Latest / Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement / #007- "Meet the Host"

Transcript

#007- "Meet the Host" · Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement

• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right, welcome back, listeners, watchers, viewers, subscribers, members, uh Blue Grip Podcast.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing a meet the hosts and talk about really how this journey kind of got started off.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: How we got here.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: How we got here.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the birth of the podcast room.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Before we kick off, click subscribe down below if you like what we're doing, the content we're turning out.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We've got uh some stories about some officers involved in shootings and being shot.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: We've got a border patrol guy that came literally straight up here the night before uh to be on the show from the border, telling us real time right now what's going on.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we've got some content.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: If if you like what you're seeing, click down below, please, and subscribe and and uh tell somebody at work about what you got.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: When you're off nights, working nights on patrol, uh tune us on or tune us in.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or tune in, however the hell you want to say.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Within policy.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, within policy.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Don't don't have your body cams going whenever you're in cars.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, yeah, this is gonna be a meet the host and uh talk about the podcast and how we how we started all this.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we have John Sarriga.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh John, your title, I guess, is director of field services.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, technically director of field field services and public affairs.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: When you started this uh job, he had uh a lot more hair.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was not as gray.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know when I started he was had a full head of hair and did not have any gray.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I had normal blood pressure.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: He had normal blood pressure.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that changed about the time we hired Tyler, didn't it?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, he did.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're approaching the five-year mark.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you were a healthy man five years ago, and uh you've aged just a little bit because of me.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And the guy talking about somebody losing their hair has got his dome concealed.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's a whole separate story interesting, isn't it?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's a whole separate story.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I shaved mine because I was a motor cop.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um shaved it and it never came back.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: It never came back.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, my wife actually made the comment one time.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh she was going through some photos, and she said, Oh my god, you look uh you look really, really good with hair.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Well, that's shitty.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, I can't grow it back anymore.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started trying to grow it back, and it just was like that awkward where I was gonna have to like comb it over and uh Yeah, no comb overs.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I made that decision right away.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: No combovers.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think a wig, like a nice mullet.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, now that John is is getting a little thin, maybe we can have a podcast uh show with uh us shaving his head so we can be brothers, like we can match.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's it it'd be good.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, you talked about being a motor and shaving your head.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was a motor, I didn't shave my head, I don't know what that's all about.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so there let me let me explain that real quick.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the two other motors that I've worked with were bald.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was the only one with hair.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so we made a pact that we now that policy's over with and I can't get in trouble, we made a pact that we would not wear nameplates, and so I was the only one with hair, and so when they would call in, they would say, Hey, the motor cop, well, did he have hair?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And at that time I did, and so then it was an old Dallas County trick.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was shaving your head in front of the house.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I had to shave my head that way they couldn't, when they said it was the bald motor cop.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha, we were three of us.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's a story, a little lesson on Tyler Owen.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, Clint, you have been with TMPA for how long?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I've been here 12 years, about two and a half.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: My first two and a half, I was still on the job in Garland, did part-time work.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've been on full-time, I think about nine years maybe.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and you're up obviously in the Dallas Fourth Metroplex.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's how everybody knows you.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh how how did you get involved with TMPA and what did that look like?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I get asked that a lot, I'm sure you do too.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but I'm I mean, we're extremely fortunate to work here, but how did you get involved with TMPA?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so was on the board, local board, and the who we were affiliated with at the time wasn't accomplishing the our needs.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was working police shootings, we were having officer-involved shootings and couldn't get a hold of anybody at that organization, we couldn't get a lawyer to come out.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: I was involved in the association and working the police shootings.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So when I would get sent, I would make a call to the association to get a lawyer, and then I'd have to put my detective hat on and go back out and work the shooting.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: We'd literally stand out there for periods of time, hours, sometimes more, waiting on an attorney.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: So at the local level, we started trying to determine how to better serve our members.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so we did our homework and looked at all the organizations in Texas and met with John and Kevin Lawrence and uh some of the leaders in the com um on the board at the time, realized the very best legal plan um and avenue was for that.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so in 99, I think it was, we moved over 300 and something at Garland wholesale from the previous group we were affiliated with to TMPA.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: You said nine, you said ninety-nine.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: That was oh nine.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh nine.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: I heard oh nine.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh nine.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I thought he said 99.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: We'll play it back.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: In one of the nines, in one of the nines, uh, we moved everybody over wholesale.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And literally I went from we couldn't get a lawyer to by the time I would get to the scene in the middle of night of shooting, the attorney over him.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: The attorney would already beat me to the scene.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And um kind of rocked along a couple years, built a relationship with John and Kevin and some board members, and had the opportunity to do part-time work, and here we sit today with you two guys.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: John, you you uh I remember whenever I was I was I was at you know, Marshall PD, uh POA stuff and dealing with you, and we had some controversial issues going on with administration.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you Marshall, I didn't even know about that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's a great story.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually on Netflix.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm supposed to be on Netflix.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: The old chief there is supposed to write a a story about me in a book and that should be fascinating.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really should.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you used my right name um so I can get I can get some credit back on it.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Royalties.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how me and me and you met.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh man, what a ride.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean and John were just bringing this up this morning.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh almost five years ago today, we were sitting in Kenton.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: You brought me in a Kenton.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Cold winter night.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Clint said it.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Clint changed her off.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: I've got a cop from small town East Texas I want you to meet, and I think you'd be a good part-timer.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm waiting for the punchline.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm waiting for it like he was right.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it turns out he wasn't.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: No, uh, this has been a it's been amazing.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and that your introduction to TMPA, I've met some wonderful people, John Sarrega included.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh, you know, you're up there with some of the best people that I've ever known uh and hung around, and I'm it's an honor to work underneath you.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, and and you be my my supervisor and leader.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's been an awesome, awesome experience.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: So you got started in this, you were part of the local level.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: You were reaching out and we were coming down, and what stood out with you to get involved or for us to try and get you involved is you as a local leader taking it upon yourself to go dress council, build political capital with local leaders and community stakeholders, and um that's what we try and identify here is is those personalities that can professionally represent law enforcement.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um is how you kind of ended up here.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: What what got you in the local level?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: What what was it about jumping out and being the voice or putting yourself out there to get hot shots at?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think just like many people who are listening to this who have who have served on your local board, uh there wasn't anybody to to step up and take that role.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: I saw the struggles that the current president was having, and you know, Garland's a 350-man agency, probably more now, I would think.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Probably closer to men and women, probably closer to 400 now, I would think.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and sadly, it's not because people don't like the local association, it's not because people don't want to, they just don't have the time.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so a lot of times you see the same one or two, three, four, five, six people uh kind of doing the barbecues for the at the local level.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I I don't know, I just I just saw a need that I wanted to step in and be a part of it.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh immediately after that, we started having some issues with a local city council person who uh was anti-law enforcement, uh, who was pro-marijuana and pro-legalization of marijuana.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of just went to war with him and that kicked off some other stuff, and it just kind of festered into something that that uh I saw a need for us to uh really build our political capital at the local level, and that in return later on paid hugely uh with us needing the backing from the general public for the raise.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh again, back to the the chief, you know, at that point in time, uh wasn't good, wasn't a good fit for us as an organization, wasn't a good fit for our community, and just you know, but that's how I got kind of I said I don't want to say dumped into it because again, uh you know, God works in mysterious ways.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And look at where I'm at now, at least by voluntarily.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: I wish we could communicate what you just said to all 80,000 Texas peace officers.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, unfortunately, what five percent of the people in the associations do 95% of the work.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: And often one of the things we run into is we get the phone call when it's too late.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: That the chief's gone, rogue, it's a bad chief, we don't have the backing of the council, and the work has to be done ahead of time.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: You were the one at Marshall PD doing that work, and it paid off.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and this is one thing that I I will say to the ones that are that are listening and and watching out there is that we all have that cousin that calls uh and needs a ticket dismissed, or has his wife's gone to jail, or whatever, and he only calls you when he needs something.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and if you're at the local level in the leadership, you know, portion of that, you can't show up to council meetings and and just when it's budget season.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: You can't show you have to show if you're gonna make that point and you're gonna be invested in that community uh in that council, you've got to show up every single time, regardless if you're on the agenda or not, because it lets the council know that number one, you're serious, you're committed, uh, but you're also committed to the mission and and and the overall uh safety of the of the city.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think that my what paid what helped us out tremendously was we had a huge involvement in the Chamber of Commerce at every single ribbon cutting, you know, uh you had to.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so it just it it helped us out a lot.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I I that's what I try to pass on to people at the local level where I'm at in East Texas.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well, you build alliances and coalition during peace.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: You don't you don't go to World War III and then decide, you know, we may ought to have a coalition and and get some friends involved.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: You do that during peace, and then if God forbid you're ever involved in a conflict, you've got the coalition built.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: And it's through relationships and real relationships and but one of our biggest challenges in Texas is Texas is not a union state, right?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: Traditionally, union's a bad word in Texas.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I know I'm gonna get I'm gonna get hate me email for this, but I was a California cop, but um, and I get a lot of shit for that.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: But we forget.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: California's a union state.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, every department has two associations, courtesy of the Myers-Millius Brown Act.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: So you know, civil service, collective bargaining, those aren't bad words in California.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so associations are very strong and they have the political capital.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that's really what we work so hard here to do is to build up our associations to help them build their political capital so that they can be a force at City Hall with your or a commissioner's court.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: One of our big it's our biggest challenge, really.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, John, you were motor officer, you're in uh California.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: I did my career.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: I did my police career in Inglewood PD, Southern California.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Worked dope a little bit, rode motors a little bit.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: Work worked narcotics for five years, then I promoted to sergeant, then I rode motors as a sergeant.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then I said, I gotta get out of this state.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: I saw the writing on the wall.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, at that time we were still a Republican, pretty much a Republican conservative state.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the 60s and 70s were really bad in California for criminal justice.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then the pendulum swung back the other way in the 80s.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: We elected a Republican governor.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: We had we had laws.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Ronnie Reagan.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, or no role.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Ronnie was the 60s.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: No, we had Arnold.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: We brought Arnold.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Ronnie was a president in that time.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, Ronnie was the president.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, we had you know, these days the laws are disempowering law enforcement.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, in the 80s and 90s, we had laws that were empowering law enforcement.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Three strikes was one of the greatest things California ever did.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because we were able to put career criminals in prison.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And um I was fortunate.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: I served on the POA board, and then when I promoted, I was on the management association board, so I had a lot of POA experience.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, in 04 I saw the writing on the wall, or 05, came to Texas.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: But you actually went to the LA County uh police academy.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: LA County Sheriff's Academy.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: I like I want to go push police cars and take bad guys to jail.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I lateraled to the England Police Department.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a very, very iconic.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, LA County Sheriff's Deputy.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So you realized you had to pop smoke and jump out of California.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: What brought you to the city?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: I get out of California.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it I really resent the immigration from California to Texas now.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's you know, it's suffocating the state.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, people are coming here from California now to escape the policies, but they're voting blue.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: It makes no sense.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they want to leave the politics and then come here and vote the same.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it it just makes it so it's disappointing.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: But I was uh I came, you know, it was like the first wave in 05.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I was gonna go back into law enforcement.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: I actually started a real estate business here, and I was I had this vision.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: I I knew Californians were coming, and I knew it was gonna continue.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I was gonna be the Donald Trump of Texas, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Real estate developer.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I started a real estate business, and it was I mean, I was making a ton of money.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: It blew up.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was advertising in California.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Were you so into other immigrants you brought with you from California?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, I hate to admit it.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I really do.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: I hate to get it.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: We had a portal patrol agent a couple weeks ago that talked about the flood.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was But you know, I capitalized on the first wave in 05, 06, 07 back then and made a lot of money, and then it the bubble burst in 07.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Don't they call that a coyote?
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, when you're self-employed in real estate and the bubble burst in 07, you go from making a ton of money to making nothing.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I had a lot of bills, I had an office, and you know, so uh was gonna go back into law enforcement at that point, heard about the job at TMPA, and it's just been a blessing ever since.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and again, we we give non-Texan cops a hard time.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: I you guys give me a hard time.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: However, I brought a lot of labor experience with me, and I think that's what I've been able to bring to our members is hey, you know, I was fortunate to work in a pro-labor environment.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: I would like to see, I want to see our members enjoy the working environment that I enjoyed film.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but one of the things I love about you, and and this is no secret, me and Clint say this all the time is one thing, one trait that I will say John Serrega never lacks on is compassion.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you he's not just a good-looking man.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: No, he's he hear you you you have compassion, not not just with your employees, but but uh I think that your heart, your your desire to serve, and your your your overall desire to execute the mission uh of serving the members of not just Texas law enforcement through Copline, through yeah, I mean that's what I was gonna uh expand on too is that you you you you really see the whole blue line mission.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think that that's why I I think that you tried to expand that.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: You go beyond TMPA by getting involved with Copline.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh which John's on the board of directors, which you're yeah, you're a board member of them now, and you've been involved with that for three, four years now.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Four years, yeah.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: And well, and I I I absolutely appreciate that.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: But you also got to look at every field rep at TMPA, yeah, has the passion and the compassion to take care of cops.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, now that we've grown, Clint is one of the supervisors, and and when Clint hires a new field rep, I I'm hands off.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: I say hire, you know, I tell him you hire whoever you want, I trust you.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: But when I was doing the hiring, you know, I would we when we'd bring on a new field rep, I had one mission.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: I would tell the field rep, the new employee, take care of the cops.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Just take care of the members.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what they do.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: All of you guys.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: You guys do an amazing job, um, the full-timers and the part-timers, which I don't really see a difference between full-time and part-time.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: You guys all have the passion.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I I I appreciate the compliment, but I you know, right back at all of you for having the compassion that you do for all the members.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think it's a reflection of the leadership here uh within the organization of you know, yeah, and that starts circling down.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: As a matter of fact, we were gonna talk about the genesis of having a media room and be able to do a podcast and go Facebook Live.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, Kevin has been had been on me actually for a long time.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: He said, We need a media room, we need a media room.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so finally, I just said, You're right, we need a media room.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I knew that Aaron Slater at Relentless Defender, who's been a huge friend of ours and huge, just again, it's someone who has the heart and the compassion.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I called Aaron, I said, Can I come look at your media room?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I went to, he rolled out the red carpet, talked to his engineer, uh, we took measurements, figured it all out.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: His his guy actually did the equipment list for us.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I came back and went to Kevin.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: I said, All right, I we know what needs to be done.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: He said, Do it.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: You're empowered to do it.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I knew that I I needed to bring someone in, I couldn't do it myself.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so I called Clint because Clint can get things done.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Clint has an amazing ability to just get things done.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: I said, Uh, will you help me with this?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Let's we both have a shared vision and let's make it happen.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: And and we made it happen.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh also a huge shout out goes to last year's uh TMPA president, Travis Ammon.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: He supported us wholeheartedly.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: We went to the board and asked for the funding to do it, and they actually gave us more money than we actually needed at the time.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: They uh you know, it shows a lot of trust in the board.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: So Travis, the board, Kevin, um you know, responsible for this happening, and Clinton I I can't thank them enough.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: And and it, you know, I think the importance of it is we in some ways TMP some la has lagged behind in technology, I think.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and now we can get out to the members and we can communicate directly, we can communicate quickly, which we're gonna need starting here in a week with the legislative session starting, you know, the ability to talk to the members real time about what's going on downtown that's gonna affect them.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: So that's how this sort of came about.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think I think this media room also to kind of expand upon our our our mission statement, which our mission statement is the voice of Texas law enforcement, and this is another platform.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Representation.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think this gives us just another platform uh and another option of of how how we be that voice and and how we are planning on being that voice.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you know Don't let John sell himself short on the room.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um we had a vision and we we kind of had an idea of what we were gonna do.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um we were trying to be fiscally responsible with members' monies, like like we do with everything.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so the the gray wall you see behind this backdrop.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um John came up and uh he and I went to Home Depot and John flung paint and um sweated in this small room.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have the Home Depot song plan?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, maybe it's at Lowe's.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, the theme song of Home Depot.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: So can you sing it really quick?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm going to.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever we edit this in, I'm gonna I'm gonna dub in the Home Depot theme song.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: But John came up.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Clint built the backdrop, actually.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um Slater, I can't give it I can't give enough.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Slater, uh, Relentless Defender and his crew there.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: They we were trying to find backdrop ideas, and Slater uh helped with the idea on the neon there.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um Slater's been an open book to supporting us, whatever he can do.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, in the heart that that guy has and what he gives back to the community to law enforcement.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's on the National Law Enforcement Board.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh can't thank that guy enough.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um while we're talking about the room, uh Tony God went at Garland PD Catfish Cops Podcast, you guys give it a listen.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: He built this desk.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um he has been an open book for us uh about how to get into podcasting, uh, how to set things up, what to do, um without looking more dumb than we looking amateur.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: We are able to.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and Joe King at Bridging the Divide Dallas ATO Podcast.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um I cannot tell you how incredible Joe King at Bridging the Divide Podcast has been supporting us.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um they've had us on.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Their episode will be out uh in the middle of January, uh, where they are cross-branding and and cross-pollinating, pushing what we're doing.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the mission that they're doing over there at the OWL Officer Wellness Liaison program, actually getting down in the weeds, helping cops that are struggling.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um Bridging the Divide podcast, Dallas ATO, Joe King, those guys are amazing angels that are looking out for cops and doing great things, but they've been a huge supporter of this.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I promise you, without Slater, Godwin, Catfish Cops, Joe King, the board, bridging the divide, the board, yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: We would be sitting somewhere, but it wouldn't be doing this and sitting here right now.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully, you guys have seen.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Some content that's coming from this that is fruitful and um maybe furthering what you're doing or is insightful.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Probably some of it's uh nonsensical, and you and I making fun of each other.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: But um Well, yeah, I mean you look at yesterday's the two we recorded yesterday, two of our field reps have been shot multiple times and they came on and told it told their stories, which are just for an officer's safety safety aspect would be beneficial for any officer to listen to.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um just amazing stories, and then you know, and then they we went into the mental health aspect uh of post-critical incident.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh this morning's podcast, I've already texted the kids.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: So the couple weeks ago when we had the uh the border patrol agent on, uh that's right.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: He he was talking about the mental health like you're talking about.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's uh and that you know that'll resonate with civilians.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: That episode was amazing.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: He he he gave us the truth about what's going on at the border, not you know, not the uh liberal media's take on what's going on at the border.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh so I guess I mean so right now we have Buzz Sprouts, and I mean we didn't know nothing about podcasting.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I figured out less than nothing.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we we've got uh so when we push this stuff out on social media, we push out the Buzz Sprouts, and that's just a distributor, okay?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so we we upload these episodes onto Buzz Sprouts and it gets pushed out.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: So the main thing is to help us out is for you guys to uh to download those episodes.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and we want to hear the feedback.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: We want to hear have you guys got ideas?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we certainly have some, and we're we're we're trying to get you know new content, new episodes pushed out.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: But uh if you guys have an idea, uh man, shoot shoot us an email, blue grid at tmpa.org, and uh it goes to these three Clint, me, and John, and uh we can we can make those episodes happen.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so far I think we're off to a great start uh with all the episodes.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: You guys have hosted all of the ones we've taped so far.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I'll tell you you've done a fantastic job.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: So shout out to both of you.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Great, great content.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: Not to take away from any of the other groups out there, um, but I think our content is some of the best out there.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're now we're not coming on here and spending 45 minutes talking about a uh uh you know proposed legislation that probably is not gonna pass anyway, because that can be pretty dry.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, we're looking for good content.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um a couple local leaders, um state leaders that we we didn't hit up.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um Spock president, um Seattle Police Guild.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Seattle Police Guild.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um they've been a huge help friend.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they've been really, really Mike Solan.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah uh supportive.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Mike is a when you look up the word professional, Mike Solon is is what you will see when you look up Mike Solon on uh in the dictionary.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And those those poor guys went through hell after uh George Floyd.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, and Brian Marvel at Porak.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Brian and Mike um are two incredible humans, uh, but they're amazing police leaders and uh they've been supportive, they have been helpful.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they don't hesitate if we call to pick their brain or ask stupid questions, they laugh at us and then they're extremely helpful uh and and cannot thank them enough.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: You never ask stupid questions, Glenn.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Most of my stupid questions.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Ever.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now me?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we so we've got some other uh I think we're we are going to have Lieutenant Dan Patrick working soon.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know that uh Glenn Hager may be coming on, Texas Comptroller.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um we got some other guys too.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, you paused at Lieutenant Dan, and I don't want anyone thinking that we may be gonna recap.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Lieutenant Dan is not is not coming on, but Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is coming on.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: The man, the myth, the legend.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh click down below in the comments.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: You got somebody I think we uh configure it on or content you want to hear about or something that's important to you.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have a legislative session uh coming up.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: It just started.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: It just started uh you know a couple days ago.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh legislative legislative.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: I forget we're starting January uh will be going on January the 10th.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: But our legislative team, check out that episode.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um John Wilkerson and Dallas Reed.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do phenomenal on our legislative episode.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: If there's other content, get down in the comments below, engage, um beat us up.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're open to constructive criticism.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Beat him up, please don't beat me up.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: I get it.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: We're trying to grow our social media, which i we think we are we have a great reach compared to you know the market, however we Instagram, we'd love to get our Instagram followers up.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: There's it good content on Instagram, Facebook.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Now we have our YouTube channel.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about our YouTube channel.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh YouTube Tinder pages.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, talk about yeah.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: I am saying I am single now, so we're not gonna go.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Swipe left.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: I noticed that the other day whenever you're trying to enter, you were kept you kept trying to enter your iPhone.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, have you noticed that I have a thumb injury?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: The first thing the doctor asks is.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I guarantee it's not because of your Tinder response.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll leave it at that.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that uh Okay, John.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Three questions.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Best cop movie or line from a cop movie.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's dirty hairy.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's gotta be.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: What's the best hair?
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Dirty hairy Callahan.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel lucky?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh punk.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, do you punk?
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Best patrol vehicle.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now see, this okay.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: My age is going to come out here.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: Is I've been in behind the camera for the other ones, and no one's mentioned this car.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: The pre-shamu Chevy Caprice, 1986, 87, 88.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Best best police car ever.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Prettiest looking police car.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we were coming out of the Chevy Nova days when we got the Caprice's uh best police car by far.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Best cop whiskey.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I like Basil Hayden's.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: I had booked Basil Hayden for the first time New Year's Eve, and it was outstanding.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's outstanding.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: Now, one of our former part-time fielders, Brandon Price, I bought when he resigned to spend more time with his family, when he left his he's a he's a sergeant at Lubbock VD.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to all of our crew, Lubbock.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: But Brandon was a part-timer for us at Lubbock and from Lubbock for many, many years.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: He was your number one.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was my number one.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was your number one.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: But Brandon is is a truly a connoisseur of bourbon.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: And when he retired from TMPA, I bought him a bottle of peerless.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: And a peerless was at the recommendation of the um the liquor store, the guy at working at the liquor store.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: I said, I want a really nice bottle of bourbon.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: A peerless double oak.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I gave it to Brandon.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: He routinely sends me back to that liquor store to get more bottles and they're$100 a pop.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Pierless Double Oak.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: Did you buy them?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: You buy them, Brandon?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and I$100 a bottle.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: And he says it's the best bourbon you can.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: You might have to talk to Brandon, and he'll just call you to get us the whiskey.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Pierreless double oak.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've got nothing but but uh I just get hugs.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I don't, I don't get whiskey.
• 29:17
  unknown: Yeah.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Why is that now?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, when you resign, you'll get a bottle.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: That escalated.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know I love you.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta give you a hard time.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: You wake me up at 4 o'clock every morning with the first phone call every day, so I gotta give you a hard time.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's 4:30.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: 4 30 in the morning.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: I call my routine is I I check our emails to make sure that we don't have anything pending.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: I get on Facebook to make sure all the posts are cut up, and then I call John, the man, the myth, the legend, Sarika.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and again, it goes back to we are 24-7 looking out for the member.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's the mission.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I uh I don't have anything else.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think this uh pretty much wraps up the meet the host and the explanation of the podcast room.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: How we got where we are.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: How we got where we are.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: You got anything else, boss?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's reach out to it.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, please stay safe out there.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Session's rolling.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um if there's a bill that's hitting that you're passionate about, if it's something that you have an expertise in, reach out to our ledge team because when it hits a committee and they want testimony, they don't want to hear from us.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: They want to hear from you guys that are in the weeds working and that those laws affect.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: And they can email legislative at tmpa.org.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can reach out to our ledge team, which isn't just Dallas and J Dub.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's a multiple, it's multiple people involved with that.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's about eight or nine of us on that distribution.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Legislative at tmpa.org if you have a ledge question or issue.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: And we're here 247-365-800-848-2088.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't have our app, download the app.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, any PF.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Click down below, subscribe, give us a like, give us a comment, share with somebody else what the content we're spinning out.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: You got us?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: I got you.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you guys, and as always, may God bless Texas.