Jump Street

Drop us some feedback

Step into the world of 1980s policing through the eyes of Mark Reiber, a former Cincinnati officer whose career reads like a Hollywood script. From posing as a high school student to bust drug dealers to chasing suspects featured on America's Most Wanted, Mark's stories transport us to an era of policing that simply doesn't exist anymore.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Music underneath it, the, the awning just getting out
of the weather, so that creekis over there.
Mill street right there, thatit was it Street right there.
It was rolling, it was gettingafter it and we look over the
neighbors there that called itin.

(00:52):
I said where's he at?
And I looked he was on his backskiing, holding on to a pipe
that went across for plumbingand just clapping on top of it.
I've never seen anything likethat in my life, not a stitch.

(01:15):
And they couldn't keep on him.
Ah, he was drunk, probably onmeth, but this guy was just
drunk and he was.
I mean, he was, it was just hewas bouncing that water like he
was skiing, like a top water jig.
I looked at Eric.
I was like, oh my gosh, look atthat.
And Darrell and him came over.

(01:40):
You know they jumped the creektrying to get to him.
I was like, no, let him go,he's having too much fun.
I think he'd end up at LaurelLake.
That's a good possibility.
They got him out of there.
I was like gosh, he's stillnaked.
They would take him up to PD.
He'd cut his head just jumpingin.

(02:04):
We had him bandaged up and wedidn't have clothes on him yet
and one of the deputies came in.
He's like oh gosh.
And his woman was hisdispatcher.
She said get him covered upbefore she sees that she don't
want to come home with me.
I was like yeah.
I'm home with me tonight.

(02:26):
I was like, yeah, but that'skind of the stuff here that we
try to keep it lighthearted.
I know some of our podcasts weget into some serious stuff, but
we'll just go wherever you wantto go.

Speaker 5 (02:41):
It's fun.
Yeah, just ask me anything.
You're free to ask me anything.
I'll just tell you no if Ican't answer.
That's fine, just makesomething up alright, you guys
ready.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Alright, welcome back .
We've got another episode foryou.
We're putting them outregularly again.
It's kind of nice.
I hope everybody's enjoyingthem.
So far We've got me and T-Dotshere.
Doug's back with us again.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
He's a fixture.
He's a fixture now.

Speaker 4 (03:13):
He's on the payroll, the non-existent payroll.
The man of the hour is MarkRyber.
I hope I said that right.
You did, nailed it.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Nailed it.
Nailed it he practiced that allday.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, and Ryber, you're from Ohio.

Speaker 5 (03:35):
Correct.
Yeah, cincinnati I work.
If anybody knows like goingnorthbound, southbound 75, it's
exit 12, but where between thewalls are.
If you've ever been stuckbetween those walls on 75 south,
just past GE, that's the areawhere I lived and worked.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Is that Hamilton, hamilton County?

Speaker 5 (03:56):
Yeah, Hamilton County .
It's the first city outside ofCincinnati.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Everybody from this area knows Hamilton, so many
people moved up.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, Doug sent me your resume.
He said it was a boring resume.
Mark sent it.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Oh you sent it.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
So he just copied and pasted it.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
I was like, yeah, that's definitely not a boring
resume.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
But so is law enforcement.
All you've done, you started inlaw enforcement.

Speaker 5 (04:23):
All you've done, you started in law enforcement yeah,
I started when I think I wasthe name in the youngest Ohio I
had at the time, because I founda law that before they wouldn't
let you take the test, he were21.
And then I pointed out, likeyou know, you can take the test
but you can't be certifiedhigher to your 21.

(04:47):
So I was able to get in beforethat.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
So, yeah, I was pretty much got into this young
man.
That's a good, that's a goodloophole wish I'd have been able
to do that now.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Now mark the way, the , the way you get.
Uh, you know, far as yourcertification in ohio goes, it's
a little bit different inKentucky, I think.
I mean you can go ahead andlike go to academy before you're
ever hired with the agency, isthat right?

Speaker 5 (05:13):
You're correct.
Yeah, and I did that.
In fact, I went to a placecalled Scarlet Oaks Academy, but
they actually were able to dothat in high school, but once
again, you couldn't get hireduntil you were 21, but they
wouldn't even take, like you,take the test to your 21.
Yeah, so, but I, but I took theuh, uh, the.
I got to the academy when I was, when I was 21, like january.

(05:34):
No, maybe I was, I don't know,20 has been so long ago.
I graduated january.
I turned 21 in march, or maybeI turned 22, I don't know.
Whatever it was, but anyway, Iwas able to get in early and so,
yeah, I think I started 82 82.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
I got just to go to academy.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
So I went and did that and that's it.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
Left college I got you so you got your Academy and
your certification before youever got with an agency.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
Yes, well, you had to get somebody to back you, which
is like I think they call theword sponsor.
You had to sponsor you.
So I found some littledepartment that they made me
come in on the weekends onoccasion and dispatch, with no
training, no, nothing.
I'd answer the phone, go on theradio and tell somebody where

(06:29):
to go.
It was like really no trainingwhatsoever.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
That's a job that I would never want to do.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
There's no way I'd want to do this and we worked
out of a trailer.
They just started, but theyworked out of a trailer, oh wow.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Like a double wide or single wide type.
It was single wide, it wastrailer oh wow, like a double
wide or single wide type.
It was single wide, single wide, but yeah, I never heard of
that one.
But a new agency.
I guess they're trying to getone started up, or or did y'all
burn down or something oh, maybeI was under construction.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
I wasn't there that long, but yeah, it was
definitely out of a trailerthat's pretty awesome wow so uh.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
So what got you started?
What?
What started the itch to getinto law enforcement?

Speaker 5 (07:10):
uh, well, you know it's funny.
Uh, I was in high school senioryear and some guy came back who
was from my, my school, and hehad had a nice career in the fbi
and I was always a numbers guy.
So I was like when I talked towell, you know, you need to hire
more accountants than they do.
They do detectives.
That's what he told me backthen and I said okay.

(07:32):
So I thought, well, you got todo four years in college before
you get the FBI.
So that's why I started college.
But then I started ridingaround with a, with a, a guy I
knew from alington High School'sdepartment, a neighboring
community, and he used to let meride around on third shift with
him and I just kind of caughtthe bug doing that.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
Awesome.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
That's the way most of us are, yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:53):
Just takes one ride along.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
I had no idea if I liked it or not rode with
Daryl's aunt.
Fell in love, fell in love.
Now I got a little car sick,but still I was like, yeah, I
could do this.
Yeah, it was this guy too.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
He also, he, uh, had a community of I don't know
maybe a thousand people.
I mean, the whole town wasn'tmore than half mile wide and
long and it wasn't even thatwide.
Um, and but he, he, they calledhim, uh, what was it?
Five, something.
I forget what the numbers were.
Basically, anywhere there wasanything in the county, he would

(08:28):
go to it, he would runeverywhere.
He didn't care aboutjurisdiction.
He got a call somewhere Becausehis little town had Just out of
jurisdiction.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yeah, all of New.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Heights was a pretty calm little town, best I can
remember.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
Yes, I mean I think they had four red lights.
Yeah, I, I mean it was the they.
I think they had, uh, four redlights.
Yeah, I mean it was likemayberry really and they were
all on one street, so outside ofthat they didn't have any red
lights, that's awesome, itreally was mayberry yeah yeah,
yeah.

(09:02):
So I wrote with him and kind ofgot the bug out after that and I
said I was already in incollege for it anyway.
But then I had to go to theacademy and the rest is history,
I guess how many, how manyyears total did you, did you do?

Speaker 2 (09:17):
are you still doing it?

Speaker 5 (09:19):
no, I've been gone a long time.
Uh gosh, I've been almost onthis 30 years, 28 years, I don't
even know.
Yeah, 20.
I guess it is going on 28 years, yeah, but well, fun story
though.
I'll tell you this though, Iwound up getting fired and won
my job back.
Oh yeah, no, that's good.
And I won my job back, and theypretty much paid me the last

(09:43):
eight years not to work.

Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah, you can't beat that.
No, you can't, I need that gig.

Speaker 5 (09:50):
True story.
They fired me and I wanted myjob back and then that day
before I had the police chiefarrested, I had that in my
pocket and on some custom officecharges and had him arrested.
So then I go in the meetingnext day and say where's the
chief?
And he's like don't start thatshit.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
I'm sorry.
Sorry about that.
No, you're good.
You're good.
We're rated.

Speaker 5 (10:17):
M or whatever I usually mark explicit on most of
our stuff just to CYA, you'regood, yeah.
So they pretty much came backout and said, okay, I gave them
a number and they said and all Idid was the math like okay, I
was only making about $30,000 ayear.
I had eight years to go.
I figured $10,000 to pay myattorney and I was like, okay,
give me $250,000 and I quit.

Speaker 4 (10:37):
They said okay, that's a good deal yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Okay, that's why can't that happen?

Speaker 4 (10:46):
yeah, I don't know you wouldn't love it, you don't?

Speaker 5 (10:50):
have enough time to go on the whole story of that
thing sounds complicated yeah,I'd like to hear it at some
point in time.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
It sounds yeah, that's a good story me and dylan
just looked at each other likethere's, there is a big story
with behind.
I'm like my whole ADHD braincame.
I'm like this is what happened.
This is what happened.
I've thought of 15 things sinceyou said that I was like man,
I'm just going to let it go.

Speaker 5 (11:18):
Well, the short story is basically you saw some of my
crazy cop stories on Facebookand I pretty much got the word
out.
I was going to lock up everyone of them, and every one of
their councilman's kids too, andthey knew I wouldn't take any
prisoners.
They knew that I had to writesomebody for going 26 and 25.
I didn't care.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
That's awesome, that's awesome.
So it was the.
Hamilton County Sheriff'sOffice that you started with.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
Yes, they went to Lachlan.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Okay, and then Lachlan, let's see.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, tell us about some of them, but somewhere in
there.

Speaker 5 (11:52):
I don't know how, because I was terrible in high
school but I was really good attaking those police civil
service tests and I was like afree agent.
After I left the Sheriff'sDepartment I could have went to
four different places.
I finished first on a bunch oftests but I chose Locker because
that was my hometown and theywere also the third highest
paying in Hemerick County atthat time.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
Well, you know, I've worked with some highly educated
officers, and the ones that arenot as book smart but are more
common sense usually turn out tobe better officers.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Oh 100% book smart, but are more common sense,
usually turn out to be betterofficers.
So that's oh 100.
Yes, so something doesn't umbook smart always.
It didn't always relate to theto what we deal with every day.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
No, common sense and street smarts helps you a whole
lot better out there.
Oh, that wins every time.
So once, once you were with thehamilton county sheriff's
office.
How long was it before youstarted doing detective work, or
when you went to lachlan, Iguess?

Speaker 5 (12:53):
well, let's get back to county real quick.
So I in my resume I sent you, Icalled I did 30 days, okay, and
back then you had to do likefive years in the jail before
you even you had a chance to geton the road.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (13:07):
So that's where they started.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
You're kind of like starting out as a bailiff, but
they started you out incorrections, okay.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
Yeah, correct, you had to do your five years in
there and they would only hirefrom the jail, so they wouldn't
hire from anybody from anothercommunity.
That was the only way to gothrough and it was a long, long
wait.
This, that was the only way togo through and it was a long,
long wait.
And this is kind of funny.
So I'm moving one day and beenhere 30 days and oh what, even
30 days and and I get a callwhere I've got some friends

(13:34):
helping me move and the guy says, yeah, this is captain hinky,
my home county sheriff'sdepartment.
I'm gonna come up here to thecounty and talk to me about a
special assignment.
And I'm like, yeah, screw you,I'm moving.
I ain't got time for that crapBecause I thought it was one of
the guys from jail messing withme and I hung up on him.

(13:55):
Phone rings back.
He goes listen, listen, I know,I know I get it.
Those guys are full pranks allthe time.
But listen, it's Saturday andI'm here at the headquarters and
he gave me a number and saidcall that number, ask for me,
and I'm working today and Inever work on Saturday.
I said okay.

(14:16):
So I called the number and theguy answered the phone, I said,
yes, captain Hinky, and theysaid, no, he doesn't work on
Hold on a second.
I think he is here today.
And then that same voice pickedup.
I like, oh my gosh, I just toldthe captain, you know, blow off
.
Yeah, that's the way I startedout that interview process.
And so he called me up and saidthey're starting this special

(14:38):
thing.
I don't know if you guys everseen the movie 21 jumps 3.
Oh, yeah, well, I actually didthat back in 82.
That was 20.
I was 22 at the time and theysent me to Taft High School in
downtown Cincinnati.
So you were having to pose as ahigh school student.
Yeah, well, yeah, I mean I doanything.
Get out of jail.
I mean I like do something,yeah, but I've only been there

(15:04):
30 days already, hated it, buthow can you think about it?
You're choosing to live in jail.
Yeah, yeah, so, anyway, so, uh,uh, anyway, I interviewed with
a couple other people and and,uh, they put me in this unit and
I went back to that task.
Now this is another story.
So so it was, san Francisco wasprobably 90% black and I was

(15:28):
the only person in one of myclasses and for the senior class
.
I mean, they all thought I wasa cop and uh, they actually

(15:51):
voted me sergeant of arms forthe damn senior class.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Did you pass?
Did you?
Did you walk the line?

Speaker 5 (15:57):
no, no, no.
So I was like this ain'tworking out very well.
And there was another area thatsupplied the school there.
That was a white section thatPete Rose was from, down by
Sedano Park.
So I was trying to get withthose guys.
But I was stuck on this otherside and I need to do something
here because this ain't workingout.
I don't want to go back to thejail.

(16:20):
So I played on quarterback inhigh school.
So I went there and this staffthey didn't even have a home
football field.
They played all their way gamesWell, I think, quarterback high
school.
So I'm out there tossing theball on the coast of Salas's hey
, you go score here.
I'm like, yeah, he said youwon't play us.

(16:41):
I don't know.
I said my last time I played acoach was an asshole, you could
talk like that there too.
And the next thing I'm outthere practicing with him and
then find out a week later thecoach there, the sergeant, calls
me and says did you join thefootball team?
I'm like, yeah, I'm not goingto play.
And he goes what are you doing?

(17:02):
I'm like, well, I need to getin.
But it's funny because theycalled me the white senator
because I was the only white guyon the football team and they
gave me a jersey.
Once everybody saw me at schoolwith the jersey I was in.
And so then they said what areyou going to do?
I said, well, sergeant, let'sdo this Because we had a back

(17:22):
story.
I had to go to another city andlearn all about a place called
Beaver Creek, ohio.
I knew some of the teachers'names, the principal, where all
the kids hung out, the radiostation Just in case you meet
somebody, you've got to knowyour back story.
And so we got up there becausewe had a fake report card, I
guess you call it.
So they put down that I failedthe fourth quarter of the year

(17:46):
before, so I wasn't eligible toplay Smooth.
But I still go to a game.
And the coach they hadn't won agame in seven years and he
brought my stuff.
He's like we don't care if weforfeit or we form, we want to
win a game.
Well, I took the bus to thegame and he had me out there

(18:10):
pre-game taking snaps.
I'm like I can't do this, I'mgonna get arrested or something
out of this no, I'm not.

Speaker 4 (18:13):
I'm not doing that you get them disqualified
completely from competing at all.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
I'm not doing that yeah, so anyway, so, uh, anyway.
After that, though, I was going, because everyone, because
everyone thought, yeah, that'sthe right guy, he's got a gun,
you know an arm, and everybodyin the community thought I was
on the football team, but Inever played a game, I only went
to practice for two and a halfweeks I've seen a movie, I think
it's called Never Been Kissed.
No 21 Jump Street.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
Oh I know, but they also Never Been Kissed.
Kissed it was Drew Barrymoreand somebody, and that guy
really did go out and playbaseball.
He was like 30.
Pretended to be, a high schoolkid Glory days.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
In that operation.
So what were you all trying touncover, Was it?

Speaker 5 (19:04):
marijuana sales.
Yeah, uncover was it.
Was it marijuana sales?
Yeah, yeah, back then it wasmostly marijuana sales.
Uh, it was, you know, justtrying to get the actually
adults who were selling the kidsand we wound up.
I think I wound up arresting 4550 the first year, wow so was
it the teachers were selling tostudents, or was it?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
But you know, the kids knoweverything.

(19:25):
If you're a kid, you're like,hey, if I want to get some pot
work somebody will take you okayand you wind up buying from
adults.
Usually you know um, but uh yeah, we did that.
In the second year I went tocolerain high school and that
was pretty much an all-whitecommunity and there I knocked
out about 50 something arrested.
But then we were buying cocaineand LSD there too.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
Wow, they had the harder stuff over there.
Yeah yeah, it was just a yeardifferent.

Speaker 5 (19:52):
Koi loads, koi loads.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
The loads, yeah, loads was big back in the day
yeah.
Man.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
And you were how old when you you did this the second
time I did.
I was 23 years old and I passedas a junior so you I read this
right you were a senior firstand then that's awesome and then

(20:28):
, like, well, and during thattime I well, actually the first
day of school, the first year,my first daughter was born.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
I think it was that morning and I think I went right
from the high school, right, orright from the hospital, to the
school.
You're talking about feelingold, no kidding.

Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
And then in the second year my second daughter
was born and I needed some timeoff, so I went and grabbed the
fire extinguisher, squirted itall over the place and I got
suspended on purpose forsomething.

Speaker 4 (20:59):
So was it an actual suspension?
Did they actually rot you oneout, or is it?

Speaker 5 (21:05):
No, the guy who suspended me didn't know the
principal didn't even know.
The superintendent knew.
Was that the only?

Speaker 3 (21:12):
ones privy to that information was just the
superintendent, and then theagency itself.

Speaker 5 (21:18):
Well, the first one, the principal knew.
The second one, thesuperintendent knew.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Okay, that's awesome.

Speaker 4 (21:25):
That suspended.
And then the second one.
The superintendent knew Okay,that's awesome, you got
suspended.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
And then the second one.
I actually got busted becausethere was a counselor, because I
switched from a vocational parkbecause I ran too early kids
there, so I went to the actualhigh school park.
They were connected, though,and what was it?
One of the prosecutor's dadthat's what it was was, uh, the

(21:49):
counselor there and he did somechecking.
He goes, he called me, he goes.
I don't know what's going on,but you don't say where you say
you live and what are youtalking about?
Because I checked on it, youdon't live there.
And I was like, right, give methe phone.
I had to call my sergeant.
I said you need to make a phonecall, and then the

(22:14):
superintendent calls back tothat counselor's office and said
okay, let it go.

Speaker 4 (22:17):
Is that the only time that your cover got blown?
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (22:20):
that was it.
That was it.
That's awesome, although youknow back in the day.
I hope my kids never listen tothis podcast.
But you know at your undercoveryou're allowed to smoke pot.
I mean, there was cases likeyou know, like I don't know if
you heard actually down in Miami, I understand there was a case
where somebody come in and say,hey, you're not a cop, you'll

(22:42):
snort this cocaine Right, and soit was life or death situation
so you're allowed to.
So, uh, I'm out one night withthis guy.
He goes hey, we're gonna buythis hawaiian sensimedia gold.
I'm like, man, that's thereagent, that's gotta be pretty
good stuff and we go by it.
So I would fake it all the time.
You know you'd fake, you know,yeah, and pass it back to him.

(23:03):
And that guy was looking at me.
He said you didn't hit that.
Like what are you talking about?
He goes you didn't hit that.
I was like, uh, oh, I'm caught.
Then he called me a derogatoryfemale name, yeah, and I said
give it to me.
And this stuff was the beststuff I've ever seen.
I dropped him off.
I had to call my partner Comepick me up at Wendy's.

(23:25):
I had two singles, two fries,oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
Stop by the store and eat some Doritos and some
bunions.
Oh, I seriously I couldn'tdrive.
I mean it made me need it'salmost like it was just, I mean
it was floating stuff gotta dowhat you gotta do went and got
him a crave case white castlewhen you went home, I said man,
we need to test this stuff.

(24:03):
It's the best stuff I ever hadwell, when you went home, did,
donna?

Speaker 3 (24:07):
I remember telling him.
I said man, we need to testthis stuff.

Speaker 5 (24:11):
This is the best stuff I ever had.
Well, when you went home, didDonna notice anything different
about you?
Oh it's forever ago, because hehad to take me back to our
undercover headquarters.
I had to log me in becauseevery night was overtime.
Yeah, in fact, at one pointthey called me and told me to
start taking comp time because Iwas going to make more than the
sheriff.
Because you know you're a kid,you're out there, I'm working.

(24:33):
I'll tell you, seven days aweek, 15 hours a day.
You know you're out, you go toschool, I'm driving a half hour
through school and then you gotthrough school and then you go
out and party with the kids.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Plus you got football practice.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
Yeah, party with the kids.
Plus, you got football practice, yeah right.
And then you got to go back toyour undercover place and log
the evidence in, write thereport and get them to go home
until midnight.

Speaker 4 (24:53):
So how did it work with school work and assignments
and things?
Did the teachers not startcatching on when you weren't
turning things in, or was it?

Speaker 5 (25:04):
No, I put overtime in for doing homework.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
That's awesome, that's commitment.
Yeah, that is.

Speaker 4 (25:11):
That is commitment.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Did your wife get in, because you know she was the
one doing it.

Speaker 5 (25:20):
Yeah, she would have got too good a grade because you
had to miss a bunch of task.
You had to miss a bunch of, butit's funny though, I did learn
how to type my second time too,because I didn't know how to
type when I finished high school.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
What grade are you in ?
14th, that is awesome.
Should have went to Votek whileyou were in there welding or
something.

Speaker 5 (25:52):
I forgot what I was supposed to say.
The one I was taking perineumin the second time.
The first time I don't rememberwhat I was taking.
I was like I started outvocational and then they
switched me over.
So you get to know both kids,but vocational kids were always
in more trouble than the regularkids.
That's just life.
Then they switched me over.
So you get to know both kids,but vocational kids, usually
we're always in more troublethan the regular kids.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
That's just life that's fun I don't think they do
operations like that.
I try.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Well, I set up a scene anymore because all the
social media.

Speaker 5 (26:19):
If you don't have a past, then what's gonna believe
who you are?

Speaker 2 (26:21):
well, that's true, you would have to really
fabricate some, some socialmedia background and the closest
I ever got to any 21 jumpstreet stuff was me and joe that
we had a horrible time withsome pot sales in the school.
I was working and he was likethis kid.

(26:42):
I got him and busted him alittle bit.
I said man, I called thedetective.
I said I can get more here atschool.
We got to stop this.
He said all right.
He said there's enough camerasin them schools.
Just make sure he doesn't go ina bathroom or somewhere off
camera that we can do this.
So I prepped this kid.

(27:03):
I was like just meet in thehallway, do a quick exchange and
go straight in the bathroom.
But that's what you get whenyou I'm done yeah.
so we made the bus and I didn'tcharge the kid, I just went and
said hey, I know what you did,don't do it no more.

(27:25):
So it was I swung and missed.
There you go what do you?

Speaker 5 (27:29):
do they hardly ever go as planned?
No, not at all.

Speaker 2 (27:39):
Especially with the clientele I was dealing with.
You can't go to the specialclasses and do that stuff.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
They don't follow directions as well.
No, it was fun After your 21Jump Street.
What did you get into afterthat?

Speaker 5 (28:03):
I went back to my little hometown of Lackland back
then that was like 84, end of84.
And just started doing regularpatrol work.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
I bet that was kind of hard to go from detective
work starting off to back on theroad a little bit.
I mean adjustment.

Speaker 5 (28:21):
Well, for me it wasn't back on the road.
I went from the jail to thetech, so being on the road was
new for me.
I like it, it was fun.
I always thought it was goodwhen you work in your hometown.
It was for me starting outbecause I knew literally
everyone.
I knew most of people's parentsand grandparents.

(28:44):
Half a lot was from MountVernon, that's true.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
That's right.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
Yeah, I mean we had Sterns and Fosters there and
they brought so many people upthere for jobs.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, they went up there for P&G Right.

Speaker 5 (29:01):
P&G, sterns and Fosters.
Ge had just started.
Ge.
Yep, and there was also a placecalled Philip Carey that made
shingles, and Fox Paper Companyand other.
They made the playing cards.

Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
And that little town had, let's see, 5,000 people and
15,000 jobs.
I mean, there was jobseverywhere there.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yep.
That was a ghost town, by theway, there is so many people
from right here in this area ofKentucky that went there.
Yeah, and then some, you know,some of them come back and it
was weird.
Yeah, my grandpa, you know,went back to Union College down
here.
Good friend of mine he's likeyeah, my, my papa was from Knox
County, right here inBarberville.

(29:42):
I came back to Union Collegeplayed baseball.
So they come back.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, they do come back.

Speaker 5 (29:53):
Yeah, a lot of that, but anyway.
So I knew everybody in the townand I was an athlete in high
school, so I knew everybody inall Because Lachlan we had a
working class, everybody workedthe factory.
Then we had a north end whereit was the, the proctor, gamble
and ge stern foster executives,and then we had our west lakland

(30:13):
side, so we had like a littletriangle of different people and
and I don't know cult, I wantto say cultures, but I guess it
was because you had theappellations.
You had, uh, I don't know wherethe North Lackaw people were
from actually, and then we hadour black community.
So it was like three differenttowns there.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
So a lot of interesting things went on there
, I'm sure.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Oh yeah, what's the population when you were
patrolling?
How many people lived out therethen?

Speaker 5 (30:44):
I think it was like 5,000.
And now it's under.
I think it's under three now.
It's a ghost town Wow.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Well, all the factories have gone.

Speaker 5 (30:53):
Yeah, yeah, all the business is gone, because only
the other business were there,because the factory was there,
so they're gone.
It really is like a ghost town.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, how close are you to the IKEA that we have to
go to all the time?
About miles up?

Speaker 5 (31:13):
yeah, I've been right there when you come south and
you go between those walls.
That's where Lachlan is ah, Igotcha right next to rating yes,
correct.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yeah, I've been to Colerain some, I had a friend
that lived up there and hmm.
But I don't know the greaterCincinnati area that good
besides, like Boone County andFlorence and stuff.

Speaker 5 (31:40):
Yeah, it was pretty much, which is just the first 12
miles of Cincinnati.
And then you hit four differentlike Loughlin, evenedale,
sharonville and then Westchester, and then the other way to go
is 71.
Yeah, wow.
And then you hit four differentlike Lachlan, evandale,
sharonville and then Westchester, and then the other way to go
is 71.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, wow.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
Hmm, anyway.
So yeah, I was there and did mytime as patrolman and then you
know the little town there.
When you used to catch a case,it was your case.
You worked it from start tofinish.
Yeah, I mean, it was then later.
If you had difficulty, it waslike a, uh, somebody who would
be assigned detective.
I wound up getting that,getting that later, uh, but a

(32:17):
lot of times I you get your case, you just work it that's how a
lot of our cases we get to workfrom start to finish.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
But if it's something big I mean like a big burglary,
big monetary value of stabbingor shooting or something it's
one of those you do the initialand then hand it off.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
But but how many officers were on the street at
that time mark when you werethere?

Speaker 5 (32:43):
oh, we, uh.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
well, I think we only had 17 guys when I started, so
it's 5,000 people, but they werepolicing probably all the
people coming to the factoriesthat lived at their places.
Right, Is that how that?

Speaker 5 (32:55):
kind of went.
Yeah, for the most part we had.
Well, the chief was there inthe daytime all the time, but
most days we would have two onthe road, but then probably two
or three times a week we'd havethree, you know, depending on
vacations and how the ship wasworking, whatever, but for the
most part it was two guys.
Well, you know, unlike being inKentucky where you have the,

(33:18):
you know, you guys call themcounties down there we call them
cities, but you know, ratty andWyoming, they're literally a
minute and two minutes away.
They're literally a minute andtwo minutes away.
So, even though we had our ownlittle community to serve, the
other police departments were soclose.
It wasn't like we couldn'thandle it.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
If you needed help, they'd come and do whatever,
like a mutual aid thing.

Speaker 5 (33:41):
Oh yeah, correct.
Sometimes the mutual aid guywould get there before your guy
would get there, yep.

Speaker 4 (33:47):
Was there a high call volume or high call volume
there?

Speaker 5 (33:51):
well listen so we were one of the smallest
communities, actually, becausewe went down to a village and we
later on, because we used tohave our own dispatchers and so
they were on there during thedaytime too.
But and it was a full policemanwho answered the phone in case
somebody came on station, and itwas always the older guys that

(34:12):
got to do that, or I should say,had to do that.
Yeah, yeah, I never got toanswer the phone.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (34:20):
But then we switched over to the Haymore County
Communication Center when the911 system came out and we wound
up getting the most calls ofanybody they had.
I mean, there were townshipsthat were five times our size
and we would get more calls.
That's interesting.
But you know, I said we hadi-75 going right too, so you had

(34:41):
the accidents that could matcha lot of people, you know.
And we had, uh, like I saidbefore, the phone, even though
our little town was 80 percentlocked.
It was 80%.
White Lincoln Heights was thebiggest all-black community in
the United States back then, andso we had people traveling back
and forth from Cincinnati andso we always had calls.

(35:01):
We were busy all the time.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
Did Lincoln Heights have their own police department
?

Speaker 5 (35:07):
Yes, now they're patrolled by the Hamilton County
Sheriff's Department now, butthey disbanded.
But yes, they had their own,okay, and they only had two guys
on too, most of the time.

Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (35:19):
And, like I said, because of Mutual Aid, we would
back them up a lot.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
So you went to.
How long did you do?
Were you there before you wentto the county?

Speaker 5 (35:32):
no, I was in the county first okay, I got and
then I went there yeah, for thein 84 to 96, 97, somewhere in
there, when I won, when I won myjob back and then and then
retired that's still.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
That's.
That's.
That's amazing.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Yeah, that's awesome and, by the way, the official
thing was I retired.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, man, it's a good feeling to retire, isn't it
, doug?
It is yes.
I'll let y'all know in about 30years.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
If you can put up with it that long.
If I can put up with it thatlong.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
If it don't keep changing man with it that long,
if it don't keep changing.
Man, so I've been.
I've tried to read through someof your crazy cop stories that
you put on Facebook.
Did most of those happen inLaughlin.

Speaker 5 (36:23):
Or surrounding, yes, okay, well, I think some of them
.
You saw chases I would chasesomebody into Lincoln Heights,
or I think two of them I'vealready posted were actually in
Arnican Heights, which is nextdoor.
The house fire one and, if youremember, the pizza one, those
were both Arnican Heights, nextdoor to me.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
You care to share some of the stories with us on
this, so we can promote that onyour Facebook too.
So let's hear some of them well, the, the, the fire one.

Speaker 5 (36:53):
So we get a daytime call to a fire and we get there
and it was in the other townnext to me and we pretty much
got there at the same time andthis house was fully engulfed
and there's some lady on thesecond floor yelling out a
window I need help, I need help.
And she had to wait 275, 300,easy.
And so in those little townsthey had their own fire

(37:17):
departments, which is great atnight because everybody's home,
but daytime they're not,everybody's not there.
So you could be a while for adaytime fire.
Uh, because there was nofull-time firefighters.
I think it's working orsomething.
Yep.
And so we get there and, and Idon't know, I read I'm looking
around the back door to try andsee, and that's on fire too.
I happen to see a ladder on aneighbor's house, so I just grab

(37:40):
it right around the front.
We both climb up the top.
We're trying to help us.
Yeah, she goes.
I'm not going without my cat.
I'm like get out here, come on,it's going.
I'm not leaving without my cat.
I'm like, oh my god.
So I said get out of the way.
So I jump in, I'm crawlingbecause there's this smoke's
rolling out and it's one ofthose things.
And there was, one door wasopen and one was closed.

(38:02):
I wasn't going to open anotherone because I was afraid of a
flashover.
We call them a back draft yeah,yeah, I was worried about that.
So luckily I found that cat andI went out the window to the
other policeman and then thislady.
She was so big, I'm telling you, she almost couldn't fit
through the window and there wasno way.

(38:24):
So he's grabbing her on hershoulders and I'm stuck with her
fat ass, no way.
So he's trying to.
He's grabbing her on hershoulders and I'm stuck with her
fat ass pushing her, trying topush her out the window.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
I got I got the.

Speaker 4 (38:45):
I got the bad end of that deal that's one of those
days when you really start torethink your career.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
Why did I go in?
Where was the other guys downhere that could have went in?
She was my wife.
I had to go through her to getout.
So I mean we wind up pushing herout to get her out on the roof.
And I'll be honest with you, Ihad lunch with the guy I'm sorry

(39:13):
, drinks with the guy aboutthree weeks ago when we were
talking about this story andhe's like, oh yeah, I remember
that and we're talking about thecat and everything and she
wouldn't leave.
And I remember I said how didyou know, I think when we got
done, how the fire departmentjust showed up and we're sitting
on the roof but there was noway we're getting.
She's going down that ladderand the house is seriously and I
mean there's flames coming outof the windows, not smoke flames

(39:36):
, and we're sitting on that roof.
So I'm like fire department wasup and I get down and I said do
you know how they got her offtheir roof?
Because I think I left and hedon't remember he kind of thinks
a running department came overwith a fire bucket and got her
out because the other two didn'tlock it on it and didn't have
one of those buckets.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
I don't think I never didn't know how to get off that
roof and he didn't remember iteither but she got out evidently
oh yeah, yeah, she did, and sodid her damn cat you don't see
yeah you don't think about that,though, but you know heavier
set people, there's somelogistical issues on on if

(40:14):
you've got to get out of thehouse quick and I think it's one
of the things she she was sobig, she lived on the second
floor.

Speaker 5 (40:19):
I think she had an enabler, because I don't think
she even got out of the house.
I mean, there's no way thatlady was going up and down those
steps every day you end up witha what's eaten Gilbert Grape
type of situation.
Yeah, there's no way she wasgoing up and down those steps
every day.
She had to be.
Somebody had to be bringing herfood.
That was somebody's sugar mama.

Speaker 4 (40:38):
What's another one we got I?

Speaker 5 (40:39):
was telling you about so we're watching this house
for a while and people used tojust call me random because I
grew up in the area like, hey,this guy is selling weed
whatever he was selling by thepound, though we're watching.

(41:01):
For a while we did a trash jobon him, which means you go
through the garbage and findsome pie.
But we're like, wait until he'sgot something.
After watching him, so we startthrowing him one day and he's
got a little baby.
He's got like I don't know fiveor six year old or something,
and we start following and hekeeps goes this other little
town and he keeps getting out ofthe car, running through the

(41:22):
house with a diaper bag, buteven the kids in the car, and
I'm like, oh my god, we'rewatching him make all these
deliveries.
I'm like, oh my God, we'rewatching him make all these
deliveries.
He was dropping off the pot orwe're following him.
We're like, okay, so go get asearch warrant.
He goes back home.
We go in Okay, do the searchwarrant, go in, it's non-violent

(41:43):
, he's got two kids there.
We get in there, we find $4,000or $5,000 in cash and a couple
pounds of pot and we're sittingthere.
Well, the guy is wife work,second shift so he was always
ordering food in.
So the pizza guy comes in andwe all this money on this table
and he's living the pizza.
He goes hey, you know, mywife's still at work, you care

(42:04):
if I feed my kids, I got to payfor the pizza.
I'm like, yeah, sure, go ahead.
He grabs a $100 bill and handsit to the pizza guy and says
keep the change.
He said I ain't getting thatmoney back.
That little 17-year-old boycouldn't have been more happy.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
He was like, yeah, heck yeah, get the liver here
more often, no joke.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
When you get out buddy.

Speaker 5 (42:37):
I said you know what you can keep it, that's worth
the story.
That's classic, but you know,like I said, every policeman
that has 100 stories like that.
They're all out there.
I'm just stupid enough to putthem on there.

(42:57):
And like I, told Doug, they'rethe best ones.
We can't even tell.

Speaker 4 (43:03):
That's a lot of it.
We've always before a lot ofthese with our guests,
especially guys that we'veworked with.

Speaker 5 (43:15):
They sit down and say say well, what stories can we
tell that you know ain't gonnaget us indicted later and the
statute of limitations ran outon mine, but I still got some
friends who are working, so Ican't, still can't do it yeah,
you gotta watch for that too.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
You don't want to incriminate them.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
I've had several, I'm not going on there, I ain't
going to prison for that.
I was like come on, man, eithertell them or I'm going to tell
them, you get on here you starttalking about it, you realize
they're not as bad as what youthink.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
I'd say a lot of the stuff we've done.
It wouldn't you?

Speaker 4 (43:50):
operate in the gray.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yeah, it wouldn't.
I think through it all, throughthis podcast and stuff and
hearing some of these stories,it's been therapy, but it's also
, you know, it's just good forto shed a light on the human
side of policing.
We didn't put ourselves in it.
Somebody put us in thisposition to have to deal with
your shenanigans and yourstupidity.

(44:16):
We're just the ones thatanswered the call.

Speaker 5 (44:20):
Yeah, you show up where you're told, and all of a
sudden stupid stuff happens italways amazes me.

Speaker 4 (44:28):
You know the cops that think outside the box on
stuff, on how to handle stuff.
They'd be like, well, Iwouldn't have thought of that.
They solved the problem in away that I would have never
thought.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
Everybody's got their own way.

Speaker 5 (44:44):
That was one of my stories.
Well, this had to do with pizzatoo.
That was one of my stories.
Well, this had to do with pizzatoo.
So I had some connectionbecause I worked in the county.
I knew a lot of people.
I quarterbacked a football team.
I knew a lot of people in thecity and the county and so I had
a connection at Cincinnati Belland this is days before the age
of myself, here before callerID and all that stuff you got

(45:07):
nowadays.
So, anyway, they're working onthis homicide case before caller
ID and all that stuff you gotnowadays.
So anyway, they're working onthis homicide case.
And one of the guys working onour department I didn't like too
much and I was actually orderednot to work on this case
actually, but anyway, there wasa BCI, which is Bureau of
Criminal Investigation, here inOhio.

(45:28):
He was also working on the casebecause it was a homicide and
the detective that was workingon our department asked me hey,
I know you got this connectionthat says St Bill.
They had his phone number thatwas supposed to help solve his
homicide.
And he said can you call yourconnection and get this address

(45:49):
for us?
I like, nah, I don't want, Idon't want to wake them up, it's
just, it's it's after midnight.
Um, now, and then the other guyI like to be ci investigator.
He came in smart, can you, canyou get this number for us?
I go okay, let me see what Ican do.
So I really didn't want tobecause I had the person I had
to call I had to didn't have tocall in and get the number and
then get called back.
And you know, I didn't want tobecause the person I had to call

(46:09):
didn't have to call in and getthe number and get called back
and I didn't want to go throughall that stuff.
So I'm sitting there and I'mlike, okay, and it just popped
in my mind because I'm thinkingoutside the box.
So I pick up the phone and inCincinnati there's a place
called La Rosa's Pizza.
They always advertise 347-111pizza.
So I call there's a place calledLa Rosa's Pizza and they always

(46:30):
advertise 347-111-14-PIZZA.
So I call, I got the phone, theguy gives me the phone number,
I pick up, he walks into theother room and I walk in and I
call the pizza.
I said hey, I want to order apizza.
He said what's your phonenumber?
I gave it to him.
He said okay, just know what Imoved, what address do you have?
And they gave me the address,that's awesome, that is awesome.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
That is definitely thinking outside the box.

Speaker 5 (46:58):
So I literally went back in to that BCI guy and in
one minute he gave him thataddress.
He goes hey, Mark, I'm sittingback here.
What did you do?
I back here, what'd you do?
I said what do you mean?
He said you didn't have time.
No one had time to you calledsomebody.
They didn't have time to calland have somebody else get that

(47:19):
number and call you back.
How'd you do that?
I said I can't get away with mysources, man, laughter a
magician never reveals histricks.

Speaker 4 (47:30):
That's right, that's awesome.
So you had two cases that endedup on America's Most Wanted, or
two perks, well, two perks.

Speaker 5 (47:48):
The one guy I'm just waiting to say this Well, yeah,
I think one's dead.
He got killed after they airedit that night.
Oh wow, he was driving from.
I always forget.
I think he was driving fromLexington to Louisville or
Louisville to Lexington.
He had a shootout with apoliceman.
Well, the official.

(48:10):
The official story was he didhimself, but I think it was just
protection because he was a uhbig wig and a motorcycle gang
and uh, yeah, a couple, couplerunning, because you know those
motorcycle guys always havetheir main, they call them the
main squeeze.
Their girlfriend was from ourtown.
You know most of the guysalways have their main.
They call them the main squeeze.
Their girlfriend was from ourtown and a couple of thirds of

(48:32):
his guys.
So one day I got informationand he was actually on there for
attempted murder of aSharonville policeman.
He got in a fight, took his gunaway, tried to shoot him and
luckily it didn't fire.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
And he got put in jail and they made a mistake and
he got out.

Speaker 5 (48:48):
So he was out running around and we knew his main
girlfriend was in our town.
So one night this will be aquick one I set up.
I said, okay, here's where he'sat.
It's a one-way street in myneighborhood.
I'm seriously behind my housewhere I grew up and down three
doors.
I know this neighborhood.
There's a dead-end street.
So I'm sitting back there inthe back and I got another
officer coming up because hecould only go down the dead end

(49:09):
street and make a left becausethe other two were dead in.
I said, well, when you onlylover will have him cornered.
I'm sitting there thinking likethis is the worst plan ever,
because when, when the other guypulls in front of him, please
pulls the front he's getting hisgun out.
And this guy's coming out witha gun and they're both pointing

(49:35):
to me and I said this, this isnot, this is not good at all.
And so I said okay, stay here,just in case this comes out,
I'll circle back around.
And I made a phone call andthen I wound up that the guy
somehow he got information thatwe were there and he wound up
backing back out the one-waystreet.
That's how he got away thatnight.
That was a good thing.
And then another one.
So I get information fromsomebody and says, hey, this guy

(50:01):
is, he's on the FBIS-1 list buthe's got fake ID and everything
and he's on an airplane down toNew Orleans to meet with the
sons of somebody down in, oursons of whatever it is down New
Orleans.
Uh, blacker gang, down therehe's with the president, the
vice president.
They're wearing their colors,he's wearing a suit.
He doesn't have his gun on him.

(50:23):
I'm like, okay, so I'm justlocking a little small town
community.
I called down to New Orleansand talked to some guy.
Hey, look, this guy is on hisplane and he's wearing colors.
He's not wearing colors.
The other two guys are wearingcolors.
I said just catch him when hegets off the plane.
Well, this sergeant I talked todown there stops the plane on

(50:46):
the tarmac, gets everybody off,but the two guys in colors.
So he walked out, he got away.
The chief calls me on Mondayand says Mark, did you have an
airplane stopped in New Orleans?
I said I said he goes, what are?

(51:07):
you doing?
I said he goes.
What are you doing?
I said, listen, he's the mostwanted guy in the country right
now and I had information thathe was there and I can prove it
and luckily I was able to verifythat my information was correct
and he was on the plane.
But still to get called in bythe chief like what are you
doing?
You're a policeman, I'mstopping an airplane to do our

(51:29):
leave.
What are you doing?
You're a policeman, I'mstopping airplanes in.

Speaker 4 (51:31):
New Orleans.
You got to do what you got todo.

Speaker 5 (51:34):
Yeah, yeah.
And the other guy was oh, thisis Chris.
Guys, so I'm making a drugarrest and, besides being the 21
Jump Street, I rarely arrestedjuveniles.
It was too much paperwork.
I didn't like going to juvenilecourt.
They most times didn't pleadout.
I didn't like to arrestjuveniles.
It's still a giant pain in thebutt, yeah, and so I usually

(51:57):
didn't.
I'd take them home, warn them,whatever.
So I'm arrested this morningabout maybe 14, 13.
He was selling crack and someof the little kids had to be six
, seven, eight and he knew I was.
First of all, he should knowwho I was.
But he did.
And he comes up, grandma's crush, telling me what to do and

(52:19):
tossing at me.
I'm like, get away from me.
Who are you?
He says I know who you are, youcan do this.
And I'm like, god, what is thiskid?
And so I got his name and Iremember he stopped it and gave
the other kids like, hey, man,here's a dollar.
I heard he won't give you busfare when I let you out.
I'm like, what are you talkingabout?
So I'm like, okay, I don't knowwhat this kid is, but I guess

(52:40):
it was.
That was the prototype.
Huh, yeah, so.
So I go to school the next dayand a guy I graduated, which was
a, I think, assistant principalthere or something.
I said, hey, you have theantichrist coming up, because
what I'm telling you this kid isI.

(53:03):
And I've arrested his mom toobecause she had a crack house
and I went in there one time andshe didn't have a power on with
this baby, shouldn't have thebaby, but anyway, um, it goes
years.
I don't see him again.
I don't know where he went to.
He must have left laklandanyway.
So I'm driving down the streetone day in lincoln heights and
all of a sudden somebody elseleft the police and I about

(53:24):
locked my car up, throwing it,throwing in park to get out.
And I and and this was Jacksonstreet, lincoln Heights, which
was crack capital back then, Imean it was one of the biggest
places anywhere in Ohio,probably anywhere by crack they
were just lined up and I jumpout and I said, hey, who wants

(53:45):
to F me?
And it was like it was like themovie Meatballs Everybody
backed up except this one guy.
I looked around and backed upand he just stood there and I
walked to him.
I said, hey, you want to knowhe goes?
No, I said what's your name?
And he told me I said yeah, Ilocked your mom up too.

(54:06):
I remember you now and I kindof told him I kind of unjustly I
unjustly meant a lot more thanI should have, honestly but I
was training a guy that day andthis guy was a big guy, about a
6'8 guy, and I remember himsaying that is the coolest thing
I've ever seen.
We all just took a step backand just four kids standing

(54:27):
there.
And then so, last word, acouple more years I'm watching
TV.
We all just took a step backand just four kids standing
there.
And then so, after a couplemore years I'm watching TV like
sure enough, he's wanted forthree different murders, one in
Ohio, one in Illinois and hecame back to Ohio and murdered
somebody else wow, wow that wasa happening town up there sounds
like oh yeah, like I said, wewere the most, we were the

(54:50):
busiest in Hanwell County.
That's crazy, that isunbelievable.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
And by the way.

Speaker 5 (54:55):
I worked there because I had kids and I liked
coaching my kids and being withmy kids so I would trade all my
first.
We had rotating shifts but Itraded all my first and seconds
for the third shift so I couldbe off and coach the kids and be
there Second shift.
You can't make any games Firstshift.
You miss all the school stuff.
So, yeah, I worked permanentthird by choice, but that's

(55:18):
where all the action was.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
Yeah, that third shift is a hard shift, though.

Speaker 5 (55:23):
Oh yeah, it takes two on your body.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
It does.
Me and Doug worked plenty ofnight shifts together.
We did, yes, had a ball we did.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
Yeah, that's the best thing about career on thirds
yeah, that's the best thingthere's no supervisors either no
, and you just have brass andjust having to be good friends
with the supervisor.
That's right the plus yeah wewell, you know, most of the time
time later in my career noteven later, even younger I was
usually one in charge, becauseall the old guys liked to work

(55:54):
the dispatcher and then theother old guys liked to trade
off for a shift.
So most of the time I was theOIC.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Yeah, I remember going back to the F the police.
I remember one time thisjuvenile up at the school I was
working he had a tattoo.
For some reason he decided toput F the cop.
So I knew it was for me.
I had to deal with him a bunchand he came out there and I

(56:25):
guess the assistant principalsaid, hey, he's got a new tattoo
that's got your name all overit.
And I was like, oh, I looked atit and sure enough he did F the
cop right above his mom Mom.
I love mom tattoo.

(56:46):
Is that serious?

Speaker 4 (56:52):
Choices were made.
They weren't good ones, butchoices were made.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
I was like, wow, I've rated higher than mom on that
one.
I was like I guess the regrets.
Now I hope you got it covered.

Speaker 4 (57:04):
We just arrested a guy the other day that has F the
police tattooed down his spine.
Wow Of course they tookpictures why?

Speaker 5 (57:14):
would you know, I wonder if his boyfriend in
prison put that on him.

Speaker 4 (57:21):
He's definitely holding somebody's pocket right
now.

Speaker 3 (57:29):
It's funny, so do you miss it mark uh, yeah, I mean
it was.

Speaker 5 (57:37):
I say this and unfortunately for my brother
office, today, they, they can'thave the fun that we used to oh
no no, no, I mean I'd have myown TV show or be in jail myself
.

Speaker 4 (57:50):
No, we've talked about that many times.
I started in 2016 and it'schanged so much just from then,
let alone from what it used tobe prior to that.
It's not the same job anymore.

Speaker 5 (58:05):
No, not even close, and back then we had pretty much
full support and Kentucky'sstill strong, but Cincinnati's a
disaster right now.

Speaker 4 (58:14):
Oh yeah, yeah, I couldn't imagine.
Yeah, we've been pretty lucky,pretty blessed to be.
I mean you've got a lot.
You know you're a loud minority, but the majority is still
pretty well.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
I heard a protest today while I was working.
They were out.
The elderly bunch wereprotesting the new Big,
beautiful Beagle.
It was all in their 70s and 80sout there holding a coffin up.
What are they protesting it for?
I guess they think they'regoing to lose their Social

(58:54):
Security.

Speaker 4 (58:55):
They protest all the time up there I was just like,
wow, that's 78 hauling a coffinaround.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
I was like, well, they don't quite get ready to
have to use that thing.
I hope it's a good one.

Speaker 4 (59:09):
It's like the old couple that I dealt with the
other day.
They're like 75, both of themthey're fighting and feuding,
wanting a divorce.
Wanting, I mean domestication.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
I was like if y'all just wait a couple years, you
won't have to worry about noneof this.
Just let nature take its course.

Speaker 4 (59:28):
Yeah, you go to your room, you go to yours.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
So what year did you retire in then?

Speaker 5 (59:34):
96.
So what year did you retire in?
Then uh, 96, but I, uh, I had ayear off, where then I won my
job back in 97, and then that'swhen I started but then you, uh,
then you kind of went into yourown business, is that right?
Yeah, I created a little sportsuh morning goods item.
I did pretty well on.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (59:59):
So what's so?
Whenever girls play sports,they always roll their t-shirt
sleeves up.
Oh yeah, I got a patent littleBasically.
It's a Velcro strap that wrapsaround and holds the sleeves up,
and we put soccer balls on them, softballs on them.

Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
Wow, that's awesome.
I never thought of that, but Imean, that's how you make money.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
Thinking of something somebody needs.

Speaker 5 (01:00:19):
I think we sold like 8 million of them.
Oh my gosh Geez, dumb cop getslucky.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
I would.
I'm dumber, I'm going to makebillions.
I wouldn't say that's gotta bea way.
I'm gonna make billions.
I wouldn't say that's too dumbcreated a product that sold
millions.

Speaker 5 (01:00:43):
Well, congratulations yeah, it was fun, right.
What's my wife doing with methe whole time?
I don't know how she put upwith it, but she did she's a
good and I love her to death yepyou got some good youngins too.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
I love them today well, I'm on.

Speaker 5 (01:01:00):
Jury's still out on them for me you get to be.

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
I mean, I heard you're getting ready to be a new
grandpa yeah, I am now.

Speaker 4 (01:01:10):
The grandkids are awesome I love them oh my gosh
well, would you go back and doit all over again?

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
if the situation was different.

Speaker 4 (01:01:22):
The kid part no the police policing I don't know if
we want you to answer the kidpart.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
They may listen to this podcast.

Speaker 5 (01:01:34):
Yeah, the police thing.
Yeah, it was fun and it wasentertainment and it was always
doing something.

Speaker 4 (01:01:43):
Front row seat to the greatest show in the world.

Speaker 5 (01:01:45):
Yep, you know it's funny because I got to the point
and Nala can get on me if shelistens to this because she's
egotistical.
Sometimes I am, but sometimes Ifelt like I was putting on a
show for those residents here.
I was like I was always chasingpeople and just doing stupid
stuff, like I'd go down thestreet, one-way street, the

(01:02:07):
wrong way a lot, because thedope boys were always looking
the other way.
That's right, used it to youradvantage.
Did I pull up and I just standthere with them?
They didn't know what they like.
They can't make no money.
I sit there like, well, I'meither gonna pull away and then

(01:02:30):
I'm gonna get called here.
I'm just gonna stand here andmake them leave.

Speaker 4 (01:02:34):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
It's fun stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:02:37):
Did you ever have any problems, any fights with
anybody or anything like that?

Speaker 5 (01:02:45):
Oh my gosh, yeah, a lot.
I put one on the one.
On the one on the crazy copthing.
I put that one on there Forsome reason, I don't know why, I
chased a lot of people.
I'm talking the one on thecrazy cop thing.
I put that one on there.
But yeah, if for some reason, Idon't know why, I chased a lot
of people, I'm talking, you knowif, if a policeman, I would
guess most places, if you're ina real full pursuit, I know what

(01:03:05):
people, what do you?
What do you think somebody doesa career 10 or 15.
Yeah, yeah, I, I well above 50,50 to 75.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
Wow, I was chasing people.

Speaker 5 (01:03:16):
And same with car chases.
I mean, I mean real car chaseswhere you're going, well, you
can't do any more, like 100miles an hour or flying through.
You know, back then you couldgo, you could run through, I
mean with caution, stop signsand red lights and stuff, you
know, with your sirens andlights on.
But I was in.
We also had 75 going right downthere, so I had a bunch of
those involved, but I was alwaysin.

(01:03:36):
I don't know.
Just because we're workingthird shift.

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
Yeah, third shift was a.
That's when that criminalelement is most active.

Speaker 4 (01:03:47):
And if you were a proactive officer, then that's I
mean that plays the most partof it.
If you're out there looking forit, you're going to find it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:54):
It is yes, oh, yeah, yeah, and then, when you weren't
looking for it, it'd find you.

Speaker 4 (01:03:59):
That's exactly right.
When you're trying to take abreak, it falls in your lap.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
No rest for the wicked Episode two with me and
Doug.

Speaker 5 (01:04:11):
Go ahead, I'm listening, oh, go ahead.
No, go ahead.
I'm listening, oh, go ahead no,go ahead, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
No, you need to go back and listen to episode two
with me and doug and dylan,where we've gotten a car chase
just accidentally it's.

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
It's pretty classic okay, I'll do that, so I'll tell
you what?

Speaker 5 (01:04:27):
I'll tell you one of my fights.
So this younger officer in thepolice department next door I'm
not gonna say his name, um,anyway, he's asking me how are
you getting all these chases?
All the time You're alwaysrunning chasing somebody and
foot chasing and stuff.
I said I'm just out there, man.
If you're out there, you know alot of guys sit in the station.
I'm out there, I get bored, Ican't just sit in here all day.
And so finally, about a week ortwo later, he first ever car

(01:04:51):
chase and he's screaming on theradio like he'd never heard
anything before.
You know, I would be likefinding a 31 in pursuit.
I'd find a bunch of location,I'd say South by Wayne Avenue,
approaching whatever car it was,and just keep calm about it.
He's yelling and screaming likeoh my God, you can't even tell

(01:05:12):
him where I was.
Well, I figure like okay, Iknow where this is going to wind
up at, screaming like oh my god, you came.
I couldn't even tell him whereI was.
Well, I figured like okay, Iknow, we're just gonna wind up
at.
So I go up that area, I'msitting there here.
It comes, he goes by me so hedidn't know I'm there and they,
they jump out and let the carroll, which you know.
You gotta stay with the car andmake sure it doesn't hit

(01:05:32):
anybody else, for another car,whatever.
So he had a little gap in there, so those guys take off running
through these woods.
So no one knows.
I'm still there.
I'm like a ninja, I'm, I'mfollowing, I catch the first and
the guys don't know I'm chasingthem either.
I catch the first guy, throwhim over and I handcuff him to a
fence and go after second guy.

(01:05:53):
Don't even tell anybody I'vedone it yet, because he's still
screaming on the damn radio, andso finally he's yelling down
5-11-31,.
I'm in pursuit of male blockand I got him to gunpoint and
he's handcuffed to a fence.

Speaker 3 (01:06:11):
You'd already caught the guy.

Speaker 5 (01:06:12):
I already caught the guy handcuffed.
Then he told me I was there andwas on after the next guy and
he switches over to channel twoand starts cussing me out
because channel two only goeslike a half mile radius and
channel one goes county wideBecause he knew I was down
Because his disappointment inthat radio.
I wish I had somehow got thatback in the day.

(01:06:35):
And he's got him a gun beforehe's already handcuffed to a
fence.
So so the other guy, the otherguy gets over that fence and, uh
, it's late, it's 4, 35 o'clockin the morning and it was a
rumor.
I said, hey, you guys go tellthem where I was.
Then I said set up a mirror.
Hey, we're going to call in adog.

(01:06:55):
I'm like I'm not waiting on nodamn talk.
I mean, they come from ForestPark and they set up and it just
takes forever.
I'm like I ain't got time forthis.
It's not even my town anymore.
It already started.
It went through lock and end upin Lincoln Heights.
I ain't, I ain't part of this,except I arrested that guy.

(01:07:17):
So I'm like and you get here,you get here, and what are you
gonna do?
I said watch this.
I yell, release the dog.
I go.
Guy gets up and takes off tothe gate asking to get out,
before the dog got there.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
Fun stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:07:42):
That's great.
Like I said, if you want aquick solution to something,
find the laziest guy, because Ijust wasn't waiting.
That's exactly right.

Speaker 4 (01:07:56):
That reminds me we talked about juveniles, dealing
with them.
Not want to deal with them, butI just thought of this story.
We, uh, we had a problem withjuveniles running off from was
it sunrise, sun, sunlight,whatever it was.
They'd run off all the time.
They had this group there andthey was.
Every time we deal with them.
They was the mouthiest.
I mean, they just knew that wecouldn't do anything with them

(01:08:17):
and and you can't.
And then so we get in footpursuit of them and they run
across how rogers parkway andthey run down in the woods.
Well, we'd been down in thewoods and we, so we jumped the
guardrail and they're runningdown down that way.
We just stop because there's astring of barbed wire fence
about chest high that theydidn't see.

(01:08:39):
And we do a pat, we just stop.
Clothes lining, clothes lining.
And they're yelling F you pigs.
All this stuff you'll nevercatch them.

Speaker 2 (01:08:51):
Good for them, that's funny you'll ever catch some of
them, good for them.
Oh, that's funny.
Well, this has been a funpodcast.
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:09:02):
Oh, no problem, I'd love to bring up some of the old
memories.
Oh yeah, well, that's what it'sall about.

Speaker 4 (01:09:06):
That's what I mean.
We got into this to tell theseold stories.
When I started, everybody toldme said you need to write down,
and kind of diary, these storiesand encounters.
And I would say that foreverybody anybody starting out
or anything to write thesethings down Because, you're
right, every cop has a millionof these stories and it's hard

(01:09:29):
to remember them all.
But when you do finally sitdown and start talking with
other cops or friends and bringthem all up, I mean you can go
on for hours and it's they'realways funny and always, always
fun to listen to that's what Istarted doing.

Speaker 5 (01:09:43):
My crazy cop stories was like I said I need to put
some of this stuff downsomewhere my grandkids are
reading on or something.

Speaker 4 (01:09:48):
Yes, yeah yeah, that's uh that's what we can.
We can do with this podcast Alot of our, I mean.
If nothing else, it's at leasta record of all these stories
that we can go back and listento and people can pass on and
not be forgotten.

Speaker 5 (01:10:08):
Any officers listening?
I wouldn't suggest writing itall down, because you'd wind up
getting indicted too.

Speaker 4 (01:10:12):
Well, that's true.
Yeah, you've got to beselective.
Some stuff that only you andJesus need to know about that's
funny.

Speaker 3 (01:10:24):
Later on in the academy, I think they kind of
wanted you to keep a journal.
Yeah, and I know Jason Van Hook, he'd write everything down.

Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
Yeah, he had notebooks full of stuff, of
funny stuff.
Yeah, we'd.
We'd always joked around at thepd of of making a a bathroom
book and it was just each.
Each story is just exactly onepoop long of all our police

(01:10:55):
stories, Long stories.

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
your legs go numb yeah.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (01:11:04):
Well, Mark, we've enjoyed it.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Speaker 5 (01:11:08):
Your stories are hilarious Thanks for having me
on.
If you ever need a follow-up,give me a call?

Speaker 4 (01:11:12):
Absolutely yeah, we'll call you back.
If you think of some more,we'll reload and restart again.

Speaker 3 (01:11:18):
Might even make a road trip.

Speaker 2 (01:11:19):
Yeah, we'll come up.

Speaker 5 (01:11:22):
Oh, that would be fun , or you could come down here
either one.
Oh, you know what I could do,that maybe.

Speaker 3 (01:11:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:11:35):
You're not in Mount Vernon.

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
Yeah, just uh you just about 20 minutes.
Yes, we're not far from that.
You was here once before.
What did you come down when dadpassed away?

Speaker 5 (01:11:42):
no, I think Donna did .
I don't know if I was out oftown.
Donna did no, you were at thefuneral home, I believe was I
yeah, I believe so yes, Iremember them, damn cop stories,
but I can't remember the restof my life.

Speaker 3 (01:11:56):
Well, I can't remember what I had for lunch
today so, oh my gosh, that's theway it goes.
When you was talking about Ican't find that text I said I
think it was a response on oneof your stories and then you
said oh yeah, that's right, I'mold, it's funny.

Speaker 5 (01:12:20):
I'll tell you this quick.
I did a concrete job on mysidewalk last week, and a buddy
of mine same age as me, we'reout there.
It took us five hours workcombined, but we wasted probably
I don't know a good 30 minuteseach.
We'd put something down apencil or a hammer or a damn
tape measure and we'd spend halfthe time looking around for

(01:12:41):
stuff that was right there.

Speaker 3 (01:12:49):
That's when you know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:53):
Either you know it, it or you hire it it got done.

Speaker 4 (01:12:58):
You don't have to worry about the journey, it's
about the destination okay well,guys, thanks again for having
me yeah, that was fun.

Speaker 3 (01:13:07):
Thank you so much yeah, mark, come down and see us
sometime, alright see you, besafe guys.

Speaker 5 (01:13:12):
Alright guys, hope you all enjoyed that down soon
I'll keep doing that, all right,see you.
See you, mark.
Take care, be safe guys.
You too.

Speaker 4 (01:13:16):
All right guys.
Hope you all enjoyed that.
We'll catch you on the next one.
I took the pretty side.