Welcome back ATO Family

We finally get to discuss an integral function in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, the Crime Scene Response Unit.

Today’s guest has a Master’s degree in Forensic Science, currently working on Doctorate, and is a dedicated member of the Dallas Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit.

It is up to the trained crime scene investigator to take advantage of every scientific and technological development in forensic investigation in order to correctly analyze, retrieve and collect evidence from the scene of any crime.

Crime scene analysis combines the human factor with scientific procedures and methods to interpret what has occurred. While the scientific evidence may speak for itself, it requires human understanding and voices to translate that evidence into a court of law in order to ensure that justice is always served.

Today we are sitting down with one of Dallas Pd’s Forensic specialists and someone who supervises our great Crime Scene Response Unit. She will walk us through their functions and shed some light on some of the facts vs myths of the job……..and we will also show how vital this unit is to investigations and prosecutions…

Courtney Lozano welcome to the ATO stage…..

Critical Incident Discussed:

September 6th, 2024

The tragic death of Dallas Crime Analyst Carmen Michelle Fletcher.

Michelle was killed in a horrific car crash in Fort Worth on 9/6/2024 at approximately 6:30 pm.

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of its Santa Cops program, which has provided toys and food to over 10,000 families since 1984. The initiative supports families who have been victims of crime and those in need during the Christmas season.

Today we sat down with some of the elves behind the scenes that make this incredible program run so that so many families in need can have a merry Christmas.

Former Dallas PD legend Chuck Young, now Victoria Texas PD Chief, in 1984 and grew this program into the holiday event it is today.

the Santa Cop program that started back in 1984 basically out of the trunk of a squad car. Mounted unit Larry Abney, Jerry Rhodes, and Captain Walker , Lynn Albright, Deanna Stratman, Lori Tittle, Jason Kennedy, Angela Arrendondo, Chuck and so many others made this program evolve for 4 decades.

Crime Against Children Sgt. Kristin Alvarado, Detectives Stephen Prince, and Meagan Mulvihill join the podcast crew to document this history and provide the listener with a final message to warm your hearts and wrap up 2024.

Please follow or support this program at the links below.

Merry Christmas ATO Family!

Special thanks to Chrys Hawkins for this message idea.

Facebook:  @SantaCops

Twitter:  @SantaCops

GiveButter.com

https://givebutter.com/BqHyH5

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1ZMROZDNUNBOM?ref_=wl_share

Email

[email protected]

This show will never shy away from having the difficult conversations. Thriving mental and physical health is paramount and crucial to survival and sadly, if not addressed, it could lead to a life ending.

First responders are three times more likely to die by suicide than the from the job that they do.

These numbers don’t include the suicide attempts or suicidal ideation of first responders that are suffering and struggling in silence. There are a lot of descriptors that officers apply to themselves such as Fearful, Shame, Unworthy, Useless, Despair and Apathy to Life to name a few.

These are all symptoms of depression, which is the ultimate liar.

It will tell you that you are a failure when you have actually succeeded.

It will make you feel like a burden to others.

It will make you feel that others will be better off without you in life.

It will tell you that you are alone.

Reality:

People do count on you.

Others do love and respect you.

These people will no longer have you there to help them, make them laugh, call you when they are struggling, and no longer to tell you they love you.

You are worth so much to so many.

Today’s episode will pull back the curtain on a first responder that was enveloped by the darkness and lost all hope and wished to leave this world and the people that call him a husband, a father, a sibling, a colleague, and a friend.

This is someone who went to the edge of the cliff and had one foot off and then was rescued by a voice to pull him back into this world and remind him that it was not his time and he had much more to give this world.

This guest could be your husband, wife, child, friend, coworker, partner on a call or your boss. The darkness is real and can come for us all at any time in our life and sadly there are many who do not hear that voice that calls them from that cliff.

If are struggling, there is help!:

Suicide Awareness (smore.com)

Call 988 suicide hotline

COPLINE: 1-800-COPLINE

#suicideawareness

#suicideprevention

#mentalhealthmatters

#reachout

#mentalhealth

#trauma

Welcome back ATO Family

One of this shows mission is to create a platform to educate our listeners in the very complex and layered conversation of mental health and the many modalities and treatments that are available. This episode is one of our most information based shows as we take a deep dive into EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy).

This show has talked about EMDR at length to provide as much information as we could on this trauma therapy but we have not discussed ART at length so we thought we should host some subject matter experts to lay it own there for us to we can better understand what we are walking into.

Today's guests are sisters that started the Healing Counselor Center and are trained in both EMDR and ART as well as CISM to help those in need before, during, and after crisis.

Welcome on Laurie Todd and Heidi Johanson to the stage.

EMDR vs ART

www.healingcounselingcenter.com/mckinney/

Welcome back for this special goodbye to my first partner and one of my best friends, John Valdez.

There are perks in being best friends with the host of a show and this is it. John served over 29 years with DPD and is leaving as a Homicide Detective.

He did not want a big party or any attention as he walked out the door of DPD but I actually talked him to this.

So, sit back and enjoy the roast of John as he is surrounded by people who care for him.

Special guest cohost:

Mike Mata and Detective Mike Yeric.

This is for Kelly, Macy, and Alex Valdez

We are honored to sit down with a true piece of Dallas history in Judge Hawk.

This show will take the listener back to the Dallas during the 90’s when a young talented ferocious new District Attorney walked into the Frank Crowley Court Building in downtown Dallas and her star began rising.

From1995 to 2002 worked as a prosecutor and ultimately become Chief over the Child Abuse Division.

In 2003 her star rose higher as she became the youngest female to be elected to the bench in Texas as she took office on a felony court bench in Dallas.

She then presided over this court until September of 2013 when she resigned as Judge to run for the District Attorney’s Office.

Judge Hawk then was victorious over a two-time incumbent DA as she became the first female District Attorney in Dallas history.

Then life being what life is, with all the surprises and ups and downs, changed her career as she resigned her position after less than two years.

This show prides itself in always keeping an open mind with all walks of life, people and careers, and with different challenges and this episode is no different.

Sit back and listen to a true comeback story from a huge piece of Dallas history.

Thank you, Judge Hawk, for joining us.

https://www.hawk-law.com

Welcome back ATO Family!

Today we return with a true piece of Dallas Police history with the Great Kevin Navarro as we chronicle his amazing life and servant career.

Kevin hired on with the Dallas Police Department in 1981 and remained in service until September 11th2012 and he laid the foundation for future procedures and trainings that have molded young and old officers for generations to come.

Officer Navarro started patrol at the Southwest Division before becoming a Detective in Assaults then ultimately in the Dallas Homicide Unit where he would work during the deadliest years in the City of Dallas history.  During Kevin’s stay in Homicide he saw a record number of homicides during the deadly drug wars as we saw the murder rate go over 500 deaths.

Sit back and enjoy a true piece of Dallas Police lore with a genuine man with a servant’s heart.

Critical Incidents discussed:

The death and aftermath of Dallas Police Officer Gary Blair. EOW: March 20th, 1986. The passing of Sr. Cpl. Joey Fox on October 1st, 2018. Joey suffered a heart attack while off duty and his survived by his wife, Mary, and his children and stepchildren.

Topics:

Garden of Honor at Restland

The Garden of Honor at Restland Cemetary once belonged to the family of my current employer.  It was donated to be used as the final resting place for any Dallas County First Responder who dies in the line of duty.  There is a monument in the center of the Garden envisioned and commissioned by Ray and Nancy Hunt. It has DPD and DFR uniforms affixed on the base of the monument with two angels on the top.  One is holding a DFR Fireman and the other a DPD Officers as they ascend into heaven.  This was Ray Hunt’s creation.

"You were worth All the sacrifices....."

This is a special message from Dallas Chief Eddie Garcia as he is retiring, after nearly 33 years, from the law enforcement profession.

It is a sad time for the Dallas Police Department as we are losing a true innovator and a “Cop’s Cop” natural leader for the Department.

Eddie Garcia started his law enforcement career, age 21, at the San Jose Police Department and he rose to become Chief of that Department in 2016. He served in Narcotics, SWAT, the Homicide Unit and then began to climb into leadership, setting the path to Dallas Texas.

The City of Dallas was reeling from skyrocketing crime, low Department morale and on the heels of covid and the defund the police movement and there was an opening for the Chief of Police position.

The Department was in need of a strong leader, the community demanded a transparent Chief, and the City prayed for a figure that could turn around a much-needed police department.

In February of 2021 Chief Eddie Garcia took over as the Department’s 30th Police Chief and the first Latino Chief in its 140-year history and quickly went to work building his command staff, connecting with the community and building trust in the Department.

Eddie was and always will be an old street cop masquerading as a four-star chief and the City of Dallas if lucky to have had a glimpse of true leadership that we hope that other future Chiefs will take note.

Chief Garcia will leave the Dallas Police Department on November 1st to start a new journey in the State’s Capital as the Assistant City Manager of Public Safety.

We will miss you Boss and we love you.

Garcia’s administrations accomplishments:

Four straight years of violent crime reduction.

Greenlighting the implementation of the Wellness Unit.

Better relationships with community and city leaders.

Alcohol Leave Policy that has assisted 14 officers to date.

Authorizing the usage of blocker trucks to protect officers.

Improved recruiting from outside the State.

Creation of lateral transfer policy.

Welcome back ATO Family

 We wanted to take this opportunity to give an update on the show and tell you about the Dallas Police Department’s upcoming David Clark Superhero Health Fair.

This will be the third Health Fair that was created to provide active first responders with access to key medical screenings and technology used to identify silent health conditions, as well as direct access to preventative health services, nutrition resources, and fitness techniques.

 The idea for this fair was created by Carly Zoerb, the sister of Dallas Officer David Clark, who made it her passion to help first responders have access to needed preventative tests and education.

The David Clark Superhero Health Fair was organized in honor a late Dallas police officer. The 33-year-old died unexpectedly from a heart attack on his way into work. Clark worked for the Dallas Police Department for 12 years and was described as someone who enjoyed helping people. David was the model of physical fitness and took diet and working out very serious.

Currently Dallas officers are not required to have annual physicals or evaluations.

Russ Burnham with Frontline Mobile Health joined us for this episode and gave incredible perspective and insight on the resources that will be available.

Medical Care For First Responders » Front Line Mobile Health

Event: September 21, 2024

8AM- 2PM

The David Clark Health Fair will be at 1402 Corinth St. Dallas Texas, at the Bill Priest Center

**** Trigger Warning Alert****

Episode 100 was always going to be a special episode for our show but when I got today’s guest to finally agree to tell his story I knew I wanted to make it extra special for the listener but also make it special for one of my best friends and one of the most impressive humans I have ever met. – Joe King.

 We are honored to share this stage with Dallas SWAT Operator and ATO: Bridging the Divide Co-Creator, Daniel Canete.

 Danny gravitated to music at the age of five and quickly began mastering the language and art of music as he became a student of the piano. Most students that age avoided the stage, but Danny ran to it and excelled and built on his natural inquisitive nature and quickly began performing on that stage. Playing at churches, then to recitals, then began dominating in local and state competitions. He was a natural on the performance stage, this trait will become very important as later he will find himself on a life and death stage.

As a musician, his desire was to share music with people to perpetuate a love for the arts and to educate the public in order to keep the classical arts alive. He mastered the piano and percussion but the five-octave marimba will always hold a special place in Danny’s heart.

Danny left his mark on the music world at Colorado State as a scholarship was created in his name, the Daniel Canete Music Performance Scholarship.

 Sometimes we all reach crossroads in life and are thrust into a difficult decision as we navigate our life journey. Danny, with all of his skills and successes and dedication to music, was not impervious to these life changing decisions.  9/11 changed us all and changed the world but for some people, people like Danny, it provided him a new calling to serve this world in a different way.

He chose to serve with the Dallas Police Department and was assigned to “God’s Country”, the Southeast Division and fell in love with being a street cop and serving the citizens.

This story will finally give the listener a peek into the life of a very private man that just happens to have a very high-profile profession as a member of Dallas SWAT.  

 The stage is set and the ATO listeners are making their way to their seats to see a true talented and gifted performer.

Thank you for all of the support you have given us since August of 2021, it has been an incredible journey to 100.

Special Thanks:

Billings PD Lt. Brandon Wooley

USAF Lt. Colonel Zach, Cougar, Fennell

Dr. Janet Landreth

SWAT Lt. Andre Taylor

SWAT ASL Matt Smith

SWAT Sgt. Ryan Scott

SWAT Brandon Berie

Trent Custis

Kimberly Canete

 Critical Incidents Discussed:February 13th, 2012

Officer involved shooting in Pleasant Grove, Southeast Division, as CRT members engaged a robbery suspect.

 July 7th 2016

The shooting in downtown Dallas on July 7th 2016 when five Officers were killed, and nine others were wounded during a protest in downtown Dallas Texas. Two civilians were also injured during this cowardly attack as it was the deadliest incident for law enforcement since the September 11th, 2001, attacks.

 Daniel Canete Music Performance Scholarship - College of Liberal Arts | Colorado State University (colostate.edu)