Latest / APD Pod Squad / Season 2, Episode 9; Officer Lily Talley, Officer Josh Dobson, Interim Chief Jackie Stepp, and SPO Isaiah Senyak

Transcript

Season 2, Episode 9; Officer Lily Talley, Officer Josh Dobson, Interim Chief Jackie Stepp, and SPO Isaiah Senyak · APD Pod Squad

0:00
SPEAKER_05: This is the APD5 squad.
0:04
SPEAKER_05: Happy New Year! I read somewhere we're only supposed to say that the first week of January and the past that, but it is the first episode of 2026.
0:13
SPEAKER_05: So hopefully you can cut me some slack.
0:15
SPEAKER_05: And since it is a new year, this month we're featuring new officers.
0:20
SPEAKER_05: In this episode, new solo officers, Lily Tally and Josh Dobson.
0:26
SPEAKER_05: They've both got great stories to tell.
0:28
SPEAKER_05: Looking forward to talking to them, and we're happy to have them at the Ashville Police Department.
0:32
SPEAKER_05: Speaking of great stories, 2025 was a good year in many respects.
0:37
SPEAKER_05: Interim Chief Jackie Stepp joins me for a year in review as we saw a drop in several key categories.
0:44
SPEAKER_05: We'll also look forward to 2026.
0:47
SPEAKER_05: And from community engagement, one more chance to sit down with senior police officer Isaiah Stenjak, who's changing job titles too.
0:55
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna miss him being a regular on the Pod Squad, but I know he's excited about his new role.
1:00
SPEAKER_05: It's all coming up on year two, episode nine of the APD Pod Squad.
1:06
SPEAKER_05: Getting to know Officer Lily Tally.
1:08
SPEAKER_05: Thanks for joining me.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Happy to be here.
1:11
SPEAKER_05: We were just talking, walking up the stairs.
1:13
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, so how many weeks solo is this?
1:15
SPEAKER_05: And you thought about three?
1:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I believe so.
1:18
SPEAKER_05: So you're really kind of new to this process and that's fresh, yeah.
1:21
SPEAKER_05: It's kind of fresh.
1:23
SPEAKER_05: That's an interesting.
1:24
SPEAKER_05: I hadn't thought about that as the word to use, but okay.
1:26
SPEAKER_05: I'm thinking new year, new officers, which is all good news for the Asheville Police Department as we continue to grow our ranks.
1:34
SPEAKER_05: We'll start right at the beginning with you, because we haven't really had a chance to talk.
1:38
SPEAKER_05: Where were you born?
1:39
SPEAKER_00: I was born here in Asheville.
1:41
SPEAKER_05: Oh, Asheville High Grad?
1:43
SPEAKER_00: T.C.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Robertson.
1:44
SPEAKER_05: Oh, TC.
1:45
SPEAKER_05: Oh boy, that's uh that's a rivalry, isn't it?
1:47
SPEAKER_00: A little bit.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: More so Reynolds Rockets and the Rams, but Okay.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: We definitely had our rivalries with Asheville High, too.
1:53
SPEAKER_05: Well, they've all got great sports programs and and they excel at kind of different things, it seems like TC's got an amazing baseball program, I know that.
2:01
SPEAKER_05: And you know, so different schools are like Reynolds has got really good football.
2:05
SPEAKER_05: And Asheville High has traditionally been good at a lot of different things over the years, too.
2:09
SPEAKER_05: So local gal that wanted to become a cop, how did that happen?
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It was something that I've always wanted to do, I think.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: I grew up here in Asheville, and whenever I joined CrossFit, probably in high school, I guess, one of my coaches was a sergeant here, and she moved to Brunswick County, but I always wound up looking up to her and was very inspired by her.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: I never wanted to have just a desk job where I do something nine to five.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: I really like being physically active and being able to problem solve, and it just seemed like something that would fit me.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: And I remember being at a cafe with my grandparents and, you know, seeing SWAT members walking in, and I was like so fired up, you know, wanting to be like that and aspired to be that way.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: And I eventually found my way into it.
3:03
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell And eventually could find your way onto our SWAT teams, I guess.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Possibly.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that that's still my aspiration, but you know, I I'm happy to be in the career finally and chasing my dreams and being out in the field.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: It's been really rewarding and everything that I hoped it would have been.
3:22
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell So you mentioned CrossFit.
3:23
SPEAKER_05: Did you ever work out at Summit?
3:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've been down there a few times.
3:26
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell So did you ever go to the one along the river down?
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: That building was huge.
3:31
SPEAKER_05: Okay, so we met there then.
3:33
SPEAKER_05: That's where I recognized your name from.
3:36
SPEAKER_05: Because I now you would have been obviously it's not polite to ask a woman's age.
3:40
SPEAKER_05: This would have been for me in the late teens.
3:43
SPEAKER_05: Not me in the late teens, but the years.
3:45
SPEAKER_05: The late teens.
3:46
SPEAKER_05: I'm an old man.
3:47
SPEAKER_05: But this would have been, I worked out there from I guess it would have been around 2016, 17, 18.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was just getting started around then.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: Um the CrossFit community was a lot bigger back then.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: So there was a lot of competitions and things like that.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: And I was getting my feet into that.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like we did quite a few over there.
4:08
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell I thought that I remembered you from there, though.
4:10
SPEAKER_05: I I'm like and not even really your your face, but like the name, and like why do I recognize the name in priv from various competitions when we had in different things that were, you know, and your name would be on the wall for a certain PR or whatever it would be.
4:24
SPEAKER_05: And I I remember those days.
4:26
SPEAKER_05: That was a great box.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was super fun.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: I really miss that.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: The cu community here used to be a lot bigger um and a lot more competitive, which was super fun.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, all the boxes would kind of be more involved with each other.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: You don't see it as much anymore, unfortunately, but it would be nice to get back to it.
4:44
SPEAKER_05: I I know we have uh well, there's a summit location right in downtown, which I drove by today that I didn't even know was there.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're off Cox Avenue now.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, smaller space, but still have all the equipment.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: They came back after Helene when it obviously got taken out, but it seems like they're doing a lot better now and getting their feet back on the ground.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: I know they're doing a promotion for first responders right now for a month free, too.
5:06
SPEAKER_05: Mm-hmm.
5:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I I imagine the one down by the river, man.
5:09
SPEAKER_05: I saw photos, it had to be completely wiped away, wasn't it?
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
5:13
SPEAKER_05: I would guess.
5:14
SPEAKER_05: So that's so are you still doing CrossFit?
5:16
SPEAKER_00: I am, yeah.
5:17
SPEAKER_05: I'm telling you, it beat me up.
5:19
SPEAKER_05: I was I was I liked it.
5:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it really is.
5:21
SPEAKER_05: And then it basically as you get older too, it just is harder and harder.
5:25
SPEAKER_05: And I know they they pattern it for people of all ages.
5:27
SPEAKER_05: You know, you can kind of lower the but mentally I have a hard time dialing it down just in general.
5:33
SPEAKER_05: So I just it's like I want to do the heavier weights and whatever, but I know it's bad for me.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I tell people all the time, you know, you can scale any of the movements, and it does seem very intimidating on face value.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: I know going into it, I thought there was no way that I would be able to complete the whole workout, and no one expects you to, and it's not some big scary community that you walk into.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: It's really a family, and that's where I've met my entire social group and lifelong friends that I wouldn't have had had I not joined.
6:03
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell Yeah, we did some fun things that I was there.
6:05
SPEAKER_05: We did like a run up to Hillman one time, and like you I know a lot of the people actually that worked out at Summit also worked at Hillman.
6:12
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
6:13
SPEAKER_05: Uh and so and vice versa and whatnot.
6:15
SPEAKER_05: A lot of people that work there then started working out at Summit.
6:17
SPEAKER_05: So that was kind of like a natural combo.
6:19
SPEAKER_05: I was just at Hillman last night.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
6:21
SPEAKER_05: I always get the uh the Reuben with double meat.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Buffalo chicken wrap every day.
6:25
SPEAKER_05: You can't go wrong with that.
6:26
SPEAKER_05: So good.
6:27
SPEAKER_05: Anything there, though.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Their kale salad is my favorite.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Why wipe always says is the kale so- I don't know how they make the dressing so good, but man.
6:36
SPEAKER_05: So I I bet that physical fitness portion it makes you it gives you confidence in your job, right?
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I feel like I am stronger mentally and physically.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: I know that you know, if I get in a foot chase, I'm probably not gonna get gassed super quickly and I can push through mentally tough things.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh so I think it does have a lot of correlations across the board.
6:57
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Ross Powell So as a young lady, I'm guessing you've had the conversation with somebody that looks at you away when you tell them what you do for a living, you're like, wait, you're a cop?
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Every time.
7:08
SPEAKER_05: So how often does it happen?
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ross Powell Every day.
7:11
SPEAKER_05: I was gonna say it's it's not something people expect.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ross Powell No.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Um especially I have kind of a bubbly personality, very loving and friendly.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: So then people are like, wait, you're a cop.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: And I think you have to wear different hats and be able to do different things.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: And you know, just because you are a female, I think ha even having a warmer presence can sometimes bring it down a notch and can be played in my favor.
7:36
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell I think it absolutely can.
7:38
SPEAKER_05: It's almost like they don't think anyone that has a friendly personality is supposed to be a cop.
7:42
SPEAKER_05: And I I mean I think it's uh about time we can try to change that perception.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
7:47
SPEAKER_05: You know, because a lot of what you do isn't like pulling a weapon and doing things like that.
7:53
SPEAKER_05: It's like that's that's so little to do with the job.
7:55
SPEAKER_05: It's really a lot of de-escalation and a lot of dealing with community members and their problems.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, being able to just talk to people and show that you're a person, I think it goes a long way.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: And I've recognized that more, especially being solo, just how quickly it can de-escalate a situation.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes people just want you to hear them out and you know, show up for them and be there to bounce things off of and work through the issues at hand and calling law enforcement is not some big scary thing all the time.
8:25
SPEAKER_05: So has being on the road been what you thought it would be?
8:28
SPEAKER_05: Obviously, there's the classwork part of the B L E T program that you got through and you graduated and now with the field training and now you're solo.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:35
SPEAKER_05: Has it been kind of what you expected or not what you expected?
8:38
SPEAKER_00: I think it was what I expected, mostly because I've had so many friends and family members in law enforcement that I knew what I was getting myself into and signing up for.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: And it's been everything that I hoped for and everything that I dreamed about.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think people kind of looked at me funny when I said I enjoyed field training, but I truly did enjoy learning everything in that process and getting to have my backup officer right there next to me, there to help me and guide me and show me through.
9:05
SPEAKER_05: So Do you want to give a shout-out to your FTO?
9:08
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, Homek, let's see, Johnson and Rubel.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: They were all great.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: I had a blast with every single one of them.
9:14
SPEAKER_05: Okay, let me ask you a question that I ask everyone that sat in that seat, which is what's one thing that most people don't know about you?
9:21
SPEAKER_00: I have a dual citizenship.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: So my mom is from the Netherlands, and I wound up getting my Dutch passport as well.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: So I could reside in Holland if I wanted to.
9:32
SPEAKER_05: You could.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:33
SPEAKER_05: That's pretty cool.
9:34
SPEAKER_05: Or at the very least, just visit without worry, the you know, as far as the coming and going type part.
9:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
9:38
SPEAKER_05: Now wait, CrossFit's big there, isn't it?
9:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: I know Iceland.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: I was about to say, I think it's more Iceland.
9:44
SPEAKER_05: Is it not so much that area, I guess?
9:45
SPEAKER_00: No.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: I could be wrong.
9:48
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
9:49
SPEAKER_05: Okay, that's one.
9:50
SPEAKER_05: So here's some questions I'm introducing as part of uh new year, as we enter a new year.
9:56
SPEAKER_05: How about this?
9:56
SPEAKER_05: What's something you enjoy that others question?
10:01
SPEAKER_05: It could be something you eat, it could be a show you like, it could be music you listen to.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think everyone thinks I'm crazy for becoming a cop or doing CrossFit.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: So I think my lifestyle is just a general surprise to the average person.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: So all of that, huh?
10:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:17
SPEAKER_05: Did you go to college or I did.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: I went to Western Carolina.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: I wound up doing it all online.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: I really again enjoyed my community here and being here.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So I did it online while I worked full time and just got through with my degree.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: And then my whole goal was once I completed my degree, I would go in into law enforcement.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: And so finally I, you know, got done working at Lululemon and I was ready to take on my dream.
10:44
SPEAKER_05: So you did your entire coursework online.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:48
SPEAKER_05: See, I didn't even know that was possible.
10:49
SPEAKER_05: I always thought there was certain things you had to be the present for, but I guess that's it's not the way it is anymore.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: No, yeah.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: I did everything online, all my exams and everything, and it worked out for me.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, I didn't feel like I needed the whole college experience because I had such a good friend group here and I liked my day-to-day life that it didn't feel super important to me.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: I really wanted to play soccer in college and I had too many concussions, so that dream kind of faded away, and that's when I just said, you know, I'll stay here in Asheville and continue to work and do school online.
11:26
SPEAKER_05: Officer Lily Tally joins me.
11:28
SPEAKER_05: So you played soccer in high school then, I guess.
11:30
SPEAKER_05: Robertson's got a good program.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we were really good back then.
11:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
11:34
SPEAKER_05: Not anymore, aren't they good anymore?
11:36
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: I haven't kept up.
11:39
SPEAKER_05: So when I went to college, obviously, which was a millennia ago, obviously everything was in person, and I was only allowed to take even one class, just one that wasn't part of that college's like curriculum in their building.
11:53
SPEAKER_05: I have one one summer class.
11:55
SPEAKER_05: That's all I was allowed, because I kind of got behind on credits in my junior year.
11:58
SPEAKER_05: Right.
11:59
SPEAKER_05: So one, I was allowed one at the University of Buffalo.
12:01
SPEAKER_05: That was it.
12:02
SPEAKER_05: So things have obviously loosened up quite a bit since then.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: Well, and times have also changed, I think, in the sense of technology and everything.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: There's so many more resources that maybe weren't available before.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: And it allows like the average person who does need to work a nine to five job or continue their career and can't take necessarily all the time they need to go attend classes, it gives them that chance to still get a degree and move up in the world, but you know, do it from home.
12:32
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell So you're you're just getting started, obviously.
12:34
SPEAKER_05: Only you know three weeks on the road and I guess about one year in the job, which you got a long way to go.
12:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
12:41
SPEAKER_05: But have you kind of envisioned where you want that to go?
12:44
SPEAKER_05: A path, a certain specialty, or just just letting it come?
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell I think right now I'm just letting it come.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: Going into the career, I felt like I had a lot of aspirations as far as becoming a detective and doing different things.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: But right now I've really truly enjoyed just being on patrol and learning the job.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: I think that's super important.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to be well versed in everything that I do and from there give it a couple years and I'll be able to find my niche a little bit more.
13:12
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
13:13
SPEAKER_05: Fantastic.
13:13
SPEAKER_05: Well, thank you so much for sitting down with me.
13:15
SPEAKER_05: I appreciate you taking time.
13:16
SPEAKER_05: I know I know you're just about to go on shift, right?
13:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
13:19
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, everyone's got to do nights when they start.
13:21
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
13:21
SPEAKER_05: How is that treating you?
13:22
SPEAKER_05: I mean, just it it's gotta be a little bit different, right?
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's different for sure.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: I I struggled with it initially just because I've been so regimented for so long as far as you know, getting up in the morning, going to the gym, and then going to work in the afternoon and having an early bedtime.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: So uh flipping that was challenging at first.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Mentally I was struggling, but once you find a routine with it, um, it gets a lot better.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: And I've really enjoyed being on nights.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: I love my team and I'm pretty content with it.
13:52
SPEAKER_05: It's just not a normal body rhythm.
13:54
SPEAKER_05: No, no, you know it's just that the biorhythms of the staying awake while everyone else is sleeping, it's just a little bit different.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do have a normal schedule on my days off.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't want to miss out on spending time with family and friends or living my day-to-day life.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: So I usually when I'm coming off shift, we'll get up by like 11 o'clock and just go about my day and get back in bed at my eight o'clock bedtime that I enjoy.
14:18
SPEAKER_05: So how does that work with the sleeping thing?
14:19
SPEAKER_05: It's like when you're obviously working, you're gonna sleep during the day.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:23
SPEAKER_05: But the way that our schedules here work, it's like you're on for two, you're off for two, then you're on for three, and then it's a whole thing.
14:28
SPEAKER_05: Does that mess with you a little bit?
14:30
SPEAKER_00: I thought it was gonna mess with me more.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: I have kind of found that I naturally wake up around 10 or 11.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: So from there I'll just go to the gym, work out for like an hour or two, um, wear myself out pretty well, and then nap um kind of the rest of the afternoon.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: And that way I'm still able to see people, see the sunshine, get outside, and then be ready for work in the evening.
14:53
SPEAKER_05: Well, we appreciate your positivity here at the Asheville Police Department, even though most people don't think you can be a cop that way.
14:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
14:59
SPEAKER_05: So thank you so much, Officer Lily Tally.
15:01
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
15:03
SPEAKER_05: Getting to know Officer Josh Dobson.
15:05
SPEAKER_05: Do you prefer Josh, Joshua?
15:08
SPEAKER_05: Josh is perfect.
15:09
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
15:09
SPEAKER_05: Is it Joshua like uh is it your full name Josh?
15:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, full name is Joshua.
15:12
SPEAKER_05: Because I'm Rick, right?
15:13
SPEAKER_05: And so I get this all the time.
15:14
SPEAKER_05: Just got a yesterday because everyone assumes it's Richard.
15:16
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
15:17
SPEAKER_05: And like if so, if I'm signing like loan papers or something or anything legal, they ask like a hundred times, are you sure it's not Richard?
15:25
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, no, it's Rick.
15:26
SPEAKER_05: It's Rick on my birth certificate.
15:27
SPEAKER_05: It's because some people, yeah, I know about some people, it's just Rick.
15:31
SPEAKER_05: It's just and in college, when you go there, yeah, all the stuff you gotta sign, is it legally Rick?
15:37
SPEAKER_05: Or because no one's called Rick.
15:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
15:39
SPEAKER_05: It's like reference Richard.
15:40
SPEAKER_05: It's weird.
15:40
SPEAKER_05: It's specifically just short for Richard.
15:42
SPEAKER_05: Right.
15:43
SPEAKER_05: Your name is like the story that I hear from my parents about Rick is for some reason they didn't want people calling me something like Richie.
15:52
SPEAKER_05: Gotcha.
15:52
SPEAKER_05: Or you want that, that's gross.
15:54
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I yeah, it is kind of, I guess.
15:57
SPEAKER_05: We just jumped right into this, didn't we?
15:59
SPEAKER_05: Well, thanks for sitting down with us here.
16:01
SPEAKER_05: Uh we kind of have a theme with this particular episode and the next one as well New Year, new officers, because you're one of our new officers.
16:09
SPEAKER_05: Matter of fact, newly minted solo.
16:11
SPEAKER_05: That's true.
16:12
SPEAKER_05: We also uh spoke with Lily Tally, and uh I believe the word she used was fresh, freshly minted or something.
16:19
SPEAKER_05: Freshly minted.
16:20
SPEAKER_05: It's a freshly minted officer.
16:22
SPEAKER_05: So how long have you been solo?
16:23
SPEAKER_05: Not that long, right?
16:24
SPEAKER_05: Like a month.
16:25
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, about like maybe half a month.
16:27
SPEAKER_05: I did this with her, so if you want to give a shout out to your FTOs, uh any of them do some good stuff for you?
16:32
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, Mazika, his uh his dog actually ate my traffic vest.
16:36
SPEAKER_06: So shout out to Mazika and his canine.
16:38
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
16:39
SPEAKER_06: That was cool.
16:40
SPEAKER_06: Phase four, day one in the first five minutes.
16:42
SPEAKER_05: Which canine does he have?
16:43
SPEAKER_05: Which is brewery.
16:45
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
16:45
SPEAKER_05: All right.
16:46
SPEAKER_05: So is that the the the that's not the black lab, that's Milo.
16:49
SPEAKER_06: No.
16:49
SPEAKER_05: I always forget which is which now.
16:50
SPEAKER_06: So I believe it's like a Belgian Malomo.
16:52
SPEAKER_06: Oh, and the Malow.
16:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the ones that look like German shepherds, but I'm told they're malows or whatever.
16:57
SPEAKER_06: I probably got that wrong and he's gonna beat me up for it.
16:59
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, I he probably will.
17:01
SPEAKER_05: But uh how'd that go?
17:02
SPEAKER_05: Did that go well then, all your training?
17:03
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely, yeah.
17:04
SPEAKER_06: It was it was fun.
17:05
SPEAKER_06: It was a blast.
17:06
SPEAKER_06: Um I actually really enjoyed FTO with Musique, I had a great time.
17:09
SPEAKER_06: Honestly, it was fun.
17:10
SPEAKER_06: We had a lot of fun together.
17:12
SPEAKER_06: I learned a lot from him in the first phase.
17:14
SPEAKER_06: Like uh yeah, sorry, right now I'm blanking a running on three hours of sleep, as you know, I'm night shift.
17:19
SPEAKER_06: So I haven't figured out the sleep schedule yet.
17:21
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Powell How is that going for you?
17:23
SPEAKER_05: Because I had a weird sleep schedule as well.
17:24
SPEAKER_05: I did morning radio, which means I was waking up when you were like halfway through your shift or near the end.
17:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:29
SPEAKER_05: I would wake up every morning at like 3 30.
17:32
unknown: Yeah.
17:32
SPEAKER_05: Which isn't morning.
17:33
SPEAKER_05: It's it's more like middle of the night.
17:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
17:36
SPEAKER_05: And I was at work by four.
17:37
SPEAKER_05: And so by the time it gets to four o'clock on your shift, you got a couple hours to go.
17:42
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
17:42
SPEAKER_05: Is that about the hardest time when you're like at that three, four o'clock time?
17:46
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it depends because sometimes that's like when you get busy again.
17:49
SPEAKER_06: You're starting to crash, and then all of a sudden something kicks off and you get like that second wind, but then you're wide awake.
17:54
SPEAKER_06: So like you get home and you can't sleep for like another three hours because you just rode that second wind.
17:59
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, four four in the morning, uh, that's when if if everything's slow, that's when you hit that slump and you're like, I just want to go home.
18:05
SPEAKER_05: Did you got a go-to to keep you awake?
18:06
SPEAKER_05: Is it a caffeine thing?
18:08
SPEAKER_05: Is it a monster energy drink thing?
18:09
SPEAKER_05: Is it a I'm trying to stay away from energy drinks.
18:12
SPEAKER_06: So when I first started, yeah, they're not good for you.
18:13
SPEAKER_06: They're they'll eat you up.
18:15
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
18:15
SPEAKER_06: When I when I first started, I was I was drinking like one or two at night, and uh, but then I would get home and I couldn't sleep because now I'm all amped up on energy drinks.
18:22
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
18:23
SPEAKER_06: And then I found out like I wasn't really eating either.
18:25
SPEAKER_06: I was just drinking energy drinks.
18:26
SPEAKER_06: Ah food.
18:28
SPEAKER_05: Uh you could actually they say that by eating something that can actually provide your body with the boost that keeps you awake.
18:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:33
SPEAKER_06: It's real, that works, right?
18:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think you do the thing the doctors tell you.
18:37
SPEAKER_05: It's it's doctors, man.
18:38
SPEAKER_05: That being said, uh, I drink a pot of coffee every morning, even still.
18:42
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
18:43
SPEAKER_05: It's just once you get into that habit, and I don't think anything of it.
18:46
SPEAKER_05: I don't get jittery, I don't get anything.
18:48
SPEAKER_05: I know some people have negative reactions to it.
18:49
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
18:50
SPEAKER_05: But my heart doesn't race.
18:51
SPEAKER_05: I don't get anything crazy about it.
18:52
SPEAKER_05: So I just I drink two cups of coffee at at home, and then I pour myself a big travel mug, and I drink the rest of it when I get here, and that's my morning.
19:00
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
19:00
SPEAKER_06: I still drink coffee.
19:01
SPEAKER_06: It just uh sometimes it hits me different.
19:03
SPEAKER_06: Sometimes I do get those jitters, and I'm like I'm like all anxious, and I'm like, what the heck is going on?
19:07
SPEAKER_06: I haven't eaten anything, I'm just drinking coffee.
19:09
SPEAKER_05: We're way out of order in this one.
19:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
19:11
SPEAKER_05: You know, we usually uh start with a couple of questions here.
19:14
SPEAKER_05: We got Officer Josh Dobson joining us, a little getting to know segment, and our theme being New Year, New Officers.
19:20
SPEAKER_05: So let's start, as they say, begin at the beginning.
19:23
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
19:23
SPEAKER_05: Where were you born?
19:24
SPEAKER_06: Oh, I was born in Connecticut.
19:26
SPEAKER_06: Connecticut.
19:26
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, Rockville, Connecticut.
19:28
SPEAKER_06: Oh, how about that?
19:28
SPEAKER_06: Well, how'd you what brought you down here?
19:30
SPEAKER_06: Um, so after the Army, I was looking for places to l to move for college.
19:34
SPEAKER_06: I wanted to go do something outside like outdoors after being in the Army.
19:38
SPEAKER_06: So I originally picked UNCA um just to be out in the mountains, out in the wilderness, do some earth science.
19:44
SPEAKER_06: And we had friends that lived here and they recommended this place.
19:47
SPEAKER_06: Um we moved here, me and my wife on a whim.
19:49
SPEAKER_06: We didn't visit or anything.
19:50
SPEAKER_06: We were just like, yeah, sure, why not?
19:52
SPEAKER_06: So that's how we ended up here.
19:53
SPEAKER_06: Worked out well.
19:54
SPEAKER_05: It did.
19:55
SPEAKER_05: I am the public address announcer for UNC Asheville basketball.
19:59
SPEAKER_05: Been doing that for about I don't know, 10 something years.
20:01
SPEAKER_05: Ever since they built a new arena, Kim or Kimmel Arena once they've been Kim and I started doing it there.
20:05
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I thought I I recognized your voice from somebody before I started here.
20:08
SPEAKER_06: I couldn't I couldn't place it, but I was like, maybe you just does like radio on or something in the mornings and well th there was that.
20:13
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but then uh you know, because they don't pay radio people much, I had to second and third jobs, so that was that was one of them there.
20:19
SPEAKER_05: So you mentioned Army.
20:21
SPEAKER_05: How long were you in the Army?
20:22
SPEAKER_06: Uh three years.
20:22
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
20:23
SPEAKER_06: Three year contract.
20:24
SPEAKER_05: Was it something you thought maybe for a career, and then you did it for three years and said maybe something else?
20:28
SPEAKER_06: Uh it was something I thought for a career, and then my wife and I decided that's not what we wanted our family to be like.
20:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
20:35
SPEAKER_06: A lot of travel.
20:36
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, a lot of travel.
20:37
SPEAKER_06: A lot of time away from home.
20:38
SPEAKER_05: I I considered it as well.
20:39
SPEAKER_05: Uh when I went to college, I took ROTC.
20:41
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
20:42
SPEAKER_05: And I was the uh I was the only non-military recruit that was in the ROTC, a civilian, I guess.
20:48
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
20:49
SPEAKER_05: Everybody else in the class was already, you know, ready to go in the army or whatever branch afterwards, which is why they took it.
20:55
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
20:55
SPEAKER_05: Why else would you?
20:56
SPEAKER_05: Well, in my case, I just kind of I was really intrigued by military history and things of that nature.
21:01
SPEAKER_05: And I thought, you know, if I didn't like what I was going to school for, that would give me a backup plan.
21:07
SPEAKER_05: And and they really, they really wanted me to sign up toward the end.
21:09
SPEAKER_05: I was doing well.
21:10
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
21:10
SPEAKER_05: I kind of enjoyed it.
21:11
SPEAKER_05: They're like, man, you'll be a second lieutenant right out of here.
21:14
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
21:14
SPEAKER_05: And I'm like, yeah, but nobody likes the second lieutenants.
21:16
SPEAKER_06: No.
21:18
SPEAKER_05: So so that doesn't sound like much of a sell.
21:21
SPEAKER_05: But it didn't end up working out, and I did end up going to radio.
21:23
SPEAKER_05: But I did think about that career.
21:25
SPEAKER_06: I mean, military is always I mean, it's always an option.
21:28
SPEAKER_06: It's always a good path, I feel like, for people.
21:30
SPEAKER_06: I tell people that whenever they're thinking about it.
21:32
SPEAKER_06: Like, you know, nobody can tell you what to do, but I do say that like if you're struggling to figure out a path, maybe try like a three-year contract.
21:40
SPEAKER_05: So here here's a question, uh, and I'm it's just coming to me now.
21:44
SPEAKER_05: Never thought about it.
21:44
SPEAKER_05: Because I know there are people that have been police officers, then stopped and just completely did something else and went back to be police officers, and those years count.
21:52
SPEAKER_05: Can you do that with the military?
21:53
SPEAKER_05: Can you can you do three years and then just not renew then and maybe you're away from ten years and then go back.
22:00
SPEAKER_05: Back into the military at like your former rank?
22:02
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
22:03
SPEAKER_06: I believe so.
22:04
SPEAKER_06: Someone's gonna eviscerate me if you're gonna get it.
22:05
SPEAKER_06: You don't get this wrong percent.
22:07
SPEAKER_05: Someone's gonna eviscerate me if you get it wrong.
22:08
SPEAKER_05: Some veterans can be like, this is idiot.
22:13
SPEAKER_06: I think the way it works is you can go back in with your former rank, but I think you might have to go through basic after a certain amount of time.
22:20
SPEAKER_06: It's kind of like if you were like not a police officer for a while.
22:22
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you gotta reload this.
22:25
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
22:26
SPEAKER_05: You know, rules that have changed, laws that have changed, whatever has changed.
22:28
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
22:28
SPEAKER_06: So I think you have to go through basic training again, if I recall correctly, if you've been out for a certain amount of time.
22:33
SPEAKER_06: So I think I would have to, because I've been out for a while.
22:35
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
22:35
SPEAKER_06: Um but I think I would get my rank again on the one that I left with.
22:39
SPEAKER_06: Aaron Powell Which was just what?
22:40
SPEAKER_06: Uh I was an E4.
22:41
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
22:42
SPEAKER_06: So there's a little funny story there, but we'll save that for another time.
22:45
SPEAKER_05: Well we'll get you back in here.
22:46
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
22:47
SPEAKER_05: The answer to this might come from your time in the army, and I think it will.
22:50
SPEAKER_05: A question that we always ask people is one thing that most people don't know about you.
22:54
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
22:55
SPEAKER_05: And I think a lot of people know that you're in the army.
22:57
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
22:57
SPEAKER_05: Is there something that uh doesn't have to be the army times, but what is something that most people don't know about you?
23:02
SPEAKER_06: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So I'm not gonna lie, I cheated because you told me about this question was coming.
23:05
SPEAKER_06: So I I thought about this for a while.
23:07
SPEAKER_06: Um I was trying to think of something I'd be comfortable with.
23:09
SPEAKER_05: I'd like to give people a chance to think about it, because it's not the kind of thing you just want to get like stunned with, like all of a sudden, because then it's like uh I'd be here all day.
23:16
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I don't know.
23:17
SPEAKER_06: This one took me a week to think of I don't know.
23:19
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, because I was trying to think of something that like you know I'm comfortable with putting out there and that has like a fun story to it or something.
23:25
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
23:25
SPEAKER_06: Uh and you came up with what?
23:27
SPEAKER_06: Came up with something that people don't know about me is I have a deep fear of the ocean.
23:31
SPEAKER_06: Or a fear of the deep oceans.
23:33
SPEAKER_06: Well, they're both, I guess.
23:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
23:35
SPEAKER_06: Is it the sharks?
23:36
SPEAKER_05: The jellyfish?
23:36
SPEAKER_06: You know, I think it's just I think it's just the things in the ocean.
23:39
SPEAKER_05: You know, just the unknown, maybe.
23:41
SPEAKER_05: You know, funny thing about the ocean, there's a lot of stuff in there that'll kill you.
23:44
SPEAKER_05: There is a lot of things in there that'll kill you.
23:46
SPEAKER_05: I think it's a healthy fear.
23:47
SPEAKER_05: But it's so big.
23:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
23:51
SPEAKER_05: Right?
23:51
SPEAKER_05: You could be miles and miles offshore, and you let's say you just dropped and your boat's gone, and now what?
23:57
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
23:57
SPEAKER_05: There you go.
23:58
SPEAKER_05: That's what I'm that's what keeps me up at 90%.
24:00
SPEAKER_05: If you do that on land, you got a better shot.
24:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:03
SPEAKER_05: You know, at least you're not drowning.
24:04
SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
24:05
SPEAKER_05: Or something else or getting eaten.
24:06
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, like if I'm getting killed by a bear, at least I'm on at least I can breathe, right?
24:10
SPEAKER_06: I think you got a fighting chance with a bear.
24:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:12
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I mean, it's it's not nothing.
24:13
SPEAKER_05: Let's just say that.
24:14
SPEAKER_05: You got a chance.
24:15
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:16
SPEAKER_05: But if you're in the middle of the ocean with nothing around, you And then I have to fight a bear?
24:19
SPEAKER_05: No, not half.
24:20
SPEAKER_05: Fighting a bear in the middle of the ocean is almost a guarantee you're not going to make it.
24:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:23
SPEAKER_05: Did anything happen traumatic in your life like growing up that made you fear the ocean?
24:28
SPEAKER_05: I don't think so.
24:28
SPEAKER_06: I think maybe just watching Deep Blue Sea, the movie, maybe That'll do it.
24:32
SPEAKER_05: Jaws early on.
24:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
24:33
SPEAKER_06: Jaws, deep blue.
24:34
SPEAKER_06: The 3D version, especially.
24:36
SPEAKER_06: That'll get you.
24:36
SPEAKER_06: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: But sharks don't really scare me.
24:38
SPEAKER_06: It's just deep the the ocean.
24:40
SPEAKER_05: Just in general?
24:41
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I guess so.
24:42
SPEAKER_05: My wife's not a fan either.
24:43
SPEAKER_05: I mean, she's uh she'll go in like up to her knees or whatever, maybe up to her like you know, waist, but she's not going any deeper than that.
24:49
SPEAKER_05: And I of course at that point I don't want to tell her most of the attacks occur within three feet of water.
24:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, exactly.
24:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're all up right there.
24:53
SPEAKER_05: She would never get so I've we got good friends that are just outside of Beaufort, South Carolina, and we go down there.
25:00
SPEAKER_05: They live in a in one of the islands, the outer islands out there.
25:03
SPEAKER_05: And there was a hurricane coming one year, and we were down there, and they were actually gonna come up and stay with us for a couple of days, and we just happen to be there.
25:10
SPEAKER_05: And we're walking, you know, the beach one day, and it was this area where there was this inlet, so it was like a big drop-off, right?
25:17
SPEAKER_05: From there, it wasn't one of those gradual out there.
25:19
SPEAKER_05: So there was this drop-off.
25:20
SPEAKER_05: And so as we're just walking, and we're about to leave like an hour, we're getting our last walk in for whatever.
25:26
SPEAKER_05: Following us, like as we're walking at the same pace we were walking, you could clearly see the dorsal fin of a shark.
25:34
SPEAKER_06: Oh, that's good.
25:35
SPEAKER_05: So, I mean, he was right at I mean, he wasn't just he didn't just fly by us.
25:39
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, he was like going at the same speed as us.
25:42
SPEAKER_05: That'll make you think.
25:43
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's hunting.
25:45
SPEAKER_05: That's what we were more like, we are absolutely not telling the women about this.
25:49
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
25:50
SPEAKER_05: You're never getting back in the water.
25:51
SPEAKER_05: Let's go get some food.
25:52
SPEAKER_05: Let's go put some sunscreen on it.
25:54
SPEAKER_05: Let's uh wow.
25:55
SPEAKER_05: So that was we're just looking at it.
25:56
SPEAKER_05: We're like, are you seeing what I'm seeing?
25:58
SPEAKER_05: I'm seeing it.
25:58
SPEAKER_05: Are you seeing it?
25:59
SPEAKER_05: I'm seeing it.
26:00
SPEAKER_05: And we kept walking.
26:01
SPEAKER_05: And this thing just, I'm telling you, man, it was it went on for a little while until it got too shallow and he had to move out.
26:07
SPEAKER_05: But I'm thinking what he what he's thinking, or she, yeah, is if these guys fall in, I think I can take the short one.
26:15
SPEAKER_05: That's what they're you know, or or whoever's closest to the water.
26:19
SPEAKER_05: That guy just shoves the other guy, yeah.
26:20
SPEAKER_05: You know, it could happen.
26:22
SPEAKER_05: You don't gotta outrun the shark, you just gotta run your friend, right?
26:24
SPEAKER_05: You just push him down.
26:25
SPEAKER_05: I I stepped on a jellyfish one time uh in Charleston and it got all stung up.
26:30
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
26:30
SPEAKER_05: And that was not a whole lot of fun.
26:32
SPEAKER_06: No, that's not pleasant either.
26:33
SPEAKER_05: I've had I've had friends that are like to surf and they've gotten like got by mana wars in the not killed, but yeah, he's so hospitalized.
26:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
26:40
SPEAKER_05: They actually he did have to go to get uh didn't go to the hospital, but he went to urgent care and they had to give him some kind of antibiotic or something.
26:46
SPEAKER_05: It was and some and there was some stings like right there in his legs, and those manows are vicious.
26:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
26:51
SPEAKER_05: Telling you.
26:51
SPEAKER_05: So you've got good reason to be afraid of the ocean.
26:54
SPEAKER_05: Now, lucky for you, there is none nearby.
26:57
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's why I'm in the mountains now.
26:59
SPEAKER_05: So I mean if you took a three or four hour drive, you might get there, but you know, it's just you know, you're safe.
27:04
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
27:05
SPEAKER_06: I do I do like the ocean.
27:06
SPEAKER_06: I like playing in the waves, it's just going far out, not not happening.
27:10
SPEAKER_05: Now, one thing I thought you might say, because I'd heard this about you, and it fascinates me, because I'm not a great shot.
27:15
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
27:16
SPEAKER_05: Is you were a sniper.
27:17
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
27:18
SPEAKER_05: I I I've I'm not that great of a shot.
27:20
SPEAKER_05: Of course, I only have a shotgun and don't have a rifle.
27:22
SPEAKER_05: Uh but I have a lot of uh let's just say I have an I have a certain amount of handguns.
27:27
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
27:27
SPEAKER_05: Just in case the government's listening.
27:29
SPEAKER_05: So I have a legal amount of handguns.
27:31
SPEAKER_05: I have a legal amount of handguns, which are all registered.
27:33
SPEAKER_05: I don't even know what that means.
27:34
SPEAKER_05: But they're all they're all registered.
27:36
SPEAKER_05: And I'm I'm an okay shot, but I've always wanted to be better.
27:39
SPEAKER_05: And I know the key is practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.
27:43
SPEAKER_05: So how many rounds do you think you have shot in your practicing?
27:47
SPEAKER_05: Because there it had to be a massive amount.
27:51
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
27:51
SPEAKER_05: We don't just get up there and all of a sudden bullseye in the first shot.
27:54
SPEAKER_06: It doesn't work that way.
27:55
SPEAKER_06: No, no, no.
27:56
SPEAKER_06: It's a lot of practice, a lot of uh I don't know, just hang on, sorry.
27:58
SPEAKER_06: There's a lot of mechanics to it.
28:00
SPEAKER_06: A lot of mechanics to be in a good shot and a lot of, like you said, practice, muscle memory, and I can't even count how many rounds I've put.
28:06
SPEAKER_05: I mean, it even comes down to like how you breathe.
28:08
SPEAKER_05: Yes, right?
28:09
SPEAKER_05: And everything.
28:10
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, breath control.
28:11
SPEAKER_06: And also you can't overthink if you overthink the breathing and you overthink, you know, am I doing everything right?
28:16
SPEAKER_06: Then you kind of you start to mess up, make big mistakes.
28:19
SPEAKER_06: But was your uh guess what questions do you have around that, around sniping?
28:22
SPEAKER_05: I I d I just find it interesting.
28:24
SPEAKER_05: I just find I think the science I find interesting more than anything.
28:27
SPEAKER_05: It's just the science of the shooting of the gun, not the not the target or anything like that.
28:31
SPEAKER_05: I just like the I just science of it.
28:33
SPEAKER_05: I know because there's long distance.
28:35
SPEAKER_05: I mean, there's even wind, you've got to factor in the wind and the curvature of the earth, depending on how far it is.
28:41
SPEAKER_05: And people don't realize that.
28:42
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, no, you go into ballistics.
28:43
SPEAKER_06: Oh, we could be here all day talking about ballistics.
28:45
SPEAKER_06: Because ballistics, the flight path of the round, like you were saying, the curvature of the earth, um, the fact that when you fire around, it actually rises from the muzzle first before falling.
28:54
SPEAKER_06: People think, you know, oh you fire, immediately gravity takes effect and it pulls it back down.
28:58
SPEAKER_06: Which it does, but you know, because of the velocity of the round, it still rises a bit um as it comes out of your barrel.
29:04
SPEAKER_06: Which um the military they teach you a formula for calculating, you know, where um your scope is and where your barrel is and what the round's gonna do when it comes out of your your barrel.
29:15
SPEAKER_06: So you can cut like a hole somewhere so you can see out of a hole.
29:19
SPEAKER_06: I'm trying to describe this without giving away too much, because it's it's classified information, the formula and all that.
29:24
SPEAKER_06: Well, if it's classified, you know, you don't want to get it.
29:25
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm trying to think of what I'm saying.
29:27
SPEAKER_05: In case someone's listening right now, you never know who's listening, right?
29:30
SPEAKER_05: I think part of it for me too is uh I'm a bit of a military historian.
29:34
SPEAKER_05: I really love history.
29:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_05: Uh going back, I just finished the uh the American Revolution series, Ken Burns, who does a fantastic job in all of his documentaries.
29:42
SPEAKER_05: But going back to the Civil War and the Revolutionary War and what they used back then in the muskets, and even everything from the you know the difference between firing a smooth bore musket versus the rifling.
29:53
SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
29:54
SPEAKER_05: And and apparently, especially during the Civil War, there were certain groups that had more accurate weaponry, and it made all the difference in the world.
30:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
30:02
SPEAKER_05: Like all the difference in the world.
30:04
SPEAKER_05: And I guess some of that just fascinates me.
30:06
SPEAKER_06: Have you ever read about the uh that Finnish sniper?
30:08
SPEAKER_06: And I think it was World War II that took out a bunch of Russians on his property.
30:12
SPEAKER_06: Oh yeah.
30:12
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
30:12
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and he lived with snow in his mouth.
30:15
SPEAKER_06: He lived to tell about it, too.
30:17
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's the crazy part.
30:18
SPEAKER_06: They were they were trying to hit him with mortars and everything and couldn't get them.
30:22
SPEAKER_05: That dude's like a legendary.
30:23
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
30:24
SPEAKER_05: I mean, just absolutely crazy.
30:26
SPEAKER_05: Okay, so then you you decide to join the Asheville Police Department.
30:30
SPEAKER_05: Was it was it as specific as the Asheville Police Department, or to just say to yourself, I think I want to become a law enforcement officer, and we'll just go from there.
30:37
SPEAKER_06: Actually, it was specific to Asheville.
30:40
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, there was the option to go to Sheriff's Department, there was like Woodfin, there was the other departments, but for some reason something just said Asheville.
30:47
SPEAKER_05: When you went through B L E T, it was with A B Tech.
30:49
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
30:50
SPEAKER_05: And of course, that's a whole bunch of people that are there for different departments.
30:53
SPEAKER_05: They'll be going different ways.
30:54
SPEAKER_05: Now, of course, we have our in-house academy, which is very exciting.
30:57
SPEAKER_05: Uh but when you went, it was A B Tech, and sure.
30:59
SPEAKER_05: You went with a bunch of different people that went to different departments.
31:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
31:02
SPEAKER_05: Had you already made up your mind before you started, you know, where you were gonna go?
31:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
31:06
SPEAKER_05: So you knew it was a so you basically applied APD, went there, and then came through here?
31:12
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I applied APD, and then they, you know, offered me the position and they offered to pay for PLAT.
31:17
SPEAKER_06: And at that point, my loyalty was already locked in.
31:19
SPEAKER_06: That was it, you know.
31:20
SPEAKER_05: Is there anything one of our departments that you'd like to see yourself maybe gravitating towards anything?
31:25
SPEAKER_05: You'd mentioned the canine that nature homework.
31:27
SPEAKER_05: So probably not that.
31:28
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
31:29
SPEAKER_06: I was gonna say at first I was like, oh, canine's pretty cool.
31:31
SPEAKER_06: Like I got to work with Mazika, I got to do the bite sleeve, I was like, oh, this is awesome.
31:35
SPEAKER_06: And then his dog ripped my vest through his you know through his cage, and I was like, never mind.
31:39
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
31:40
SPEAKER_05: Dog game of stuff.
31:41
SPEAKER_05: Anything you thought about, maybe?
31:43
SPEAKER_05: Like you do some people say I want to be a detective, or I want to do this, or I want to do that.
31:47
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'd like to work on the the bike patrol, for example.
31:50
SPEAKER_05: I'd like to is there anything that's coming into your head like an area you'd like to focus on?
31:53
SPEAKER_05: I think it's a good thing.
31:53
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you're just getting started, I understand.
31:55
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I'm trying to make sure I know what I'm doing first.
31:57
SPEAKER_06: But uh you know the canine route actually does seem pretty cool.
32:00
SPEAKER_06: Even though it's liable to eat my gear, uh just CMS could get to do stuff.
32:05
SPEAKER_06: I was like, yeah, this this might be something down the line.
32:08
SPEAKER_06: I feel like having a partner in your car all the time is cool too.
32:10
SPEAKER_06: You know, he's just in the back there, always there if you need him.
32:13
SPEAKER_06: We'll see how that goes.
32:14
SPEAKER_06: Is it like five years or something before you can apply for canine?
32:16
SPEAKER_05: I do not know.
32:17
SPEAKER_05: I I just know it's like one of the most in-demand things, and it's it's hard to get because there's only so many there's only so many dogs.
32:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so never mind that, though.
32:24
SPEAKER_05: And training a dog is really, really expensive.
32:27
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
32:27
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you know, just to get one is just difficult.
32:30
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
32:31
SPEAKER_05: And the people that are in our canines, I they're just kind of I don't know, they've got it in their blood, I think.
32:35
SPEAKER_05: It's just kind of who they are.
32:36
SPEAKER_05: Okay, that makes sense.
32:37
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, okay, so maybe ERT then.
32:39
SPEAKER_06: No.
32:40
SPEAKER_05: Well, we'll talk to Silverman about that.
32:42
SPEAKER_05: You obviously when you were going to B L E T, right, there's a lot of things that you do in addition to the core bookwork, right?
32:50
SPEAKER_05: You're learning everything and whatever like that.
32:51
SPEAKER_05: But how different is what they teach you from what actually happens now that you're in your car by yourself?
32:59
SPEAKER_06: Oh man, that's a great question.
33:01
SPEAKER_06: A lot of it a lot of it's extremely different, but the scenarios that they showed us in BLAT, um, you know, it was APD officers and stuff that would come in and help run the scenarios.
33:11
SPEAKER_06: And they were taking like real life examples.
33:13
SPEAKER_06: So when you're in BLAT, it's like this is nonsense.
33:15
SPEAKER_06: Like this would never happen.
33:16
SPEAKER_06: And then you come out here and it's like, oh my god, this actually happens.
33:19
SPEAKER_06: Like so the bookwork doesn't compare, but the scenarios that the officers ran for us definitely helped a lot.
33:27
SPEAKER_06: Like just getting comfortable with chaos and being the person to be like, okay, we gotta sort out this chaos.
33:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
33:33
SPEAKER_06: Like, you know.
33:34
SPEAKER_05: I mean the bookword found it's your foundation.
33:36
SPEAKER_06: Yes, the bookwork is the foundation and that's where kind of where you pull like a lot of your decision making from.
33:41
SPEAKER_06: But you also it's hard to re uh recall some of that information when you're in the middle of someone with their pants down, running around uh you know, screaming obscenities at you.
33:50
SPEAKER_05: And there's things you can't be prepared for.
33:53
SPEAKER_06: There's things the book doesn't talk about, yeah.
33:54
SPEAKER_05: It does not.
33:55
SPEAKER_05: And well, and there's no way to prepare for it, I wouldn't think.
33:57
SPEAKER_05: I I would guess just about every day there's something brand new, right?
34:00
SPEAKER_05: And that'll probably be until the day you retire, I would guess.
34:02
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, absolutely.
34:03
SPEAKER_06: And that's I mean, that's why I love the job though.
34:04
SPEAKER_06: That's why I'm having fun with it.
34:05
SPEAKER_06: I like that every single call I go to is different.
34:07
SPEAKER_06: You know, there's obviously some that are like similar, and you kind of get there like, oh, I've dealt with something similar to this, I know how to like take care of it or hopefully take care of it.
34:15
SPEAKER_05: But all right, we call this our random questions segment.
34:18
SPEAKER_05: Uh we've already decided what you're an expert in as far as the uh being a sniper, that's one thing.
34:22
SPEAKER_05: What else are you an expert at?
34:24
SPEAKER_05: It could be something completely random.
34:26
SPEAKER_05: Like for me, I can find a vacation rental.
34:29
SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's a good one to have, yeah.
34:30
SPEAKER_05: I'm telling you, if if we're going somewhere, anywhere, whether it's the beach or the mountains or somewhere else like that, I can surf the interwebs and find like the perfect place in the perfect location, exactly what we're looking for at the right price.
34:42
SPEAKER_06: It's a unique skill.
34:43
SPEAKER_06: Okay, so I have a proposition for you then.
34:45
SPEAKER_06: I will teach you some long-distance shooting if you teach me that skill.
34:48
SPEAKER_06: So you got anything like that?
34:49
SPEAKER_05: That's like a secret skill that just people find weird, maybe?
34:54
SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah, ruin that ramp.
34:55
SPEAKER_05: I can do this.
34:56
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
34:57
SPEAKER_05: Okay, that is good.
34:58
SPEAKER_05: See, I wish people could have seen you just do that.
35:01
SPEAKER_05: Okay, so let me try and paint a visual image.
35:04
SPEAKER_05: He's flapping his hands like it's a I can clap with one hand?
35:09
SPEAKER_05: Is that what it is?
35:10
SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah.
35:10
SPEAKER_05: Like that doesn't sound good.
35:13
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
35:14
SPEAKER_06: Maybe I'll think of something else.
35:15
SPEAKER_06: We're going to have to use that.
35:16
SPEAKER_06: When did you learn you could do that?
35:18
SPEAKER_06: Uh high school?
35:20
SPEAKER_06: As you can imagine when a boy would do that with his hands.
35:22
SPEAKER_06: How does that just accidentally I don't even know I don't even Oh, should that we should wear that again?
35:27
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
35:28
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's I'm I can't do it.
35:30
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's basically it's keeping fingers loose.
35:33
SPEAKER_05: Uh you just Okay.
35:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
35:35
SPEAKER_05: It's sometimes I'm afraid of the answers that I get when I ask the questions.
35:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that one's that was one of them.
35:40
SPEAKER_06: That's a fair that's a fair thing to be fair.
35:41
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
35:42
SPEAKER_06: As you can imagine, a high school boy discovering that trick.
35:45
SPEAKER_06: I can't hear what it sounds like.
35:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm guessing the jokes were told around the campfire, et cetera, et cetera.
35:52
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, I get a lot of trouble for doing that in class.
35:54
SPEAKER_06: But I'm trying to think of something else that you maybe you can use in time.
35:57
SPEAKER_05: I think that's good enough, but quickly.
35:59
SPEAKER_05: I think we end on that.
36:01
unknown: Okay.
36:02
SPEAKER_05: Officer Josh Dobson.
36:04
SPEAKER_05: All right.
36:05
SPEAKER_05: I appreciate you coming by spending some time.
36:07
SPEAKER_05: Hey, and uh welcome aboard.
36:08
SPEAKER_05: Your first month, you've only got you know 29 years to go.
36:11
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's not bad at all.
36:13
SPEAKER_05: When you talk it like that, right?
36:15
SPEAKER_05: Well, thank you so much and uh congratulations on joining the force.
36:18
SPEAKER_05: Appreciate it.
36:18
SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Rick.
36:20
SPEAKER_05: I'm joined now by Interim Chief of Police, Jackie Stepp.
36:23
SPEAKER_05: Thanks for joining me.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Rick.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, and I hope you had a uh good, happy new year.
36:27
SPEAKER_05: I did.
36:28
SPEAKER_05: I did have a good Christmas, good new year, and here we are in a new year, 2026, and kind of like an after-action report for an entire year.
36:36
SPEAKER_05: Let's talk just a little bit about last year.
36:39
SPEAKER_05: I know there's some positives to report.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: For us, the most significant number we saw was in our violent crime reduction.
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we saw a 24% reduction in violent crime, and you know, that is such a huge accomplishment for any agency of any size to see that percentage of a reduction in violent crime.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: We also saw a reduction in our traffic fatalities.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: Uh we had 16 in 2025 compared to 23 in 2024.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: Again, a pretty significant reduction.
37:12
SPEAKER_05: And the lowest number since 2019.
37:14
SPEAKER_05: So the lowest in six years.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:17
SPEAKER_01: And then homicides, unfortunately, you know, we had six, and I I hate to even report that.
37:22
SPEAKER_01: I'd love for the number to be zero.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: But we had six in twenty twenty-five compared to thirteen in twenty twenty-four.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: And if I'm not mistaken, it's the lowest count of homicides we've had since roughly twenty seventeen.
37:35
SPEAKER_05: So almost a decade for that, too.
37:37
SPEAKER_05: So that's good news.
37:38
SPEAKER_05: Like we'd love to see the number of zero, but realistically, I think most people know that's not really possible.
37:43
SPEAKER_05: So a number of six is great.
37:45
SPEAKER_05: It's an improvement.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a a big improvement.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: And and if you look at the numbers, those numbers compared to officer proactivity, I think you'll see why those numbers are down.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: So the proactivity from 2024 to 2025, we increased by 15 percent, which is roughly 3,000 hours that officers spent on their own.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: Proactivity means not call for service.
38:08
SPEAKER_01: They are just out in their assigned geographic location, doing good police work, you know, checking out with persons, stopping vehicles, just really being engaged and proactive in their assigned area.
38:20
SPEAKER_05: You know, there's an instance here of like you're gonna see bigger numbers, but that doesn't necessarily a bad thing.
38:26
SPEAKER_05: So as you mentioned, being proactive, doing these things.
38:29
SPEAKER_05: And I think we're going to see that maybe even go up as we get even more officers on the street this year.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: I think you'll see that number continue to increase as we restaff.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: But you know, another thing, Rick, that you know that we do is we focus on our violent offenders.
38:44
SPEAKER_01: And then last year in 2025, our street crimes unit alone seized 66 guns, firearms off the street and made 119 arrests.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: And those arrests are, you know, violent offenders who have a nexus to violent crime.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: So again, all of that between the proactivity, our investigations, our street crime division, all of that played a vital role in the decrease in the numbers.
39:09
SPEAKER_05: Perception is a difficult thing to change.
39:12
SPEAKER_05: And there are some people here that have this perception of Asheville as this very dangerous, very violent community with lots of crime.
39:20
SPEAKER_05: But here we are showing that with the numbers going down, a continuous effort by the Asheville Police Department in all facets to reverse that perception.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, everybody makes their own perception of how they feel.
39:32
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I agree with you.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: I think the data speaks for itself.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: But as we continue to restaff, I think as people see more officers on the street, I think that we can shift that perception of safety.
39:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, this is something that began really about five years ago in 2020, uh, with the the year of everything, quite frankly, we had the riots, we had COVID, and we've been kind of uh fighting our way back ever since.
39:56
SPEAKER_05: But I'm liking what it looks like going into 2026.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we've got 20 that are getting ready to graduate our current BLET Academy.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: We've got 10 already hired and starting into our February Academy, and we were just able to accomplish so much in 2025.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm super excited for 2026 and what as a team we're gonna be able to accomplish in 2026, particularly too with the relaunch of our traffic safety unit.
40:24
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we wrapped up the year with new solo officers as we spoke to a few of them, uh Officer Lily Tally and Officer Josh Dobson, and there was more, of course, and then more coming, as we mentioned that February graduation of the B L E T class, and then they'll go into field training and and then we'll have even more.
40:40
SPEAKER_05: And I know we're expecting another large class, so that the gains keep continuing.
40:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I really think that they do.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: And we, you know, we will continue to focus on recruitment, we'll continue to focus on compensation, uh, and we'll continue to focus on technology and how our technology can help supplement and augment some of the staffing shortages that we currently have.
41:00
SPEAKER_05: Beyond just pure data, what else was accomplished in 2025 that we're proud of?
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Gosh, 2025 again was such a good year.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: We were able to kind of relaunch, reinvigorate our partnership with our Asheville Housing Authority and the new property manager there, the new CEO.
41:16
SPEAKER_01: So we are excited to see what we're gonna do in our our housing authority properties this year in 2026 with that partnership.
41:24
SPEAKER_01: Kind of at the end of the year, we relaunched our traffic safety unit.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: So excited to see what they're gonna do.
41:29
SPEAKER_01: We already see a huge difference on the street, people calling, you know, liking seeing more blue lights on the side of the road.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: We started our in-house academy back, and I think that will really help us boast our recruitment and keep those numbers growing.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: A big accomplishment was implementing our new compensation pay plan and that career ladder, giving officers something that they can look forward to throughout their career and kind of grow throughout their career.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: We recruited more laterals than we have since 2019, I believe.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: I think we had six last year.
42:01
SPEAKER_01: So the importance of being able to recruit laterals uh is that they can hit the road sooner.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: You know, they don't have to go through a full-blown BLET and not even necessarily a full FTO phase.
42:12
SPEAKER_01: So we're able to get them out on the street much sooner.
42:15
SPEAKER_01: So we were able just again with the data and with the programs, we actually started our technology and intelligence division.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just so super excited to see what 2026 is gonna bring, particularly with the new city manager coming in and the ideas and things that she may bring to the table and how we're gonna be able to partner and come together.
42:34
SPEAKER_05: You can almost feel a buzz around the building.
42:36
SPEAKER_05: There's more people just physically in the building.
42:39
SPEAKER_05: You're seeing work to the building itself, which is a 100-year-old building, and we're on the fourth floor, and this is now where the B L E T program is located, and we're seeing more activity up here.
42:49
SPEAKER_05: There's just something in the air.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: Rick, I'm so glad that you mentioned the building because I almost forgot our partnership with the Tanger Outlets and how fortunate we are that they are allowing us to move into a space there at the Tanger Mall and have an additional West Asheville resource station located there at the Tanger.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: So I'm very excited for the neighborhoods in West Asheville who will hopefully feel an expansion of our police services in that area.
43:17
SPEAKER_05: And increase efficiency as well.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: Correct, exactly.
43:20
SPEAKER_05: Any final thoughts?
43:22
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to take just a second and recognize and acknowledge the great men and women that we have at the Asheville Police Department, both sworn staff and our professional staff.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: Those numbers that I reported on, the accomplishments from 2025, frankly, they would not have been possible without each and every one of them.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: And I am just so grateful.
43:42
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that over the years they have learned to do more with less.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: And I just look forward to what 2026 brings.
43:50
SPEAKER_05: And we're grateful for your leadership.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, Rick.
43:53
SPEAKER_05: And as we look back at everything accomplished in 2025 and all that we have to look forward to in 2026, to rob us.
44:00
SPEAKER_05: Song title for my high school graduation year 1986 from the band Timbuk 3.
44:05
SPEAKER_05: The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.
44:08
SPEAKER_05: Interim Chief Jackie Step.
44:09
SPEAKER_05: I know how busy you are.
44:10
SPEAKER_05: Thank you so much for sitting down and sharing your thoughts today.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much.
44:15
SPEAKER_05: Senior Police Officer Isaiah Seniak from Community Engagement joins us as we kick off 2026.
44:23
SPEAKER_05: 2026.
44:24
SPEAKER_05: Are you serious?
44:24
SPEAKER_05: Is that what it that seems like too many years, doesn't it?
44:27
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't seem real.
44:28
SPEAKER_02: It especially doesn't seem real when I think about the year that I graduated high school or like my graduating class.
44:34
SPEAKER_05: Okay, what year was that?
44:36
SPEAKER_05: 2000.
44:36
unknown: Oh, dude.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: The class of 2000.
44:38
SPEAKER_05: Okay, I was 1986 from high school.
44:41
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I feel good now.
44:42
SPEAKER_05: You know that you should.
44:44
SPEAKER_05: Uh the 2000 thing, though.
44:46
SPEAKER_05: So you you were graduating them.
44:47
SPEAKER_05: How much do you remember the whole member?
44:49
SPEAKER_05: Everyone was freaking out.
44:50
SPEAKER_05: Y2K.
44:51
SPEAKER_05: Oh gosh, dude.
44:52
SPEAKER_05: So the radio station I worked at, we gave away a Volkswagen, which we call the Y2K bug.
44:58
SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's clever.
44:59
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's that's a that is pretty clever.
45:01
SPEAKER_05: But I I remember we went out that night and we made sure we got home before midnight, you know, to celebrate it.
45:07
SPEAKER_05: Oh, so I don't want to be out on the roads when this the whole world goes to heck.
45:12
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
45:12
SPEAKER_05: And it never did, of course.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: No, but I think those so my dad worked at Apple and IBM, and so he was he was very keyed into this.
45:21
SPEAKER_02: I always think there's something interesting that happens to societies when something potentially calamitous might occur.
45:29
SPEAKER_02: Like the semi underbelly is revealed, and some growth can come out of it.
45:35
SPEAKER_05: As we showed uh during COVID, we did not react well to that.
45:39
SPEAKER_05: No.
45:40
SPEAKER_05: As a society, that was a that was a pretty general freakout.
45:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
45:45
SPEAKER_05: Now, in some in some respects, it was warranted.
45:47
SPEAKER_05: You know, there it was certainly a health issue.
45:50
SPEAKER_05: Scary.
45:51
SPEAKER_05: A major health scare.
45:52
SPEAKER_05: And I think for everyone, I think the worst part was the not knowing.
45:55
SPEAKER_05: It's like even the scientists like, ah, I don't know, man.
45:58
SPEAKER_05: I we're we're trying here.
45:59
SPEAKER_05: We don't really know.
46:00
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
46:01
SPEAKER_05: You know, and then the where it came from.
46:02
SPEAKER_05: And then of course politics gets involved, and because of that, we couldn't even get an answer.
46:06
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:07
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:07
SPEAKER_02: It was like, did it come from like a pangolin or did it come from a lab, or did it come from a not knowing the unknown is always terrifying to that is the most terrifying thing is the unknown.
46:18
SPEAKER_02: It is.
46:18
SPEAKER_02: And that speaks to with the Y2K thing.
46:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
46:21
SPEAKER_05: No one knew what's gonna happen in the what's even weirder almost about the Y2K scare about the all the computers and whatever and was when they like started I'm not a coder or whatever.
46:32
SPEAKER_05: But they didn't think that I guess as a society we we would last further than 1999, because apparently part of the problem was the coding.
46:39
SPEAKER_05: Right.
46:39
SPEAKER_05: And it was all like, oh yeah, when we did that, we didn't quite think ahead.
46:43
SPEAKER_02: I know it's awfully short-sighted.
46:46
SPEAKER_02: It's like the computer revolution, like essentially took, you know, started in the mid-80s.
46:51
SPEAKER_02: It's like not more than 15 years.
46:52
SPEAKER_05: We only got about 20 years left, is what we're thinking.
46:54
SPEAKER_05: So we asked some of the climate people.
46:56
SPEAKER_05: We should have died like five years ago.
46:58
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
46:58
SPEAKER_05: The whole, you know, Earth should have imploded at that point.
47:01
SPEAKER_05: But here we are jumping into a new year, 2026, which just is wild on so many levels, and it brings new things, as always, including for you.
47:13
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
47:14
SPEAKER_05: Uh I'm glad I did not know how quickly you were moving to your new role within the Asheville Police Department.
47:19
SPEAKER_05: But when we spoke before uh you joining me in the room here, it's your last opportunity to talk, and I'm glad we have the opportunity to talk.
47:26
SPEAKER_05: It's always a good opportunity to speak with you, Rick.
47:28
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
47:29
SPEAKER_05: But I I know you've really enjoyed community engagement.
47:31
SPEAKER_05: You're perfect for it.
47:32
SPEAKER_05: You're you're a people person.
47:34
SPEAKER_05: But your new role as an SRO, that's also very much a people person oriented job.
47:39
SPEAKER_05: The people's will just be a lot smaller.
47:42
SPEAKER_02: Some of these kids are bigger than I am.
47:43
SPEAKER_02: But yes.
47:44
SPEAKER_02: You think?
47:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're a pretty big dude.
47:46
SPEAKER_02: So I'm going over to Randolph and uh Dixon.
47:50
SPEAKER_02: I'm assigned both those schools.
47:52
SPEAKER_02: And Randolph has high schoolers and middle schoolers both.
47:55
SPEAKER_02: And so I used to be a middle school teacher, and some of those middle schoolers towered over me.
48:00
SPEAKER_02: So you have the the occasional one.
48:02
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, generally speaking, they will be smaller.
48:04
SPEAKER_02: Are you excited about it?
48:05
SPEAKER_02: I am.
48:06
SPEAKER_02: I think it's a new chapter, it's something different.
48:08
SPEAKER_02: Professionally, it kind of folds in nicely.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: It kind of melds the two worlds of education and uh and law enforcement, and especially law enforcement in the capacity of mentorship and stuff like that.
48:20
SPEAKER_02: That I I really, really value, the chance to be impactful in a unique way.
48:26
SPEAKER_02: That's still within the confines of law enforcement, but it's sort of expressing itself in a different manifestation.
48:32
SPEAKER_05: Knowing you, you love knowledge and you love experiences.
48:36
SPEAKER_05: And so this is a different experience where you get a chance to, of course, learn something different as well.
48:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
48:42
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
48:43
SPEAKER_02: That's what I found is super interesting about law enforcement is there's this landscape that you can explore various facets of and it's never ending.
48:53
SPEAKER_02: It's like this infinite landscape that you can if you're interested, for example, in canine, you can you know dive super deep into that or uh hazardous devices or school resource or whatever.
49:05
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's perpetually interesting.
49:08
SPEAKER_05: So one of the things I know that you began just kind of not even on purpose, but also kind of on purpose, was the chess downtown at Pritchard Park.
49:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
49:19
SPEAKER_02: So chess club at the end of the yeah, I've already so yes, I've uh I have big plans for this.
49:25
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
49:26
SPEAKER_02: Um chess is a catalyst, um, especially for kids.
49:30
SPEAKER_02: It can be.
49:31
SPEAKER_02: Lord knows that there's walls that need to be broken down between law enforcement and the community in every aspect, including children.
49:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's a great vehicle and a mechanism to be utilized in order to sort of create that connection and rapport.
49:47
SPEAKER_05: And you know, in this day and age with so much, so many distractions, as we're sitting right here, both of our phones are pinging and beeping, and and that's just everybody every day, right?
49:55
SPEAKER_05: Playing chess is a chance to remove all those distractions for a while, right?
49:59
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
49:59
SPEAKER_05: And just kind of get inside your brain and yourself and just that game of chess.
50:03
SPEAKER_05: You can't be doing three or four, you can't be multitasking when you're playing chess.
50:06
SPEAKER_05: No, it's very myopic.
50:08
SPEAKER_05: It is just it's about that and the next move and the move after that.
50:11
SPEAKER_05: And the truly good ones, the masters, are thinking like what, twelve steps ahead or something, or whatever they are.
50:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's a whole nother level.
50:18
SPEAKER_02: That's a whole nother.
50:19
SPEAKER_05: I I can't even do two.
50:20
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, I'm like on one move and then maybe one after that.
50:23
SPEAKER_02: But have we ever played before?
50:25
SPEAKER_05: We haven't.
50:25
SPEAKER_05: No, you would crush me.
50:26
SPEAKER_05: Oh well.
50:27
SPEAKER_05: We should definitely play.
50:30
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I got a Patsy here.
50:32
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
50:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, chalk up a guaranteed W.
50:34
SPEAKER_05: I I mostly because I don't really know anyone that plays or I haven't seen a chest set lying around.
50:40
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
50:41
SPEAKER_05: I have one.
50:41
SPEAKER_05: I I have one at my home as well.
50:43
SPEAKER_05: It's actually uh I was gifted it years ago.
50:45
SPEAKER_05: It's one of the glass ones.
50:46
SPEAKER_05: And it it actually sits out as a display.
50:49
SPEAKER_05: Every once in a while I got to put it away when the cats find the pieces interesting, and they'll just then knock those things around.
50:54
SPEAKER_05: To this point, our current set of cats does not find the pieces interesting, so it is still out.
50:59
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
50:59
SPEAKER_05: The day that they do, then it probably is.
51:03
SPEAKER_02: After this, if you want to get a game in, I keep a set with me in the car.
51:05
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I was I was filling in for uh Officer Gall um for a few days at the middle school during lunch.
51:12
SPEAKER_02: You know, I kind of looked around and saw uh some kids just kind of sitting there at the lunch table, and I ran in my car, grabbed my roll-up chess set, and I'm like, hey, do you know how to play chess?
51:22
SPEAKER_02: And and they're like, Yeah, they thought it was super unusual.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: Um so it was novel and interesting, and you know, we're playing before long.
51:29
SPEAKER_02: There was like a gaggle of kids around there.
51:31
SPEAKER_02: So I definitely am going to be implementing that over there too.
51:34
SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
51:35
SPEAKER_05: I look forward to hearing more about that.
51:37
SPEAKER_05: Let's talk about what's going on in the new year coming up for community engagement, even though you're not gonna be a part of it much longer.
51:44
SPEAKER_05: You still are.
51:46
SPEAKER_05: So, what do we got coming up as we as we kick off a new year, a new month?
51:49
SPEAKER_02: All right.
51:50
SPEAKER_02: So um we have partnered with Parks and Rec, and we're going to an event called Wreck and Roll.
51:57
SPEAKER_02: This is uh Pisgiview apartments, and that's gonna be taking place January 13th.
52:02
SPEAKER_02: This is an awesome opportunity to sort of engage with the the community in a very playful aspect.
52:07
SPEAKER_02: And like they say, what's that adage?
52:09
SPEAKER_02: The family that plays together stays together.
52:11
SPEAKER_02: This applies to the community as well.
52:12
SPEAKER_02: So that's a fun time.
52:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, the new iteration, the spring iteration of the Citizens Police Academy is coming up.
52:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:20
SPEAKER_02: Um and there will be a link that's gonna be dropped uh January 20th.
52:26
SPEAKER_02: So you just gotta Google it.
52:28
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
52:28
SPEAKER_02: And it pops up there at the top.
52:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh the spring CPA goes from March 19th to do the math here.
52:37
SPEAKER_02: June, probably.
52:38
SPEAKER_02: Uh May 21st.
52:39
SPEAKER_05: Okay, May 21st, I gotcha.
52:41
SPEAKER_05: Now we had to turn people away in the fall police academy.
52:44
SPEAKER_05: We had so many applications.
52:45
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is gaining traction.
52:47
SPEAKER_02: It's a fantastic program, uh, an opportunity to sort of really explore what happens, the internal workings of the department, chance to network, make connections, all kinds of stuff.
52:59
SPEAKER_05: So I have yet to speak with someone that has gone through the Citizens Police Academy that said they were bored or they had they didn't learn anything, or that it was just uh waste of my time.
53:11
SPEAKER_05: Everybody comes away with like, wow, that was so much more than I thought it would be.
53:16
SPEAKER_05: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
53:17
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
53:17
SPEAKER_02: The number one we get, you know, we obviously sent these survey forms, and it's always the complaint's always like, I wish it was longer.
53:23
SPEAKER_02: So Which is wild.
53:24
SPEAKER_02: It's 10 weeks.
53:26
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's in most people people are you know really kind of resistant to give up their personal time in this day and age, and it is a commitment.
53:33
SPEAKER_05: It is every Thursday night for 10 weeks.
53:35
SPEAKER_05: And people have missed, you know, you can miss one, whatever, but you're not gonna skip half of them.
53:40
SPEAKER_05: Right.
53:40
SPEAKER_05: You know, so plus we feed you, so I mean there's a free meal and board.
53:44
SPEAKER_05: It's good food, too.
53:45
SPEAKER_05: Actually, it's all local restaurants that are featured, so it's a good meal.
53:48
SPEAKER_05: We break bread, and then you hear from all of our departments, and it's even interactive.
53:53
SPEAKER_05: There's things that you do.
53:54
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
53:54
SPEAKER_02: So it's not just lecture style.
53:57
SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean there is there is some of that, you know, um information providing and stuff like that.
54:02
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, we do simulations and stuff like that.
54:06
SPEAKER_02: We go out to the uh Bunkham County training facility and engage in some uh situations out there, some incidents, some role-playing, all kinds of stuff.
54:15
SPEAKER_02: And it involves every different pedagogy is uh put out there.
54:20
SPEAKER_02: So you have you know your visual learners will be engaged, your auditory learners and your kinesthetic learners all have some some meat there.
54:27
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it it's kind of like uh back in the day, show and tell, if you remember show and tell from when you were growing.
54:32
SPEAKER_05: It's like it's like show and tell for adults on steroids is really what it is.
54:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's a good analogy.
54:38
SPEAKER_05: You know, kids at age three, I I know I took in my evil canival, my little uh my little Remember the Evil Knievel thing that on the motorcycle and you rev him up and he jumps things.
54:47
SPEAKER_05: I had that.
54:48
SPEAKER_05: That was my show and tell growing up.
54:50
SPEAKER_05: Everyone loved it.
54:51
SPEAKER_05: It's a little fancier than that.
54:53
SPEAKER_05: It is a lot fancier than that.
54:54
SPEAKER_05: Although I bet if I brought my evil can evil, people would like it.
54:58
SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
54:58
SPEAKER_02: Well, you presented the Citizens Please Academy.
55:00
SPEAKER_02: You should bring it in.
55:01
SPEAKER_05: I I yeah, it's probably not to be located anywhere.
55:04
SPEAKER_05: I'm sure I'm sure.
55:04
SPEAKER_02: You can find it on eBay now for$3,000.
55:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, right.
55:07
SPEAKER_05: I should have kept it.
55:09
SPEAKER_05: Right?
55:09
SPEAKER_05: So that's guys, look out for that.
55:10
SPEAKER_05: That'll come on the 20th of January.
55:13
SPEAKER_05: A chance to sign up.
55:14
SPEAKER_05: So, man, get in there quick.
55:16
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
55:16
SPEAKER_05: And I know we got some people that weren't able to be a part of the fall are probably already looking to sign up for the spring.
55:21
SPEAKER_02: So absolutely.
55:22
SPEAKER_02: Space is limited.
55:23
SPEAKER_02: Um, so if you're interested in that, get your get your name on that list.
55:27
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
55:28
SPEAKER_02: We also have the a Special Olympics fundraiser coming up.
55:32
SPEAKER_02: Always a great time.
55:33
SPEAKER_02: We get some it's gonna be at the Publix on Hendersonville Road in Asheville.
55:39
SPEAKER_02: Saying that.
55:39
SPEAKER_02: So it's not in Hendersonville, it's not the one in Weaverville.
55:42
SPEAKER_02: Right.
55:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
55:42
SPEAKER_02: It's in Asheville.
55:43
SPEAKER_02: The one on Hendersonville Road, uh, that's gonna be on uh January 10th, which is a Saturday from 12 to 2.
55:50
SPEAKER_02: There'll be some athletes there, APD representatives will be there, bagging groceries and just kind of talking.
55:56
SPEAKER_02: It's a really good time, very rewarding experience and for a good cause.
56:00
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, last year for the first time they had two separate special Olympics events, too, where the athletes actually because we had so many of them, which is great.
56:09
SPEAKER_05: That's great news that so many are participating.
56:11
SPEAKER_05: And I had a chance to uh be the public address announcer for one of them, uh the one at Reynolds.
56:16
SPEAKER_05: And it's just just it's a fun day to watch the athletes.
56:19
SPEAKER_02: There's so many smiles and hugs.
56:21
SPEAKER_02: It is uh it is impossible to be there and not experience joy.
56:26
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
56:26
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely impossible.
56:27
SPEAKER_02: Make sure that you know, if you're in the area, you need to go to sh do your shopping anyways, go to Publix on Hendersonville Road on the 10th of January, and we'll see you there.
56:36
SPEAKER_02: It's from 12 to 2.
56:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, the last thing I just want to touch on is uh home inventory.
56:42
SPEAKER_02: The holiday season, we have all these new toys and gizmos and gadgets, a great opportunity.
56:47
SPEAKER_02: Sort of take stock what you have, write down your serial numbers, or in this day and age, because we all walk around with supercomputers in our pocket that have cameras, just take a picture of them, throw them in a f a folder somewhere, and forget about it.
56:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
56:59
SPEAKER_02: Everything, you know, your TVs, your bicycles, power tools, just take a get a running log of what you got and keep it somewhere secure.
57:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you know, I did that, uh, wrote them all down for my my firearms not too long ago.
57:12
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's different than TVs and other things like that, but but for the longest time, I hadn't had the serial numbers written down anywhere.
57:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
57:19
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's just and you're like, I need to write these things down.
57:21
SPEAKER_05: It took me like five minutes just to write them down.
57:24
SPEAKER_02: It's something that you don't really think.
57:25
SPEAKER_02: It's like changing the battery on your smoke detector or something like that.
57:27
SPEAKER_02: Right.
57:28
SPEAKER_02: Right?
57:28
SPEAKER_02: Just just just do it.
57:29
SPEAKER_02: It takes two seconds, totally worth it.
57:30
SPEAKER_02: Like I said, like you don't even have to write it down now.
57:32
SPEAKER_02: You just take a picture, you know, on your phone and stick it somewhere.
57:36
SPEAKER_02: So it takes less than five minutes.
57:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the difference with the uh smoke detector, it lets you know when you know you need to change it.
57:42
SPEAKER_05: And it's usually at like two o'clock in the morning when you gotta wake up for work early the next day when it starts doing that.
57:47
SPEAKER_05: Beep you're like, oh, son of a.
57:50
SPEAKER_02: And this is this is me beeping at you, whoever's listening to this.
57:53
SPEAKER_02: So go write down your circle number, just take a picture of them.
57:56
SPEAKER_02: I love your transitions.
57:57
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna miss you in here.
57:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I mean, at some point, you know, I'm at the schools, but I I can I can still invite you back.
58:03
SPEAKER_02: I can't you still want to come back?
58:04
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
58:04
SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll miss hearing your uh mellifluous voice.
58:08
SPEAKER_05: Oh, and see in the verbiage, man.
58:10
SPEAKER_05: Uh your your vocabulary is second to none.
58:12
SPEAKER_05: Second to none.
58:13
SPEAKER_05: All right.
58:14
SPEAKER_05: Just been waiting to use that word, so oh god.
58:16
SPEAKER_05: Check that box, right?
58:18
SPEAKER_05: Senior police officer Isaiah Sanyak.
58:20
SPEAKER_05: Thank you so much, and happy new year to you, and best of luck in your new position.
58:24
SPEAKER_05: That's a wrap for another episode of the APD Pod Squad.
58:29
SPEAKER_05: Thanks to your support, we have now surpassed 5,000 downloads.
58:33
SPEAKER_05: How cool is that?
58:34
SPEAKER_05: Let's keep it going.
58:35
SPEAKER_05: Tell a friend.
58:36
SPEAKER_05: Maybe we'll hit 10,000 before the end of the year.
58:39
SPEAKER_05: I swear I don't get a bonus or anything.
58:41
SPEAKER_05: I just love those big numbers.
58:42
SPEAKER_05: Thanks also go out to my guests for joining me: Officer Lily Talley, Officer Josh Dobson, Interim Chief Jackie Step, and Senior Police Officer Isaiah Seniak.
58:52
SPEAKER_05: Next episode we'll continue with the theme New Year, New Officers, as we'll feature some current Police Academy cadets who will be calling officers in February when they graduate from BLET.
59:04
SPEAKER_05: As always, if there's something you'd like us to talk about or someone you'd like us to talk with, call 828-250-8800 and leave a voicemail.
59:13
SPEAKER_05: That's 828-250-8800.
59:16
SPEAKER_05: Or you can email APD Podcastfeedback at AshevilleNC.gov.
59:21
SPEAKER_05: Listen and subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts and don't miss a single episode.
59:26
SPEAKER_05: I'm Rick Rice, and this is the APD Pod Squad.