#17 "The Closer" - Sergeant Jake Viano

In this episode we talk with Sergeant Jake Viano, who was raised in Long Beach during the height of gang violence and grew up to become the hero who saved Corporal Matt Aitken’s life when he was ambushed and shot during a K-9 track. As if that isn’t enough, he had a professional baseball career in between. Hear about the life-and-death fashion choices a kid has to make when navigating between the Crips and the Bloods, and how to play baseball when the opposing team calls in gang members to threaten your life if you score again. He was drafted by the Rockies for his killer curveball and changeup, and played locally for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but eventually his childhood dream of law enforcement lured him to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Hear stories from his time in Narcotics, on the SWAT Team, and as a K-9 handler, including the tale of how a potato became the key piece of evidence in a conspiracy to commit murder. Whether in the ballpark or on patrol, Jake is the one you call for the win.

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