Today we want to honor Dallas Officer Darron Burks on the one-year anniversary of his tragic death as he was ambushed in South Central Dallas while on patrol.

Darron’s brief Dallas Police service was cut short on August 29th, 2024, but after this incident we all got to know the true incredible human being Darron Burks was. He had a lifetime of service as a teacher and mentor. After his death we heard story after story of the many lives he touched while on this Earth. He is the epitome of what we seek out as an officer and public servant.

I have no doubts that this great man would have touched so many more lives as an officer and mentored so many officers on this Department.

The City of Dallas lost a true gentle giant and amazing person.

Dallas Officer Karissa David and Jamie Farmer responded and were seriously wounded from gunfire.

Darron Burks #12543 EOW: August 29th, 2024

Episode speakers:

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson

Retired Dallas Chief Eddie Garcia

Darron’s Mother, Cherie Jeffrey

Outro song: “The Goodness of God” - CeCe Winans (Fair Trade - 2021)

The Assist the Officer Foundation will be running in the Freedom Run on September 6th, 2025, in Dallas to honor Darron Burks.

Houstonian Alan Helfman, president of his family’s group of five Helfman Auto Dealerships (Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, RAM, and Fiat), giving back is in his DNA.

Today share his story with the listener and dive into his true “why” as he continually gives back to various charities and has a heavy presence in assisting the first responder community.

The Helfman Family has a legacy of giving and helping those in need, especially in the Houston area.

Alan holds the record for the highest leg kick as he is a regular in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch the start the Astros season. He just doesn’t write checks to organizations but he actually goes out and has a ball bringing his high energy and huge kind heart to spearhead these charity events.

For the past four decades Alan Helfman has raised millions of dollars for various causes and has touched so many lives and assisted people when they were at their darkest moments.

We are very happy to welcome Alan to Dallas Texas and onto the ATO stage.

Today we sit down with Retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol Commander Brad Shepherd and guest cohost Courtney Runnels to pull back the curtain on a life and career of service.  No stories is without a lot of highs, lows, heartbreak, and successes. This episode will cover all of the above….and then some.

Captain Brad Shepherd (Ret.) is the Director of Public Safety for Chateau Health & Wellness, a national First Responder residential treatment facility that treats Trauma, Suicide, PTSD, Substance Abuse, Depression & Anxiety.  

Brad retired after 25 years from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol as a Commander and served in a variety of assignments including Tactical Team, Bomb Squad, Special Operations, Oklahoma Homeland Security as well as member and later Commander of the Agency Peer Support Unit.  

Brad is the founder and former CEO / Executive Director of 2 separate non profit organizations that served in the first responder wellness community.   Brad is an experienced national presenter and instructor in a variety of disciplines including ICISF Critical Incident Stress Management. 

Brad has faced his own challenges of stress, trauma, mental health, and alcoholism as well as significant levels of betrayal which gives him the passion to help others find the peace and joy they desire in their personal lives, their relationships, and their careers.

Chateau’s Wellness Mission

https://www.chateaurecovery.com/about

Today we are honored to sit down with retired DEA Agent and Founder, lead facilitator of Wake Up/Level Up Margaret Bedolla.

Margaret walks us through her journey, growing up the daughter of an Agent, and living abroad and being exposed to true poverty and the excitement of the hidden dangers of her father’s work in a different country.

Starting the DEA at 24 she found herself working on the tragic and high profile case of the kidnapping and murder of DEA Agent Kiki Camarena.

Dedicating her life to the Administration and immersing herself in several long term cases she found a passion and knack for expanding investigations to hunt down the source of the drug trade.

As her career unfolded, she found another unique talent, which her natural compassion and empathy complimented, in working in the DEA EAP program. Like everything she does she puts her heart and soul into helping others on the Trauma Team to help her peers and their families that were struggling with the daily grind of the job and critical incident response.

After leaving the DEA she continued serving to provide education with Wake Up/Level Up leadership courses as she travels the country meeting with different organizations and first responder agencies to help them look at leadership through a different lens.

Margaret and retired DEA SAC, David Downing, are now presenting their unique leadership courses to the Dallas Police Command Staff.

She is extremely humble, extremely fierce, and still after over three decades, still leading with a servant’s heart.

Wake Up Level Up- Facilitated Leadership Conversations

 Investigation discussed:

Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was a DEA agent who was kidnapped and murdered by the Guadalajara Cartel in Mexico in 1985. His death sparked a major U.S. investigation and strained relations with Mexico. The case has been the subject of various media, including the miniseries "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story" and the docuseries "The Last Narc"

We are honored to sit with the 31st Police Chief in the Dallas Police Departments nearly 150-year history, Chief Daniel Comeaux.

Chief Comeaux is a 33-year law enforcement veteran, currently serving as Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Field Division, overseeing 12 offices throughout Texas, including Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. His jurisdiction covers nearly 16,000,000 residents who live in 114 counties across 118,000 square miles, 645 of which are at the United States-Mexico border. His leadership has focused on intelligence-driven crime reduction, operational efficiency, interagency collaboration, and officer development.  

Chief began his law enforcement career in the Houston PD in 1992 and quickly gained a knack for enforcing narcotic investigations. In 1997 Chief Comeaux took dope chasing to a new level as he joined the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and went to the Compton area to work. He rose through the ranks and showed great innovation in intelligence led enforcement as well as educating the public, notably in the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign to curb the deadly fentanyl overdoses.

Chief Comeaux hung up his federal credentials and returned to his police roots in joining the Dallas Police Department in April of 2025.

Welcome to the ATO: Bridging the Divide stage Chief Daniel Comeaux.

Today we sit with the 18th Fire Chief in the Dallas Fire Departments storied history.

Chief Justin Ball immigrated to the United States from England more than thirty years ago, joining the fire department in 1997.

Chief has a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration from Texas A&M and maintains certifications as a Master Firefighter, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), Fire Officer II, Fire Instructor II, Incident Commander, and Incident Safety Officer. 

We are excited to have the opportunity to have the listener take a small peek into the unique path that Chief Ball took to command the sixth largest fire department in the United States. 

Former broadcast journalist and current Dallas Fire and Rescue Director of Communications Susy Solis sits in to cohost this episode to bring the new Dallas Fire Chief to the listeners. 

Notable Topics Discussed:

2 in/2 out procedure

Medic One Program

Quartermaster Program

Expanding the wellness and peer support program

Today we sit down with three familiar voices to the show to address an ongoing problem in the Dallas Police Department and the first responder profession.

Welcome back on Sgt. Gordon Fulton and newly promoted Major Andre Taylor to have a discussion on the topic of alcohol use in the first responder community.

After some incidents over the last few months the Wellness Unit wanted to reiterate the Departments commitment to helping our own and putting our people in the best position to be the best versions of themselves.

In 2022 the alcohol leave policy was implemented and has been a successful tool to help our DPD family first seek help, then get help and continue their career and grow.

Assistant Chief Teena Schultz, Commander of the Wellness Unit, sits in as a cohost. 

For more information on the Dallas Police Wellness Unit and the Alcohol Leave policy email us at[email protected].

Today we sit down with one of the Dallas Fire Department’s true leaders in Chief Greg Stoy as he enters his 40th year of service in the City of Dallas.  Dallas Fire and Rescue has an amazing national reputation as a world class fire department as it enters into its 153rd year.

DFR is one of the few municipalities in the world to achieve the highest possible IOS rating, demonstrating its high-quality fire protection services.

Chief Stoy, starting his career in 1985, serves at Station 4 and has a reputation as a being a supportive leader in the field and mentor to many. His father spent over three decades himself serving this city and both men have a head full of amazing stories and a combined seventy plus years of firefighting history.  History is exactly what the listener will get in this episode, as well as hearing from a natural true leader that loves his Fire Department family.

We are honored to provide the platform for Chief Greg Stoy.

Critical Incident:

February 16th, 1964, Fire at the Golden Pheasant Restuarant in Dallas

On the morning of February 16, an alarm was transmitted on the Golden Pheasant Restaurant at 1417 Commerce. Ultimately, a fifth alarm was transmitted on the fire, both off-duty shifts were recalled, and four firemen had lost their lives. The first alarm was transmitted at 0233. About 0245, as the first alarm companies were attacking the fire, the first floor collapsed into the basement. James K. Bigham, Jerry T. Henderson, James R. Gresham, and Ronald E. Manley were unable to retreat or escape.

“Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself for the unacceptable”

To further this show’s mission to change culture in the first responder profession in the realm of mental health maintenance, we have a roundtable with some of our highly trained ATO counselors.

Conversations and education are key to normalizing and prioritizing our own mental health, especially in the very hardened world of the first responders. Police and fire are excellent at saving lives and helping others but are historically awful in asking for help for themselves.

Today we sit down with Amanda Noyes of Finding Freedom Therapy, Tempa Sherrill and Sasha Kim of the Brave Fight, and the great Cydney Frizzel.

Each of these hand-picked and highly trauma trained counselors will tell the listeners what to expect if they reach out to them.

Each offer their expertise on the following topics to educate our listeners:

All of our ATO counselors can be located in the Services section at atodallas.org.

If you would like to know more about how the ATO provides these services and who is covered reach out to [email protected] or the Dallas Police Department Wellness Unit at[email protected].

Never forget: You are NOT alone!

https://thebravefight.com

https://findingfreedomtherapy.com

Today we are sitting with one of our East coast brothers in retired Braintree Massachusetts PD and founder of the KITT Foundation, Billy Cushing.

Billy was a 17-year veteran of the Braintree Police Department where he served as a patrol K9 Handler for 10 of those years. He is a two-time recipient of the Geroge Hannah Award for Valor among other honors. In this episode Billy tells the story of his K9 partner, Kitt, and the bond and partnership they shared.

On June 4th, 2021 Billy, Kitt, and backup officers responded to a domestic dispute at an apartment complex on McCusker Drive, in which the suspect fled to a wooded area. Billy and Kitt began their trek to locate the suspect when they were ambushed by the suspect, who was hiding.

Kitt, upon locating the suspect, advanced into the hail of gunfire. Kitt was struck by 3 fatal bullets and Billy was hit 5 times and Officer Donoghue was hit once during this gunfight. The suspect was eliminated during this gunbattle.

Billy was critically injured during this incident but recovered to start a new mission and journey to honor his hero partner Kitt.

In the wake of Kitts death Billy organized a Foundation, named the KITT Foundation, that would connect members of the public interested in providing support to K9 Teams across the country.

Dallas Police K9 Handler, Scott Jay sat in as a cohost.

HTTPS://K9KITTFOUNDATION.COM