you're there waiting for us.
20:04
SPEAKER_05: It's like you're you're everywhere all the time.
20:07
SPEAKER_05: When you finally do go home, does the dog bite you?
20:11
SPEAKER_05: Like you're a burglar or something?
20:14
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's uh it's a balance.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, I gotta tell you, you know, it's uh, you know, thankfully I have the ability to do some of these interviews from home, but some of them I have to go downtown to a studio in Houston, which by the way, if people don't know, give you a little like inside baseball.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: Like when you see me in like a nice studio, it's in a basement in a nondescript building in Houston that you would never guess.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: There's three studios in the basement there, and you just go into one of the rooms and there's one cameraman, and that's it.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Like they think you're in this big thing, but no, you're just in a basement in Houston.
20:46
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, but no, I you know, I'm certainly, you know, every opportunity that I have that I can get out there and defend law enforcement, I'm there.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: And and it really doesn't matter the venue.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, I obviously I'm on Fox News a lot because I resonate with their viewers, but it's not like I turn down CNN when they call.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, shit, CNN was like, hey, we want to do a special on traffic stops with you.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, let's do it.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: They're like, we want to sit down with you for like an hour and a half and talk about this.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yes, let's do it.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm I'm in.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't hide from the hard interviews, you know what I mean?
21:19
SPEAKER_01: So we set them up at our uh at our union hall in in Houston, right?
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And they get all their lighting, they bring down the multiple cameramans, they got the over-the-shoulder shot, they got this shot, they got everything, right?
21:30
SPEAKER_01: And they go at me for an hour and 15 minutes.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: We sat there and talked about it.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and I'm like, man, I held my own pretty good there, right?
21:40
SPEAKER_01: Story comes out.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: How much of that interview do you think they used?
21:44
SPEAKER_01: Two minutes.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: 30 seconds.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna guess less than that.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Because you know what they were doing is they wanted to do a gotcha moment.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: They wanted to get a gotcha moment in an hour and 15 minutes, and because I didn't give it to them, they cut my And you know, listen, I understand they have editorial control and I and I get all that, but it's like you wasted my time.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: That that's what you did.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh but once again, I'm not gonna hide from the hard stuff.
22:11
SPEAKER_05: I'll do the interviews.
22:12
SPEAKER_05: Was this during the time that Acevedo was working for CNN?
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh I is he still working for CNN?
22:21
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I know he's the police chief in uh Aurora now.
22:24
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I don't think his gig with uh CNN.
22:26
SPEAKER_05: The CNN didn't work out, though.
22:27
SPEAKER_03: I think he's contracted.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he's contracted.
22:29
SPEAKER_03: Well, that with uh in all honesty, that's what's fascinating because you you really began your growth uh at a at a point in time when when law enforcement we were scared to make comments.
22:38
SPEAKER_03: We were scared to come out and say, hey, that's bullshit.
22:41
SPEAKER_03: This is not right.
22:42
SPEAKER_03: And and that's really when you picked up your steam was you you you began to call people on their BS.
22:48
SPEAKER_03: And that's what I loved about it, and that's what we loved about it, and that's what I think our members across Texas were like, hell yeah, let's get behind this guy.
22:55
SPEAKER_03: I think that's what really flourished, you know, your your popularity.
22:58
SPEAKER_04: Did you dovetailing off what he said, you you came into being a public figure at the worst time for law enforcement in the world?
23:07
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it'd have been easy when everybody loves the cops to have wanted to be the mouthpiece of the United States police.
23:13
SPEAKER_04: You came in like batteries and diapers flying it once again at you.
23:18
SPEAKER_04: Was that hard?
23:19
SPEAKER_04: Because you're very natural on camera, you're very natural, the charisma of the passion.
23:23
SPEAKER_04: Was there some rev up at you mentioned inside baseball, was there some rev-up time for you to feel comfortable, or or is that just who Joe is of I know you hate the police, but we're gonna sit down and go at it and do an interview anyway, and you have the confidence in in the ability to sit down and navigate that?
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it was like being thrown right into the pressure cooker.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
23:43
SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously being uh you know a large lodge president, you know, I'd been in the pressure cooker before, but nothing prepared me for this.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
23:51
SPEAKER_01: I I mean nobody expected what what was gonna happen.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Um but I think for me in that moment it was just like this is the moment like you need to step up to, you know what I mean?
24:02
SPEAKER_01: You you have to be this strong opposing voice to everything.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: Like somebody needs to get out there, and thankfully, like the FOP had the confidence in me, and and President Yost did a great job on a lot of those interviews too, and uh uh chairman of trustees Rob Pryd too.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: But in that moment, you just like you had to step up to the plate because it was getting bad, obviously.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we all remember.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: So you just have to recognize that everybody's counting on you.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: And I I think the most like the the best feedback I get is from people who just say, like, hey, thanks for being our voice, or thanks.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: All I'm trying to do is put out what we're feeling, what every officer is feeling that's sitting in a patrol car.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: I believe that it's my job to get his or her message to the masses, how they're really feeling, not the watered down version.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And I and I think in the past, it's not that it's not that we didn't have a voice, I mean we had a voice, but it was just that I think at times it was let's not get too controversial.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: You know, we want to just kind of keep everything even keel.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, if you keep trying to keep everything even keel, you're gonna get a run over.
25:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and that's watered down.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's watered down.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: Whereas if you're just honest with people and you tell them what's going on, it's it's going to resonate.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: And and something that I talk about a lot is officer shot.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
25:25
SPEAKER_01: Since we started the tracking the data the last six to seven years, over the last three or four years, I mean, we have just seen historic numbers of officers shot in this country.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it's through the roof.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: This year, this past year we had 331.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: The year before we had uh 342.
25:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's consistently rising and consistently staying up in the in the mid-300s.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, this is a huge issue for law enforcement.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Violence against us is up.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: In 2021, it was the deadliest year for law enforcement and intentional homicides in 20 years.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: We're the only ones talking about it.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: We're the ones that are bringing it up.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: This should be a national issue.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and and still to this day, the pr the president of the United States doesn't release a press release on it saying, let's condemn the violence.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: All we're asking is for you to condemn violence against law enforcement.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: You understand how low of a bar that is to put out a statement?
26:23
SPEAKER_01: That's all we're asking, and they can't even do that.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: But that's on the minds of police officers that are out there every day that they're being shot.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: You know, that and ambush attacks are up.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: And yet still, you will have people in the media and academics try to convince people that our job isn't dangerous.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: And like, listen, folks, whether you like to admit it or not, there is a war on cops in this country.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: Every day we put the uniform on, there's a target on our back.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: And they're trying to convince people that our danger.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the other day, for God's sake, I heard, oh, well, you know, per capita, lumberjacks uh die more than police officers.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: Their jobs are much more dangerous than yours.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, listen, I'm not taking anything away from the lumberjacks, okay?
27:06
SPEAKER_01: But the goddamn tree ain't trying to kill the lumberjacks, okay?
27:11
SPEAKER_01: Every day we go to work, there are people that are trying to kill us.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: This is literally the only profession in the country, aside from our brave servicemen and women, and thank you for your service.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: That when we go to work, there is someone that is actively trying to kill us.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: So while these academics and you know, uh people in the media sit safely their asses behind their desks, we're the ones that are out there.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So don't tell me there's not a war on cops.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: Don't tell me that our job isn't dangerous.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: And I'll be damned if we're not gonna let the public know that.
27:37
SPEAKER_05: And and and what's even worse is, you know, the these brave men and women that you're talking about, they they are willing to go out and do that.
27:43
SPEAKER_05: They're willing to go out and fight that.
27:45
SPEAKER_05: What is causing the exodus in law enforcement these days is those officers looking around and going, wait a minute, nobody's got our backs.
27:53
SPEAKER_05: Nobody.
27:54
SPEAKER_05: Not our administration, not our elected officials, and it feels like even the citizens don't have our backs like they used to.
28:00
SPEAKER_05: And that's why so many cops are they're they're getting out of the business.
28:03
SPEAKER_05: There's fewer and fewer people wanting to get into the business, which is why we have to have folks like you speaking out on behalf of law enforcement.
28:11
SPEAKER_05: We have got to be getting that message out to the general public.
28:14
SPEAKER_05: This is what's really going on.
28:16
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think, and I and I I'm sure you guys agree with me, we're all willing to take the risk.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: You know, we're we're all willing to put our lives on the line for our community, for our brother and sister officers.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: We're willing to do that.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: The issue we have, and why everyone's leaving, and it's to your point, is we do want to know that when we have to take that action to protect the community, to protect our brother and sister officers, and then when we follow policy, training, and the law, that we are going to be protected.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: And or at least get treated fairly.
28:54
SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
28:54
SPEAKER_05: And not have to face an indictment and ruin our families, ruin our careers simply because we did the right thing.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: But instead, because of grifters and politicians, if it's controversial, sorry, kid, I don't care if you follow policy and training law.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: There's some money to be made and there's a re-election to be had.
29:15
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna go ahead and throw your ass under the bus.
29:17
SPEAKER_05: It uh you guys may not remember this, but a few years ago, PERF, the police executive research forum, they did this huge report on law enforcement use of force and officer-involved shootings and the number of people dying in police custody, which by the way has remained pretty steady through all this.
29:33
SPEAKER_05: Number of cops getting shot and killed keeps going up.
29:35
SPEAKER_05: The number of people that die in police custody is remained pretty stagnant.
29:39
SPEAKER_05: PERF actually came out with a recommendation that every every department in the in the country should adopt a policy that said if an officer is involved in a critical incident, even if they followed policy, even if they followed law, even if they followed in Texas would be chapter nine of the penal code, they followed all your use of force policies, the shooting itself was completely justified.
29:59
SPEAKER_05: If it looked bad to the public, you could still be they called it the lawful but awful standard, and they were recommending that every department adopt that as part of their internal policies.
30:10
SPEAKER_05: And how long ago was that?
30:11
SPEAKER_00: This was just in the last three or four years.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's what happens when you get a bunch of shirts and ties who you know ain't seen the inside of a patrol car in about three decades.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's that's that's the type of stuff you're gonna get.
30:21
SPEAKER_03: And you mentioned shootings, and then you mentioned the quality of work that up that that that the men and women of Texas do every day.
30:27
SPEAKER_03: And they do it at shit pay.
30:28
SPEAKER_03: Let's be honest.
30:29
SPEAKER_03: Let's let's let's call it what it is, which we're asking these men and women we're not, they do it because they want to.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: And they go out there and they do it every day, but they they they're not compensated in all in all fairness correctly, in my opinion.
30:43
SPEAKER_03: And that's another thing, and that's enough that's the crisis right now is one, war on cops, but two, the recruitment.
30:49
SPEAKER_03: Because I'm telling y'all, as you guys well know, and I'm a full-time cop, this is just like you are, we're in a crisis.
30:54
SPEAKER_03: The next 10 years, it is gonna be bad.
30:56
SPEAKER_03: It's already bad now.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: They've changed some things around, yeah.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's a it's a recruitment, retention, retirement problem, right?
31:08
SPEAKER_01: It's three-pronged.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Right.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we got we got people that are coming to the age of retirement who are, you know, going out the door.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: We have people that are resigning that I don't think would have resigned in the past had that had the environment been better.
31:19
SPEAKER_01: But also generationally, things have changed.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think when we came on the departments, you know, I don't know how old everybody else is.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Kevin looks like he's he probably 25.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: You look great.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: Hey, he probably came home and they still bang the sticks on the sidewalk to get back up because they didn't have phones um or electricity.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: Um but but it's generationally where when we joined, it was like, hey, we're gonna do this for 25, 30 years, and now it's like, hey, I may do this for five and then go do something else, or I may go to a different department, a different state because they want to move around.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there is a huge recruitment's tanking everywhere.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: But increased money is going to help, okay, because it'll get people through the door.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: But we also need to be looking at other factors.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: We need to make sure that everybody's on four tens instead of five eights.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: Because a selling point to people is you only have to go to work four days a week.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: We need to make sure that they're getting a significant amount of time off.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: Because if if it's anything like my agency, like in yours agency, the younger generation likes to take more time off.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: They like to go on vacations, and I'm not begrudging them, they're just different.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: So we have to respond to that and change our tactics as well instead of just saying, you know, suck it up, do it the way we've always done it.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: No, we have to adapt to them.
32:33
SPEAKER_01: So it we have to make sure not only are we increasing pay, but we're also getting them more time off, the freedom to take that time off, and maybe a more flexible work schedule.
32:41
SPEAKER_05: Good point.
32:42
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but you have to keep in mind more than half the departments in this state employ fewer than 10 officers.
32:46
SPEAKER_05: You can't put them on four tens.
32:49
SPEAKER_05: You gotta get creative.
32:50
SPEAKER_05: You gotta keep them on 712s.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: You gotta you you gotta get creative and and and move at the times.
32:58
SPEAKER_04: I've got a sheriff's department in northeast Texas making$1,275 an hour.
33:02
SPEAKER_04: Jeez.
33:02
SPEAKER_04: They're working them 712s because they don't have people.
33:06
SPEAKER_04: And when we try to go to the county judge about it, he told them if you don't like it, leave.
33:09
SPEAKER_04: And now Well, that's a great attitude.
33:11
SPEAKER_04: They all turned to me and we're like, well, what do you what do you think we do?
33:14
SPEAKER_04: And I said, You go to Bucky's and get a fat ass raise.
33:17
SPEAKER_05: I swear to God, I had that conversation with an officer here recently who called and said, This is what's going on at my department, and I happen to know there's a brand new Bucky's in that county.
33:25
SPEAKER_05: And I said, What are what are they paying you?
33:27
SPEAKER_05: And he told me, I said, dude, you can go to Bucky's and get a$3 an hour raise.
33:32
SPEAKER_01: Or if you want to let those guys know, HPD's hiring.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: Send them down to Houston, we'll get them signed up.
33:38
SPEAKER_03: That's not a good attitude too.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's uh I wouldn't think so.
33:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
33:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
33:43
SPEAKER_03: But uh, so so we've we've we've we've talked about your history, uh, your involvement with the FOP.
33:49
SPEAKER_03: And a lot of my members don't really realize that TMPA and the FOP affiliation.
33:54
SPEAKER_03: Uh Kevin, Joe, do you guys want to kind of dive off on the benefits of us, our mil our listeners that are TNPA members?
34:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh the benefits of why we're a part of FOP and what that looks like.
34:07
SPEAKER_04: From how the how the relationship developed.
34:09
SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh, I think it was a friendship early, and then it was friends with benefits.
34:12
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, but did we find each other on Tinder?
34:14
SPEAKER_05: I mean, did we swipe left and then Well, first of all, you have to understand that relationship or the attempt at a relationship has been going on for 25, 28 years now.
34:23
SPEAKER_05: And like Joe pointed out, I've been around a while, so I've been part of it the entire time.
34:27
SPEAKER_05: But at least we had horses and we didn't have to walk at the MP.
34:30
SPEAKER_05: So gosh.
34:34
SPEAKER_05: So uh I but did y'all still have the flapjacks?
34:38
SPEAKER_01: What do they call them the slapjacks?
34:41
SPEAKER_05: You talk about slappers?
34:45
SPEAKER_05: But what I'd before I go into that, I'd like to hear your perspective first.
34:49
SPEAKER_05: Because it it's difficult for a lot of TMPA members to understand why and and let's face it, being a member of FOP costs less than$1.50 a month.
34:59
SPEAKER_05: Are we going to pay the national per capita, the state per capita combined?
35:02
SPEAKER_05: In Texas, it's less than$1.50 a month.
35:05
SPEAKER_05: It's still difficult to to get them to understand why it's worth it.
35:10
SPEAKER_05: Sure.
35:11
SPEAKER_05: I'd like to hear your perspective.
35:12
SPEAKER_05: What is it that the rank and file cop in in Sugarland, Texas or Conroe, Texas, gets for that$1.50 a month from FOP?
35:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:23
SPEAKER_01: So what I like to tell people when when they ask the question is, you know, I can always tell you the, you know, obviously you get a voice in Washington that's unrivaled by any other organization.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, all the other organizations are non-factors at this point.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: Nobody even talks to them.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even if you just look at media mentions, if you took all the other major law enforcement groups, incurring Sheriff's Association, Perv, all that stuff, if you combined all of theirs, it only makes up 60% of our mentions.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: So 12 other groups only make up 60% of our mentions or FOP, so you get a voice.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: In addition, obviously, great legal defense plan.
35:56
SPEAKER_01: We also are starting a health care trust where we're going to start to provide uh insurance for post-retiree pre-65 folks, with the ultimate goal of having a nationwide health care plan, which would be another benefit for folks.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: But what I really like boiled down to is just acknowledged I'm pre-65.
36:13
SPEAKER_02: Yes, exactly.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: We also have a post-85 program, forgiveness.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: Um but what it really boils down to is if you get into a shooting tomorrow, and let's say it's controversial, and the whole world is falling down on you, the entire fucking country is coming after you.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: Who do you want defending you?
36:38
SPEAKER_01: Who do you want?
36:40
SPEAKER_01: Because if you're not a member of the FOP, like, yeah, we still may help out, but do you want us front and center handling those news conferences?
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna rely on your police chief to back you up?
36:50
SPEAKER_01: Your mayor?
36:51
SPEAKER_03: Right, your sheriff.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: Your sheriff?
36:53
SPEAKER_01: What do you want us?
36:54
SPEAKER_01: Right.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: And what I tell people is nobody wants to pay the insurance on their house, right?
37:00
SPEAKER_01: It's expensive.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: What happens when the house burns down?
37:04
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna be real glad you paid that insurance.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: Right.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
37:07
SPEAKER_01: And and that's that's what I tell folks is like, listen, there and please go to FOP.net as well.
37:13
SPEAKER_01: There is a list of resources that I could go on for you know an hour talking about.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, what we're providing for you is lobbying in Washington, D.C.
37:22
SPEAKER_01: We're providing you protection, you know, legal protection if you want to sign up for the plan.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: We're also providing you the protection of you are going to have a dedicated spokesperson fighting for you in the media, which is the most important landscape now when you get into a shooting.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: It's not even the courtroom.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: You got to win the court of public opinion first because that may determine whether or not you even end up in the courtroom.
37:42
SPEAKER_05: And it's important to remember for our members, it's not the local media where this is happening, it is the national media.
37:48
SPEAKER_05: And pretty much all media now is national.
37:50
SPEAKER_05: Even the small local, they're all owned by these major national syndicates.
37:55
SPEAKER_05: And and then, you know, with the internet, with uh social media, everybody's got a way of posting stuff.
38:02
SPEAKER_05: We have to have a way of pushing back.
38:04
SPEAKER_05: And FOP is providing that at the national level.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't believe it, just ask yourself when's the last time you got on a call and somebody was talking shit to you about some officer that did something in you know, Florida.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: Like, what else has that got to do with me?
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Like, but that's how it is now.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: It goes nationwide.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: Right.
38:19
SPEAKER_04: We're gonna shoot an infomercial after this for less than$1.50 a month.
38:23
SPEAKER_04: You get joke among this.
38:25
SPEAKER_04: You get this.
38:25
SPEAKER_04: Less than a cup of coffee a day, less than a fruit smoothie a day, you can have this in your life.
38:30
SPEAKER_05: I don't want to gloss this over.
38:32
SPEAKER_05: You know, TMPA, we provide our own legal plan.
38:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, no, I know.
38:35
SPEAKER_05: We have what we believe is probably the preeminent legal plan in the country, better than FOP's national legal plan.
38:41
SPEAKER_05: The problem is our members go out of state for whatever.
38:44
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
38:45
SPEAKER_05: Even retired members are out of state.
38:47
SPEAKER_05: If they're involved in a critical incident, we're gonna we're gonna cover them.
38:50
SPEAKER_05: We don't have the network of attorneys in other states like we do in Texas.
38:53
SPEAKER_05: We got we got 70-something law firms already on or under contract in Texas.
38:58
SPEAKER_05: Outside of Texas, where do we go?
39:01
SPEAKER_05: We contact the state lodge of FOP for that particular state and say, hey, we need a lawyer in Birmingham, Alabama.
39:08
SPEAKER_05: We need a lawyer in Anchorage.
39:09
SPEAKER_05: To network its connections.
39:10
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
39:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
39:11
SPEAKER_05: It gives us that ability to network.
39:15
SPEAKER_05: And uh I will tell you, we got Day on the Hill coming up in a couple of weeks.
39:19
SPEAKER_05: We talked about that, National FOP Day on the Hill.
39:21
SPEAKER_05: You're not gonna be there, I will.
39:23
SPEAKER_05: We'll be sending some people.
39:25
SPEAKER_05: What you said about FOP being the voice in Washington, D.C., and I'm gonna challenge our members to think about this.
39:31
SPEAKER_05: If you're watching the news, or if you're even watching fiction, you're watching television programs like whatever the current ones are that deal with politics, when they're depicting Congress or the White House and an issue comes up about law enforcement, what do they always say?
39:46
SPEAKER_05: Somebody brings up the, they say, Well, what does the FOP say about this?
39:50
SPEAKER_05: That is not, in fact, fiction.
39:52
SPEAKER_05: That is that is you know art imitating life.
39:55
SPEAKER_05: That's the way things happen in D.C.
39:57
SPEAKER_05: The White House, when they want to know how law enforcement feels about something, Democrat or Republican doesn't matter.
40:03
SPEAKER_05: FOP is in the room.
40:04
SPEAKER_05: FOP is always included in the conversation, and that's why I believe we need to be part of it.
40:09
SPEAKER_05: We need to be not just so that we can be represented, but that so that we because we're the second most populous state in the union.
40:18
SPEAKER_05: We should have a major, huge voice about what FOP is doing at the national level, which is why us having the first vice president.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, and we're stronger united.
40:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:27
SPEAKER_01: When all of us are under one umbrella, when we're carrying the biggest stick, it matters.
40:31
SPEAKER_01: Like we're already, like you said, the preeminent law enforcement group that people are coming to, but you know, I we just added a lodge that had like 3,500 people in it, so we're probably pushing like 370,000 members now.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: But imagine if we had 500,000.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:45
SPEAKER_01: 600,000.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Imagine if every single police officer in this country was a member of the FOP and the kind of voice that that carries with it.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we already have a huge voice, but imagine how much exponentially bigger it could get.
40:57
SPEAKER_01: So Right.
40:58
SPEAKER_05: When the White House asks, when the White House asks, how do the cops feel about it?
41:01
SPEAKER_05: We don't want just the cops from California and Illinois and New York answering the question.
41:07
SPEAKER_05: We want to be there helping answer the question.
41:09
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
41:14
SPEAKER_04: That's exactly what we're trying to accomplish at state level.
41:17
SPEAKER_04: Because our legal plan, uh, we've got 32,000 members in there that need our legal plan, but our sister organizations, Dallas, Houston, you guys have your own legal plan.
41:29
SPEAKER_04: You don't need us.
41:30
SPEAKER_04: So for us to continue and deepen that relationship is under the umbrella of FOP so that Dallas, Houston, TMPA can be united.
41:38
SPEAKER_04: Uh so instead of 32,000, where you're 5,000 and Dallas is 3,500.
41:43
SPEAKER_05: And don't forget Harris County Deputies Organization.
41:45
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so the four of us combined.
41:50
SPEAKER_05: Over 40,000, 45,000 cops we represent just inside.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: It's the same concept.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: So that when you go and talk to state legislatures, you know, uh the state centers and state reps, you're carrying the voice of the overwhelming majority of law enforcement in Texas.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: You know, that that's important to people.
42:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
42:07
SPEAKER_04: And and there's not a need for y'all to get our legal plan.
42:11
SPEAKER_04: But under that umbrella, for our members and and guys working patrol that may not understand what are these two relationships and what why are they that's the exact umbrella we work together every day.
42:22
SPEAKER_04: The session just started this past week.
42:24
SPEAKER_04: We will be down there, all of us sitting in on Monday morning meetings, uh huddled up, trying to navigate that week's game plan as a family, as a united front, as we go down the halls.
42:35
SPEAKER_04: That's super important.
42:36
SPEAKER_04: When we walk in years ago, we'd say, Hey, we need to talk about this bill.
42:40
SPEAKER_04: Cool.
42:41
SPEAKER_04: Used to, they would say, Well, how does FOP feel about it?
42:43
SPEAKER_04: How does Houston feel about it?
42:44
SPEAKER_04: How does Dallas feel about it?
42:46
SPEAKER_04: How does this?
42:47
SPEAKER_04: Now we walk in and we tell them how we collectively as a family feel about that and and move forward.
42:52
SPEAKER_04: And that's way more powerful.
42:54
SPEAKER_05: Everybody except that one little group over there on 14th Street.
42:57
SPEAKER_05: But so, Joe, the uh I don't even know what that is.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: So irrelevant.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, go ahead.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: Neither do they.
43:04
SPEAKER_05: The uh the national FOP.
43:06
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you got an election coming up this summer.
43:09
SPEAKER_05: Uh and I know it's gonna be difficult convincing people that they want to go to Las Vegas for uh an FOP convention.
43:15
SPEAKER_05: Uh the MGM Grand, by the way, August uh 11th or the 15th.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: That sounds right, yeah.
43:20
SPEAKER_03: Um you said you need me there.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: We we're gonna do that thing.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: I do need you there.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: We probably need to record a podcast there.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think that's probably a good idea.
43:29
SPEAKER_01: That's so far.
43:30
SPEAKER_05: So far, you're the only national offer officer that I have heard about who has drawn an opponent or has somebody at least talking about running against you, and it's a fellow from Chicago.
43:39
SPEAKER_05: I don't want to give him too much press time.
43:41
SPEAKER_05: But so we need to make sure we've got our our delegation showing up in Vegas to keep you in office, right?
43:47
SPEAKER_01: Well, absolutely.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: Like, first of all, if you've never been to a national conference, a lot of fun, great networking opportunities.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: We have a huge amount of people over at the expo, different uh organizations and groups you can visit with, businesses.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's just a great time you get to meet with a whole host.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: To officers out there.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there'll probably be like 6,000 officers and their family members there.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it should be a really good time.
44:06
SPEAKER_01: So I do encourage people, if you haven't been, this is probably a good one to go to because it is Vegas, you know what I mean?
44:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, also, you know, I wouldn't mind the votes.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, if if if you're interested, you know, please contact the guys at TMPA.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to have you out there.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: It'll be a good time.
44:21
unknown: Yeah.
44:21
SPEAKER_04: If it's a bucket list item, if you've never been to a national FOP conference or police week, you gotta do it.
44:27
SPEAKER_04: Those two things should be on your bucket list.
44:29
SPEAKER_04: You need to go experience that.
44:30
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
44:30
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
44:31
SPEAKER_05: And let's not get out of here without mentioning police week, by the way.
44:34
SPEAKER_05: So, you know, we've had a couple of years where police week either didn't take place or it got postponed because of COVID.
44:40
SPEAKER_05: Right.
44:40
SPEAKER_05: Uh, we're we're back to you know, getting to the wall and and honoring our fallen brothers and sisters.
44:46
SPEAKER_05: And like Joe says, we've had more and more uh officers being killed in the line of duty.
44:50
SPEAKER_05: So police week is always that week that includes uh May the 15th.
44:55
SPEAKER_05: Uh the candlelight vigil is on the thirteenth, the ceremony at the Capitol is on the fifteenth.
44:59
SPEAKER_05: So if you haven't made your plans already, start getting ready.
45:02
SPEAKER_04: Texas Peace Officer Memorial is April 30th this year.
45:05
SPEAKER_04: Generally it's around May 1st or 2nd.
45:07
SPEAKER_04: April 30th this year, is that right, Boston?
45:09
SPEAKER_05: Typically it's done in the week that it's typically done the first Sunday in May, but uh this year, because of the timing of it, they we decided to do it on that last Sunday in April.
45:19
SPEAKER_05: So yeah, and it's a one-day event now.
45:21
SPEAKER_05: It used to be Sunday and Monday.
45:23
SPEAKER_05: Now it's a one-day event.
45:25
SPEAKER_05: It'll all be done on Sunday, April 30th.
45:27
SPEAKER_05: Um so everybody make plans for that.
45:30
SPEAKER_03: A big shout out to cops.
45:31
SPEAKER_03: Uh concerns of police survivors.
45:32
SPEAKER_03: They do a phenomenal job of of getting that uh you know situated for the members for for for the fallen members uh and their families to show up there.
45:39
SPEAKER_03: Uh it's uh it's it's an incredible thing to watch.
45:42
SPEAKER_05: At both of these events.
45:43
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, oh yes, absolutely.
45:44
SPEAKER_05: And by the way, the national event is all about FOP.
45:47
SPEAKER_05: FOP you know manages that like we have a big committee in Texas that handles our state memorial that includes us and several other groups and you know the the attorney general's office and the commission on law enforcement.
46:00
SPEAKER_05: We're all on this committee that do it.
46:02
SPEAKER_05: At the federal level, it is FOP that puts that the actual ceremony together.
46:06
SPEAKER_01: So Yeah, I mean I'd love to take some sort of credit for that, but it is our memorial committee.
46:11
SPEAKER_01: They do a phenomenal job planning and facilitating this.
46:14
SPEAKER_01: I uh the logistics that go into police week and and the ceremonies, it's the the amount of work that goes there, they're incredible.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: The memorial committee just does a fantastic job to organize all that.
46:26
SPEAKER_05: And Clint's right, by the way.
46:27
SPEAKER_05: If you have never been, it it needs to be a bucket list item for every law enforcement officer.
46:31
SPEAKER_05: Go to police week at least once.
46:33
SPEAKER_05: The thing that I haven't done at National Police Week is Tent City.
46:37
SPEAKER_05: So have you been?
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh I've been, yes.
46:40
SPEAKER_05: Um so tell us about it.
46:41
SPEAKER_05: You should make the trip.
46:42
SPEAKER_01: Tell us about it.
46:43
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to give it too much.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: No, the the whole point is to get people there.
46:46
SPEAKER_05: If I tell you all about it, you might not go.
46:48
SPEAKER_05: So Tent City is the one thing we we really need to make sure we do while we're in DC.
46:52
SPEAKER_05: All right.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: But you know, it uh it it's a great time.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: Um I don't like I do we still have time?
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Can we talk about it?
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: There's something that I didn't want uh us miss talking about while we're here, and that's just like crime in America right now.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: I know that as law enforcement we know how bad it is, but for those people who watch this podcast or listen to this podcast who don't know who are civilians that might not know, violent crime is running rampant in this country right now.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: It is rare in the last 30 years for the United States to record over 20,000 homicides.
47:28
SPEAKER_01: We've done it two years in a row now.
47:30
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
47:31
SPEAKER_01: And that's with inaccurate data that hasn't been loaded from some of our major cities, meaning that the number is actually much higher than that.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: So we have this violent crime epidemic that is just sweeping this country, and it's fueled by bail reform and by activist judges and rogue prosecutors who continue to let people out over and over again.
47:53
SPEAKER_01: I won't I won't bemoan the point.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: And the war on police.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and the war on cops, you know, obviously.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: And people, for whatever reason, they don't want to talk about it.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: They want to minimize it.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I see media people in New York saying, well, it's not as bad as when it was in the 90s.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: How is that a valid excuse when you're getting people murdered and shot everything?
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's not as bad as the nineties, as if that's some sort of win.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: And I think what's most aggravating to me is that it is our underprivileged and minority communities that are impacted the most.
48:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, people are dying like crazy in Chicago and nobody's insecure.
48:32
SPEAKER_01: To the tune of twelve times the homicide rate for black Americans compared to everybody else.
48:37
SPEAKER_01: But they don't talk about that.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: We're the ones that care.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: We're the ones that are out in the community trying to protect and make it safe for everyone.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: And these and these communities are dying off.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: Businesses are leaving, their tax base is destroyed, food deserts because no stores will open there, and the stores that are there now look like military installations because people just load up shit in a trash bag and walk out.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: The people that live in those communities they don't deserve that.
49:01
SPEAKER_01: And yet it it is allowed to continue in this country, and it just boggles the mind.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: They continue.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: Illinois, for an example, just passed a just continued revolving door policies at a time when Chicago, their overall crime rate is of 41% this year to last.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: On the west side of Chicago, the murder rate is the equivalent to Tijuana, Mexico, the most violent city in the United States, and in the country, I mean the in the world.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: So the west side of Chicago equals Tijuana, Mexico, all right?
49:37
SPEAKER_01: And the homicide rate in Illinois is up 48% in the last 10 years.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: Who in their right mind, I mean, this boggles the mind.
49:45
SPEAKER_01: Who in their right mind would say, hey, we got people getting murdered left and right?
49:49
SPEAKER_01: Let's make it easier for the criminals to get back out again.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: And and to a point, we also have this infection in our culture where no one is responsible for their actions anymore.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: No one's responsible for their decisions.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: It's everybody else's fault.
50:04
SPEAKER_01: And we've actually made it like a thing now, where everything wrong in the community is the cops' fault.
50:11
SPEAKER_01: It's the police officer's fault.
50:12
SPEAKER_01: All that person died at the hands of the police, that's definitely the cops' fault.
50:15
SPEAKER_01: It's not because you know they were high on uh cocaine, they ran from the police, they shot at the police, and then the officer shot them.
50:21
SPEAKER_01: Well, no, it's the officer's fault.
50:23
SPEAKER_01: No, it's not.
50:24
SPEAKER_01: It was the shitty decisions that that person made that led to that decision.
50:28
SPEAKER_01: Or the the person that's in prison for 10 years for murder, and someone's like, Well, that's cruel, we need to let them out.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: How about we talk about the victim's family?
50:36
SPEAKER_01: How about that's cruel?
50:37
SPEAKER_01: Or how about the fact that DA's cutting sweetheart deals is all done under the cover of darkness?
50:46
SPEAKER_01: DAs have the most latitude of anybody in the criminal justice system deciding outcomes.
50:53
SPEAKER_01: And they do it all in private with no view from the public.
50:57
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they don't even consult victims' families.
51:00
SPEAKER_01: So I've got a I've got an interesting idea.
51:03
SPEAKER_01: Why don't DAs wear body cameras when they do uh plea negotiations with defense attorneys?
51:08
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if we want accountability, let's do that.
51:11
SPEAKER_05: And and you know, it just why aren't DAs subject to recall elections like your mayor or your city council or you know, why aren't why why isn't there some recourse that our voters have to do something about the And listen?
51:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm being a bit facetious with the body cameras, but but but let's let's do this then.
51:28
SPEAKER_01: How about just something simple?
51:30
SPEAKER_01: How about you're forced to release numbers at all times of how many cases you've dismissed, how many cases you've downgraded.
51:36
SPEAKER_01: Now, sure that that they'll say that information is publicly available, but you have to go, you know, gather all that data and comb through.
51:42
SPEAKER_01: No, you should be doing we have to do it for use of force and officer shot.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: Every week you release how many cases you downgraded, how many cases you dismissed, how many cases you, you know, uh cut a plea deal on.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: Let's have a little bit of transparency so that the public actually sees what's going on.
51:57
SPEAKER_05: Hey, let's get let's get just a little bit more rudimentary.
51:59
SPEAKER_05: I don't mean to interrupt you.
52:00
SPEAKER_05: No, no, no.
52:00
SPEAKER_05: Go ahead.
52:00
SPEAKER_05: Let's talk about Brady lists.
52:02
SPEAKER_05: Let's talk about the two things that led to this Brady epidemic in Texas, and that was the Brady case out of Maryland from 1960s, which nothing didn't really impact anything until the Michael Morton case in Texas.
52:13
SPEAKER_05: And when the Michael Morton case happened, the Texas legislature had to do with prosecutors, by the way.
52:18
SPEAKER_01: Both of them, both of them, right?
52:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: But it was all the cops' fault.
52:22
SPEAKER_05: I'm glad you're being meet too, though.
52:23
SPEAKER_05: Both of them are about crooked prosecutors not releasing information to the defense.
52:27
SPEAKER_05: But what are we gonna do?
52:28
SPEAKER_05: Now we're gonna create a list of cops that the DAs won't sponsor on a witness stand.
52:32
SPEAKER_05: So we basically ruin a cop's career with no due process whatsoever.
52:37
SPEAKER_05: So let's at least hold the prosecutor's feet to the fire on this.
52:40
SPEAKER_05: You cannot put a cop on a bridge list, you cannot refuse to sponsor them as a witness unless there's been some independent third-party review of whatever information you're basing that on.
52:51
SPEAKER_05: We'll settle for that.
52:52
SPEAKER_01: And and I I bring it up because and I brought all this up because, you know, what do people say, like, you know, there's one officer involved shooting?
53:00
SPEAKER_01: We all know how this goes.
53:01
SPEAKER_01: It goes viral, and then we're all the enemy, we're all terrible, you know, all because one officer, even if that officer did something right, they're still saying we're all wrong.
53:09
SPEAKER_01: But let's just say, for example, the officer did it wrong.
53:12
SPEAKER_01: How are the rest of us accountable for that one guy's decision?
53:16
SPEAKER_01: But yet that's how they treat us.
53:17
SPEAKER_01: And I'll and I'll just do it to this way.
53:19
SPEAKER_01: Let me let me preface this with I love and respect doctors.
53:22
SPEAKER_01: I they're phenomenal people and they do an amazing job.
53:25
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so let's just, you know, before like the clip gets cut after this.
53:29
SPEAKER_05: Right.
53:29
SPEAKER_05: But how many people die from the case?
53:30
SPEAKER_01: 250,000 people die from ma medical malpractice like a year in this country.
53:34
SPEAKER_01: Right?
53:35
SPEAKER_05: I'm sorry?
53:35
SPEAKER_01: It's like 250,000.
53:37
SPEAKER_05: 250,000.
53:38
SPEAKER_05: How many people die in police custody every year?
53:40
SPEAKER_05: It's like a thousand.
53:41
SPEAKER_05: About a thousand.
53:42
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
53:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh, by the way, they did a re Hold on.
53:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna get off topic for one second.
53:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, go ahead.
53:47
SPEAKER_01: They did a recent poll of folks who identify themselves as further to the left on the political spectrum of how many um unarmed black men do police officers shoot in the United States a year.
54:02
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what they came back with?
54:04
SPEAKER_05: Up to tens of thousands.
54:05
SPEAKER_01: They thought 10,000, a thousand, this these exorbitant numbers.
54:10
SPEAKER_01: You know what the real number is?
54:12
SPEAKER_01: Less than twenty.
54:13
unknown: Wow.
54:13
SPEAKER_01: And oh, by the way, that doesn't mean that they weren't like physically assaulting the police officer in the process, nearly killing them.
54:19
SPEAKER_05: Well, how do they define unarmed?
54:21
SPEAKER_05: Because very often they just they asked, did they have a gun?
54:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and if you come through like some of like the Washington Post database, you can find all sorts of stuff that are mislabeled.
54:28
SPEAKER_01: But it's just like, let's just take the numbers and face value, okay?
54:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, but that's how uninformed people are.
54:33
SPEAKER_01: So sorry, going back to the doctor thing.
54:36
SPEAKER_01: Love and respect, and they do a fantastic job.
54:38
SPEAKER_01: Yes, there are bad doctors that kill people, right?
54:42
SPEAKER_01: Do we tell the rest of the public, don't trust doctors, don't go to the doctor?
54:46
SPEAKER_01: No, because that's stupid.
54:48
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make any sense.
54:49
SPEAKER_01: But apply that same standard to police officers.
54:52
SPEAKER_01: One officer makes a bad mistake, and then all of a sudden, well, you're all evil and you're all doing a terrible job.
54:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I and I'll no, I'm not I'm gonna stop there.
55:00
SPEAKER_01: But that that's I could give you like more professions, more examples, but everybody knows, okay?
55:05
SPEAKER_04: Like we know how many doctors were indicted last year?
55:09
SPEAKER_01: How come they're not wearing body cameras?
55:11
SPEAKER_01: Now think about this for a second.
55:13
SPEAKER_01: You go to surgery, you're put under, you're naked.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: You are the most vulnerable you have ever been in your entire life.
55:22
SPEAKER_01: You are unconscious and naked.
55:23
SPEAKER_01: Hey, no videotapes in there.
55:25
SPEAKER_04: How come it's Tyler calls that a Saturday?
55:28
SPEAKER_01: But I'm saying, if we want to talk about accountability, how come there's not a count in there?
55:33
SPEAKER_05: I had a judge you should at least have the right to have a union rep sitting in there watching your circumstances.
55:37
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
55:38
SPEAKER_01: And and Kevin, I'll be there for all your future procedures as you get two hip replacements and everything else.
55:43
SPEAKER_03: There was a judge uh a couple weeks ago that dressed down a deputy uh on a on a blood search warrant because the deputy, how many how many shootings happen at hospitals, right?
55:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
55:51
SPEAKER_03: The deputy had this body cam going, and this judge dressed him down and got pissed off because he had his body cam going while he was signing the warrant.
55:59
SPEAKER_03: Said it was a HIPAA violation and just went off, you know, went on a tantrum just like he always does.
56:03
SPEAKER_03: But that's you know, that's the kind of shit that we're talking about.
56:05
SPEAKER_03: Is it's accountability.
56:06
SPEAKER_03: Why didn't he wear a body cam?
56:07
SPEAKER_03: Why why can't DAs you bring you bring up a valid point?
56:09
SPEAKER_01: You're you're people are naked, they're getting operated on, veins are being It's like it's it's obviously I'm I'm bringing up I'm making it a little bit comical, but uh, but I'm just saying like if we want to really talk about transparency and we want to talk about these things, and and you know, listen, I believe officers wearing body cameras is a good thing.
56:27
SPEAKER_01: Yes, okay, because it has stopped people from making frivolous complaints and we catch them when they are, and like we weren't scared of body cameras, or at least for the most part, nobody was scared of it.
56:35
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
56:36
SPEAKER_01: Because we knew what it was gonna show.
56:37
SPEAKER_01: 99.99% of the time we're doing a damn good job.
56:40
SPEAKER_01: We've got heroic body cam footage.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: And oh, by the way, remember when and when everybody said, ooh, we can't wait for these cameras to come out.
56:46
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna catch these officers doing everything wrong.
56:49
SPEAKER_01: If you thought we were as bad, if we were as bad as you thought we were, you'd have a hundred videos a day from the 800,000 cops.
56:57
SPEAKER_01: And instead, maybe you get one a year that's real controversial and the officer might have done something wrong.
57:01
SPEAKER_05: Right.
57:01
SPEAKER_05: The overwhelming majority of them, the officer, all they do is exonerate the officer.
57:05
SPEAKER_05: They prove the officer did exactly what we asked him to.
57:07
SPEAKER_05: And I will tell you, there's a case out of Houston that we tried to do a focus on because very often the video that you see, as a matter of fact, I'm gonna say almost all the time, that first video you see doesn't tell you the entire Of course not.
57:19
SPEAKER_05: You don't get the context.
57:20
SPEAKER_05: Down in Houston, you guys, you were chasing a robbery suspect, a vehicle pursuit of a robbery suspect.
57:24
SPEAKER_05: He crashes out, he jumps out, starts shooting at the at the officers in that first responding car.
57:29
SPEAKER_05: The officer driving the first unit, immediately, almost immediately as soon as he stops, he jumps out of his squad car and runs the other direction.
57:36
SPEAKER_05: And even old veteran cops were sitting there going, man, what is I hope there's a good explanation for that.
57:42
SPEAKER_05: Well, when you finally get to see some his body cam, what happened was one of the very first rounds hit him in the arm, took out an artery, he starts throwing blood.
57:51
SPEAKER_05: He jumped and ran so that nobody else would have to run into that firefight to rescue him.
57:57
SPEAKER_05: He was actually saving his fellow officers by running.
58:00
SPEAKER_05: But if you look at just that first one, the public will look at that and go, Oh, that guy's a coward.
58:04
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
58:04
SPEAKER_05: No, he's not.
58:05
SPEAKER_05: He's another hero.
58:06
SPEAKER_05: You know?
58:06
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
58:07
SPEAKER_04: To your point, you know, there's a certain part of society that has a belief truly believes we're killing tens of thousands a year of unarmed people.
58:15
SPEAKER_04: Where's that body camera?
58:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, exactly.
58:18
SPEAKER_05: There should be 10,000 videos every year.
58:20
SPEAKER_05: It's reasonable that they believe that because that's what they're being told.
58:22
SPEAKER_05: But I'll do you one better though.
58:24
SPEAKER_01: Do they really believe it, or is that just something they tell themselves to make it feel better?
58:28
SPEAKER_01: Because if they really believed it, why is anybody even calling the police for anything?
58:33
unknown: Yeah.
58:34
SPEAKER_01: If you really thought you're right that we were killing people indiscriminately in the street, you know, because they they think we're just horrible people that uh, you know, only took this job to kill people, you'd never call us.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: And yet calls for service are through the roof, they're higher than they've ever been because we're expected to handle every single one of society's problems.
58:52
SPEAKER_03: Because we're the only place that's open 24-7.
58:54
SPEAKER_03: Counselors, legal assistants.
58:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
58:57
SPEAKER_03: I mean, the yeah, the job duties for police officers have been it's been added to several times since Kevin was a cop back in the day.
59:04
SPEAKER_05: And I and I've said this many times.
59:06
SPEAKER_05: I have so much respect and admiration for those of you, the men and women that are out there that continue to do this job day in and day out.
59:12
SPEAKER_05: It is exponentially more difficult than it was when I was an active duty officer.
59:16
SPEAKER_05: It is it gets more and more difficult every single day that that time goes by.
59:22
SPEAKER_05: And it and God love all of you for continuing to pin on that badge and go out and serve your communities.
59:26
SPEAKER_01: I like to say this.
59:28
SPEAKER_01: I truly believe, and you know, some of the older cops are probably gonna beat me up for this, that this generation of cops, not us, this this next generation, is the the best generation of police officers that have the most difficult challenges associated with their job and they have to rise to that occasion.
59:44
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, to all the officers that are listening, like just know that we care about what y'all are doing out there.
59:52
SPEAKER_01: We will defend you every step of the way, but also make sure you're taking care of yourselves.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, make sure you're you're venting to your partner or or have someone to talk to.
1:00:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh shit, make sure you're taking care of yourself too, because the stress of this job and the constant adrenaline dumps and the cortisol that comes along with it, like make sure you're you're working out, you're eating right, take care of yourselves because this job is gonna put mileage on you.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna put years on you.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_01: You may not think it now when you got less than five years on that you can continue working nights drinking bang energy drinks like the young guys do.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_01: I drink coffee, but you know, a lot of these guys love the energy drinks.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_01: But like, make sure you're taking care of yourself.
1:00:28
SPEAKER_01: The stress of this job will eat you alive.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh the anxiety that you have, you know, if you're working out, you can melt that anxiety away.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_01: But make sure you are taking care of yourself because uh tomorrow's not promised, and the last thing you want to do is get through 25 years and drop dead a year later when you're retired.
1:00:45
SPEAKER_01: You know, you you want to enjoy that pension, you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_05: It takes total Chicago and how violent that city has become.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_05: They're always also having an epidemic of suicides amongst their police officers.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_05: That's how bad it's gotten.
1:00:57
SPEAKER_05: Also, Joe makes a very good point, and I'm sorry to interrupt you, Clint.
1:01:00
SPEAKER_05: Joe makes a great point.
1:01:01
SPEAKER_05: Take care of yourselves.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_05: You know, lean into your families, lean into your friends, lean into your whatever your your synagogue or church or whatever it is, take care of yourselves.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_05: Make sure you're part of an organization like HPOU, like TMPA, like FOP.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_05: Make sure you've got somebody out there fighting on your behalf when it comes to the politics and and all this, because it's it's that's just as important as the vest you're wearing and the gun you're carrying to make sure we take care of you and your families.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_04: Yep, great point.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_04: I was gonna say it takes toll on you, and uh if you don't take care of yourself, that career may get cut short.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_04: And Border Patrol had four suicides just in December.
1:01:41
SPEAKER_04: Um and he he said last year was the highest rate they've had in years and years for suicides.
1:01:48
SPEAKER_04: And you gotta you gotta self like the guy that evacuated himself.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_04: You gotta evacuate yourself during the career, you gotta evaluate yourself throughout your career.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_04: You go to the doctor every year for a physical to evaluate your medical well-being.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_04: Take time every year to go, hey man, where am I at?
1:02:02
SPEAKER_04: Am I in a burnout?
1:02:03
SPEAKER_04: What do I need to do?
1:02:04
SPEAKER_04: Should I go to CID and try and adjust things?
1:02:06
SPEAKER_04: How's my relationships with friends, co-workers, family?
1:02:10
SPEAKER_04: Do a do a do a professional evaluation like you do a medical evaluation every year.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and there's never been more resources than ever too to help you.
1:02:17
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's peer support, there's cop line, which is available 24-7 to an officer who needs somebody to talk to.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: Um we have a dedicated well national wellness director that puts on you know uh symposiums around the country on wellness.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: Like we are taking this very seriously, you know, uh across the country and obviously within the FOP.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, make sure you're doing that.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: And like watch your diet too.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, I don't mean to get on like a pedestal and start telling people stuff, but like make sure you're taking care of yourself, watch your diet.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_01: If you you know, if you are overweight, get yourself in a calorie deficit.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_01: It's very simple.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_01: Just track your calories, make sure you're under about 500 a day.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: Why is he looking at us?
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: That's bullshit, Joe.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, try y'all, try to take care of yourselves because uh it's it's heartbreaking to me because we we get death notices at at a at my agency.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_01: And it's just heartbreaking when I see the guy who did 30 years, yeah, and six months later, one year later, drops dead.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: It's that's not, you know, what we signed up for is that career, but also that time afterwards to to decompress and enjoy our lives after a life of service.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_05: I want to there's some departments out there, by the way, that are very good about encouraging this amongst our officers.
1:03:27
SPEAKER_05: There's not a not a lot, not not enough, but there are some departments that are really good about doing this.
1:03:32
SPEAKER_05: I think we need more departments to do that.
1:03:34
SPEAKER_05: You talked about officers needing to take time off.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_05: You've got to have time away from the job.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_05: I I spoke with an officer this week who works for a department where they have to work 12-hour shifts five days in a row, three weeks straight.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_05: Jeez.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_05: And they cannot leave the county for that 21-day period.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_05: And then they finally get five- What?
1:03:53
SPEAKER_05: They finally get five days that they can actually leave the county.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_05: And it's a county where they don't even have any grocery stores or convenience stores.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_05: A county with a total population of 66 people.
1:04:02
SPEAKER_05: But you can't survive that way.
1:04:05
SPEAKER_05: You can't basically spend 24 hours a day being a cop for three weeks in a row.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_05: You gotta have time off.
1:04:11
SPEAKER_05: Agreed.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_05: You gotta get away, you gotta decompress.
1:04:14
SPEAKER_03: Man, I think we're about to wrap it up.
1:04:17
SPEAKER_03: Uh man, thanks for coming down.
1:04:20
SPEAKER_03: This has been an absolute phenomenal episode.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_03: It's been fun.
1:04:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm glad you got to meet Kevin.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_04: Um when we were about to wrap up well ago and you said, wait, I've got to tell you something.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_04: I was scared to death you were about to tell us that you had classified documents in your closet.
1:04:33
SPEAKER_04: I was like, oh, please don't come out with that.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, yeah, I mean they're in my closet, but I locked the closet, Clint.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I I have a lock on it, so I'm able to secure those documents.
1:04:43
SPEAKER_01: So not just out on the street.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_04: Well, there we're good.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_04: We're good.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_03: Oh Kevin, you got anything?
1:04:47
SPEAKER_03: Oh sure.
1:04:48
SPEAKER_01: Clint?
1:04:49
SPEAKER_04: Nope, can't thank you enough.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_04: Um for what both of you do, the national level.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, um state level continuing to serve, selflessly serve.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_04: And somebody having a voice that'll push back.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_04: Because everybody thinks they want to be media savvy.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_04: But having somebody it's easy to sit and watch and stay out of the war, or it's easy to get up and say something real softly.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_04: But for someone to actually get up and push back that this is bullshit and push back, man, that's that was a voice that's been needed for a long time.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_04: And and uh not just TMPA, there's a ton of people that appreciate what you've done.
1:05:23
SPEAKER_05: So you changed my mind.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_05: I do have one final thing to say because I hear cops all the time.
1:05:28
SPEAKER_05: I don't want to get involved in politics.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_05: I don't want to get involved in you know what?
1:05:31
SPEAKER_05: You are involved in politics.
1:05:33
SPEAKER_05: It's like a game of badminton.
1:05:34
SPEAKER_05: You can be on this side or that side, or you can be the shuttlecock, but you're gonna be in the game.
1:05:39
SPEAKER_05: Take your pick.
1:05:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, and and if you're not involved, guess what?
1:05:43
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna be on the menu.
1:05:44
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
1:05:45
SPEAKER_01: Like you can either be eating at that table or you can be on the menu.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_01: Those are your options.
1:05:51
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not like, oh well, I can just stay out of it.
1:05:53
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
1:05:54
SPEAKER_01: You're either gonna be that turkey on the Thanksgiving table or you're gonna be sitting there eating.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_01: I'd prefer to be eating, I don't know.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: I want to be sitting there at the table.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_01: So, but uh, I do want to thank you all so much for having me.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been a it's been a blast.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh I really, really appreciate it, and I'd love to come back on anytime y'all want to have it.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
1:06:11
SPEAKER_03: Uh and you too, Kevin.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Joe.
1:06:13
SPEAKER_03: Appreciate you.
1:06:14
SPEAKER_03: Um you guys do a good job and uh we appreciate it.
1:06:18
SPEAKER_03: So hey, we're gonna we're gonna end up doing the three questions.
1:06:21
SPEAKER_03: Oh rapid fire.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_03: Rapid fire.
1:06:23
SPEAKER_03: Clint is gonna do the questions because I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna hope and pray that at least one answer is what falls in line with what I like.
1:06:31
SPEAKER_03: He's in love with a police car that he just can't get past.
1:06:34
SPEAKER_04: All right, rapid fire to both of you.
1:06:36
SPEAKER_04: Best cop movie or line from a cop movie, best squad car you ever had, and best police whiskey or your drink of choice.
1:06:48
SPEAKER_05: Go ahead.
1:06:50
SPEAKER_05: Uh best cop movie, 48 hours.
1:06:53
SPEAKER_05: Best line, I'm already sorry.
1:06:56
SPEAKER_05: The best patrol car I ever drove was a 1980 Lemon Grand Fury with a 383 four-barrel.
1:07:06
SPEAKER_04: You didn't expect him to say your squad car because you weren't alive.
1:07:09
SPEAKER_05: I had faith.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_04: You weren't alive.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_04: I was born that year.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_03: Uh I was born that year.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_05: Uh, Best Whiskey, I'm sorry, I'm a Crown Royal now.
1:07:17
SPEAKER_05: The Crown Royal, and it's really expensive, but that new XR, the Crown Royal we're making, is really good stuff.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_05: Good stuff.
1:07:24
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Best Cop movie.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_01: I've recently changed my opinion on this just because I believe this represents the dystopian future that we're gonna be living in.
1:07:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go Demolition Man.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_01: Not normally considered a cop movie.
1:07:37
SPEAKER_01: Go back and watch it and think, are we really that far from dressing in kimonos and telling everybody we can't touch their hands and give them a high five?
1:07:45
SPEAKER_01: You will be shocked.
1:07:45
SPEAKER_01: So Demolition Man will be that.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_01: Best police car.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh I gotta be the Crown Vic.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_01: I'll die on that hill.
1:07:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, the uh you know, everything in between then, since they got rid of the Crown Vic has just not really been up to par.8 leader about the bigger.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_01: So I will say the Crown Vic.
1:08:05
SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll die on that hill.
1:08:06
SPEAKER_01: I think I'm comfortable there.
1:08:07
SPEAKER_01: And then what was the last one?
1:08:08
SPEAKER_01: My favorite drink?
1:08:09
SPEAKER_04: Drink or whiskey.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_01: Oh goodness.
1:08:11
SPEAKER_04: And by the way, I thought you were gonna say foot patrol.
1:08:13
SPEAKER_04: You didn't like any squad cars.
1:08:14
SPEAKER_04: You prefer foot patrol.
1:08:15
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:08:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll leave foot patrol with the dirty diapers landing on my head.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'll go favorite drink.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_01: I'll probably just go.
1:08:21
SPEAKER_01: Favorite whiskey has got to be just crown, just because that's what I would be most comfortable drinking.
1:08:26
SPEAKER_01: And then favorite drink, if I'm like out, I'd like a margarita.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_03: All right.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_03: A little salt on the rim.
1:08:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_03: All right.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_03: All right.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_03: Man, this has been a good episode.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I can't thank you enough again from from uh driving down or driving up to Austin from Houston.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_03: Uh Clinton, you got anything else?
1:08:41
SPEAKER_04: Nope.
1:08:41
SPEAKER_04: Nope.
1:08:41
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1:08:54
SPEAKER_04: There's some great sound bites.
1:08:55
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1:08:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can follow me on social media on Twitter at Jogamaldi, Instagram at Jogamaldi, and then on uh Facebook, it's at Jogamaldi National F O P V P.
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1:09:10
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1:09:11
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1:09:14
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1:09:15
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1:09:25
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1:09:27
SPEAKER_03: As always, God bless you guys, and may God bless Texas.
1:09:30
SPEAKER_02: We're out of the way.