Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Barry Shoe.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I was sent a post on Facebook by a pupo
who said, this is your kind of story, And it
was a post by a fellow named Larry McDougall, and
it was talking about being a cop, why he went
back to being a cop. And Larry McDougall's been around
(00:24):
the political world in Houston Harris County for years. He
was general counsel for the Republican part fort Member Republican Party.
He's held various positions. He was a state bar of
Texas president I believe, or one of the senior officers statewide.
(00:44):
And he's a guy that if you're around the political process,
you know his name. We're not close friends, but a
lot of people I know their name and I see
their name keep popping up. So the guy sends me
this email says, you know, somebody curates a piece for
me and tells me why I would find it interesting.
I'm going to take the time to read it. So
it was a post from Larry McDougal on his Facebook
(01:05):
page and it went as follows. I am frequently asked
why with my background did I take a job as
a patrolman with the multon Police Department. So allow me
to answer this. I want to save one more life
before I get called home. I've performed CPR seven times
now I have two saves. This guy's like a modern
(01:27):
day Mojo. He's like our dentist. He's like Guy Lewis
out just saving people at the Astros Game and Inspirity
Suite with a triple pump. I've pulled people out of
a burning car.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I have.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Sorry. I've pulled people out of a burning home as well,
and I stopped the bleeding until ems arrived. I mean,
you ain't done nothing. I've caught a rapist in the act.
I've pulled men off their wives when they were beating them.
In a few wives off their husbands. My brother used
to say, when he get called to a domestic disturbance,
you just never know which one's beating us not out
(02:07):
of the other one. And he said, you've never seen
a wife who loves her husband more. Then you show
up and they're in a fight and she's hit him,
and then he hits her back, so she calls the
cops because she knows she wins, and they show up
and she slaps him around a little to try to
bait him into hitting her one more time, and he
(02:28):
won't do it, and then finally he can't stand it
and he knocks her out, punches her real hard. My
brother say, you know you lock him, you cuff him,
and you start to don't take my husband. He's all
I got. What does say you called me here to
take him? It's a dirty business man who man, I
(02:52):
have pulled him in off their wives when they were
beating them. In a few wives off their husbands. You
see that. You'll see these wives beating their husband. I mean,
you got to get them out of there. I have
found lost children. I cannot remember how many thieves, robbers
and burglars I've caught. Unfortunately, I've had people dye in
my arms, but at least they did not die alone.
(03:14):
I want to do it one more time while I
still can, and the police department always gets there first.
That's why we call the fire department second responders. The
police fire rivalry is one of the funniest things in
the world. They both go at each other. Second. I
love the community of Molten. I've been Popo there for
six months now and I have yet to have a
single person be rude or disrespectful to me, I spend
(03:37):
much of my day just waving and waving back, visiting
with people when I'm on patrol. It's a clean, friendly,
rural Texas community, almost like being taken back to the past.
And I probably shouldn't publicize them, but many of the
residents do not lock their doors because they don't have
to live in fear. But why, I'm alten? This is
where the answer gets a little more complicated. But it's
(03:58):
the popo. It's not the funding or the pay, but
the officers who make up the department. So he went
through this whole thing. And here's a guy who Price's Law,
does these different things and had been I looked him
up and had been a law enforcement officer earlier in
his life and kind of feels this desire to go
(04:23):
back and do something. You know, people used to make
fun of the Walmart greeterer when they still had greets,
and I always felt like that was the wrong thing
to do, because there's two reasons somebody becomes a Walmart reader.
Number One, they really need the money because it's always
old guys. Remember old guys and old women. And for
(04:45):
those of you too young to remember, you'd walk into
Walmart and they would be a greeter. They'd be wearing
the little blue jacket and they would just literally greet
you pleasantly and be real sweet and if you needed something,
that directs you toward that aisle. But they were there
because they were a smile as the face and the
front of a cold, soulless corporation full of a bunch
(05:06):
of cheap commodities from China. There were two reasons somebody
was doing that. Number one, they needed the money, in
which case, why are you making fun of an old
person that, instead of going on welfare is getting out
there working, Because a lot of them were old, and
that was part of the charms. They were so old.
Why are you making fun of somebody that's having to
bust their ass late in life but is doing it.
(05:29):
Or Number two, they were doing it because they were
bored at home and interacting with you was actually a
highlight of their day. Now, I'm not saying this feller
Larry McDougall was figuring out Walmart reader or police officer.
But I think there's people all over the country that
are sitting at home board and oh, I'll get the email, Michael.
(05:52):
Nobody wants to hire us no more. If we're old,
that's bull you're on. Indeed, don't give me excuses. I
hate the ex uses. How do you know nobody wants
to hire you? Well, you know, you can just tell
or I applied for three jobs and I didn't get them. Well, yeah,
there's also a twenty three year old that didn't get him.
Why didn't he get it? If you want, if you
(06:14):
have skills to offer, if you have skills to offer
and experience and a good heart and a willingness, and
you're not crippled, although sometimes even for the crippled, depending
on John, communities need you. I loved this story. I
loved this story so much. I was so glad he posted.
I hope it pulls a few more law enforcement officers
(06:36):
out to go out and work in Fayette County and Moulton.
And he's our guest, Larry McDougall, Welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
What having me?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I love your post? What's going through your mind you
when you make this post? Where are you sitting? What
made you say I gotta do this?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I get a lot of you know, having been a
lawyer and had a successful law practice, A lot of
people asked me why would you give that up, retire
from your law practice, and then go be a police officer.
And I've always been a police officer at heart. I
started in law enforcement when I was nineteen, and I actually,
even though I was a lawyer, I stayed active in
(07:20):
law enforcement until twenty eighteen, when I decided it was
probably time for me to retire. But I missed it.
And what I miss is helping people. I mean, it's
being a police officer. You're there in their most immediate
time of crisis, and we have an opportunity as police
officers to help people really like no other. And I
(07:43):
missed that, and that's one of the reasons rip them.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I went back.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Hold on. You know Wayne Stanfield of Carol James Fan,
he went back to you sent me a picture of
his uniform trapping young Buck in his uniform? Yeah, man,
where's the uniform? Weve we know that about it. Larry
McDougall posted that how old are.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
You, Larry? Sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Sixty seven? So tell me about the day you call?
Is is the chief Daniel Bayer? No, that's that's hpd H.
Who is the Chief of Moulton.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Daniel Bayer?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh, it is Daniel byer. Okay, so when you when
you decide that you want to do this, do you
call him? Do you walk in the door? How does
that work?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Well?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Actually that they've been kind of hitting me up for
a while because I bought a retirement home outside of Moulton,
and uh, I give you the kind of long story,
short is I had a good guy with a gun
murder case that I tried where I walked the good
guy out with a not guilty, told my wife that
was the icing on the cake with a cherry on top.
(09:03):
And then I showed up a couple of days later
in Daniel's office and said, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
How about that? And so what does that? What'd that
process look like?
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I had to get my t CO license back up
to speed. There was classes I had to take. I
had to take a physical and at sixty seven I
passed it, and I had to take a psychological and
then I had to do a little bit of training
and get me back up to speed. And now they've
turned me loose.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So how long had it been since you'd been in
a patrol car when you went back out there.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I retired from law enforcement from the Columbia Brazoria school
district in June of eighteen and and it'd been missing
it ever since. I mean, it's your brother could probably
tell you. It's Once you're out there and you become
part of it, it gets in your.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Blood, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Larry, my other qualified for retirement at I think he
had thirty years when he was fifty two, let's say,
and he qualified for his full retirement. His needs were simple. He,
you know, every five years, would get a four f
one fifty. That was his big indulgence. He had a
(10:19):
few acres out in the in the country in Harper
where he had a little fifth wheel he'd placed out there.
He didn't buy new clothes, he didn't. He had a
home he had built. It was very modest. I mean,
he lived very lean. So he didn't have a lot
of expenses. So he could retire so he wouldn't have
to deal with with this. He'd been a patrol officer,
(10:41):
he'd been swat, he'd been undercover. He'd done a lot
of stuff that I think takes its toll on a body.
And we talked about on a mind. And so he
was so eager to retire, and he retired in six
months and his wife said, you got to go back
to work. You're miserable, like how many episodes of Sanfords
are you going to watch? And so he did. He
(11:02):
went back to work and his last job, I noticed
that you posted about how much you love the community
of Moulton. His last job was Vider Police Department because
a guy that he had gone through the academy with
thirty two years earlier was now the chief of police
invited and he called him and said, Chris, why don't
(11:23):
you come back to work? And he called me one
day and he said, Michael, it makes me almost want
to cry. He wasn't a crier. He said, I stopped
to eat my lunch and I can't pay for my lunch.
I get up to the counter and they say, somebody
paid for it already, or we're paying for it. He said,
I've never been treated like this. He was Jefferson County
all years. I've never been treated like this. The people
(11:45):
of viter are the nicest people in the world.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So it's nice if that's Molten out as a Milton.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
People appreciate us in those small communities like that. Are
you working to They like, no, I'm off today, I
don't come back until next week.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So do you have a spot? It's kind of the
cops spot used to be Burton Cafe for cops in
you know, outside of Brenham. Back when I had a
place out there, a lot of cops would go to
Burton Cafe. But do you have a place in Molton
where you go?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Not? Well?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Home my wife for forty seven years. When I need
to take a break, I go spend time with her.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Good for you forty seven years and you're sixty seven.
So you were eighteen when you met her like I
was with my wife.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yep, met her of Wharton Junior College.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
How about that? How about that?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
That is?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That is fantastic? Did wait, Ramon? Did you're not part
of this? Ramon's dad went to Wharton Junior College. I'm
not not sure why we're bringing that up right now.
Did you used to live on Maryland Street in Rosenberg?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I did?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And your son, Larry Jr.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Is a lawyer, Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
And your friends with Ray Stephanie's dad, he's a bit
he's a big landown. I can't remember Stephanie's maiden name. Well,
his son in law, Cody Johnson's a good friend of
mine and he sent me a message.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I know Cody Johns you're talking to Ray More.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, how would you describe Cody? Yes, and this is
not judgment, but if a guy had if a guy
was on the run, you he'd just broken into a
place and you were way away from your car. But
you were calling in and you were describing Cody Johnson
to dispatch, how would you describe him?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Big?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
How big?
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Cody Johnson grew up down the street from me. Yeah,
and uh, I mean when I was a kid. But
you know, he when he was a kid, and I
was in the Rosenberg Fire Department for a while, and
so was his dad. So I've watched him grow up.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
He's a good dude.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, all my best friends, Oh he's well then you
know he's crazy tootely. Not crazy in.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
A bad way, crazy in a funny way.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well that's debatabook. Let me ask you about let me
you know you're not a young man anymore. My brother
used to say I'm a better cop as an old
man and a young man because I make better decisions
and I don't try to create drama or aggression or
a fight or conflict. I try to I try to
deflect it. When I was younger, I thought I was
(14:17):
mad enough to defeat it. Now I realize you don't
want to do that. How are you a better cop now?
At sixty seven?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I think things out more and as you get older.
I mean when I was young, we would just go
bareling into something, and I've learned to talk.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
My way out of it.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I've learned how to better defuse situations.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And true, you know, being.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
A lawyer is kind of cool because I could give
people legal advice right there on the side when they
need it.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Hold on just a moment, Larry mcdoogle is I guess
if you start looking around or a way to give back,
you start with the high minded idea that you're going
to do something for other people, but you find out
you're doing it for yourself when people say thank you
(15:12):
for doing this or that for that person. I am
very honest when I say anything I do that is
perceived as nice, as completely, utterly, one hundred percent selfish.
I feel better about myself if I do something for
someone else. We all do. It's not wrong with that,
(15:33):
it's a good thing. We should encourage people that you
will feel better when you do for other people. We
should stop with this nonsense of oh I must saint
I find no derive, no joy from this. I do
it absolutely joylessly, because if I got any joy out
of it, it wouldn't be noble. No. Learn to incentivize
(15:57):
the behaviors you want in society and you'll get more
of that, Believe it or not. Larry McDougall is getting
more out of this than the community is, and they're
having a ball with it because now he wakes up
in the morning and he's needed, he's wanted, he's appreciated,
(16:17):
everything's fresh again. The last day you were a cop
is not nearly as fun as the first day back
after you've been away. That's what my brother told me.
Everything that I was tired of, bored of, sick of.
After thirty years, I realized, Oh I'm good at this.
I enjoy this.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
This is fun.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Larry McDougall, Larry Jess, Michael. Yes, Michael, has there been
a moment since you came back that you have for
a second regretted it?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
No, I really have it.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
It's my wife thinks I'm probably a little nutty because
I love.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Being out there. I love being on the streets.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
I love meeting, talking and helping people, and you're one
hundred percent right. It is a selfish thing. But it's
it's selfish because it gives me a feeling of purpose
of self worth and that's what I get out of
it when I'm out there helping people. You know, as
a police officer, it's just a part time spot that
I have. I worked maybe six to seven days a month.
(17:24):
We work twelve hour shifts and just like Wayne Stanfield
does it too there at Moulton, and it's you know,
it gives you that feeling that you have. I mean,
and I hope I instilled that in my kids because
my three daughters all became teachers and two of them
are now principals and the other one went back to
the church and from public school and it's teaching at
(17:47):
a Catholic school. So and they get that too, you know,
when they're doing it as teachers, you get that feeling
that you've accomplished something, you've done something good. And it's
almost like a drug.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It is. It is. It's the same reaction, it's the
same feelings, it's the same awesomeness. So did you tell
me where isn't there a molten cafe? Where do you
stop and eat most days if you're on.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Duty, I actually go home.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Oh said, that's what I was trying to remember what
you said it was. But there is a Molten cafe.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Not a Molten cafe. We have Klazels, which is the steakhouse,
which is really nice. You're not going to find a
better cheese burgner in Texas than Brian's, which is like.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
A little dairy queen there. Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
There is a little taco stand in Molten. It's a
little trailer right by the railroad tracks. It's got the
best crispy tacos you've ever ate. And then we have
a Mexican restaurant in town and that's it. I mean,
that's all we have in Molten as far as any place.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
There's no cafe type deal where you can get breakfast, lunch, dinner,
simple food, comfort food.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
There's Alley's Barbecue that serves a breakfast and they're pretty good.
I mean it's it's a breakfast lunch, but they're not
open in the evenings. No, the it's we really don't
have that much in Molten as far as places to
eat out and uh, but again I take my time away,
(19:19):
I come home, sit down with a wife, tell her
what's going on, We talk gossip.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Whatever she cooks something, she's check. She cooks all right.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I've always said check women. They don't cook for health,
they cook for flavor. They make comfort food.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Well, I love this story. I just wanted to share
this story quickly. I got a message from Carol James
with the picture of Wayne Stanfield in his uniform and
he's going back and done this. I'm not saying that
folks at sixty seven ont to get back on the
gang unit at HPD, but I am saying that we
all have gifts, and why let them. You know, there's
(20:06):
a certain frustration to the idea that you know, your
skills are not being used anymore. Somebody wants those skills. Now,
it might not be the first person to whom you
offer them, it might not, but somebody wants your skills.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Out there.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Somebody could use your skills, and you would feel wonderful
putting them to use. And that, you know, not everybody
is the big city cop you see on TV. There
might be a little position out in little Molten that
would like somebody to come out there and take care
of the little old ladies. But here's our tribute to
the cops. Paul Harvey style.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
A policeman is a compositive What all men are, I
guess a mingling of Satan, center, dust, and deity called
statistics wave. The fan over stinkers underscore instances of dishonesty
and brutality because they are news. What that really means
is that they are except they are unusual. They are
not commonplace buried under the fraud is the fact, And
(21:04):
the fact is the less than one half of one
percent of policemen misfit that uniform, and that is a
better average than you'd find among clergymen. What is a policeman? He,
of all men, is at once the most needed and
the most wanted, a strangely nameless creature who is served
to his face and pig or worse behind his back.
(21:26):
He must be such a diplomat that he can settle
differences between individuals so that each will think he won.
But if a policeman is neat, he's conceited. If he's careless,
he's a bum. If he's pleasant, he's a flirt. If
he's not, he's a grouch. He must make instant decisions
which would require months for a lawyer, but if he hurries,
he's careless. If he's delivered, he's lazy. He must be
(21:47):
first to an accident, infallible with the diagnosis. He must
be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, ty splints, and
above all, be sure the victim goes home without a
limp or expect to be sued. The police officer must
know every gun draw on the run and hit where
it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip two
men twice his size and half his age without damaging
his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him,
(22:11):
he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.
A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must
know where all of the sin is and not partake.
The policeman from a single human hair must be able
to describe the crime. The weapmon the criminal and tell
you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches
the criminal, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he's a dunce.
(22:34):
If he gets promoted, he has a political pool. If
he doesn't, he's a dullard. The policeman must chase bum
leads to a dead end, stake out ten nights to
tag one witness who saw it happen but refuses to remember.
He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache
to build a case against some felon who will get
dealed out by a shameless, shamous or an honorable who
(22:56):
isn't honorable. The policeman must be a minister, a social worker,
a diplomat, a tough guy, and a gentleman. And of
course he'll have to be a genius because he'll have
to feed a family on a policeman's salary.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Listen, Tomway. If you like the Michael Berry Show and Podcast,
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(23:33):
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Executive producer is Chad Knakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.
(24:03):
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(24:26):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the
memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple
man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,
if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp
Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and
(24:51):
a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free counseling.
The Michael Barry Shoe.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I was sent a post on Facebook by a pupo
who said, this is your kind of story, And it
was a post by a fellow named Larry McDougall, and
it was talking about being a cop, why he went
back to being a cop. And Larry McDougall's been around
(00:24):
the political world in Houston Harris County for years. He
was general counsel for the Republican part fort Member Republican Party.
He's held various positions. He was a state bar of
Texas president I believe, or one of the senior officers statewide.
(00:44):
And he's a guy that if you're around the political process,
you know his name. We're not close friends, but a
lot of people I know their name and I see
their name keep popping up. So the guy sends me
this email says, you know, somebody curates a piece for
me and tells me why I would find it interesting.
I'm going to take the time to read it. So
it was a post from Larry McDougal on his Facebook
(01:05):
page and it went as follows. I am frequently asked
why with my background did I take a job as
a patrolman with the multon Police Department. So allow me
to answer this. I want to save one more life
before I get called home. I've performed CPR seven times
now I have two saves. This guy's like a modern
(01:27):
day Mojo. He's like our dentist. He's like Guy Lewis
out just saving people at the Astros Game and Inspirity
Suite with a triple pump. I've pulled people out of
a burning car.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I have.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Sorry. I've pulled people out of a burning home as well,
and I stopped the bleeding until ems arrived. I mean,
you ain't done nothing. I've caught a rapist in the act.
I've pulled men off their wives when they were beating them.
In a few wives off their husbands. My brother used
to say, when he get called to a domestic disturbance,
you just never know which one's beating us not out
(02:07):
of the other one. And he said, you've never seen
a wife who loves her husband more. Then you show
up and they're in a fight and she's hit him,
and then he hits her back, so she calls the
cops because she knows she wins, and they show up
and she slaps him around a little to try to
bait him into hitting her one more time, and he
(02:28):
won't do it, and then finally he can't stand it
and he knocks her out, punches her real hard. My
brother say, you know you lock him, you cuff him,
and you start to don't take my husband. He's all
I got. What does say you called me here to
take him? It's a dirty business man who man, I
(02:52):
have pulled him in off their wives when they were
beating them. In a few wives off their husbands. You
see that. You'll see these wives beating their husband. I mean,
you got to get them out of there. I have
found lost children. I cannot remember how many thieves, robbers
and burglars I've caught. Unfortunately, I've had people dye in
my arms, but at least they did not die alone.
(03:14):
I want to do it one more time while I
still can, and the police department always gets there first.
That's why we call the fire department second responders. The
police fire rivalry is one of the funniest things in
the world. They both go at each other. Second. I
love the community of Molten. I've been Popo there for
six months now and I have yet to have a
single person be rude or disrespectful to me, I spend
(03:37):
much of my day just waving and waving back, visiting
with people when I'm on patrol. It's a clean, friendly,
rural Texas community, almost like being taken back to the past.
And I probably shouldn't publicize them, but many of the
residents do not lock their doors because they don't have
to live in fear. But why, I'm alten? This is
where the answer gets a little more complicated. But it's
(03:58):
the popo. It's not the funding or the pay, but
the officers who make up the department. So he went
through this whole thing. And here's a guy who Price's Law,
does these different things and had been I looked him
up and had been a law enforcement officer earlier in
his life and kind of feels this desire to go
(04:23):
back and do something. You know, people used to make
fun of the Walmart greeterer when they still had greets,
and I always felt like that was the wrong thing
to do, because there's two reasons somebody becomes a Walmart reader.
Number One, they really need the money because it's always
old guys. Remember old guys and old women. And for
(04:45):
those of you too young to remember, you'd walk into
Walmart and they would be a greeter. They'd be wearing
the little blue jacket and they would just literally greet
you pleasantly and be real sweet and if you needed something,
that directs you toward that aisle. But they were there
because they were a smile as the face and the
front of a cold, soulless corporation full of a bunch
(05:06):
of cheap commodities from China. There were two reasons somebody
was doing that. Number one, they needed the money, in
which case, why are you making fun of an old
person that, instead of going on welfare is getting out
there working, Because a lot of them were old, and
that was part of the charms. They were so old.
Why are you making fun of somebody that's having to
bust their ass late in life but is doing it.
(05:29):
Or Number two, they were doing it because they were
bored at home and interacting with you was actually a
highlight of their day. Now, I'm not saying this feller
Larry McDougall was figuring out Walmart reader or police officer.
But I think there's people all over the country that
are sitting at home board and oh, I'll get the email, Michael.
(05:52):
Nobody wants to hire us no more. If we're old,
that's bull you're on. Indeed, don't give me excuses. I
hate the ex uses. How do you know nobody wants
to hire you? Well, you know, you can just tell
or I applied for three jobs and I didn't get them. Well, yeah,
there's also a twenty three year old that didn't get him.
Why didn't he get it? If you want, if you
(06:14):
have skills to offer, if you have skills to offer
and experience and a good heart and a willingness, and
you're not crippled, although sometimes even for the crippled, depending
on John, communities need you. I loved this story. I
loved this story so much. I was so glad he posted.
I hope it pulls a few more law enforcement officers
(06:36):
out to go out and work in Fayette County and Moulton.
And he's our guest, Larry McDougall, Welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
What having me?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I love your post? What's going through your mind you
when you make this post? Where are you sitting? What
made you say I gotta do this?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I get a lot of you know, having been a
lawyer and had a successful law practice, A lot of
people asked me why would you give that up, retire
from your law practice, and then go be a police officer.
And I've always been a police officer at heart. I
started in law enforcement when I was nineteen, and I actually,
even though I was a lawyer, I stayed active in
(07:20):
law enforcement until twenty eighteen, when I decided it was
probably time for me to retire. But I missed it.
And what I miss is helping people. I mean, it's
being a police officer. You're there in their most immediate
time of crisis, and we have an opportunity as police
officers to help people really like no other. And I
(07:43):
missed that, and that's one of the reasons rip them.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I went back.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Hold on. You know Wayne Stanfield of Carol James Fan,
he went back to you sent me a picture of
his uniform trapping young Buck in his uniform? Yeah, man,
where's the uniform? Weve we know that about it. Larry
McDougall posted that how old are.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
You, Larry? Sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Sixty seven? So tell me about the day you call?
Is is the chief Daniel Bayer? No, that's that's hpd H.
Who is the Chief of Moulton.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Daniel Bayer?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh, it is Daniel byer. Okay, so when you when
you decide that you want to do this, do you
call him? Do you walk in the door? How does
that work?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Well?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Actually that they've been kind of hitting me up for
a while because I bought a retirement home outside of Moulton,
and uh, I give you the kind of long story,
short is I had a good guy with a gun
murder case that I tried where I walked the good
guy out with a not guilty, told my wife that
was the icing on the cake with a cherry on top.
(09:03):
And then I showed up a couple of days later
in Daniel's office and said, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
How about that? And so what does that? What'd that
process look like?
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I had to get my t CO license back up
to speed. There was classes I had to take. I
had to take a physical and at sixty seven I
passed it, and I had to take a psychological and
then I had to do a little bit of training
and get me back up to speed. And now they've
turned me loose.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So how long had it been since you'd been in
a patrol car when you went back out there.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I retired from law enforcement from the Columbia Brazoria school
district in June of eighteen and and it'd been missing
it ever since. I mean, it's your brother could probably
tell you. It's Once you're out there and you become
part of it, it gets in your.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Blood, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Larry, my other qualified for retirement at I think he
had thirty years when he was fifty two, let's say,
and he qualified for his full retirement. His needs were simple. He,
you know, every five years, would get a four f
one fifty. That was his big indulgence. He had a
(10:19):
few acres out in the in the country in Harper
where he had a little fifth wheel he'd placed out there.
He didn't buy new clothes, he didn't. He had a
home he had built. It was very modest. I mean,
he lived very lean. So he didn't have a lot
of expenses. So he could retire so he wouldn't have
to deal with with this. He'd been a patrol officer,
(10:41):
he'd been swat, he'd been undercover. He'd done a lot
of stuff that I think takes its toll on a body.
And we talked about on a mind. And so he
was so eager to retire, and he retired in six
months and his wife said, you got to go back
to work. You're miserable, like how many episodes of Sanfords
are you going to watch? And so he did. He
(11:02):
went back to work and his last job, I noticed
that you posted about how much you love the community
of Moulton. His last job was Vider Police Department because
a guy that he had gone through the academy with
thirty two years earlier was now the chief of police
invited and he called him and said, Chris, why don't
(11:23):
you come back to work? And he called me one
day and he said, Michael, it makes me almost want
to cry. He wasn't a crier. He said, I stopped
to eat my lunch and I can't pay for my lunch.
I get up to the counter and they say, somebody
paid for it already, or we're paying for it. He said,
I've never been treated like this. He was Jefferson County
all years. I've never been treated like this. The people
(11:45):
of viter are the nicest people in the world.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So it's nice if that's Molten out as a Milton.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
People appreciate us in those small communities like that. Are
you working to They like, no, I'm off today, I
don't come back until next week.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So do you have a spot? It's kind of the
cops spot used to be Burton Cafe for cops in
you know, outside of Brenham. Back when I had a
place out there, a lot of cops would go to
Burton Cafe. But do you have a place in Molton
where you go?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Not? Well?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Home my wife for forty seven years. When I need
to take a break, I go spend time with her.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Good for you forty seven years and you're sixty seven.
So you were eighteen when you met her like I
was with my wife.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yep, met her of Wharton Junior College.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
How about that? How about that?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
That is?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That is fantastic? Did wait, Ramon? Did you're not part
of this? Ramon's dad went to Wharton Junior College. I'm
not not sure why we're bringing that up right now.
Did you used to live on Maryland Street in Rosenberg?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I did?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And your son, Larry Jr.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Is a lawyer, Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
And your friends with Ray Stephanie's dad, he's a bit
he's a big landown. I can't remember Stephanie's maiden name. Well,
his son in law, Cody Johnson's a good friend of
mine and he sent me a message.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I know Cody Johns you're talking to Ray More.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, how would you describe Cody? Yes, and this is
not judgment, but if a guy had if a guy
was on the run, you he'd just broken into a
place and you were way away from your car. But
you were calling in and you were describing Cody Johnson
to dispatch, how would you describe him?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Big?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
How big?
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Cody Johnson grew up down the street from me. Yeah,
and uh, I mean when I was a kid. But
you know, he when he was a kid, and I
was in the Rosenberg Fire Department for a while, and
so was his dad. So I've watched him grow up.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
He's a good dude.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, all my best friends, Oh he's well then you
know he's crazy tootely. Not crazy in.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
A bad way, crazy in a funny way.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well that's debatabook. Let me ask you about let me
you know you're not a young man anymore. My brother
used to say I'm a better cop as an old
man and a young man because I make better decisions
and I don't try to create drama or aggression or
a fight or conflict. I try to I try to
deflect it. When I was younger, I thought I was
(14:17):
mad enough to defeat it. Now I realize you don't
want to do that. How are you a better cop now?
At sixty seven?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I think things out more and as you get older.
I mean when I was young, we would just go
bareling into something, and I've learned to talk.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
My way out of it.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I've learned how to better defuse situations.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And true, you know, being.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
A lawyer is kind of cool because I could give
people legal advice right there on the side when they
need it.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Hold on just a moment, Larry mcdoogle is I guess
if you start looking around or a way to give back,
you start with the high minded idea that you're going
to do something for other people, but you find out
you're doing it for yourself when people say thank you
(15:12):
for doing this or that for that person. I am
very honest when I say anything I do that is
perceived as nice, as completely, utterly, one hundred percent selfish.
I feel better about myself if I do something for
someone else. We all do. It's not wrong with that,
(15:33):
it's a good thing. We should encourage people that you
will feel better when you do for other people. We
should stop with this nonsense of oh I must saint
I find no derive, no joy from this. I do
it absolutely joylessly, because if I got any joy out
of it, it wouldn't be noble. No. Learn to incentivize
(15:57):
the behaviors you want in society and you'll get more
of that, Believe it or not. Larry McDougall is getting
more out of this than the community is, and they're
having a ball with it because now he wakes up
in the morning and he's needed, he's wanted, he's appreciated,
(16:17):
everything's fresh again. The last day you were a cop
is not nearly as fun as the first day back
after you've been away. That's what my brother told me.
Everything that I was tired of, bored of, sick of.
After thirty years, I realized, Oh I'm good at this.
I enjoy this.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
This is fun.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Larry McDougall, Larry Jess, Michael. Yes, Michael, has there been
a moment since you came back that you have for
a second regretted it?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
No, I really have it.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
It's my wife thinks I'm probably a little nutty because
I love.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Being out there. I love being on the streets.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
I love meeting, talking and helping people, and you're one
hundred percent right. It is a selfish thing. But it's
it's selfish because it gives me a feeling of purpose
of self worth and that's what I get out of
it when I'm out there helping people. You know, as
a police officer, it's just a part time spot that
I have. I worked maybe six to seven days a month.
(17:24):
We work twelve hour shifts and just like Wayne Stanfield
does it too there at Moulton, and it's you know,
it gives you that feeling that you have. I mean,
and I hope I instilled that in my kids because
my three daughters all became teachers and two of them
are now principals and the other one went back to
the church and from public school and it's teaching at
(17:47):
a Catholic school. So and they get that too, you know,
when they're doing it as teachers, you get that feeling
that you've accomplished something, you've done something good. And it's
almost like a drug.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It is. It is. It's the same reaction, it's the
same feelings, it's the same awesomeness. So did you tell
me where isn't there a molten cafe? Where do you
stop and eat most days if you're on.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Duty, I actually go home.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Oh said, that's what I was trying to remember what
you said it was. But there is a Molten cafe.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Not a Molten cafe. We have Klazels, which is the steakhouse,
which is really nice. You're not going to find a
better cheese burgner in Texas than Brian's, which is like.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
A little dairy queen there. Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
There is a little taco stand in Molten. It's a
little trailer right by the railroad tracks. It's got the
best crispy tacos you've ever ate. And then we have
a Mexican restaurant in town and that's it. I mean,
that's all we have in Molten as far as any place.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
There's no cafe type deal where you can get breakfast, lunch, dinner,
simple food, comfort food.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
There's Alley's Barbecue that serves a breakfast and they're pretty good.
I mean it's it's a breakfast lunch, but they're not
open in the evenings. No, the it's we really don't
have that much in Molten as far as places to
eat out and uh, but again I take my time away,
(19:19):
I come home, sit down with a wife, tell her
what's going on, We talk gossip.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Whatever she cooks something, she's check. She cooks all right.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I've always said check women. They don't cook for health,
they cook for flavor. They make comfort food.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Well, I love this story. I just wanted to share
this story quickly. I got a message from Carol James
with the picture of Wayne Stanfield in his uniform and
he's going back and done this. I'm not saying that
folks at sixty seven ont to get back on the
gang unit at HPD, but I am saying that we
all have gifts, and why let them. You know, there's
(20:06):
a certain frustration to the idea that you know, your
skills are not being used anymore. Somebody wants those skills. Now,
it might not be the first person to whom you
offer them, it might not, but somebody wants your skills.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Out there.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Somebody could use your skills, and you would feel wonderful
putting them to use. And that, you know, not everybody
is the big city cop you see on TV. There
might be a little position out in little Molten that
would like somebody to come out there and take care
of the little old ladies. But here's our tribute to
the cops. Paul Harvey style.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
A policeman is a compositive What all men are, I
guess a mingling of Satan, center, dust, and deity called
statistics wave. The fan over stinkers underscore instances of dishonesty
and brutality because they are news. What that really means
is that they are except they are unusual. They are
not commonplace buried under the fraud is the fact, And
(21:04):
the fact is the less than one half of one
percent of policemen misfit that uniform, and that is a
better average than you'd find among clergymen. What is a policeman? He,
of all men, is at once the most needed and
the most wanted, a strangely nameless creature who is served
to his face and pig or worse behind his back.
(21:26):
He must be such a diplomat that he can settle
differences between individuals so that each will think he won.
But if a policeman is neat, he's conceited. If he's careless,
he's a bum. If he's pleasant, he's a flirt. If
he's not, he's a grouch. He must make instant decisions
which would require months for a lawyer, but if he hurries,
he's careless. If he's delivered, he's lazy. He must be
(21:47):
first to an accident, infallible with the diagnosis. He must
be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, ty splints, and
above all, be sure the victim goes home without a
limp or expect to be sued. The police officer must
know every gun draw on the run and hit where
it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip two
men twice his size and half his age without damaging
his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him,
(22:11):
he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.
A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must
know where all of the sin is and not partake.
The policeman from a single human hair must be able
to describe the crime. The weapmon the criminal and tell
you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches
the criminal, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he's a dunce.
(22:34):
If he gets promoted, he has a political pool. If
he doesn't, he's a dullard. The policeman must chase bum
leads to a dead end, stake out ten nights to
tag one witness who saw it happen but refuses to remember.
He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache
to build a case against some felon who will get
dealed out by a shameless, shamous or an honorable who
(22:56):
isn't honorable. The policeman must be a minister, a social worker,
a diplomat, a tough guy, and a gentleman. And of
course he'll have to be a genius because he'll have
to feed a family on a policeman's salary.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Listen, Tomway. If you like the Michael Berry Show and Podcast,
please tell one friend, and if you're so inclined, write
a nice review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions, and
interest in being a corporate sponsor and partner can be
(23:33):
communicated directly to the show at our email address, Michael
at Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on
our website Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show
and Podcast is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King of Ding.
Executive producer is Chad Knakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.
(24:03):
Voices jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by Chance mc lean.
Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily Bull is our
assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are appreciated and often incorporated
into our production. Where possible, we give credit, where not,
(24:26):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the
memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple
man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,
if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp
Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and
(24:51):
a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free counseling.
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