Reasons We Serve: Police Careers & Officer Experience

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Reasons We Serve: Police Careers & Officer Experience episodes

December 24, 2023 Episode 43 Nampa Police Department Detective Matt Reimer
Years of Service: 2006-2020

Matt began his career in law enforcement in 2006 with the Nampa Police Department. After two years Matt was promoted to a Detective in the Narcotics Unit and worked both street level and high-level drug investigations. During this time Matt served as a Task Force Officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration where he worked complex drug conspiracies and was the affiant on several wiretap (Title 3) investigations. In 2020, Matt eventually quit the Nampa Police Department after dealing with several unsubstantiated internal investigations. During this interview, Matt provides a unique perspective on the internal workings and politics of a police department.
1 hr 32 min
December 17, 2023 Episode 42 Colonel Kedrick Wills Idaho State Police
Years of Service: 1991-Present In

1991, Colonel Wills began his law enforcement career at 18 years old as a reserve deputy for a small Idaho town. In 1996, Colonel Wills was hired by the Idaho State Police where he started his career working in rural counties in the State of Idaho. In 1997, Colonel Wills was awarded the second highest medal for ISP the Silver Star. Colonel Wills began rising through the ranks of ISP and in 2017, was appointed by the Governor of Idaho to serve as Colonel and lead and manage ISP.

For those interested in a career with the Idaho State Police, the following is contact information for those wishing to learn more.

Recruiter Line: 208-884-7018
Recruiter Email: [email protected]
57 min
December 10, 2023 Episode 41 EPA US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Bryan Byrd
Years of Service: 2002-Present

Bryan began his career in law enforcement in 2002 as a biologist with the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2004, Bryan became a Special Agent with the EPA’s Office of Inspector General where he investigated internal matters and EPA contracts relating to waste, fraud, and abuse both civil and criminal in nature. In 2005, Bryan began working on EPA cases in Washington DC and later worked in Boise, Idaho where he investigated criminal cases involving environmental and natural resource crime as it related to the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In 2023, Bryan transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service where he currently works as a Special Agent investigating fraud related to violations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

During this episode, Bryan discussed services provided to law enforcement for mental health. The following are links to the organizations mentioned.
https://thewildcourage.life
https://lawenforcementcoaching.com
58 min
December 03, 2023 Episode 40 Homeland Security Investigations Honolulu Special Agent in Charge John Tobon
Years of Service: 1994-Present

John began his career in law enforcement in 1994 as an Import Specialist. In 1997, John became a Special Agent with the U.S. Customs Service where he was stationed in Seattle, Washington, and New York City. During his time in New York, HSI, or Homeland Security Investigations was created and John soon had a new agency to work for. John spent time in Bogota Colombia as the Assistant Attaché and began rising through the ranks of HSI. John was stationed in Washington DC as a Section Chief, as well as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge and Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Miami, Florida. In 2020, John was promoted to Special Agent in Charge in Honolulu, Hawaii where he is in charge of the State of Hawaii, four U.S. Territories, three Freely Associated States, and 12 Pacific Island nations. During his career, John has worked on cases involving narcotics, money laundering, and terrorism including an investigation with direct ties to Osama Bin Laden.
59 min
November 26, 2023 Episode 39 retired Honolulu Police Department Captain Letha DeCaires
Years of Service: 1983-2010

Born in Michigan during a snowstorm, Letha moved to Wisconsin and then to Duluth Minnesota where her dad was a JC Penny Store Manager. Letha fell in love and married a Marine and moved to Hawaii. The marriage did not work out and while trying to decide if she should go back to Duluth, she applied to be a Honolulu Police Department Officer on a bet. In 1983, Letha began her career with the Honolulu Police Department which lasted until she retired in 2010. During her career, Letha walked a beat in Honolulu to include Waikiki and Chinatown. Letha worked as a detective and was promoted to Sergeant, Lieutenant, and then her final rank as Captain.
1 hr 10 min
November 19, 2023 Episode 38 retired Honolulu Deputy Chief John McCarthy
Years of Service: 1976-2021

John began his career in 1976 walking patrol in downtown Honolulu. Working in downtown Honolulu meant dealing with prostitutes and working cases involving domestic violence, battery, and burglary as well as working on Waikiki where he came in contact with tourists visiting Hawaii who would have too much to drink and sometimes would be the victims of theft. As John rose through the ranks of Honolulu PD, he had many different assignments including as a detective in property crimes as well as a nearly decade-long assignment working narcotics with the DEA. While a Lieutenant and Captain, John investigated financial and white-collar crimes and in 2013 was the Lieutenant of the Year. In 2017, John was promoted to the Deputy Chief of Police for Field Operations where he remained until he retired in 2021.
1 hr 11 min
November 12, 2023 Episode 37 Idaho State Police Detective Vickie Gooch
Years of Service: 1980-Present

Vickie began her law enforcement career in 1980 and worked for several different law enforcement agencies. Like many new officers, Vickie worked on patrol handling calls ranging from traffic stops, vehicle accidents where passengers and drivers died to burglary and domestic violence calls. In 1988, Vickie began working for what is now the Idaho State Police as a detective in the narcotics unit before finding her true calling working major cases such as child sexual assault, rape, murder, fraud, internal investigations, officer-involved critical incidents to name just a few. Vickie retired in 2023 but was recently rehired by ISP where she currently works cold cases using genealogy and DNA to catch suspects that have thus far gone unpunished.
1 hr 14 min
November 05, 2023 Episode 36 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Forensic Nurse Deborah Wetherelt
Years of Service: 1977-Present

Deb began her nursing career in 1977, and for 42 years delivered babies and worked in nursing leadership roles in the maternal-child area. After her husband passed away, Deb was trying to decide what the next chapter of her life would look like and learned about a new program with the Idaho State Police. ISP was looking for a nurse to develop a state-wide role to teach nurses how to perform the medical forensic examination after sexual assault. Deb was hired as the coordinator and became a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner where she now teaches about sexual assault, strangulation, trauma response, and how it affects behavior for nurses, law enforcement, and Sexual Assault Response Teams in the state. Since beginning her role, Idaho has increased the sexual assault collection sites from 3 to 32 with the goal of ensuring there is a site in every part of Idaho.
48 min
October 29, 2023 Episode 35 Caldwell Fire Department Deputy Chief Alan Perry
Years of Service: 1997 to Present

Alan began his career in firefighting with the US Forest Service in 1997. While employed by the USFS he worked as a firefighter and EMT in wildland fire suppression operations in Northern California. Alan then left the USFS and worked for other agencies including Ventura County Fire Department, Idaho State Fire Marshal Office, and Caldwell Fire Department. Alan worked his way up from a code enforcement officer, Fire Inspector, Fire Marshal, and Deputy Chief of Prevention. As a Fire Marshal Alan collects and preserves evidence, documents the scene, interviews witnesses and suspects, and completes detailed reports that are used in criminal cases for fire and explosion investigations. As part of the senior-level command staff, Alan is also responsible for all internal and external fire prevention and risk mitigation activities for the Caldwell Fire Department.
1 hr 15 min
October 22, 2023 Episode 34 retired United States Postal Inspector Darin Solmon
Years of Service: 1997-2022

Darin began his law enforcement career in 1997 with the Border Patrol. After 4 years of enforcing United States Immigration law, Darin was hired by the United States Postal Inspector Service. Darin began his career as a Postal Inspector in Puerto Rico and was later transferred to Washington DC. While in DC, Darin was assigned to a task force working on anthrax attacks with the investigative name Amerithrax. The case investigated the mailing of anthrax spores to news outlets as well as to Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Lahey which resulted in the killing of five people and infecting 17 others. Darin was later transferred to the Boise, Idaho office where he was responsible for investigating cases throughout the state. Some of these cases involved assault, robbery, homicide, drug trafficking, romance schemes, and mail fraud.
1 hr 1 min

About Reasons We Serve: Police Careers & Officer Experience

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Police officer stories and law enforcement interviews revealing why people choose careers in policing.
Do you ever wonder why people go into law enforcement? Does being in law enforcement change…