Weekend Buff

Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts

Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts (2018-present)

We are delving back into the wide world of podcasts for this installment of Weekend Buff. There is a ton of police and true crime content out there. Some are good and some are bad. Most of the police podcasts are pretty good, run by competent people. A few are amateurish or touch on topics that are more self-help information than police work. The world of true crime is all over the place. True crime podcasts are run by everyone from bored housewives to conspiracy theorists, to competent investigators.

The Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts podcast is one of the best and touches both categories. This show is in an interview format run by former Massachusetts cop Steve Gould. This show has more than 300 episodes and has an all-star team of guests.

The guests are from all over the spectrum of police work, from SWAT officers to federal agents to homicide detectives. They relate the wildest stories of their careers, tough cases, and tragic deaths. The guests also touch on issues that face officers both in the past and in our current anti-police environment. It is a little bit of everything.

The podcast attracts some of the most well-known names in law enforcement for interviews. It pulls from all ranks but often gets investigators and field level supervisors. It’s not a policy discussion, its cop’s stories, lives, and concerns in their own words. Law enforcement luminaries such as NYPD Lieutenant Commander of Detectives Vernon Geberth, author of the book Practical Homicide Investigation. Colorado Springs Detective Lieutenant Joe Kenda, who has his own real crime show, Chicago Detective Lieutenant Richard Rybicki, who has penned several novels, and DEA Special Agent Stephen Murphy, who worked on the Pablo Escobar case all contribute episodes.

And they tell some wild stories. Real stories of survival and death, tragedy and comedy. There are no punches pulled here. Cops speak their minds and there doesn’t seem to be a topic that gets edited out. Politics and policework, cursing and carousing, the irreverence that comes with decades of being a cop are all on display.

Gould is a good host in that he is not interjecting or running the agenda. He asks a question and lets the guest speak and take the conversation where it leads. Cops love to talk about policework. Gould acknowledges that and lets his guests tell the stories they want to tell and the issues important to them. He is aware he is talking to some legends of law enforcement and keeps his ego out of it.

Each Things Cops See: Firsthand Accounts episode runs between 50 minutes and an hour and a half. Gould doesn’t cut the conversations to keep a set time. He lets the stories flow. You can catch them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or his website, thingspolicesee.com. You can pay for extra content and video or make donations through patreon.com. Enjoy the stories of legend from the police legends themselves.

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!!