Ep. 77 - Many of you know Dallas PD’s Joe King as the host of the compelling podcast “ATO: Bridging the Divide” which supports the mission of the Assist the Officer Foundation. Joe joined The Dallas Police Department in 1997, starting out in the Southeast Division. We talk about why he chose law enforcement, an early critical incident that sticks with him to this day, and how he quickly was drawn to street level narcotics and gangs which he worked for 20 years.

On July 7th, 2016, everything changed for Joe, the Dallas Police Department and Dallas. That night, while DPD was working an anti-police protest, a shooter opened fire on officers working the protest, killing five, injuring nine other officers and two civilians. Those we lost are known as the Dallas Five, and they include one of Joe’s close friends, Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens. Joe recounts how the tragic events of that night unfolded with much of the killing horrifyingly playing out on live television. He details the SWAT response and the hours-long standoff that resulted in the shooter’s being neutralized by a bomb on a remote-controlled bomb robot.

The shooting was the deadliest incident for US law enforcement since 9/ 11, surpassing the March 2009 shootings of four officers in Oakland, CA, and the November 2009 murders of four officers just south of Seattle in Lakewood, WA known as the Lakewood Four. Their deaths were preceded by the ambush murder of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton less than a month earlier. I lived in the greater Seattle area at the time and experienced the devastation of this tragedy. When the Dallas Five were killed, as I tell Joe, I may have been thousands of miles away, but my heart was with Dallas.

Joe shares the impact on him and his fellow officers. His journey through grief and the cumulative effect of prior traumas led him to seek help through the Assist the Officer Foundation’s confidential counseling.

Joe has since joined the board of the Foundation which is a non-profit that not only provides trauma support but also financial assistance to first responders in need. Joe amplifies the mission with the “ATO: Bridging the Divide” podcast for which he interviews first responders from Dallas and around the country. They share their stories of trauma and resilience and how their agencies handle wellness.

Joe also helped create and serves on Dallas PD’s Wellness Unit which takes a very proactive role in caring for Dallas police officers. That Unit and ATO were both put to the test following the 2024 ambush murder of Officer Darron Burks who, only a few months out of the Academy, was shot and killed while in his patrol car.  Joe says, “the Wellness Unit snapped into action that night. It was really a night-and-day response from 2016 to 2024 with critical incident response.”

Thank you, Joe for all you have done and for all you do.

I’d like to honor The Dallas Five for their service and for paying the ultimate sacrifice to protect the rest of us:

Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens

Officer Patricio Enrique Zamarripa

Officer Michael Leslie Krol

Sgt. Michael Joseph Smith

DART Officer Brent Thompson

 And to honor Police Officer Darron Burks

ATO:

Assist The Officer Foundation

ATO: Bridging the Divide podcast

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

My interview with Jim Dudley on Police1’s “Policing Matters”

Thank you, K9sRbest for your review.

Ep. 76 Andre Lemay’s law enforcement career spans 33 years starting in 1991 with the Pittsburg Police Department in the Bay Area of CA and later as special agent for the California Department of Justice, a role he had for 26.5 years.

We dive into his early critical incidents on patrol including his first life-or-death fight with a suspect who was not trying to get away, but who intended to do serious harm. Andre also talks about the harrowing experience of coming to the aid of fellow officers engaged in a shooting that nearly took their lives. He discusses achieving his dream assignment in Narcotics and the unique challenges of doing undercover work in the city in which he grew up.

In 1997, Andre joined a DOJ Task Force in CA while with Pittsburg PD and then in 1998, lateraled to the California DOJ as a special agent where he continued working in Narcotics. He later moved into the agency’s Bureau of Firearms where he investigated firearms crimes at the local, state, and federal levels. In 2011 he created a K9 firearms detection task force that sparked his passion for working with detection dogs. That passion became his next chapter following his retirement in 2024—founding K9 Bullseye Detection, a unique program that uses highly-trained firearms detection dogs for school safety including protection not only from gun violence but also from the spread of deadly drugs like fentanyl.

Andre reflects on the changes he has seen over the past 30+ years in terms of how drugs and illegal firearms ownership and sales are prosecuted, and we discuss the impact of policies that decriminalize drug use on law enforcement’s ability to get dangerous criminals off the street.

Check out Andre’s website where you also can find his contact info:

https://bullseyek9detection.net/

Andre’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-lemay-049257270/

Bullseye K9 Detection on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bullseyek9detection/

Also check out this article in Police Mag:

https://www.policemag.com/special-units/article/15736766/innovating-school-security

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Police1 Q&A with me:

https://www.police1.com/patrol-issues/policing-podcast-profiles-on-being-a-police-officer-podcast-shares-the-raw-truth-behind-the-badge

 Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 75 – Strap in for a wild ride as On Being a Police Officer teams up with Cameron Santana of Santana True Crime to sit down with Eric Tansey—former cop, veteran, and host of the hit YouTube Show and Podcast Failure to Stop—to talk about his upcoming book, Pig Latin: A Seriously Funny True Story of a Former Police Officer, dropping August 26.

Because Cameron was Eric’s field training officer (featured in the book as Jayce), this is the only interview where you’ll get the story behind the story. And you’ll hear some Eric adventures that aren’t in the book.

Eric served with the Raleigh Police Department from 2012 to 2019, after his time as a U.S. Army paratrooper in Special Ops from 2003 to 2010. As Eric says, he joined the police force with a ton of unrealistic expectations. The reality of the job knocked him down and changed his perspective on everything. Always a magnet for uncanny, wild situations, Eric reveals exactly what it’s like to deal with everyday life as a police officer—from trying to tackle naked suspects to pepper spraying himself in the face, from dealing with an angry mob to coaxing suicidal subject off a bridge. 

Beyond the darkly funny anecdotes, Eric explains how PIG LATIN aims to build empathy for law enforcement professionals and remind them they are not alone in their fears and mistakes. Tune in for an insider’s ride‑along that will make you laugh, cringe and see policing in a new light.

Also check out Ep. 74, a repost of my 2023 interview with Eric which covers not only the book, but his childhood, the breakdowns he’s done on Failure To Stop, how he became a sommelier and so much more.

Get his book on Amazon:

“Pig Latin: a seriously funny true story of a former police officer”

 You can find Eric on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erictansey_official/

 And Cameron: https://www.instagram.com/santanatruecrime/

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

Check out this Police1 Q&A with me:

https://www.police1.com/patrol-issues/policing-podcast-profiles-on-being-a-police-officer-podcast-shares-the-raw-truth-behind-the-badge

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 74 – Join me on this re-airing of a wild ride of an interview from 2023 with Eric Tansey, co-creator and host of Failure to Stop (FTS) and former Raleigh Police Department officer from 2012 to 2019. If you follow Eric on FTS, then you know he is a high-energy, highly-engaging storyteller. And nowhere is that more evident than in his soon-to-be released book, “Pig Latin: a Seriously Funny True Story of a Former Police Officer.” I had the opportunity to read an advance manuscript and talk with Eric about some of the crazy and as well as poignant stories in the book.

My next episode, Ep. 75, is a brand-new interview with Eric as a crossover with Cameron Santana, host of Santana True Crime. Cameron was Eric’s field training officer and is featured in the book, so it’s a unique perspective to share. We get into even more stories, some of them not in the book.

 In this 2023 interview, Eric and I discuss why he got into law enforcement following his service in Special Ops as a US Army paratrooper from 2003 to 2010. We get into a few dramatic incidents from the book which include totaling his car after hydroplaning during a pursuit; having his leg broken while fighting with a murder suspect (“I got 12 screws, two pins, a plate and a rod in my left leg.”) And the time he took his mother on a ride-along, making a “routine” traffic stop, and ending up in one of the most brutal beatings he ever suffered, all with his mom watching. We also talk about the incident that is one he just can’t shake. And of course, we cover how his law enforcement career came to an end when he was fired from Raleigh PD in 2019. 

As he does on FTS, we get into police incidents, the issues facing law enforcement today, and the frustrations of the public’s misperceptions of police. We revisit a breakdown that he originally did with Mike the Cop (link below). 

 YouTube link to FTS breakdown of Akron Police Department incident:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zpN8TEcSB8

Here is the Amazon link to Eric’s book coming out on Aug. 26, 2025:

“Pig Latin: a seriously funny true story of a former police officer”

You can find Eric on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erictansey_official/

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Check out this Police1 Q&A with me:

https://www.police1.com/patrol-issues/policing-podcast-profiles-on-being-a-police-officer-podcast-shares-the-raw-truth-behind-the-badge

 Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 73 – Switching Mics: Kent PD Police Commander Eric Tung of Blue Grit Wellness Interviews Me on My 15-Year Mission to Support Law Enforcement and the Story Behind This Podcast. This episode is a crossover with my friend and fellow podcaster Eric Tung of Blue Grit Wellness and Blue Grit Radio. I am honored to have been a guest on his show and to be able to share it here. 

Here is how Eric described this episode on “Blue Grit Radio:”

“If only people understood what we did.. why we do this job.. what it takes.. what it tests.. If only they knew we were people, doing our best..

I connected with Abby in July 2023 and was humbled to be featured in an interview with her, (Ep. 47 of On Being a Police Officer). In it, she called out my "relentless optimism." It was one of the coolest compliments I've heard and part of me wanted to deny it since optimism is often a struggle and by no means easy. (However, I can't prove her wrong, since I'm still doing this thing called Blue Grit - and that's the whole point of it!). 

I've gotten to know Abby from and before that interview, and to see/hear/learn more about her. It's not just WHY she does the work, but HOW she does it, which makes me truly inspired. 

This is what prompted me to ask if she would be willing to flip the mics as it were and be the guest on my show. She has a servant's heart, desire to help, and humility and care in spades. I am honored to be able to share and highlight HER story, as she shares and highlights so many of ours.”

Thank you, Eric! 

Also, I also am thrilled to share that Police1, the national law enforcement news outlet, recently published a Q&A with me about my podcast and why I do it. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity because it helps me reach more officers with my message of support. As Nancy Perry of Police1 wrote: “With no ads or subscription fees, Ellsworth’s only goal is support: for officers and for the truth.”  

Police1 Q&A with me:

https://www.police1.com/patrol-issues/policing-podcast-profiles-on-being-a-police-officer-podcast-shares-the-raw-truth-behind-the-badge

You can find Eric on his website:

https://www.bluegritwellness.com/

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluegritradio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluegritwellness  

Tik Tok @bluegritwellness.

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-tung-a83459203/

His podcast Blue Grit Radio is available on all podcast platforms.

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 72 Tessa Melville has been with the Kent Police Department for eight years, though her introduction to law enforcement began much earlier through her stepfather, a police officer, and her mother, a dispatcher. The realities of the job were made very clear before she even started. At just 16 years old, Tessa joined her parents in attending the memorial service for the devastating ambush murders of four Lakewood Police Department officers – known as the Lakewood Four – all of them gunned down as they sat in a coffee shop on a Sunday morning in 2009.

With only three months on with Kent PD, Tessa would face her own critical incidents including responding to the scene of the line of duty death of Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno during which she rendered aid to both him and another officer seriously wounded in a crash at the scene. We discuss the lasting impact of this incident on her and how it helped shape her career and her outlook.

After three years in patrol, Tessa became a field training officer, a role which she says has been one of her most challenging. A few years later, Tessa joined the Detective Unit to work Special Assault, cases which include sexual assault, domestic violence, internet crimes against children, and elder abuse. Tessa decided to join this unit in part because of her personal experience as a sexual assault survivor. She wanted to bring her learnings and a trauma-informed approach to the work. However, after nearly two years as a detective on this unit, Tessa decided to return to patrol while continuing to investigate some of her cases, the reasons for which we will discuss.

We also talk about how she didn't really consider law enforcement as a profession even with her family affiliation. She chose first to go into the military, where she spent five years in the Navy as a Green Side hospital corpsman where she received specialized training in traumatic field care, training she has put to use as a police officer.

Thank you, Tessa. You can find Tessa:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessamelville/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-m-210959114/

I would like to honor the service and ultimate sacrifice of Officer Diego Moreno. EOW Sunday, July 22, 2018

https://www.odmp.org/officer/23727-police-officer-diego-moreno

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abby.ellsworth.52/

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 71 – Officer Tevon Davis on Losing His Gang Member Brother in a Police Shootout

In this powerful crossover episode, I co-host alongside former Raleigh Police Officer Cameron Santana on the Santana True Crime podcast.

We sit down with Officer Tevon Davis, who shares the deeply personal and emotional story of his older brother Tyre—a Piru Bloods gang member who was killed in a shootout with Norfolk Police after murdering a fellow gang member. For years, Tevon harbored resentment toward law enforcement, unaware of the full circumstances surrounding his brother’s death. His perspective changed only after learning the truth.

Tevon opens up about the pain of losing his brother, how he came close to following the same path, and what ultimately led him to choose a career in law enforcement. It’s a raw, nuanced conversation about grief, resilience and redemption.

Listen to this gripping episode on my podcast and on Santana True Crime, part of the Failure to Stop network.

Check out Cameron’s book, “A Murder on Campus: The Professor, the Cop and North Carolina's Most Notorious Cold Case,” which investigates the 1973 unsolved rape and murder of 19-year-old Virginia Olson.

Thank you, Cameron and Tevon. And a special thanks to Eric Tansey of Failure to Stop for connecting us. Pre-order Eric’s book, “Pig Latin: A Seriously Funny True Story of a Former Police Officer” which will be published in August. 

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 70 - From Raleigh PD to True Crime Author: Cameron Santana on his law enforcement career and the Virginia Olson Cold Case. Cameron has 20 years in law enforcement. He started with Raleigh PD in 2005. In our conversation, we jump right in with his first call straight out of the academy – a violent murder scene. Cameron talks about what it’s like hitting the streets with no real world LE experience, being surrounded by chaos and relying on the direction of his Field Training Officer. Then, within short two years, Cameron would go from having an FTO to being an FTO and later Taser Instructor. In all, he trained more than 30 officers.

Cameron later joined Raleigh PD’s Strike Team the goal of which was to aggressively address the city’s problem areas through proactive policing. The unit’s focus was on violent gang offenders, street level drug sales, and prostitution. The team also conducted surveillance during spikes in burglaries. After about 13 years on patrol, Cameron transitioned to School Resource Officer because the set schedule would allow him to spend more time with his family after his daughter was born with special needs. School Resource Officer was a role he never expected he would want, much less come to love. Throughout our conversation, Cameron shares funny, often wild stories of police work, as well as the painful calls that all of you respond to in this profession, calls that live with him to this day.

Cameron has co-authored a true crime book with his brother Brian, an English professor. The book, “A Murder on Campus: The Professor, the Cop and North Carolina's Most Notorious Cold Case,” investigates the 1973 unsolved rape and murder of 19-year-old Virginia Olson, a student at University of North Carolina Asheville.

 It is the first book to thoroughly investigate her story and attempt to find answers to solve this now 52-year-old cold case. The book has led to Cameron’s launching his own podcast “Santana True Crime” on the Failure to Stop network. As well as a podcast called “Free Daniel Holtzclaw” with Eric Tansey of Failure to Stop. Available on all podcast platforms. Links below.

I want to thank Cameron for coming on the show, his commitment to law enforcement, and his mission to not only find justice for victims, but also to make sure the rest of us know the story of their lives beyond their incident. 

Santana True Crime on Spotify

Free Daniel Holtzclaw on Spotify

You can find Cameron on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/santanatruecrime/

https://www.instagram.com/santanabrotherstruecrime/

https://www.instagram.com/freeholtzclaw/

The book is available wherever books are sold. You can get it here on Amazon.

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 69 - LAPD Lt. Jeff Wenninger (ret) – Rodney King Riots; Rampart Scandal and rebuilding the Gang CRASH Unit through leadership and teamwork. Jeff Wenninger is a retired LAPD lieutenant with more than 30 years in law enforcement. He started with L.A. County Sheriff in 1991 and was on patrol during the Rodney King riots.

He later lateralled to LAPD in 1993 and went on to work with some of the most highly-trained units, including the Metropolitan Division which encompasses SWAT, K9, high risk warrants, bank stakeouts, and more. The areas of focus over his career have included crowd management, high risk tactical operations, and dignitary protection. As sergeant, he was handpicked as the officer in charge of the Rampart Gang Enforcement detail following the Rampart Scandal in the late 90s, during which he implemented best practices in adherence to the DOJ consent decree. As sergeant and later as lieutenant, Jeff was the officer in charge of the Force Investigation Division and oversaw investigations of lethal force and other significant applications of force. Jeff's work earned him prestigious awards including the LAPD Medal of Valor, Police Star, and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Jeff is the founder and CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants, LLC.  He currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his son. And he is working on a book called “On Thin Ice” that will be published on May 6. His goal is to align police methods with societal expectations, improve public trust and enhance police training.

Thank you, Jeff!

You can find Jeff:

LinkedIn

LEO Roundtable

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going. Please follow and subscribe. On Apple Podcasts, a five-star review will help a great deal!

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 68 Talking Prison and Street Gangs with returning guest and gang culture expert retired Lt. Brian “BC” Sanders. In his 20+ years with a large agency in the southeastern U.S., Brian served on various proactive units including Gang Suppression, homicide, drug unit, aggravated assault and more. He is known for developing sources, actionable gang intelligence, motivating others to learn and work gangs and pushing disruption initiatives to reduce violence.

In this episode, we explore the origins, evolution, and power dynamics of prison gangs – why they form, how they recruit, what their initiations or jump-ins look like, how they tend to self-segregate along racial lines. We compare them to how street gangs operate within the prison including how and why street gang members can still call the shots on the street even while behind bars. And we look at how prison and street gangs coexist.  

We delve into the well-known case of Sex Money Murder (SMM) leader “Pistol Pete” Rollack, one of the most notorious gang leaders who famously ordered the murder of two fellow gang members while he was serving a life sentence, a crime that sent him to solitary confinement.

If you haven’t already, check out my first conversation with Brian in Ep. 44 in which we talked about types of street gangs, how they recruit, the people who join them and how gangs have evolved over time. We discuss their hand signs, graffiti and bandanas known as flags, and initiations called jump-ins.

Brian teaches virtual and in-person classes on gang culture for law enforcement and citizens and how if you know what to look for and what steps to take, you can disrupt the spread and violence of gangs. You can find out more on his website (link below). Also check out Brian’s podcasts “The Disruptors with Brian Sanders” and “Nightshift,” the true crime podcast he co-hosts with the lovely Andrea Up Late on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

His website has links to the podcasts, his social media handles and info on his classes. You can contact him directly through the site.

https://thedisruptorswithbriansanders.com/

The Disruptors on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5QiNmgm8Z5MgQDAzHa6FeI?si=765b5cb1b9674adf&nd=1&dlsi=33e625c9e3984a0f

The Disruptors on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/the_disruptors_podcast/#

Night Shift Andrea Up Late YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@andrea_up_late

 Brian’s email:

[email protected]

Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:

Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer

Facebook: On Being a Police Officer

YouTube: Abby Ellsworth Channel

[email protected]

www.onbeingapoliceofficer.com

©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org