Dunkin vs Krispy Kreme

Today's guest: Officer Hart of the Port Authority police dept. Jon has been on the force for 17 years and offers an inside look at an often misrepresented industry as society's law enforcement. Jon shares stories from the field as a police officer and offers insight to a lot of misconceptions about the American Police force

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Since 1961, Court's plumbing has offered friendly, reliable service to residences all over Bergen County, New Jersey.

(00:09):
We are a fourth generation family owned business, unnotched in customer satisfaction and professionalism while working in your home.
We are the hydronic heating and water filtration specialists with a workmanship guarantee to put you at ease so you can rest comfortably.
We offer financing for those big projects that catch you off guard, and we have a network of excellent contractors in all fields for any project you wish to tackle.

(00:37):
Call our responsive office team and we'll dispatch a handsome and educated technician to lay the smackdown on all your plumbing issues.
You can also find us at courtsplumbing.com, search us on Google, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, T-Talk, and YouTube.
Like, subscribe, and share please!

(01:27):
Thanks for watching!

(01:57):
Alright ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Plumbum's podcast, the blue collar tradesman show, where we discuss everything from small business, entrepreneurship, knowing your numbers, marketing.
With me is always my trusty sidekick Max, who refuses to give up the headphones for some reason.

(02:38):
Thanks for joining us again on episode 17.
We're still waiting to get the last one out, which was actually really interesting with one of our contractors.

(03:08):
We're just cruising along here, and I'm glad you guys keep joining. It's pretty cool to see the views online. I can't believe people are actually enjoying this, but here we are.
Just walking around spoiled, the two most spoiled dogs in the world. But here we are, Plumbum's podcast, and today we have our buddy John Hart from Orodel, New Jersey.

(03:39):
No, that's your camera by the way. That one over there. So if you want to make like Jim from the office, like, looks, glances, use that camera.
I don't know how I feel about the cameras. Got a face for radio. It is. Listen, it is a little weird. It takes a little bit getting into 1000% adds 10 pounds.
Just so you know, I'll tell you how to do that.

(04:01):
You see your butt back and hide the gut a little bit. Yeah.
And you know who told us that his mom, she just she texts me. She's like, you know, you know, you guys just scoot back in the chairs.
I was like, why? She's like, just good. Disgusting. She's like, why don't you guys just scoot back and just listen to what I'm saying.
But no, John Hart or New Jersey Port Authority cop. Yeah. Port Authority peacekeeping police officer, peacekeeper.

(04:27):
Is that what they're called? I guess.
No, we've been actually, we know you from plumbing. You use this as your as our plumber. Every time we go to John's house, I have to tell Nancy to just block off two hours because we just stand there.
And just BS the whole time. Because yeah, because it's a money pit. And it's a, I actually started with you guys because I had someone else come in to put an vanity and the guy was absolutely miserable and like left a mess and everything like that.

(04:55):
And then so I was like, next and then called you guys. I knew I was going to use you guys forever when it's like a couple of years ago in like a snow.
I don't know if you'll remember this in a snowstorm in the winter, my boiler. We came out on like a Saturday night. Really? And I called and I was like, look, dude, I'm like, they'll live till Monday.

(05:16):
You know, we got space heaters and we are right. And you know, you were like, she's pregnant. Forget it. They're looking like 10 minutes. You're there and you know, had the heat working.
Luckily, you're three blocks away. If you were four, probably Monday. I'd be like, yeah, she's pregnant Monday.
She got an extra layer to keep her warm.

(05:37):
Well, honestly, I had, I don't know who reached out to you who expressed interest, but I'm actually glad we have someone from your industry because, and I'll tell you, I scroll through YouTube reels all the time.
And the cop abuse nowadays is insane.
Yeah, it's getting to be a lot.
It's like every day it's like worse and worse. I get random channels, like audit channels recommended to me.

(06:02):
And which I'm going to be honest, I understand the need for like citizens to like, you know, kind of bust chops every once in a while.
But these guys are jerks. There's no need to be like that.
Right.
When you're doing an audit channel.
Yeah, yeah. Well, and it's, it can be a lot, you know, and it's like, basically, me personally, I learned when I got on the job, it's like, if I'm on a car stop with you, like you kind of dictate how it goes.

(06:31):
Like I'm going to be polite and professional until you're not. And then it's like, OK, now we're going to, you know, now we're getting a warning, but now not so much.
What's the difference between a board authority cop and just like a regular?
Well, we're, we're a by state agency. There's not too many agencies in the country that have authority in two states.
Okay.
And it's, which is that's a nightmare. It's not a nightmare, but it's like, it takes a lot to get used to it because there were things that in like New Jersey, you get a summons and go on your way.

(07:03):
Yeah.
Do the same thing, you know, a mile further down the road and you're in New York, you go to jail.
You know, yeah, like, like driving with a suspended license in New Jersey, I'm going to, I'm actually going to, you know, give you a ticket and be like, look, you know, you got 20 minutes to get someone here to drive the car or else I got to enter.
Wow.
And you're on your way. And in New York, you're driving with a suspended license. You, you could get arrested.

(07:27):
You could want to write a jail in Manhattan Central Booking. Yeah.
With like actual criminals. You know, so it's weird.
So you have to, you have to know both state laws.
Yeah. You have to be familiar with them. It's funny because on my job, guys tend to like gravitate towards one side of the river or the other.
Okay.
And I try not to get involved in stuff in New York because, you know,

(07:51):
Were you born and raised in Jersey?
Yeah. I'm, I've been born and raised within a mile of where we are right now.
Really? Okay.
Yeah.
Um, you know, in, in Jersey, like you could kill four people and I will have you lodged in the county jail and you won't be my problem anymore within like four hours.
In New York, you could have a suspended license and I could be stuck with you for like 16 hours waiting to talk to an ADA,

(08:14):
get my tour swung to the next day to talk to the judge. It's, it's a whole thing.
That's crazy.
And it's like you, you bring someone to a county jail in Jersey. It's like a hospital.
Like you just walk up to a window, answer a bunch of questions and off you go.
And Manhattan Central Booking is like, you walk in, you're like, all right, I got TB now and probably two types of hepatitis.

(08:36):
It's gross. It's gross.
I can imagine.
It's, it's a, when you go into Manhattan Central Booking, there's this long hallway you stand in originally and it's like the cops all on one side and the perps all on the other.
And it's this wide and you're just standing there facing each other with the guy just.
Yeah. And it's like, I mean, I've, I've pulled up there and we're getting the guy out of the car and a little further down the street.

(09:00):
There's an NYPD prisoner van getting out to like eight guys on a chain and I'll look at my perp and be like, you want to go home tonight?
Like, yeah, I'm like, run, run for the door.
Like if they beat us to the door, we're here for like six hours, just run and you know, I'll be leading this guy, you know,
There's too much paperwork for me to even chase after you for it.
No, no, no, I mean, like run to the door. I'm not letting him leave.
It's like, hurry up.

(09:22):
It's first come, first served. We got to beat these guys in the door.
They're doing that in New York now. They're letting out.
Yeah, they're just letting people out.
Is that true?
Yeah, it's cashless bail.
Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
So it's, I mean, they've kind of serious crimes.
No, it's not just like cashless bail for like, like over over underpaid parking tickets.

(09:44):
No, no, no, it's like legit stuff that people are still getting out for now.
Car theft.
You know, I mean, I've had guys be like, I'll be home before you.
Yeah.
Like in the movies, I'll be out before lunchtime.
Like in the sopranos with the, I mean, is it, is it because of just like overcrowding?
The system's overcrowded. It's, it's politics.

(10:05):
It's politics. Yeah.
You know, I mean, it, whatever you don't feel comfortable talking about, which is,
so John's three years away from getting attention and we don't want to ruin it
by him doing this backwards podcast and saying something wrong.
How long you've been doing it for?
17 years.
And I just kind of, it was like an accident. It was absolutely an accident.
It was, I wanted to be a fireman.

(10:28):
You look like a fireman. I have to be honest.
Like you look more like a fireman.
Well, I took all the tests. I was high on the hiring lists and a buddy of mine was like,
take the test for the Port Authority cops. They're trained as firefighters too at the airports.
And I was like, oh, all right. You know, and I got it.
I took the test. I wound up, I never heard from, I took the test in 2002.

(10:51):
And in like 2006, I heard from them.
And it was like a fluke. It was my former, we had moved my former landlady.
She called up, she's like, ah, you got a package from the Port Authority.
And I figured like my wife had gone through without her easy pass.
I thought it was like a ticket. Right.
So I picked it up and it was like, you know, report for processing.
And I was like, no way. Like six years later. Yeah.

(11:13):
Like, or five years later. Holy smokes.
You said, you said before that you were, you were a teacher, right?
Yeah. As a middle school teacher, 12 years.
What subject?
English and social studies.
I didn't, I had, so I didn't get a whole lot of guidance in high school.
I was, you know, I was just one of those kids.
Like I was C student, middle of the road.
Good day. Yeah.

(11:35):
D's for diploma. I'm telling you, there's, there's favoritism with like guidance counselors and stuff.
Like if you're not fitting the mold, they're just like, he'll figure it out.
So I was not, it wasn't that I wasn't bright.
I was just lazy.
Like I didn't, you know, they give me 150 page book to read in English class in high school.
And I'd be like, no, and I'd go home and read an 800 page Stephen King book instead.

(11:58):
You know, but I was always a very good test taker.
So that's what got you.
So like I crushed my SATs.
I got, I got called into the guidance counselor's office and he's like, we got your SAT scores.
We have a problem.
You cheated. Right.
And I was like, what's the problem? He's like, you got a 1360.
I'm like, how is that a problem?
He's like, well, either you cheated, which is a problem, you know, or you've been screwing around for three years,

(12:23):
which is also a problem, but that's your problem.
And I was like, it's the second one.
I promise you, you know, and I mean,
they're like, come on, John, we know you're more on.
Yeah, that's basically what it was like.
And I was like, uh, you know, I mean, it was just very much find your own way.
And I mean, you know, trades never occurred to me.
I had no kind of mechanical skills at all.

(12:44):
I still don't, you know, they don't even recommend them in school.
I mean, all that stuff is, well, they don't have those classes. Yeah.
They don't have those classes.
I mean, no one was known.
I mean, did any of your counselers say, uh, why don't you think of my guidance counselor was pretty bad.
And my parents hated my guidance counselor too, because I was an athlete and I wanted to play soccer.
And I ended up, you know, having a short professional stint.

(13:07):
But when you go to your guidance counselor and when your parents get in touch with your guidance counselor,
they don't want to hear that the guidance counselor actually recommended that you're going to be a soccer player.
Like it sounds, it sounds dumb.
Right. It's dumb.
And you want them to recommend, you know, college or, you know, certain types of trades or whatever it is.

(13:28):
But, you know, I was the same boat as you.
Well, speaking of soccer, I made the soccer team my freshman year.
And the kid that I beat out is now the coach of the U.S. men's national team.
Oh, wow.
Well, I played.
He actually left the school to go to a different school.
And I wound up playing for like two weeks.
And I realized I'm like, these guys are all legit soccer players and I'm just fast.

(13:52):
And like, I don't love it like these guys love it.
And I just wound up doing track all through high school and college, you know, but.
What we do, what do you do after high school?
I mean, so you're in your early fifties.
You don't mind me saying that you're 50 on the dot.
Don't push me.
So, so, okay, so 17 years.
So 33 you got into it.
Okay.

(14:13):
What led you said it was a fluke the whole police thing.
But I mean, if I had, if I on a whim decided to apply for the police station four years later, I get the note.
I wouldn't, I wouldn't join like what led you up to that?
Oh, because I hated what I was doing.
I got into teaching for the wrong reasons.
Like, and, and I think, you know, I don't think as much as you talk about how like cops get a bad rap and people are giving us a heart teacher's get it as bad.

(14:40):
Yeah.
And, you know, everyone's like, oh, they, you know, they get summers off and it's like what you don't realize is if you have 150 students, you're an English teacher and you assign a two page essay.
Two days later, you're getting 300 pages of stuff you got to read.
It's like the worst novel you've ever read.
You didn't like to read in high school.

(15:02):
I love to read.
I just didn't like three.
I was supposed to read the, the, what a sign.
And, uh, and yeah.
So like, so they don't get enough credit.
And I honestly believe like there's nothing better than a good teacher, but you know, there's nothing worse than a bad one.
And I was, you know, on my way to being a bad one because I just didn't care.
You couldn't care anymore.
And I, I loved coaching though.
And it was like, you know, you're going to go be miserable for six hours a day to be happy for two hours a day.

(15:27):
It's not, it's not worth it.
Yeah.
So I was looking to get out.
Um, I was on a volunteer fire department when 9 11 happened and I was like, this is it.
This is what I want to do.
And, uh, did you go over there?
Did you cross the bridge?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, didn't do anything cool or interesting or anything, but you know, we responded.
Yeah.

(15:48):
But, um, you know, but, uh, you know, it's crazy about it.
You know, it's crazy about that.
Sorry to interrupt, but my, my niece is in school over here, um, in parameters.
And she told me that they didn't do anything this year for 9 11 memorial, you know, like
every year leading up to it, they were doing memorials for it.
You know, in schools, you don't have to stand for the pledge anymore.

(16:10):
Yeah.
You don't have to, but now this was the first year that she told me when I asked, I was like,
well, you know, how was, I was the school, how was the school day?
What would you guys do for September 11 that she goes, we didn't do anything.
It's, it's weird.
Like, and I see it cause I mean, you know, my job was 37 guys, not counting all the civilian
employees.
It's the largest loss of life in one day ever in law enforcement.

(16:33):
Um, there were four from the command I'm assigned to, you know, and it's every day you live
with it.
You come in, there's like, we have those four guys, their lockers are basically set up almost
like a museum slash memorial, you know, um, these dudes just showed up to work that day
figuring it was a regular day and you know, got involved.

(16:54):
Like it was like something out of a movie, you know, and got involved in it.
And you know, these four guys didn't get to go home and it's,
Everyone remembers what happened, where they were, what they were doing.
I was up in Boston.
I was in school in Boston and they shut down all classes for like the whole day and like,
it was just the news playing the same thing over and over and over again.

(17:16):
And my, my buddy across the hall comes and wakes me up cause I slept through my first
class.
I was a horrible student.
I shouldn't have gone to college.
I was the same way in college.
This is the worst students in all of school.
I shouldn't have gone to college, but he rushes in.
He's like, yo, turn on your TV, turn on to you.
Someone hit the, someone hit the building and that was it for the rest of the day.

(17:38):
Everyone just walked around.
Everyone remembers where they were.
I was in that school that my niece is in.
I was in that same school.
Yeah.
In parameters.
I was in that same school and my dad calls my mom and he goes, take him out of school
right now.
Like I was one of the only kids that like pulled out cause my father is from Israel.
So he's like, they kind of know how this stuff goes down.
He goes, they thought, he thought that there was going to be multiple.

(18:01):
There's one that's usually several, you know, but that one I guess was just so big and it
was just, that's, well, there were several.
We forget about PA and you forget about the, the second one.
The DC and the Pentagon.
The Pentagon.
Yeah.
I mean, you work a job, you get used to doing day in and day out, but like, does it ever

(18:21):
crush your mind?
Like something like that could happen again at any time.
You have no idea.
Like, you know, cause you listen, we're plumbers.
We're not dealing with, you don't know what's going to happen when you knock on the door.
We know what's going to happen with a boiler.
The worst thing I'm going to do is get shocked or burned or something, but you, you knock
on a window, ask for a license or registration.

(18:43):
You have no clue what is coming out that window.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, that's funny cause that actually kind of goes back to the whole teaching thing
because you know what I said about like, there's nothing better than a good one and there's
nothing worse than a bad one.
I had a couple of guys in as Academy instructors who were like, there's guys that are there

(19:04):
to play the game and it's, oh, it's weekends off and it's a steady day shift and it's an
easy job.
And then there's guys that are there cause they care about the product that they're producing,
you know, like the new recruits and they want to make sure that you're safe and you know
what you're doing and you know how to handle yourself.
And I had a couple of guys like that.
So I mean, I'm, I've always been probably too confident in my abilities, but like, you

(19:28):
know, I've had, I've, you know, thank God I've never had something like 9 11 to deal
with, but like I've had a couple of like crazy jobs where it's, you don't even think about
it.
It's just a switch flips.
You do what you're supposed to do.
You know, you go through whatever you got to go through and then like, you know, it
seems like two hours later, but it's like 20 minutes later when it's all over and you

(19:52):
stand there and you're like, oh my God, I can't believe I just did that.
You know, like, yeah, that just happened.
And then it sets in afterwards.
And then you're like, all right, well, you know, and then you go out for beers with
the guys.
It's like anything else.
It's like a football game.
It's just like, I mean, as an athlete, you know, it's just like when something like that
happens and you get through it, it's like winning a game.
You know, sometimes you score a goal where you're just like, oh, I don't even remember

(20:14):
how I did that.
Guys are high five and they're like, let's get drinks after work.
And you know, it's like almost like a celebration.
Yeah.
She started doing that when we put in boilers.
I don't know if we've mentioned this on the podcast, but you remember there was one time
we had like a really long day, a really long crappy day.
Yeah, we had a really crappy day.

(20:35):
We were yelling at each other.
No, no, no, it wasn't.
It was like a full day, 14, 16 hour job.
Filthy.
We were yelling at each other.
Yeah.
It was awful.
It was like crap.
We finally finished the day.
We're driving home.
It's what, like nine o'clock at night, something like that.
And we're driving home and some super feminine song.
We just catch ourselves both singing like Katy Perry firework on the radio.

(20:58):
And the two of us are singing it like, and we literally verbally ripped each other apart
for like three hours prior.
But then you get into the call and listen, I'm not comparing what we do to you at all.
But I'm saying like, there's that camaraderie mindset, which is important to your mental
health.
It's huge, you know, no one who you can count on knowing like, and you within a matter of,

(21:20):
you know, weeks at a new place, because, you know, we transfer from command to command.
Sometimes in the port party.
You like, you find out who the players are and you know, you know, who you're kind of
similar with as far as what you're willing to get into what you want.
And those are the guys you gravitate towards.
And, and once you know, you have a crew that you can count on.
It's like, you know, you're ready for anything.

(21:42):
Yeah.
And 17 years, I'm sure the vibe, I mean, how much has changed in 17 years?
It's a totally different world problem.
Yeah.
It's, I mean, I caught the tail end of it being the greatest job in the world.
And like some of the things that used to happen with some of these old timers, like
when I was a rookie, I went to the GWB and I actually played the Jedi mind trick on him.

(22:05):
It was actually pretty funny.
So when you're in the academy, when you're coming towards the end, they give you a wish
list of where you want to go.
You know, the port authority has the three big airports.
They have the bus terminal, the world trade center and all the Hudson River crossings,
GWB, Holland Lincoln.
And then a command is called S I B.
It's the Staten Island bridges.
It's the Gothel's, the outer bridge and the.

(22:28):
And uh, oh, and path.
Okay.
The path train system.
So they're like, you know, they give us this list to fill out and they're like, uh, don't
even bother putting the GWB.
They haven't sent rookies there ever.
And I was desperate to go to the GWB because I live five minutes away.
Yeah.
I'm like, uh, all right.

(22:48):
Well, I knew path was very in demand too.
Path is a great command.
So I knew I wouldn't have the class rank to get path.
So I was hoping I put down path first, GWB second, hoping that they'd be like, well,
it's a pretty good guy.
We can't give a path.
Let's give him the bridge.
And my third was like, I don't know, the Lincoln or something because it's still closed and

(23:12):
whatever.
Yeah.
You know, but ultimately they're going to do what they want.
So who cares?
And sure enough, I got the GWB and it was like, that was a very senior command at the time.
Um, there was like me and like eight or nine of my classmates.
And then the next junior guy had like 13 years on and there were like the senior guy on patrol
had like 27 years on.

(23:33):
And you know, he'd been there like literally like in the 80s, you know, during like the
crack epidemic, right?
Like these were like, you know, old school, you know, old school New York, Manhattan,
still had those like stickers.
They still had those metal with leather.
Oh yeah.
So that's like 30,000 percent.
Yeah.
Sap.
Absolutely.

(23:54):
Yeah.
You know, and uh, I remember new, I don't read, I fully remember it, but I grew up around
here too.
And I remember going into the city in the 80s and it was terrible.
It was freaking terrible.
And I don't know, I haven't been to this.
I used to go to the city all the time just to hang out.
I'm not even interested in crossing the bridge anymore, but it's $20 every time you want to
go there.

(24:14):
I just, yeah.
Oh, so that's right, so that's going to you guys.
That's the kind of supports.
I don't know how it breaks down.
I don't know what it goes to.
That's going into your wallet specifically.
Probably.
Probably some of it anyway.
We might as well just give it to you.
Just give him 20 bucks every time you decide to go to the city.
I don't, I don't even go into the city anymore, but what I hear is that it's getting bad again.

(24:40):
There's some areas that are great.
Yeah.
There's places that, you know, I would have.
What I could, I can't even imagine is when 9-11 happened before and after, especially
watching the bridges, like the difference.
Yeah, I'm sure it was, I mean, you got to remember 9-11 was 2001.
I didn't get on until 2007.

(25:02):
I know.
So it's like, it's still pretty far past, but it's close enough that it's like we're
still, you know.
You saw the same protocol as I'm sure it is.
Oh my God, you know, God forbid, as a rookie at the GWB, God forbid.
The truck gets across the lower level because some engineer figured out like a truck load
of explosives on the upper level, you know, whatever, but on the lower level, it takes

(25:24):
down the whole thing.
It'll take down the whole thing.
I don't know if that's true, but that was, you know, half the job was chasing people
off, you know, that were trying to access like U-Hauls and stuff.
My first arrest was a guy tried to bring a U-Haul across and I pulled him over and
he had like a 56 page rap sheet and was wanted in like seven states.
Jesus.
It was actually like looking back.

(25:47):
It's one of those things where you look back and you're like, oh my God, I was like such
a stupid rookie.
Like I just didn't, you know, he seemed like a nice old man.
He's wanted for everything short of murder.
Like cow.
Usually you get a warrant out of Patterson and you'd call up and they're like, yeah,
we're not coming.
Release him with a court date.
This guy, the Vermont state police were like, we'll be there in four hours.

(26:07):
I was like, oh my God.
Yeah.
They've been looking for this guy.
Yeah, they've been looking for him for a while.
That's it.
I mean, look, it's insane to me how many vehicles past that bridge.
I've had to take that over with my work truck.
Yeah.
And I've never been stopped, never been this, never been that and how you guys are able
to be like, you got to get that guy.

(26:30):
You got to get like, what even sets it off?
Like how do you, I know the cameras aren't.
Well, that was, that was just purely because he was in a truck going across the lower level.
I mean, if you're talking about like, how do we pick what cars to stop?
Things like that.
You look for, you look for violations and like little things tend to lead to big things.

(26:51):
Okay.
A friend of mine at the Holland Tunnel stopped the car a couple of years ago because it had
a crack going across the windshield from like the bottom passenger side all the way to the
top driver's side and he stops it and it's these two guys and a girl and they have like
a whole bunch of guns, a whole bunch of knives, hollow point bullets.

(27:12):
They were going into the city to like rescue a girl from, from like a heroin den supposedly.
I mean, I have, I have my suspicions as to what they're really doing, but, but yeah,
you wound up like a crack in the window and it's all because of that.
Yeah.
It's like, you know, expired inspection stickers, you know, everyone thinks like cops do like

(27:36):
crazy racial profiling.
It's not, it's not effective.
Yeah.
It's not, it's, I mean, are there guys that do it?
Probably.
I personally don't know any that would cause you're risking everything.
Yeah.
I'm not, I'm not looking to, you know, come home and have Al Sharpton with a podium on
my lawn.
Like, you know, it's, it's not effective, but you can do, you can do vehicular profiling.

(28:00):
Like if you see like a, like a 96 Corolla with blackout tents and spinners in North Carolina
place, it does not matter what the driver looks like, somebody in that car is going
to jail.
Nissan Maximas would be my pullover.
Chrysler 300.
That Chrysler 300.
If you can't pull a warrant out of a Chrysler 300, it is not your day to take somebody

(28:23):
to jail.
You're just, you know, that's insane.
I mean, when I lived in Michigan, I, that's, that's the car I drove.
Like in the Chrysler 300.
Yeah.
We're tinted windows.
That was my uncle's car.
Oh, forget it.
I was like, after a few days, I was like, I don't think this is like, cause he lives
close to Detroit.
I was like, if I go to Detroit, this car is not coming with me.

(28:43):
Dude's doing a 36 and a 35.
Get him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Seriously.
I saw this video once.
I don't know what bridge it was on.
I actually think it was one of the New York bridges.
It was, it's the video started out, it was zoomed in on some dude's newspaper sitting
like a newspaper title and it was zooming out and it was a newspaper sitting on a

(29:05):
passenger seat and it kept zooming out.
It zoomed out to the point where the car, it was a car going down a bridge like 65
miles an hour and the camera was able to zoom in where you can read the writing.
That's crazy.
You don't know anything about that.
I don't know anything.
All right.
So then I guess it's not New York.
Maybe it was Cali or something.
I mean, it could be New York.
It's just, I mean, I don't, our, our, all our camera stuff is dealt with by other people.

(29:30):
Like we don't.
Okay.
I got you.
When I saw those shows like those catch a criminal type shows.
Why is the camera always like the word?
Like my phone camera could get a better picture than these catch the criminal or like a bank
camera?
Why does every single bank have a camera that's, that's like filmed with a potato?
I just got my body camera like three weeks ago.

(29:51):
I just got trained on it and now we have these things.
Oh, wow.
It's, it's interesting.
Then you don't get to sit.
That footage automatically gets uploaded somewhere I'm assuming.
I get to see it. I can't do anything with it. I can't change it. I can't I can add notes to it like
You know just for example, we had a job the other day where

(30:15):
basically I responded to a cop
Fighting with a guy a cop got assaulted and he was fighting with the guy and I responded and so now there's three guys here all with
Body cameras, it's all different angles and I'm as I'm walking around
I'm walking over to my to my police car to get like you know a first aid bag or something and a lady stops me

(30:35):
She's like that cop was in the right and he and gave this whole huge statement about how this went down and
I was like, okay
So I like you know when I when I upload that footage I put like you know at about 17 minutes in
This you know, there's a statement about you know, so that when they're going through it
They can find what they need to find you know, but it's a it's a weird thing

(30:58):
I I have mixed emotions about it
In some ways, I feel like it takes our discretion away
Because it used to be like if I gave a person a break for something. Yeah, I'm not now
Do you have to go over that footage every day with somebody? No, something. No, just when something happens any any kind of police activity now

(31:23):
You have to call up and get a number to categorize it and it's a whole thing
So it's out of your hands at the end of the day out of my hands. I can't I can't alter it in any way
I can't do anything. I can just see it. You know, basically
What people don't understand is that when you get in like a high stress adrenaline situation

(31:46):
Time changes in your mind, you know, things happen differently things that you don't notice happen
Yep, so
It's not really fair to ask me to give my statement
You know
As to what happened when I could look it's by and then they look at the video
They're like, well, look you said this happened 10 seconds later

(32:07):
Right, right, right, right
Right, so dying so to basically
Go back and and review what actually happened. So I give my statement and it is accurate, you know
Like I said, I can't change anything
But yeah, you know, I mean I had a job years ago where
My car got side swiped by a stolen car. I chased him out into the Pulaski Skyway. He wrecked

(32:32):
I cleared the car recovered a gun chased this guy on foot across the bridge
We wound up catching him and the whole thing and it was like
In my head this took like four out. It was like the longest
Yeah, it was like 20 minutes tops start to finish
Like 20 minutes and you know if you had asked me, you know, it's a four hour

(32:55):
You just go on you go on a little pilot and things like
Things just happen your training takes over you do the things you're supposed to do and then afterward you're like, oh
Well, that's I know you have questions
But I do want to ask because I've talked about this with friends and family and stuff like that
Do you think because you see a lot of videos nowadays of you know instances between cops and and

(33:16):
And civilians and how a lot of people talk about how situations get mishandled or whatever. Yeah
And it's usually it looks to me like it's usually the younger guys
Do you think there's a problem with the lack of training or under training?
At least for the newer generation because I remember we talked about we talked about like
The requirements to get into the Academy. Yeah, the standards have been lowered significantly since when you joined, right?

(33:43):
Oh, they're pretty much the same as when I joined but they were never
You know, it's not it's not seal training, you know, you're not right. You're like, oh, you have to run three six minute mile
Like there's none of that
Well, the simple fact that you said you chased that guy across the bridge. I
Mean that the fact that you can run put in my book makes you a better cop

(34:05):
That's that's a that's adrenaline and that's to be honest. That's like a competitive thing. That's like a that's a former
I've just I've just seen I've just seen cops that look like oranges on toothpicks
Yeah, and I'm like Frankie. What are you? How are you if something goes down? What are you gonna do?
Yeah, there's there's some of that if you're falling you're not getting up
Well, that goes to people like you too like you're in shape and and you have the ability to do those things

(34:30):
And you said like you have a partner like you don't want to have to wait like let's say you do like what you said an eight or nine minute
Mile. Yeah, you're that quick. Okay, you know that you can catch up to somebody your partner can do a 15 minute
Right, so you have that time frame that you have to wait for somebody you said like yeah
I mean the good news is like you can't outrun the radio they say like right and I

(34:54):
Gotta say about I feel like most departments are like this but mine especially I guess because we ride in solo cars
guys are coming quick, you know, I
I
I actually pulled over a car a couple years back and
You know, it was a brand new GMC
Top of the line pickup truck no plate at all no temp tag no nothing and when I put that over

(35:18):
I didn't even have to say like can you send me an addition like
As I'm getting out of my car to walk up to this car. I hear three other guys over the radio like you know responding responding respond
So so actually that is actually turned out to be Jake Gyllenhaal driving. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty funny
What's he doing? He was just he was like no plates. There's a clueless celebrity. Hope you

(35:40):
Super cool. Yeah dealt with guys. Oh, I don't have plates in the back of my truck
He's like well, I drove it here from California in California
They don't you don't leave the dealership with them. They just mail them to you and he made it all
Yeah, first of all, like first of all, I don't believe that at all. Is that a thing? I have no idea
But you know what like I was Jake Gyllenhaal so what?
When you get celebrities like I I just always assume they're gonna be jerks

(36:03):
So like I don't I pretend like I wouldn't acknowledge who he was right and I was already
Formulating in my head like if this guy's a jerk, I'm gonna be like hey, man. I loved you and transformers and pretend
You know that one with Tom Hardy, we're either bootleggers awesome, you know, but he was super cool and super nice and polite and whatever and he's like

(36:25):
You know, he told me he's like
You know, you want to run my license. I'm like, yeah, dude. I I'm like based on what you made from your last movie
I assume you could buy five of these so I'm really not the case of if it's stolen or not
But like I don't you have to drive with some sort of temp tag
He like pull he like pulls off. He's like suckers. I've seen four back here

(36:49):
All right, let's make some real money
As I walked up this German Shepherd sticks its head out the way at the back window
It's like this big and I'm like and I stopped I'm like, uh
Is he gonna be a problem? No, he's he's terrified of authority figures. I'm like great. He put the window up
He's like, yeah, I'm like, all right, cool
And I walk up and I'm like, oh, it's Jake Gyllenhaal. The only way that he could have done that drive from California to New York

(37:13):
Is if he had a crap ton of cocaine in my car?
There's no way. I don't know. He's a really nice guy. He's super cool. That's that's this cool. I guess I guess, you know
Like usually celebrities are you know, you know, I am he played a cop in that movie prisoners
Yeah, and uh end of watch was probably
That was really good one with who's that Hispanic dude. What's his name? Michael Michael Penya. Yeah, who's really good

(37:39):
Yeah, I'm not a movie guy. That was a cool movie. I can't it was a different
It was like a different it was like a POV type movie where they everything
It's not it was a rocky camera the whole time. Yeah, he's a film student. Okay
Yeah, like he's moonlighting as a film student as a cop
So he's he's doing this documentary about what he goes through with the LAPD and let me ask you how accurate is

(37:59):
the police academy movies to compare with it's pretty spot-on actually unfortunately it was exactly like my experience super
troopers. Yeah, oh
You know what some of those things though actually are like like we do stupid things like that like to try and entertain ourselves
Of course, like, you know how he does like the meow game. Yeah, like we don't do I've never really done that

(38:23):
But he got that from us. They'll be like, uh, I pulled them over one time and told him about it
They'll give you like three words and be like work these words into your conversation. That is awesome. You know, you do stupid things
I mean
Basically just like the conversations you have with people if you're a people person you can actually

(38:44):
Just just by you know talking to people you'll get them to like they always say like you talk yourself. Yeah, yeah
You let people talk and but like
Like I had a guy one time
um
He was driving a car it was his sister's car and she had warrants and I stopped the car and and he wound up having warrants too and I was like

(39:08):
I was like, hey man, uh
Can your sister come down and pick up the car and now this guy looks like I mean he's got face tattoos
He's got like the grill right like that and he's like uh Scott profiled. He's like well. What kind of?
Shape is her license in and I'm like, I
Don't know man. I'm not allowed to look at it without her being here. It's a privacy issue

(39:32):
Which is not true, right? You know, I mean I can see it because she's the register of the car
I can't randomly look it up. Yeah, whatever. You know, so I'm like, yeah, I don't know
he goes
That sounds like some will come into the parlor said my spider to the fly type shit officer and I'm like
What that is a shocking the literary reference for a dude at Gold Fronts?

(39:54):
I'm like, he goes. What can I say? Yo, I'm the regular Frederick Shakespeare and I was like, dude
I just won't let you go right now. I
Like that's pretty it's almost like if you guys if people will treat you with respect. I
Mean listen if you're committing a crime you're committing a crime, right? But
If I get pulled over
My license is out both my windows are down. It's ready to go. All right. Always nice

(40:20):
But you'll see since now since everyone
But like you'll see these people have tick-tock accounts where they'll just bust chop cops chops like
That's that's part of how things have changed. Do you have to have to deal with that? Yeah, like some some chick with
Oh, yeah, and that's my you could see their phone and like you see yourself on there on the screen and like awesome

(40:43):
Here we go, you know, but like, you know, I have one of those too, right? But it's what
That's actually very new for me and it's really good because it's you know
In a way they have like I said, I wasn't super a fan of it because I feel like it takes your
Discretion away, but it also like it has saved more than one. Yeah 100%

(41:04):
but uh
The difference was like when I first got on if you were arresting somebody and they resisted and you fought and whatever
When it was done, it was like they're like, all right. Good game. You know, I kind of most of them
Acknowledged I was breaking the law. I got caught. I resisted. I got me. You got me. It is what it is. Nobody's ever wrong now

(41:24):
Yeah, nobody's ever long entitlement thing. I think they will die on that hill. They're you know, yeah, I'm telling you man in the last 10 15
10 15 years like our culture has just completely changed from what I'm
10 years younger than you. Okay. I graduated 99

(41:45):
It's it's a whole different game and I don't know if it's because of
The internet smartphones, it's social media. It's gotta be a combination. It's a big thing, you know, like
It's crazy now. This makes me sound like an old man, but I it is social media and the internet like they're you know

(42:06):
The internet gave morons a voice, you know, like in the old days where people were like
You know, everyone has self doubts and there were guys out there that were stupid and they're like, I might not be the brightest
Fold in the back. So I'm just gonna kind of keep a low profile and now they find like 500 others other morons
Like see I'm not stupid. They have their own website. You know what it is the morons kind of like me

(42:30):
I used to when I used to be in conversations with other people I used to just
Quiet and listen. Yeah, just be quiet because every everything that everybody was saying was a lot smarter than what I was thinking
And I was just like, okay, so I'm learning now
But if you say if like if I say something
I'm gonna sound stupid and people are now. They're just like say now. They'll just say say whatever comes

(42:51):
I'm not really wrong. Yeah, oh, they'll make they'll make entire video series about it now
You know, it's crazy, but it's also a lack of punishment. No, the new the new climate is I think that there's a huge
Accountability and punish like if used to be that you would get punished for whatever you did
It's like with teaching back in the day if my teacher went to my parents and said Phil's doing this and he's doing that

(43:15):
My parents would say we got it. Yeah now. Yeah, it's the teacher who is all wrong little Micah is completely innocent
No, he does no wrong ever. Why little Micah? I don't know to be honest. I knew a little okay. I know why it's subliminal
For like three years. I went to this
This elementary school before I went grew up in Sparta and this kid Micah was this

(43:40):
spoiled little brat and he was like how I'm saying like you know back then your parents would say we'll take care of it like
His parents were like the parents today back then. It's funny because I'm perfect little Micah polar opposite of that now and
like last year my kid was late for
chem class like two or three times and

(44:02):
The teacher was like, you know, finally he had enough. He's like listen next time. It's detention
Yeah, my kid was late again and he got detention and I was like awesome
Yeah, you know, I actually wrote an email to the teacher like hey, man
Just want to say you know, thank you for setting a standard for this kid and holding them to it because that doesn't happen that
up and I actually I

(44:22):
Work at a job where people love to complain about you
So yeah, I am kind of sensitive like nobody ever has anything positive to say so I always try to be that guy
So like I actually wrote to the principal and was like, hey, you know, this guy is doing a great job
You know held my kid to a standard. I appreciate it and whatever and I saw the principal like not too
too much later at a

(44:44):
La Crosse game and he's like it was a day off when I sent him the email and he's like I saw the
The subject line I was on the golf course and I was like, oh my whole day is gonna be ruined
He's like and I opened it up and it was like the greatest email ever. He's like, you know, I put it in his file
That's gonna remember. He's gonna remember that we came up with a new idea right just now
What Google reviews for teachers? Oh, that's it. That's a thing. Yeah, rate my teachers calm

(45:09):
It was a it's already dead. It started and then it died. It was yeah, because nobody ever has a good to say
Yeah, I know the only guy who actually probably
Did I'm telling you listen that goes a long way and like we've been working with you for several years now
You're always in a good mood. I can't imagine like you're much different on the job. I'm not always a good mood
Well, that's okay. Let me take that back. You have the personality where? You can you can tell that like when you're on the field

(45:36):
You're not this authoritative
You know, you can you get like that? Absolutely
But when it's necessary like my daughter will be like oh god officer heart is here
Because like if I feel like my kids are lying to me about something I'll break them down like
I'll be like make him tell the story make him tell it backwards review the time frame and everything and eventually

(45:58):
They're like oh you got me. I ate the Oreos. I got sick like you know sit that he's got a special lamp
He sits down across the table really bright lamp. We had a guy who was in security last week
He used to do security and he learned all like he learned like body tells and sit
That's the thing I go through training
We got when I was an Academy instructor

(46:19):
I got some training on it because we were gonna do a class on it, but I
Want to leaving you know the instructor spot before I ever had to teach it
Yeah, it was super interesting like some of the body language things that they teach you and you know I
Think I think that's fascinating. I actually follow a couple body language channels, right where they'll like analyze politician speaking and stuff

(46:41):
Yeah, like lying lying lying. That's a lie another lie
He's like that's like shooting fish in a bar right? Yeah, you know they did the one that's telling the truth
That's like these sign languages on TV
the people who do the sign language for like the the broadcast and
You can't understand how many of them are liars like they just hear about that

(47:02):
Holy smoke that takes balls
Another sign language interpreter accused of signing total gibberish
I'm sorry. I'm looking at this woman. I heard about that. I was like that woman has she I give her credit of steel
I am a huge believer and fake it till you make it
Yeah, like in most aspects of my life, but I don't have the

(47:24):
You have to know something a little bit that dude take nerve, but you have to fake it a little bit
That's amazing. Yeah, oh man caught and got fired from like her real job and that's insane to me
I'd give her a race
For you I feel like Glenda you you know what you're CEO now. I mean that was amazing. I don't know the names you come up with

(47:44):
Yeah, excellent
Micah it sounds like a like a stone. No, Michael was a real name. Micah's a biblical name. It's a book of the Bible
Isn't it? We'll check I have a Bible on the show. You know what? Let's do this. We've been talking for quite some time
Let's take a quick break. We'll come back
I want to hear some stories. We'll share some stories stories that you can share without getting in trouble

(48:05):
Yeah, all right, so you so on during the break. We'll think about but all right
We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back
legs

(48:29):
Call-court's plumbing and heating for top rated service in Bergen County, New Jersey
Jersey and don't forget to keep treats for Frankie on hand.
From the region's major airports to the World Trade Center campus to our

(48:51):
by-state bridges, tunnels and port, the Port Authority Police Department is
responsible for the security of a lot more than you know and being an officer
comes with a lot more benefits than you know like competitive salaries,
tuition reimbursement and retirement packages. To find out where the PAPD can
take you, visit PAPDrecruit.com.

(49:22):
Alright folks, welcome back to Plumb Bumps Podcast, the blue collar trades
show where we talk about small business entrepreneurship and actually we don't
even just talk about that anymore. All industries all over the place.
I feel like now it's more so...
Say it.
I feel like now it's more so...
It's some kind of like...
Middle class. It's just like the middle class podcast.

(49:43):
The Everyman's Podcast.
The Everyman's Podcast because it's not like now that we're getting into...
We don't have to redo that sign.
What sign?
Plumb Bumps.
Oh Middle Class Podcast.
Everyman's Podcast.
I feel like that's taken already.
I don't know, beat a cop is a little like a trade though.
It's like you know...
It is, that's why...
It's not a trade that you can...
It's a specific set of skills.
That you've acquired over a certain amount of time.

(50:05):
Yeah, you don't have to...
I mean they make you have college credits but I have a bachelor's and a master's
that have done absolutely nothing for me. If you can read on a third grade level
and are willing to get punched in the face or punch someone in the face
once in a blue moon, the world is your oyster.
Third grade level, huh?
Yeah.
You don't need to...

(50:27):
You don't need college.
My master's is just the most useless thing.
Just a piece of paper.
Yeah.
You know what?
I'm telling...
That's a big reason why we started doing this too.
Because all these kids are going to college for what?
I literally went because I had no other clue what to do.
You didn't know what to do.
That's what I did.
That's why I went.
I mean, I majored in English.
I'm like, I like to read.

(50:48):
It's going to be like 80% girls as an English major.
I'm like, odds are going to be in my favor.
So do.
I'm going to go and I'm going to do sports for four years and read some stuff.
I love sports.
And you know, and...
Yeah, we got to get...
We need...
And you reached out to me about your son interested in getting into plumbing eventually,
which I'm so down for.
He just likes to use his hands.

(51:10):
He's not the kind of...
He's like me.
He couldn't be in an office.
Yeah.
Like, that's out of the question.
That was never going to be a thing for me.
So...
And, you know...
So, you've gone to the subject of like younger people getting into these fields.
What would you recommend or would you even recommend people getting into your field?
Younger guys getting into your field.
Now...

(51:31):
Do you think the climate's just not there like what it used to be for you?
I don't know.
You know, I...
It takes a specific mindset and you have to understand a number of things about the job
going into it before you get in.
It's not for everybody.
No.
It's, you know, it's like that movie that departed where it's like, you know, Martin Sheen says

(51:54):
he's like, do you want to be a cop or do you want to appear to be a cop?
You know, and there's a lot of kids in it now that want to appear to be cops.
You know, but they don't, you know...
What's the recruitment rate like right now?
I don't know.
Is it going up, down?
I don't know.
It's going down.
I've read.
I've heard, yeah.
I don't know anything official, but everybody I've spoken to from other departments is like

(52:16):
they're hurting, they're hurting for recruits.
They're not getting the caliber of a recruit they used to get.
I did backgrounds for my department years ago and it was like you get 35 candidates and
you basically just do the most intense invasive background investigation of them.

(52:37):
Like our background investigation is like nothing else.
I remember when I was going through it and it was like, you know, they know everything
about you by the end.
Yeah.
I remember...
Even expungements.
They'll know that.
They'll know about it.
That stuff never goes away.
Yeah.
What is the deal with expungements?
I mean, I didn't have to deal with any of my candidates having them, so I'm not really

(52:58):
sure.
I know that like basically they just want to see on my job, they want it to see time
between any issues you've had.
Okay.
And like, you know, like if you're going to be brutally honest, there's a section where
we go down a list and we're like, have you ever done, you know, smoke marijuana?
Have you ever done cocaine?
Have you ever done this?
You know, and if you say yes, like yes, I've done cocaine, like it's not automatically,

(53:22):
you know, going to disqualify you.
Right.
You know, if you did it yesterday, yeah, probably, you know, you're done.
But like if you did it...
This is like a streak on the dude's nose taking the test.
It's like, oh, you know...
It came here straight from...
It's like five years ago in college, I experimented at a party once.
It's going to...
That's going to open the door for more scrutiny, but it isn't necessarily going to...

(53:45):
What's going to get you is if you lie about it and we find out, and we always find out,
because you think you're being slick and you're like, you've purged your social media and
everything like that.
And one of your idiot friends has you tagged in a video doing bomb hits and stuff, and
it's like, now it's an integrity question.
Now you lied.
Yeah.
If you had just said, yeah, you know, smoke weed and be like, okay.

(54:06):
That's stuff I never go...
You always see it, I'm like, Judge Judy.
It's like the second it hits the internet...
It's there forever, man.
It's there forever.
You can't read it if you want from your phone, from your computer.
But it's still there.
It's still there.
So me and Max watch Judge Judy every day.
Literally, you've probably heard her on YouTube in your basement when we were working together.

(54:26):
I can't eat my lunch if I don't have Judge Judy playing.
Every day.
I got him into Judge Judy, so he starts with me and we go...
The first place we go to eat is Ted's down the road.
So we leave the job.
It's like his first or second day, and I set up my phone to put on my Judge Judy for lunch.
He's like, hold on.
He's sitting on Judge Judy.
I was like, yeah, she's freaking awesome.

(54:46):
Judge Judy is awesome.
He's like...
And then he's sitting there.
He's trying to make me feel stupid, and then halfway through lunch, he's getting into it.
And then we start talking...
She's guilty.
She's guilty.
Then we start talking about the case after.
I got him hooked.
And I don't know what it is.
I love this woman.
I quote the Parks and Rec quote all the time.

(55:07):
Everyone says you guys are like an old married couple.
Really, because my wife did that to me.
My wife has me like...
Her proudest moment in our entire marriage was she watches like 90 day fiance.
Oh man.
And like...
Smug TV.
Holy, terrible.
I won't watch the Real Housewives.

(55:28):
I think they're all like despicable.
Oh yeah.
But like 90 day fiance she was watching, and at one point you should put it on before bed.
And the way the bedroom was set up was like, our bed is here, and the TV was on her side.
Next to it.
It was like the most awkward setup, but it was just because of the room.
And I'm on the opposite side, and I'm like turning my back to it.

(55:48):
I'm like, I'm going to sleep.
I'm not watching this.
And I'm like, at one point I said something.
I was like, oh look at this guy.
And she realized, she's like...
That you were watching.
This idiot's watching it in the reflection off the windows.
And she was like, you're watching it.
You're watching it.
I was like, oh.
The stubbornness that he's not going to face the TV.
I'm not facing the TV to watch it.

(56:09):
He's not even the one with the dude that has no neck.
Is that the one that's moved?
They usually get somebody.
He's the most famous guy to come from reality.
From another country.
They usually want papers.
And that's all they're there for.
And then a desperate lonely dude.
Yes.
And he's like, I love her, and he leans in for a kiss.

(56:32):
And she's just like, papers.
What were we going to say?
The only one I'll legitimately watch is Below Deck.
She's got me into that now.
What's that?
It's like...
Is that the yacht one?
Yeah.
It's like mega yachts and people charter them for like two, three days at a time.
And it follows the crew through a season.
And the crew is all a bunch of degenerates.

(56:52):
But they make like 2,500 bucks for 48 hours of waiting on people hand and foot.
So I was on a yacht.
My cousin had a yacht.
My uncle.
Like one of those?
Yeah.
Oh my God.
And they have a crew.
His uncle.
They have a crew.
He has a crew.
Shut that down real quick.
No, yeah.

(57:12):
I don't want to get into that.
I don't want to.
But I spent a week on that yacht.
Not going anywhere.
Just docked up in Cape Cod.
Because somebody had rented it.
They canceled it last minute and he calls my dad up and he goes, you want to come on
and you know, just hang out in Cape Cod and hang out on the yacht.
It is the most amazing.

(57:34):
I don't care how degenerate they are behind the scenes.
They wait on you hand and foot.
It's the most amazing experience ever.
And the best food I've ever had.
I'm not that privileged.
I've never been something like that.
Silver spooner.
Yeah.
I got to go on the Queen Mary when it was docked at my facility.
What's that?
It's like a huge cruise ship.

(57:55):
But it's like, we get all these cruise ships, but the Queen Mary is actually like top notch,
like gorgeous.
Who deals with like patrolling the ports and stuff?
You guys?
Yeah.
I'm not an authority.
The water.
That would make sense.
It's right in the name.
Yeah.
But he means on the water.
On the water, it's like Coast Guard, NYPD Harbor.

(58:16):
But we have all the Hudson River crossings, the three big airports.
Port Newark, I forgot to mention before.
That's kind of funny.
Yeah, it's huge.
Apparently, it's a great place to work.
I've never been.
Yeah.
And then the bus terminal, the trade center, you know, like that.
Like the high points.
I mean, those are crazy spots.

(58:37):
Yeah.
I mean, why the trade center because of 9 11?
We just had, we always had.
You've always had it.
Apparently the fourth or third place always had.
I don't know why I'm, I'm sure there's, but, uh, and then after 9 11, the NYPD tried to
like push us out and that was a whole big battle.
Isn't there, isn't there, because isn't there a ferry that takes people from Brooklyn to

(59:01):
write down by the, by the trade center over there?
That's why that's not us though.
No, we don't deal with the ferries.
Um, but yeah, it's, I mean, you don't deal with the ferries at all.
No.
Okay.
I mean, I'm patrolling those bridges.
First of all, people trying to get in and out.
Everyone says, you know, it cops sounds like an exciting job.

(59:22):
Most of it is boring.
Is that true?
Yeah.
But when it's exciting, it's like super exciting.
So I think I said before, maybe we just, when we were talking, I originally I wanted
to be a fireman.
I was trying to, I was on a bunch of hiring lists.
A buddy of mine was like, take the test for the Port Authority cops.
I was like, I don't want to be a cop.
He's like, yeah, but they're trained as firemen at the airports too.

(59:43):
Yeah.
And I was like, oh, all right, I'll give that a shot.
And I wound up getting hired and, uh, I really liked it.
And I figured, you know what, I'll do the academy.
It basically, I'm getting paid to work out and then I'll just be in really good shape
when one of these fire departments calls me and I'll go just jump over there.
You know.

(01:00:04):
And what happened was by the time they called me, I was actually, I really enjoyed it.
And I was like, you know what, being a fireman, if you're looking for adrenaline, it's a whole
lot of days on a scale of one to 10, it's a whole lot of zeros and occasionally a 10.
And being a cop is like every day is like a two or three or five, you know, like with
occasional tens in there.

(01:00:24):
And you know, we say like every day, you know, something's going to happen where you laugh
for like 20 minutes.
You know, and every day you're going to meet the dumbest person in the world.
And then the next day you're going to meet someone dumber.
Yeah.
But it's, I mean, it's always something interesting.
That's why they're criminal.
But yeah, a lot of it is also sitting in a car stand on the space.

(01:00:45):
You know, what do you do like if you don't like your partner?
That's the beauty of my job.
He's so low.
We don't ride.
So low.
Right.
It would port very rarely.
Like, uh, a while back they, um, there were two NYPD guys in Brooklyn that got
shot, somebody just walked up, shot him in their car.
I saw, I remember we, yeah.

(01:01:06):
How long ago was that?
I want to say like five years.
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think one of the cops was an Asian guy, right?
Yes.
That's the one you're talking about.
I remember that.
Rafael Ramos and Wenjin Liu, I believe.
And when that happened, the job then was like, okay, we're going to ride doubles for a while.
You know, because we don't know what is part of a bigger thing or whatever.

(01:01:30):
You know, my job, everything is done by seniority.
So if I'm riding in a car, I'm riding with the guy either right before or right after
me in seniority.
If you don't like that guy, that's a long eight hours.
I did not like the guy right next to me in seniority at the time.
He's retired now.
Right.
But oh my God, that was a long, that's just like staring at your phone, you know, not

(01:01:53):
talking and you know, if, if you have a partner you like, when I was assigned to PATH, there's
so many guys turning out and no post is really that much better than any other.
So seniority is less important.
So you can partner with somebody that you like and me and my partner at PATH were like,
you know, BFFs and we had a great time.

(01:02:14):
That's cool.
We worked well together.
You know, it, I mean, he was like, I was like the outgoing guy and he's like the robo
cop guy with like the serial killers there.
You know, we had like a lot of good times and, and it was very interesting.
But like, yeah, if you, if you like your partner, it's a long day, dude.

(01:02:35):
I still, I still am laughing over the fact that like, I never realized how much, how
much like married couple judge watching Judge Judy.
Like it's just so.
Yeah.
It's so true.
It's between that and kitchen nightmares.
Yeah.
I like, I actually cannot eat my lunch if I don't have one of those two, like a newer

(01:02:58):
episode to watch or something that I haven't seen because it's like, I don't, I will literally
just keep my lunch to the side.
If I'm like, if I'm scrolling and I can't find a newer episode that I haven't watched
them like that.
Having a part you don't, part you don't like's got to be tough.
I mean, I, I've had so before.
He's had one for like six years now.
No.
Yeah.

(01:03:18):
Well, yeah.
I don't mind my partner.
You, you hate yours.
I'm winning as always.
No, I, I, I built, I worked for a big swimming pool company.
Right.
And you would go back and forth and like switch partners and stuff.
I know what it's like to be miserable with a dude that like can't stand you.
Yeah.
It could be rough.
Are you guys trained in as, you know, without going too much detail with all the training

(01:03:43):
and stuff like de-escalation stuff like that.
That was not that that's like a buzzword that came around after I got out of the academy.
So we kind of like, when I was there, it was like verbal judo and you know, that was what
they called it.
And it was like, it was how you'd kind of like talk somebody down.
Cause we were talking off.

(01:04:05):
We've learned about de-escalation since I've had to go back for like de-escalation training
and I'm like, at the end of the day, it's probably your personality.
But that's what's going to either get somebody more angry or angrier or calm them down a
little bit.
Your personality is probably going to do that more because you said you have cops that
are a little bit more standoffish.

(01:04:26):
Right.
They come standoffish, come to the job more standoffish and you have like your personality
where you're just like, listen, just let's get through this and then and I won't.
Yeah.
I mean, you dictate the person tends to dictate how things are going to go.
You know, the problem with de-escalation is a lot of the newer guys, like they think that's

(01:04:49):
all there is.
And I'm like, you know, somebody starts throwing fists, de-escalation is out the window.
Yeah, exactly.
You can't just come back and say, sir, please, you know, as you're getting potted.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's not, that's not like real life.
Let's talk about your childhood.
Well, you know what I've heard before too is that if you just let people talk, if you
let people like vent, you know, some people like, I'm sure you know, they come off angry.

(01:05:12):
If you just let people like vent it out and don't say a word, they get it out and then
eventually they realize that this is stupid.
I'm going to cause a problem for myself.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I mean, if you're on the, I'll go ahead.
Sorry.
No, he's absolutely right.
Like you kind of just let him get it out and most of the time they'll just kind of talk

(01:05:32):
themselves off the ledge.
Yeah.
And we were, we were on break, we were talking about this and I didn't realize because you
guys are watching the bridges and you probably get suicides.
Yeah.
And what was the number you gave me?
40, 20.
That was when I was there, it seemed to be, it was like about 40 attempts a year and
like 20 of them would go.

(01:05:53):
Dude, I had no idea the George Washington Bridge was 600 feet off the water.
No, no clue.
Yeah.
I don't even remember paying attention.
Now Tappin Z is pretty high.
You don't, do you guys do Tappin Z?
No, that's not us.
And I think that's, well, I don't know about the new one, but the old Tappin Z was definitely
lower.
It was lower.
Yeah.
Okay.

(01:06:14):
But it's, yeah, jumpers were, I don't know, that's, that's part of the reason I'm at the
Holland now is like nobody ever jumped off the tunnel, you know?
Like it's not.
Might get hit by one of the tiles.
There wasn't a ton of, when I first got on the job, there wasn't a ton of training.
It was very much like you learn like keep them talking and, and you keep one railing

(01:06:35):
between you and them because you don't know what their problem is.
Another way to bring it back to Judge Judy is so small claims court, okay?
Right.
Letting people vent.
Yeah.
Me and my uncle were talking about it because we were, I was watching it with him one time.
And we always talked about how small claims court is like dumbest, like to take somebody
to court for a few hundred dollars.

(01:06:58):
It's like insane to me, the time wasting to go through the whole process.
And he goes, you need to let people vent.
He goes, it might be, this is the stupidest thing in the world.
It is the stupidest thing to go to court for a few hundred dollars.
But you need to let people vent because if they don't bring it here to the court, they're
going to take it into their own hands and they're going to cause problems outside.

(01:07:19):
And when they cause problems outside, that's when you start having chaos and like, but
when they bring it to court and the judge tells him, listen, you're both being stupid
here, you know, nobody deserves anything here.
You know, then you kind of, you, you bring people back to reality.
If anyone would like to donate a gift to the podcast, we'll take some Judge Judy memorabilia.

(01:07:39):
I want to sign picture.
Yeah.
No, I'm sad.
So funny.
I love that woman.
Anyway, what else we got?
Oh, you were talking about how you, you're jujitsu.
You're into, how long you've been doing that for?
Uh, probably about seven years.
Seven years.
What belt are you purple?

(01:08:00):
Too straight purple.
Wow, you're up there.
But I've been there for a while because I was there just before COVID.
You can teach now, right?
With purple?
Does the academy or just does the board authority like no, they don't teach us.
Do you think that they should?
Yeah.
The pro.
So here's the problem with it.
Like there's a big movement to have cops to jujitsu and it's like a lot of guys are

(01:08:23):
like against it because it takes a lot of time and it's expensive.
Yeah.
It's like, you can't mandate me to do something that's, you know, oh, you want to let me do
it on the clock, teach me in the academy.
I want to say Michigan has a thing now where they want all the cops coming out of the academy
to be blue belts.
You're not, you're never going to, in the amount of time you have for the academy, you're

(01:08:45):
never going to be legit blue belt.
Of course.
You know, um, but it absolutely is a game changer.
I wish I had started it when I started on the job because it, it changes the way you
do your job.
Like, I know that, you know, like I'm a, I'm a pretty big guy and, you know, uh, I'm
not some of these guys that I train with are just like legit and I'm not.

(01:09:08):
I do cop Jitsu.
They call it, you know, they make fun of me like, I'm going to knock you down.
I'm going to get on top of you and I'm going to grab one arm and just bend it.
It's just the bigger guy type thing.
That's it.
I'm going to get inside control and squash you and.
So that's what you're whipping out in the field.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
You know, it's all the cuffing moves, you know, anything that manipulate your wrists
that I, where I can get cuffs on you, those are the things that I'm good at in Jiu Jitsu,

(01:09:30):
but like, you know, I'm not doing ankle locks and.
I mean, that would be kind of like a cool branch of Jiu Jitsu for you, for someone to
start.
Cop Jiu, cop Jiu Jiu.
You know, they, one of the black belts that I train with, he's like, he's like, oh, John
Sue and spite Jiu Jiu again too.
Like, like whatever he's trying to get.
I'm just not giving him that.
Like, you know, I'm just going to defend that with everything I have.

(01:09:55):
And then, you know, but like.
I get what you're saying.
Yeah.
It's a lot of fun.
I mean, I like it.
It's a, it's a great bunch of guys.
It's a bunch of guys that I would have never been friends with outside of it because I
wouldn't, there's no reason for our paths to cross.
Right.
Right.
You know, I was at a Hensow Gracie school that in Crestgill, they had a lot of friends

(01:10:19):
that closed.
Okay.
And then now the problem is it closed because of COVID and the problem became that there's
about 10 of us that really get along or wanted to train together, but no, we're all upper
belts.
We're all like the most junior guy was like a blue belt and nobody wants all these colored
belts coming into their school.

(01:10:40):
Cause like, if we're jerks, we could absolutely change the culture.
So I get that, but like, we just want to stick together.
So now one of the guys runs a business in Englewood and he's got this warehouse for it.
And we just throw mats in there and it like, it absolutely looks like a place that more
than one murder has taken place.
And we show up on, you know, Saturday mornings or like a week night and, you know, we bring

(01:11:03):
lawn chairs and set them up, you know, we roll for like 20 minutes and we sit there,
you know, BSing around, but like it's, it's great.
I mean, that's cool.
It's absolutely changed how I do my job.
I know that like the confidence it gives you, like, I know that unless you're like a high-level
black belt or a professional MMA fighter, you can still beat me up.

(01:11:27):
You just can't do it fast enough that my backup's not going to get there.
I can survive anybody, you know, short of John Jones for the three minutes for my backup
to get there.
You know, so what made you get into it?
Uh, I just felt like I needed more at the time that I started, um, the guys that I was
working with were like, they call them black clouds.

(01:11:49):
Like just if they're working, that's when things are going to go bad.
That's when crazy jobs are going to happen.
And we were running into one thing after another after another and we were going hands on with
people like, like regularly.
And I was like, you know, also when I was in the academy, uh, my defensive tactics instructor
would yell at me because he's trying to teach us the box and I'm just grabbing people and

(01:12:14):
throwing them on the ground.
And he's like, what are you doing?
Why don't you take it to the ground?
He's like, use your reach.
He's like, you got arms.
Like an orangutan.
Use your reach.
And I'm like, yeah, I don't want to get punched in the face though.
For every punch I'm throwing out, I'm getting one too.
That sucks.
Like I'd rather throw somebody on the ground and twist them up till it hurts.
I know I can do that.
Everyone's got a plan to get punched in the face.

(01:12:34):
Yeah.
My plan is to not punch in the face.
You know, um, I mean, listen, I respect that, especially to get better at the job.
I respect that to, to take that avenue and say, you know what, I'm going to improve here.
Cause like I said, a lot of cops, orange on toothpicks, they're like the rhino and Jumanji
that's trying to keep up with the stampede.

(01:12:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's true.
Yeah.
I mean, I, you know, at the time that I was starting, uh, Jiu-Jitsu, my, um, my first
marriage was like going in the tank and that it helped for that too.
Like the mental health aspect of it, like, you know, it's a good bunch of dudes.
You can get out and vent with them and like, you know, whatever.

(01:13:17):
And, uh, luckily that all went well for me.
Like a lot of cops, it does not.
And, you know, all I cared about was like custody of the kids, got it.
Yeah.
It's all, you know, so.
With the, with, uh, what's your official like rank?
I'm just a troll cop.
I've never taken a promotional test.

(01:13:37):
Officer heart.
Officer.
Yeah.
You're going to retire like that?
Yeah.
Really?
It's a relief for life.
Yeah.
Is that what they call it?
Yeah.
I'm not, uh, I'm not interested in promotion.
Um, probably more politics come with the promotion.
A lot of politics with it.
I mean, every job has it.
It's not just my job.
It's every job has politics.
Every job has, you know, who you know and whatever.

(01:14:01):
And, uh, I just kind of, you know, I don't want that.
I vote the athlete in me, everything that I've ever done as an athlete was always on
merit.
You know, it's like, you know, if you're running a 400 and track, it's not like who the official's
kid is.
It's the fast.
It's the fastest guy.
Yeah.
You know, and, and I just never wanted to play that game.

(01:14:21):
I mean, that's a lot of, we're not plump.
We're not union plumbers, but in the trades, it's the same thing.
Yeah.
It's the same exact thing.
Yeah.
But do you kiss the most without going too deep on your, you know, I don't want to, like
I said, I don't want to screw you over the water.
Everybody on my job that's ever been promoted has earned it.
Yeah.
Merit and knowledge of the job.

(01:14:41):
Yeah.
I mean, excellent police work and nothing else, you know, but, uh, no, I mean, fair enough.
You know, there, there are, there are guys that I know that have gotten promoted that
absolutely deserve it and are my, the partner that I had a path that I was talking about
before is now a lieutenant.

(01:15:02):
We were cops together at path and he's one of the best lieutenants on the job, if not
the best, you know, uh, one of the guys that I worked with as an academy instructor is
a lieutenant now too.
And I just texted him today because my kid was on a field trip to the trade center.
I was like, you working?
I was like, go slap cuffs on this little dirt bag.
You know, he's like, five seconds later, he's like, we're in a green hoodie and black

(01:15:25):
sneakers.
Right.
I was like, Oh my God.
So do you, you said you work, you work with some younger people in your, in your field.
Now what do you foresee for your fields specifically poor authority, not just cops in general,
specifically poor authority for the new generation coming up like, let's say the next five to
10 years, you think it's going to be a disaster.

(01:15:46):
Do you think it's going to be like you said a lot of them come in like snotty go getters
to a, to an extent like, there's, I mean, that's every job.
Though, but it's like, I don't know.
I honestly have no idea what the future holds because we could have another terrorist attack
tomorrow that would absolutely change the face of, you know, police work like nine 11
did for us.

(01:16:07):
Yeah.
You know, I mean, do you think they're adding more restrictions to you or do you think that
they're giving you more freedom?
Really?
Now, going back to the body cameras, there's, you know, like I said, in a way, I like it
in a way, I don't, I do feel like it limits my, my discretion on what I do because I don't

(01:16:28):
want to open myself up to the question of like, why'd you give this guy a break and not that
guy?
You know, but, but it has saved people too.
There was a case years back, Connecticut State Trooper, a college professor had been pulled
over and she made this allegation that like, you know, he said all these terrible things
to her like, you know, really racist things and, you know, I asked why he pulled me over

(01:16:51):
and he's like, none of your business, we don't like your kind around here.
And the Connecticut State Police did not even make a statement.
They just released the body camera footage and nothing like that ever occurred.
Like nobody talks like that.
It was completely made up.
No one says that.
Yeah.
It was completely, you know what I mean?
Complete work of fiction.
This cop was fine.
You know, she wound up losing her job and it was like, okay, so that's the upside to

(01:17:15):
it.
I tell you, you're right.
The body cam is a huge, it's a huge thing for that.
Well, the problem though is I've heard, I just, a retired guy that I ran into on the
job, he's retired from a department in California was telling me about it.
And I just read an article about it too, where there are departments that are using

(01:17:35):
AI now to go through all the body cam.
So if I have 10 interactions in a day on my footage, maybe nobody ever saw it.
Never sees any of it because nothing happens.
But you know, what happens is now they're using AI to go through all of them with certain

(01:17:55):
keywords.
So it's like, and these cops are getting written up for things like, they're like, oh, you
were on professional with that guy.
And it's like, you know, you called him a dumbass and it's like, well, that happens.
Like, you know, if they didn't put a complaint in about it, what are you fishing for?
You know, like, that's, yeah.
So that's, that's something to worry about.
That is like, you're going to make guys go insane.

(01:18:17):
It's a slippery slope.
You were not robots.
You know, I mean, Elon Musk said, how many years out from Robocops do you think we are?
I don't know.
Not far.
The problem is like, we have them in stunted, do you see them in stores?
Yeah.
They have those cops, they have cops in like grocery stores, little Robocops.
And I see kids just like messing with them, like breaking them down and stuff.

(01:18:40):
Like, that's not going to fly.
It's only when the machine starts becoming like, like strong and like it's going to
start making decisions on its own.
It's going to become Skynet.
Yeah.
Skynet has become self aware.
I love those movies.
I know me too.
Terminator, even all the crappy ones that came out, I don't care.
I ate them up.
Yeah.

(01:19:00):
Everyone's like, oh, Star Wars, Star Wars.
I don't care about Star Wars.
For some reason, Terminator, the whole concept to me.
Yeah.
First of all, it's like, it could happen.
Let's be honest.
It could happen.
You know what I mean?
It took that to me five years ago.
I'd be like, this guy's out of his mind.
And Schwarzenegger action.
But now you're like, yeah, you know what?
You're right.

(01:19:20):
That could happen.
You know, it's crazy with Boston Dynamics.
Now they're putting like ARs on top of their little dog robots.
Well, that was that guy that shot the cops in Dallas years ago.
I remember that.
And he wound up holed up somewhere and they just put like a robot, their bomb disposal
robot.
They put like a grenade on it.
They just sent it in.

(01:19:41):
Hold on.
Just blew them up.
That's crazy.
Because it's Texas and they're like, you shot cops, you got to get.
Because it's Texas and we send in Texas.
That is also a slippery slope, though.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, like that.
If I was one of the cops that was shot, I'd be like all for it.
But you know, of course.
I mean, at the same time, like, yeah, when it's used for good, of course, but like.
Who decides?

(01:20:02):
Yeah, exactly.
It's just crazy.
That's where that's where people, I think, freak out the most.
Like who decides?
And that stuff.
Like I think that's awesome.
Yeah, but there are other people that would go, why didn't you arrest him?
You know, because he's got lights.
Why didn't you deescalate?
Why didn't you deescalate?
Why don't you go talk to him?

(01:20:22):
The problem is people don't want to recognize that cops are like.
Humans.
Human beings.
Like, you know, if you're if you're a cop from a quiet little place where nothing ever
happens.
When something really stressful happens, you could overreact, right?
You could completely just go off the rail.

(01:20:42):
Like, you know, there was, you know, there's footage of a female cop who like she shot
a guy because she was clearly freaked out and she thought she was reaching for her taser
and she grabbed her gun and she shot the guy.
You know, I mean, should she be fired?
Nothing.
I'm not.
Should you be fired?
Absolutely.
You know, what was I believe so.

(01:21:03):
Yeah, she may have actually wound up in jail.
I'm not.
Oh, wow.
Like, but like you got to look at the intent.
Like, I mean, I know.
I was confidence.
It's not malice, you know, so should she be punished?
Well, that's like, like never attribute.
I forget who said that.
I know what the quote.
Malice what can be chalked up to in confidence.

(01:21:23):
Yes, something like that.
Stupidity or whatever.
You know, it happens.
I know the quote.
So I'll put it.
I'll put it on the bottom of the screen and post.
We'll get it in post.
Make that the title.
What's your sidearm that you, uh, uh, you carry?
Clock 19 transition into a different one though.
Are you?
Yeah, it's bigger.
Um, I don't know what the deal is.
It's bigger.
It's a bigger caliber.
Like I know it's still a nine millimeter, but I think it holds.

(01:21:46):
I want to say it holds like 18 rounds now instead of 16.
You know, those are legal New Jersey.
And, um, that, that's a thing that happened when, uh, not too long ago, they passed whatever
legislation legislation about high capacity mags and turned every cop in the state of
New Jersey into a felon for like three days.
Like we were all just by having this thing on us.

(01:22:09):
They did.
They turned citizens into felons.
They had to be like, oops, sorry, no cops are allowed.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Man, I have, I have a lot of opinions on what's going on.
We really don't like to touch, touch base.
You know, that's one of the things I love about listening to this.
We like to touch places.
I don't have to hear politically.
I know.
I'll talk like if it's affecting small business, if it's policy, it's going to, we'll talk

(01:22:31):
about it and stuff, but like this, this whole, first of all, I remember growing up and Democrats,
Republicans, libertarians, everyone, everyone were friends.
It was not a divisive issue.
I hate that.
Now.
Yeah, they root for it.
Like it's a football team.
And it's like people won't even talk to someone of a certain political affiliation or back
and forth.

(01:22:52):
It's totally freaking different.
And this is what I was saying, how much the culture has evolved in such a short time.
And I think it is, it's because of all these things combined, internet, smartphone, the
access to information.
We have so much access to information, but we're like becoming stupid.
Right.
Yeah.
All the, all the information that has ever been in the world is available in the palm

(01:23:14):
of your hand.
That was one of my sergeants a while back, one of the new kids asked him a question and
he's like, I don't know.
It's almost like it would be great if you had something that had some total of human
knowledge in your hand at this moment.
And the kid is like, huh?
Yeah.
Oh, I tell you, it's crazy.

(01:23:34):
It's crazy where we're going.
And like, you know, you guys have a specific responsibility to keep law and order.
And where our culture is going, we're like more and more people just don't have restraint.
They don't have, you know, I don't even know.
Right now, everybody, you know, it used to be, you know, I mean, one of the things that

(01:23:59):
old timers when I got on would always tell people when they were getting ready to lock
them up, like, you act like a gentleman, I'll treat you like a gentleman.
And the guy would be like, all right, you just put his hands back there, cuff them
up.
And now it's like, you know, over something that's going to be a summons.
Yeah.
They'll fight you to the death.
It's like, it's just, you know, you ever had to deal with like self-proclaimed sovereign
citizens?

(01:24:20):
I've, I have not.
No.
I've been trained on it and stuff, but like, I've never.
Those videos.
I've never had to deal with one and I don't want to.
They crack me up.
And then they're like, that's my government name.
That's not my name.
Yeah.
I wasn't driving.
I was traveling.
And it's like, oh my God.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like arguing with my 15 year old.
Yeah.

(01:24:40):
You know, like, and they use, it's like some obscure thing.
I mean, you probably know better than me, but like, it comes off this like some obscure,
like one line off like maritime law or something.
Like it has got, it's not relating to you driving.
It's like down to seven or 11.
Those videos are insane and those people are confident in what they're saying.

(01:25:02):
Yeah.
Well, that's, that's, you know, why society?
Everyone, everyone now is like confident no matter how wrong they are.
Like, I'm confident.
I know exactly.
That earth.
Yeah.
That's a real thing.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, listen, you can, that's fine.
You want to believe that?
I, I kind of believe in Bigfoot, you know, I'm not hurting anyone.
Right.

(01:25:23):
That's, I have that attitude at most things.
Like I don't care what you like.
Believe whatever you want.
Yeah.
You are, you have the right to your opinion and I have the right to just not.
Take you seriously.
I tell my daughter all the time whenever, you know, my daughter wants to fight me on
everything all the time because she's 15 and she knows everything.
I mean, she is actually really smart and smarter than me.

(01:25:46):
It makes my life harder, but I'll just say to her, I'll be like, you are absolutely
entitled to your incorrect opinion until all the time and she's just like nice and calmly
her eyes are saying, all right, whatever.
And just walks away.
All right.
Officer Hart.
Yeah.
Oh, here we go.
Officer Hart is here.
That's so funny.
Yeah.
She's tough, man.

(01:26:06):
Oh man.
So family man and you guys have been in that house.
You said you grew up in this area.
I grew up in River Edge.
Yeah.
Oh, you went to Riverdale?
No, I went to Birkenkathik.
Oh, okay.
I got you.
It's funny.
My parents live in the same house that I grew up in and it's five houses away from the house
that my mother grew up in.
I'm telling you, River Edge is that same thing with my uncle.

(01:26:29):
Yeah.
They've been here since my grandfather came home from World War II.
That house has been remodeled.
I don't know how many times.
Yeah.
Totally different every time.
Yep.
You know, there's lifers of River Edge, Oradell, they're lifers.
There's so many people that like, like if I didn't know them personally as kids, like
I knew the name and traveled in different circles.
It's a great town.

(01:26:49):
It's close to the city.
You have some of, like one of the, the school that you just mentioned is one of the most
well-known Catholic schools in the country actually, specifically for like sports, football,
stuff like that.
Yeah, well, it wasn't like that when I was there.
No.
No, we were very good at everything, but it was like, when I was there, if you came from
like Ridgefield Park, everyone was like, oh my God, so far away.

(01:27:11):
You come all the way from there.
And now it's like, it's kind of like Connecticut.
Yeah.
You know, it's, yeah, it's crazy.
What's up with Don Bosco?
What's up with that?
What kind of a, that's such a good option.
Is that, that's a Catholic school, right?
Hold on.
Aren't they kind of similar or connected somehow?
No, they're rivals.
I mean, they're rivals.
They're rivals.
If Don Bosco, Pram's Catholic, and, and Bergen, Bergen Catholic, which are like the three

(01:27:34):
schools I would say.
Don Bosco is the one that's.
St. Joe's too, yeah.
Don Bosco is the one that's like, hoity-toity, right?
Yeah.
It's like, it's more like a Catholic school than Bergen Catholic.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cause we drive by that campus and it looks like the back of a 7-Eleven.
It does.
I'm like, is this supposed to be like.
I haven't been up there in years.
It looks like you, it looks like the back of like, you know, the movie theater with all

(01:27:56):
the.
You would think with all the money.
No, Don Bosco is the nice one.
I think, I can't believe that Bergen is the size that it is.
Yeah.
For how big, for how big of a name it is.
That feels nice though.
Yeah, it's nice.
It's fun.
You know, I mean, my dad went there and my brother-in-law is the younger one.
That's the five that went there.
I thought for sure my kid was going there and he was like, oh, I just want to stay with

(01:28:16):
my friends and go, I was like, oh, and I don't have to pay 20 grand a year.
So exactly.
I mean, when I played soccer with my, my year was the first year ever, Paramus beat Bergen
Catholic in soccer.
That's great.
And I, and I scored the winning goal.
So did you?
Yeah, I did.
One zero.
Nice.

(01:28:37):
Was it really?
Yeah.
One zero.
Wow.
I'm starting to think you're actually telling the truth about your soccer skills.
No.
No.
It's all a lie.
He should know body, body, body language.
It's funny.
My, uh, my year at Bergen Catholic, my graduating class, there's like more cops and firemen
in our class.
Everyone else is like, was there managers and doctors and stuff.

(01:28:59):
And it's like, we have a ton of cops and fires, like at least two NYPD guys.
There was a guy in Wyckoff.
That's strange.
Yeah.
There's tons of, and, and there's one guy that like.
At like 32 or 33 after working on Wall Street and like, you know, killing it.
Yeah.
It was just like, this sucks.

(01:29:20):
I hate this.
And he quit and moved out to Chicago and joined the fire department.
Did he really?
He's on like the busiest ladder company in the city.
He's like, I'm the only fireman in the state.
Oh wow.
You know, in the United States of America without a side gig.
Well, the whole Wall Street thing, my uncle's got a bunch of Wall Street buddies and you,
there's a big time limit on how long you can do that for.
I can't, I lose my mind and like.
You got to make your money quick.
I can't even watch those videos for very long.

(01:29:42):
You're going to make your money quick and get out.
That's what they do.
You can't live that lifestyle because it's like, you can't care about your, you can't
really care about your personal life, friends, family, all that kind of stuff.
Like it's, that's your environment and that's it.
Well, that's, it's funny because my dad was, he was in human resources for years for a
big corporation and he was like, he would leave the house at like 6 30 in the morning.

(01:30:05):
He'd come home at 7 30 at night, five days a week.
When I was little, it was like six days, sometimes even seven days a week when he was first
starting out, never missed the day.
I don't think he ever took a sick day and I'm like, you know, burning personal days
here and there.
I'm going, I go sick.
I'm like, you know, whatever.
And he's like, he's like, what are you doing?
I'm like, I'm, I'm about my family life.

(01:30:27):
I like my job a lot, but what matters to me is way more for my kids, you know, and.
So there's a mindset.
There's some guys that will our career, our career minded.
It's in them to not give a crap about anything else.
Yeah.
In the office 24 hours.
Some guys are just like that.

(01:30:48):
Yeah, but it's not many.
Right.
I mean, he was a great dad.
He was, he was always around for everything that mattered, but he just worked like a dog
and, and apparently loved it.
And I'm like, I'm really not about that life.
I'd rather, you know, I mean.
Yeah.
Family man.
Yeah.
That's good.
I've been a life coaches.
My kids are the two older ones are both three sport athletes.

(01:31:09):
My step son does sports.
I'm, you know, in the fall, in the 61 days between September 1st and October 31st last
year, I did like 50 sporting events, you know, dragging the baby with me to a lot of it.
Yeah.
It's like, you know, cause I just want to watch them do their thing.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
It's fun.
That's, that's the most rewarding thing.

(01:31:30):
You know, we're going to wrap up here soon, but I want to, I want to know if you have the
best advice you can give people when dealing with cops in any, in a situation.
And I, I'm, I'm, I may get like a generic answer, like, you know, be polite, obviously,
but like dealing with cops today, when you get pulled over, what's, what's your advice

(01:31:50):
for people or what do you want to say to the public?
Honestly, just treat them like people.
Just people.
It's exactly what we are, you know, I, I can't tell you how many times I've been like, I've
gotten out of the car, like I'm going to hammer somebody and you know, the guy, I'll say something
funny or whatever.
And I'm like, you know what?
All right.
You win today.
I'll tell you the perspective.

(01:32:10):
I mean, listen, you play citizen and cop at the same time, but like people assume that
cops look at us like, like, like vermin sometimes.
No, it's all, it all depends on you.
You know, if you act like vermin, then yeah, we do.
But like if you're, you know, like, I can't tell you how many times I've pulled someone

(01:32:34):
over and as soon as I walk up to another guy's like, I know, I know, I'm sorry.
I thought I was going to make the yellow.
I'm like, all right, dude, don't do it again.
You know, have a nice day.
If somebody makes you laugh or are you more lenient?
It has to be good though.
You can't go for the low hang, some quality.
Can't be like a cheese ball.
Not even just like a, like a joke.

(01:32:55):
I'm talking about for something funny.
So I have a friend, well, I lived with him in Glen Rock.
I'm not going to name him, but if he watches this, he's going to know this story.
It's hilarious.
He, he saw, he passed by a church and he saw that they were throwing out a soccer goal.
Okay.
And so he's got a Honda CRV.
I had a pickup truck at the time.

(01:33:15):
Okay.
He saw them that they're throwing out a soccer goal and he drives past it and he goes, Oh,
I really like that goal.
I want that goal for the backyard, for the house we were living in.
Like I said, I had a pickup truck.
So, but he doesn't, and this is the church is not exaggerating.
One traffic light away from where our house was.

(01:33:37):
So right down the road.
So he thought it's a good idea to, he couldn't fit it in the trunk.
He couldn't fit it on top of the car like he couldn't finagle it.
So he decides that he's going to drive with it, holding it outside the window like this.
Yeah.
So he's driving, he goes, it can't like nothing can go wrong.
Like the house is right there.
Right.
Okay.
He drives cop cars later.

(01:33:59):
No.
Immediately after he does it, there's a cop car in one of the streets that he does pulls
him over the cop goes, the cop walks up to the window.
He says, he goes, you understand, this is the silliest shit I've ever told anybody.
And he told him his friend has his pickup truck and everything.
And he goes, just get your friend with the pickup.
So leave the goal here, please.

(01:34:19):
That's amazing.
Human beings, interactions between human beings.
That's what it comes down to.
I, when I was a rookie at the bridge, we got an alert for an 88 year old African American
male with Alzheimer's wandering.
His cell phone had been pinged on four East headed towards the bridge.

(01:34:40):
I'm like, okay.
I moved down towards where it all narrows to get on the bridge and I'm just watching
for, I'm like, I'm like a couple of weeks out of the academy and I'm like, this could
be great.
I'm going to get this guy.
I'm going to get a medal.
I'm going to get my off.
It's going to be amazing.
And this guy, you know, I see him go by and I pull out and I get next to him and I pull

(01:35:03):
up to the car in front of him and I'm like, stop.
And I stopped that car.
So he has to stop and I get out and I'm talking to him and he's clearly, he has no idea where
he is.
He's, you know, it's bad.
I was, he had been a cab driver in Newark for like 40 years when he came home from World
War two and he thought he was driving into Newark to drive his cab.

(01:35:23):
So I get this guy.
Still going to work at 94 things.
So I get this guy, I don't, you know, I'm not, I don't want to treat him like a perp.
Yeah.
I don't know any better.
I put him in the front seat of the car with me.
I don't want to put him in the back.
No, you should have done.
Could you give me a ride?
I need to go to the station.
I need to lift back.
Start the meter, you know, but, uh, so I get him, I put him in the passenger seat.

(01:35:45):
I put the seatbelt on him and I'm talking to him and he's, he's very like kind of out
of it and whatever we get back there.
We get back to the building, his son is there waiting for us and, uh, he gets out and he's
like, this guy jacked me up.
And he's like, and he starts saying all the stuff like, no, no, I didn't.
I'm like, and I'm like, I'm getting fired today.
Oh my gosh.
And the, he's like, got you, bitch.

(01:36:07):
It's kind of what it was like.
It was like, I was looking for Dave Chappelle.
And the son's like, no, no, no, I know, I know.
I'm like, I didn't say, I'm like, I didn't even want to put him in the back of the car.
I didn't want him to feel like a criminal.
He's like, no, no, no, it's fine.
It's fine.
I was like, oh, oh man.
My blood pressure must have spiked.
I'm not in a stroke right there.
You know, but it's cool.

(01:36:27):
It's the good part of the job is it's a good day when you can help somebody out and, you
know, do the right thing.
You have our respect.
I mean, and I hope that, you know, most people respect.
They understand that the videos are cherry picked and all this stuff.
I mean, it's still, it's in this, it's a necessary industry.
It's a necessary job.

(01:36:49):
And you guys get dumped on a lot, you know?
So if you want to, you can send money to John's give, send go.
John Hart at John Hart.com.
But we just ruined his pension.
So we're starting a go fund.
Yeah, exactly.
Listen, man, thanks so much for coming on.
I actually enjoyed this perspective a lot.

(01:37:09):
I'm glad, I'm glad we got to get someone from this industry on to talk about it.
And you're more than welcome because there's tons of more things I want to ask you to talk
about.
After you retire, whatever, I'll come on.
I'll tell you everything.
Perfect.
All right, folks, thank you so much for watching.
Remember to like, subscribe, share, share the reels, share everything, get our name
out there.

(01:37:30):
Hopefully soon we'll have merch.
So we'll have sweatshirts and t-shirts for sale.
Hopefully soon we're working on that.
But thanks for joining me and Max.
And as always, we'll see you here next week.