Behind the Badge with Garry McCarthy
Behind the Badge with Garry McCarthy
Podcast Description
In "Behind the Badge," former Chicago top cop Garry McCarthy offers a rare look into the inner workings of one of America’s most-scrutinized police forces. Beyond breaking down the latest crime trends and the policies that shape strategies, McCarthy and seasoned law enforcement officials share what it really means to wear the badge—revealing both the challenges and rewards of serving on the front lines.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on law enforcement experiences, crime trends, and the emotional impact of policing, with episodes covering topics like the camaraderie among officers in the NYPD football team and the personal stories of families coping with police-related trauma, exemplified by the episode featuring the memories of Officer Ella French.
In “Wearing the Badge,” former Chicago top cop Garry McCarthy offers a rare look into the inner workings of one of America’s most-scrutinized police forces. Beyond breaking down the latest crime trends and the policies that shape strategies, McCarthy and seasoned law enforcement officials share what it really means to wear the badge—revealing both the challenges and rewards of serving on the front lines.
Police work puts officers in the middle of mental illness, homelessness, addiction, and trauma, often with little training and a lot of stigma. In this episode of Wearing the Badge, Garry McCarthy sits down with Ernie Stevens, a retired San Antonio police officer and crisis-intervention trainer, to talk about what works when someone is in crisis, and why officer wellness cannot be an afterthought.
00:00 Cold open
01:40 Who is Ernie Stevens?
03:35 “Volunteered” into crisis training
05:43 The NAMI story that changed him
09:11 Training as a reward
10:29 De-escalation with a gun present
18:15 Homelessness
20:03 Partnering with NAMI
25:03 The stigma of officers getting help
29:10 Officers come forward for help
29:28 Garry’s father and the 1953 shootout
32:58 Adam Toledo and the aftermath
39:34 Building a culture of officer wellness
43:53 What trauma really is
48:22 ‘Crisis Cops’ and why the film mattered
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