11.14: They Could Smell It - Hour 3

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, let's get it started. The seven o'clock hour

(00:01):
here at News Radio eight forty whas coffee and company
with you, and we are fueled by Thornton's and we
have company. We've got Dwight Mitchell from LMPD with us
here in studio making his return. Glad to hear you
had a nice vacation. Glad to have you back here.
Happy Friday, my man.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, it's good to be back, Nick. Is always good
to be in your presence, and it's good to be
back in my hometown.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Vacation was good. No need, Oh it's needed.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, little rest, relaxation and get the batteries recharged. It's
needed for a lot of folks. And I'm glad that
you and the family had a good time. And we
had a situation, a tragic situation play out here in
Louisville in the last couple of weeks and something that
I think people are going to remember for a long time.
And what I've been referencing here and there is just
how I've been as a Louavillion myself. I've been really

(00:46):
happy to see collective leadership. Right. You never know how
you're going to handle something like this until a tragic
situation like this happens. And obviously the Louisville Fire Department
and other fire departments around have been helping and assist
with every thing, putting the fire out from the plane
crash and of course the cleanup and those guys have
done guys and girls have done a phenomenal job. But
it's been a collection. It's been Mayor Greenberg, it's been LMPD,

(01:09):
it's been the Fire department, it's been Metro services sort
of what has been the LMPD role in a lot
of this as far as just seemingly from my perspective,
it's just, hey, whatever you guys need, we're here to help,
because because you know, we may not be running into
the fire like firefighters do, but we're here to help
the community and any way we can be of assistance
to the community as far as citizens or other departments.

(01:30):
It seems like that's what you guys are.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Doing, and you're exactly right and sound like you wrote
the script for that, because this is exactly the role
we've been playing in this situation, is in the support role,
mainly for a traffic blocking the road ways and things
in this nature. But I was not in Louisville at
the time that happened, but obviously I saw it from afar,
and I was very proud of our city and our

(01:51):
leadership and all the organizations that it takes in a
situation that happens like that.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
You know, it's just like a tea bag.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
You never know what's in until us activated by hot water,
and we certainly were in that and all the people
that are trained to do what they do in the
capacity that they do it did a stellar job in
a very you know, tragic situation. And certainly my heart
and thoughts and prayers go out to all who have
been affected by whether you lost loved ones or just
what happened in our city at that time. It's very traumatic,

(02:22):
but we're moving forward, hopefully to get this together and
get us back to.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Some sense of enormousy which you'll never be again.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, and you you being you being away from from
town when it when it happened, I'm sure it was
one of those moments to where you could feel, despite
it being a story that is here in our hometown,
it was a national story just because it's not something
that you see very often. And I thought, if you
were someone from Afar that was it was interested in this,

(02:51):
that was following along. Again, it's a tragic situation overall,
but I thought leadership looked good overall from from from
everybody involved. And that's that's all, is what you hope. Again,
you never you never know how you're going to react
to anything until you're in that moment. And for really,
from from start to finish, I've just been it doesn't
seem as if there's a lot of folks that are
viewing this, and I mean it just seems like the

(03:12):
community is together, all collectively trying to help those that
are that are that are going through it.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yes, and that's what the resiliency and the love of
this community is all about, because there is a lot
of love and concern and unfortunately see it mostly when
tragic things happen, but it goes along all the time
even when that's not going And yes, even though I
was from Afar, I have a granddaughter that works at
UPS as a supervisor there and was there at the time. Wow,
what was happening. So obviously our antenna's were up and

(03:39):
absolutely and we're very concerned about what happened, But she
was safe and her employees were safe, so that that
was all good.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
And it's a situation that obviously is a tragedy. Lives loss,
people's lives impacted forever, even those that did survive. So
it's tricky because obviously you don't want to downplay it,
but it really is amazing how this could have been
so much worse with any little random thing, and it wasn't.
I think the the amount of people in this town

(04:08):
that still currently or previously did work at UPS and
at four that are all right there in that area.
I think when the news broke and people saw the
visual of what this crash was doing. As far as
the fire, I mean it was it was something that
will stop you in your tracks. I think knowing that
you know so many people that might be in the
area there, I think that that made it hit a

(04:29):
lot different for people, just because have a hard time
thinking if you've lived here long enough that you don't
know exactly where that is and no people that are
often in that area.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, I use it as a cut through a lot
of times, yep, when I'm in that area to get home,
and you know, gone that path many times. And again
it was very tragic and h but we're resilient people
and certain we're praying for those who have us suffered.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Loss well, said Dwight. Mitchell's with us here in studio
from LMPD. This was a this was a story that
it's it just happened weeks ago and we did get
the bodycam footage from this was an officer named Hunter
Weaver from LMPD. He was on the he's been on
the force for two years. He's the officer that arrived
to the Newburg neighborhood and found a woman that was

(05:13):
shot and a twenty year old man who had a gun,
and we saw with the body cam that he simply
had to do what he had to do as the
twenty year old would not drop the gun, lifted the firearm.
And there's there's protocol when this happens. As soon as
you are involved as an officer in these situations, you know,
we know, hey, we'll get the body cam and I

(05:35):
think it's a certain amount of business days. But if
you're that officer and you know that that that you
know and that's happened, what what are the next days
for you? Like obviously you're away, but you also did
something that most officers don't end up having to do
to where you're gonna need some help. You're gonna need
to probably, so I guess walk me through what would
be forty eight seventy two hours after that. If you're

(05:56):
an officer that is away from work because of a situation.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Like that, well, first of all, it's a very traumatic situation.
You know, you train, you know your whole career, you
know for you know the moment that that may happen
in your uh, in your career in law enforcement. But
if it does happen, there is protocol that l MPD uses.
First of all, the officer is removed from the scene

(06:21):
and obviously an attorney is for them.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Through the FOP, and okay, that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Then they are on administrative reassignment or leave doing doing
the process. Our Public Integrity Unit, which handles all matters
that may be criminal or uh that type of thing,
uh in the beginning, and then our professional Standards Unit
to see if any policy violations were they get involved

(06:49):
at a certain point in the investigation, and it could
be for a very long time, you know, for the
first few hours, you know, you give officers a chance
to remember what actually happened before they speak to investigators
and things of that nature. We do release the body
cam footage within ten business days after that when we
put that together and we show it in this wrong

(07:11):
form of how it happened and let people draw their
own conclusions at that point. But you know, the thing
about it is just a bad situation. Anytime you're in there,
you know somebody that already had been critically injured at
that point, and then when officers get to have to
encounter the individual and had to do what had to
be done there as well, and you know, officers, it's

(07:34):
a very traumatic situation. We have all types of resources
through our wellness center that provides services for officers upon
needing it and then before they return back to work
their ey value waiting to make sure they can come
back and do the job that they were sworn to do.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
I oftentimes try to humanize what law enforcement L and
PD does because a lot of people just don't think
about it as far as these are. People have families
that they go home to with spouses and kids, just
like everybody else, and when they go to work, these
kind of things could happen. At any moment. Life can change,
and that's what you sign up for and I think

(08:12):
seeing some of the bodycam footage, including the one from
this situation, it's just the reminder that I would say
nearly every single person that's ever wanted to get into
law enforcement and protect and serve, they don't do it
because they want to do what this officer had to do.
It's part of the job. And when it does happen
and you have to do your job in that way,

(08:34):
it can be a traumatic experience. It is a traumatic
experience that can leave an impact on you that you
simply would never know until it happens. And to see
other officers at times in bodycam footage after these kind
of things happen, I mean, it's hard to say that
the officer is a victim, but because they're doing their job,
that's what they have to do. But it's far from normal.

(08:55):
Nobody wants to do it, and it is a traumatic experience.
But to see other officers after they realize what has happened,
be there for the other officer, knowing that that's the
last thing you want to do. Nobody wants to do that, nobody,
I mean, it's it's far from normal, but again, it
is part of the job. So I just when I
saw the body cam footage, I instantly thought of you
know that that's heavy, that could be something to where

(09:16):
you need to talk through it because it's not normal.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Oh no, it's not normal.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
And we have our peer support that also comes out
with officers in those type of situations like that in
the Tremendous Unit provides us a support. And you know
one of the things you said about you know, officers
are not robots. We're trained, but you're not robot. You're
a human being, sure, and obviously when things like this happen.

(09:42):
If if something doesn't triggering you that makes you want
to stop in your tracks for men, then you're probably
not human. But it's a job that we're sworn to
do that has a side to it that could be.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
Very dangerous for the officer. For the end of vigils
and bobbed.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
You know, most officers, all they want to do is
they tell you to stop, You do it, and it's over.
But when it goes to that other level, then a
whole lot of things can happen and it's usually not good.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, And I you know, I think the camaraderie that
that comes within your industry and law enforcement and what
you guys do, that's got to be a powerful thing
that that is. It probably is a big reason why
you see such a dedication and a commitment to to
to being in that industry, and you just, I don't know,
it's another way of the human element clearly being real

(10:33):
within what you all do to where you know, visibly
you can see somebody that's just impacted by something that
they had to do. But again that's the job. Not
many would want to sign up to do that, because
again it's it's far from normal. But just like the
firefighters who were running into put out the blaze that
looked as if it was going to burn down our city, right,
they're running into to put it out in safe people,

(10:54):
and they're leaving their family to go do that. Just
like the officers when they are criticized by some for
doing what they had to do. Well, this is somebody
that's that's that's trained to do what he had to do,
and you know he's got to keep himself safe as
well because he's got a family at home. So I
will admit I've never once felt as if I didn't
I didn't see officers as human beings. But I think

(11:14):
the more that just the public views it that way
can only help the perception of it and just can
help the community.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
I mean, well, yes, and and and I think it
has and it will continue. And you know, I do
want to give a shout out to the Oklahoma uh
Oklahona Fire Department because they were the first ones uh
there and then all the other sure surrounding suburban fire
departments as well as uh the Louisville Fire Department came
in and did a yeoman's job in doing that. You know,

(11:42):
we always tease firefighters about that, but when they do
their thing, Man, I'm glad to see them. They're like,
I hope they're glad to see us, sure in those
type of situations.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
And I will just say, as a citizen, there's something
about you all, you know, gassing each other up and
and and giving each other pra and collectively working together
on certain things and and you know, just being there
for whatever's needed. And uh again, it's just it should
make people appreciate what you all do. And uh, I hope,
I hope people do appreciate it because they do. This situation,

(12:12):
you know, the tragic situation that took place with the
plane crash again, it's that it's tragic. But if there
is anything to take from it here is I do
think it it It kind of brought the city together
a little bit in a way that I haven't felt
in a while. And I think it's made you appreciate
things maybe more than you previously did.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Well, I hope that's the sentiment that's that's there. And
again you know, just all my prayer.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Sure all that. So we will switch gears here as
we wrap this up. We had a good result at
the Young Center on Tuesday night. We did that was
awesome right about time. We we got one against against
those guys. But I think regardless of which side you're on,
and and for those who can't pick up on it,
me and Doui Mitchell are clearly on on the on

(12:53):
the right side, the good side.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
But I think right now the rivalry is in a
good spot to where it should be pretty competitive and
at a high level moving forward, just because I think
both programs are in a pretty good spot.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
I guess, and that's the way it should be in
a rivalry. And like we were talking earlier, I thought
we had some good teams in the past that just didn't.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
Do what happened, just didn't show up for the moment.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, on Tuesday night, and it was a great atmosphere
in the YM Center, you know, twenty two thousand and
it was just rip groin. And I'm glad obviously for
the result. But Kentucky, you know, it was a competitive
game that came back.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
You got to give them.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, they could have easily folded down twenty and down
eighteen and two different instances.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, they and they did not, And of course, you know,
hopefully we'll see them again down the line and hope
it's the same result.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
That means both of us had great season.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yes, And look, if you're if you're strongly on one
side of the other, you're going to clearly have a
you're gonna have rooting interest against your rival, not wanting
them to win. But the reality is this, the better
both do moving forward is better for both.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
Right.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
It makes the loss for Kentucky not look so bad,
and of course it looked like a valuable win for Louisville.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Oh yeah, And I think that's the way you have
to look at it either way. Sure outcoming coming then
you gotta look at Indiana, you know, right across there,
they're they're right there and they having a great football season.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
Isn't it great? Kentucky of course every year on the schedule,
but Indiana, Cincinnati and Memphis all the I mean, it
feels it feels like old time.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, it does with with Memphis and cnaint Masmead old
Metro commed.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
Exactly probably before your time.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
Oh, I know all about it. That was the whenever
I was being educated on things that at an early age,
it was mostly Louisville basketball, right, guys who guys who
I never got to watch play, but I got to
learn all about.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
So in fact, I guess with Memphis and Cincinnatia went
all the way back to the Missouri Valley.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, in those days, those two specifically are the two
opponents Louisville hoops. I believe it's played more than anybody
because that's that's the tradition that that they have within
each other. So right, Dwight, Great to have you back
in studio. Great to see you, man. Let's let's hope
the Cards can get a win the night too.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
I'm going after the night, so if I'm going and
embrave those elements, uh, and I hope they're good, good stuff.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
We're gonna pull it out. I feel confident about that.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
Good stuff. Thanks is always Dwight. Right, let's get to
a quick time out. Keep it locked right here. It
is news Radio eight forty WHS. Friday morning is flying
by here at news Radio eight forty whas. Happy Friday
to you. You made it. We are feeled about Thornton's.
Keep them in mind when it comes to breakfast. They've
got a lot of good options. But also keep them
in mind for lunch. Sometimes you need a quick, convenient

(15:20):
lunch and you don't have a whole lot of time,
and you just, you know, you go wait in line.
It a drive through, and I'm telling you, you can
get in and out of Thornton's really quick and get
some really really good, high quality, delicious food while you're
at it. Because the self checkout at the Thornton's locations
I go to. I know not all of them have it,

(15:40):
but many of them do, and I'm fortunate to have
one at the location I go to all the time.
And I'm not kidding you. I can go in and grab,
not even be in a hurry or rushing, but get
in and out in you know, two minutes. That's not
an exaggeration just because the self checkouts go so quick.

(16:00):
So I now feel like when I go into any guess,
any place that doesn't have self checkout, I feel like
I'm going back in time fifty years because it's one
of those things that now that we have it, I
take it for granted, because when it's not there, I'm inconvenienced.
So again, Thornton's keeping in mind a lot of good
options when it comes to food, and we certainly appreciate them.

(16:21):
All right. So the government shutdown has come to an end,
and we're slowly starting to see people who were impacted
by this directly, meaning they didn't get a paycheck or
maybe they were laid off. It's going to take a
little time for everything to get back to normal. So
those that are waiting on pay sounds like Sunday at
the earliest is when you can start getting the pay

(16:42):
that you missed out on. And as far as airline travel,
and again I've said this earlier, I never want to insinuate,
and because it would I would just feel as if
wasting my breath saying it, like you're always going to
have potential issues or a potential nightmare, even at an
airport regardless of the government government being shut down. However,

(17:03):
there were more cancelations, more issues because of this shutdown.
In fact, they stopped having as many flights daily at
a lot of airports because of this shutdown. So the
process of getting things back to normal is going to
take a little time. It sounds like late next week
is whenever we will see I guess, things up and

(17:24):
running close to what it was before this thing shut
down forty five days ago, is it now? So we're
not out of the woods just yet, because this is
really just hitting pause when it comes to the shutdown.
There's still some things they got to work out, and
there's not a whole lot of time to do it.
So not only could we once again see another shutdown,

(17:44):
I mean I hope that's not the case, but we
could see it, and it could be pretty quick because
what they did is just simple. It essentially put a
bandage on the situation overall. So but I'm sure everybody
felt it in their own way, but nobody felt it
more than those that were just in that window of

(18:07):
completely not knowing at all, I mean, having no control,
a very helpless feeling I can imagine, and just hoping
that eventually it'll be back up and running and you
will you'll get your paycheck. So those that did not
take sick time and really showed up, took extra shifts
because others were taking off work, they were rewarded ten
thousand dollars. Bonuses are going to be given out to

(18:29):
many that showed exemplary service during this time, and we
did hear yesterday that defining that is going to be
on an individual, case by case basis, So there's not
one specific criteria that's going to get you qualified to
receive that. But I'm sure those that are qualified are
going to be happy that they showed up because that
couldn't have been an expectation. I mean, maybe it was,

(18:52):
I don't know, but ten thousand dollars can go a
long way for a lot of people. So I'm sure
they're have that them being a good being a good
team player, it paid off for them. All Right. We
all have pets, right, I know, and that everybody has
a pet, but a lot of people have pets dogs, cats,
Uh what maybe maybe maybe you've got a hamster. What

(19:14):
are some other pets, John that are common outa your
bowl guinea pig? Yeah, I mean really, I think dog
and cat are the dominant pets that that people have. Yeah,
just because it's the most common. But again, people have
pet birds, right, So whatever pet you have, it's your
family member, it's a loved one. And I'm sure there
are people listening right now that have had a dog

(19:36):
for a couple of years, three years, and they've never
had to take it to the vet. They've never had
to do anything other than just love on it. Well, one,
you should get your pets checked out. That's needed, but
also emergencies can happen, and when an emergency happens, you
don't know what you're gonna do. Right, there's a lot
of a lot of things coming in your mind at
one time. And whenever there is a medical emergency with

(19:57):
your dog or cat. Again, I've never in that situation,
but I'm sure it's frightening. Well, just know that you
can always, at any time of the day, day or night,
you can reach out and rely on my friends at
the Jefferson Animal Hospital because they've been around for a
long time. We're talking decades, forty five years. They've been
opened twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty

(20:19):
five days a year, they've got a doctor on site,
even on Christmas. Because again, emergencies can happen at any
moment and they're never planned. But when they do happen,
just know they're there for you. Forty five h four
outer loop that is their location that's over there by
the Jefferson Mall again twenty four to seven since nineteen eighty.
So they're not just there for emergencies. They're there just

(20:40):
to become your provider for health care for your pet,
and again that's needed, that's important. Pets can't tell you
what's going on if they've got medical issues. Sometimes you'll
know because of just signs they show, but you should
always get your pets checked out just to make sure
there's not something they're dealing with it. Maybe they don't
even realize because you know that's how it works. So again,
I can't recommend them enough, and I can tell just

(21:05):
when I talk about them, and I have people that
come up and reference their story their situation where the
Jefferson Animal Hospital was there for them. It clearly goes
a long way. If somebody's there for you when you're
scared about their survival maybe of your pet, and they
were able to put you at ease, get your pet
back to health. It's something that sticks with you. So
that's how they've been able to do this for so
long and have such a great reputation for helping the

(21:27):
community because they've been there for so many and not
to take this in a different direction, but I do
think it's worth mentioning they've also been there for folks
when they've had to learn that the end is near
and it may be time to do what you don't
want to do, but it's what's right and that's a heavy,
heavy thing to do. But being there and being comforting
and just being professional, it goes a long way with

(21:48):
people to where it sticks with them and that's how
you develop such a great reputation. So again I can't
recommend them enough. It's the Jefferson Animal Hospital. They've got
two locations, one in Fern Creek. Won there on outer
Loop and check them out online at Jefferson Vets or
give them a call at five h two nine hundred.
Pets all right, stick around, we will we'll get an
update on the traffic. We had an issue earlier, but
that has been cleared up. So if you were worried

(22:09):
about the real, real delays that were building with the
all lanes being shut down at sixty four East by
the second Street bridge. They did get that cleared up
and it looks like it's smooth sailing as of right now.
So Bobby Ellis will keep us updated on the roadways
as we move along right here in news Radio eight
forty whas it is a game day. It is shit
of coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's here on news

(22:31):
Radio eight forty whas Louisville and in action tonight against Clemson,
a four and five Clemson team which there's not a
whole lot of juice there as far as the value
that you would get in winning. It's maybe the first
time I can remember Louisville playing Clemson to where they're
supposed to win. They're the better team now, they are
favored by two and a half and Louisville has shown

(22:51):
all year that they don't play well. They could lose
to anybody, but Clemson tricky team again. Four and five
is just a record. I never thought we'd see the
abboswhen you have in any season at Clemson, but they've
also shown at times they're good enough to compete and
beat maybe not anybody, but Louisville needs to take care
of business tonight. And the performance that you saw against

(23:12):
Cal that resulted in a loss, that type of performance
will probably get you a loss tonight as well, regardless
of Clemson's record. So it should be a good game.
I know I've said it throughout the week. The momentum
from the basketball game should carry over. I think there's
some fans that might not have been as energized to
make the trip out there tonight, but been a big
week for Louisville fans, no doubt. Now Kentucky basketball they're

(23:33):
in action tonight as well. They're a thirty nine and
a half point favorite against Eastern Illinois, so they could
play the walk Ons and probably still win that game tonight.
But what Mark Pope said yesterday was just really really
puzzling to me. And Mark Pope is a first of all,
he's a good coach and I think he's gonna have

(23:54):
a lot of success in Lexington. And he's also a
really really smart guy, so maybe he has a a
plan here, and if so, he's even more brilliant than
I thought as far as that big brain he's got upstairs,
because yesterday he shared something that I just can't quite
understand or even think of any reason or any benefit

(24:16):
he has by sharing this. So I'll let you hear
it directly. This is Mark Pop yesterday talking about a
situation that happened prior to tipping off against Louisville on
Tuesday with with his team.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
You know, I'm not ready to tell the story yet,
but at some point we'll talk in detail about our
pre game experience at Louisville. And it was out of
character for us, and that's young and new and and
so you know, I actually don't want to I don't

(24:53):
want to keep our emotions in check. We want to
be exactly the words i'd say. I want to keep
them focused, and I want to keep them in intentional.
So I want our guys to have all of the emotion.
First of all, what's the point if you can't have
all the emotion. But I don't want our guys to
be run by their emotion. I want to be able
to focus their emotion. And that's I know that sounds

(25:15):
thirty thousand foot level stuff, but that's I'm being very
specific on that. And so that's one of the things
with being an athlete, especially being an athlete a Kentucky
is is this ability to kind of not dumb down
your emotion, not bridle your emotion even but to just

(25:38):
channel it and have it laser focused. So it's intentional emotion,
so you're controlling your emotion. Your emotion is not controlling you.
Is a big deals a learning process, and it's something
that will continue to work on this year.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
So that seemed like a long winded way of saying
that emotions got the best of his team with a
situation prior to the game, which he's just going to
put everything out there because that's how he is, that's
how he operates. Fair enough if that's the case, But
that could have stayed behind closed doors and it wouldn't

(26:11):
I mean, that's how most I think would have handled it.
So maybe he's trying to motivate his guys. I don't know,
but to say you're not ready to talk about what happened,
but then say something happened coming off of a loss
to your rival, that's just going to have your fan
base wondering what the extent of these issues are and
what really happened. And when people don't have transparency, sometimes
they make up their own and this isn't a big
deal in the grand scheme of things. It just to

(26:33):
me seemed foolish, avoidable, and how could you benefit from
saying that yesterday? But again, he may have a plan.
He makes a lot, he's smarter gather than me, and
I'm sure he'll figure it out. All right, Let's get
to a quick time out. Don't go anywhere, keep it
locked right here. It news Radio eight forty whas