Behind The Thin Blue Line Podcast

Stay On Point: SWAT, Iraq, PTSD, and the Loss of a Son with Daryl Smith (Part 2)

• Mark Bridgeman

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In Part 2 of my conversation with retired Fayetteville Police Department tactical commander Daryl Smith, we move beyond the action and into the realities that come after the gunfights, high-risk operations, and years spent working in some of the most dangerous environments imaginable. Daryl shares powerful firsthand accounts of officer-involved shootings, the life-saving role of training under stress, and the split-second decisions that define survival in critical incidents.

We also have an honest conversation about the unseen toll of law enforcement and combat service. Daryl opens up about PTSD, personal loss, faith, mental health, and the importance of seeking help when the weight of the job becomes too much to carry alone. From SWAT operations and overseas contracting in Iraq to lessons for the next generation of officers, this episode delivers hard-earned wisdom, resilience, and perspective that every first responder—and every listener—can learn from.

Episode Highlights

[00:27] - Daryl recounts his first officer-involved shooting and the dangers officers face during domestic violence calls.

[01:55] - A high-risk warrant service turns into a life-or-death encounter, highlighting how critical training becomes under pressure.

[06:00] - The aftermath of an officer-involved shooting and how support for officers has evolved over the years.

[08:20] - Daryl discusses PTSD, the cumulative effects of trauma, and why officers must be willing to ask for help.

[13:45] - The support systems, mentors, and personal faith that helped Daryl navigate some of the darkest periods of his life.

[22:20] - How Daryl transitioned from law enforcement into overseas contracting and tactical operations in Iraq.

[32:15] - Daryl shares the story of his son Jonathan, the impact of military service, and a powerful message about mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

[45:20] - Advice for new police officers entering the profession, including training, communication skills, and preparing for the realities of the job.

[50:25] - A final discussion on PTSD, resilience, and why seeking help is a sign of strength—not weakness.

Have a question or topic you’d like explored on the show? Know someone whose story belongs Behind the Thin Blue Line?

Share this episode with someone interested in real-world law enforcement stories

Contact us: mbridgeman@behindthethinblueline.org

Listener Advisory

This episode includes discussions of real-world violence, criminal activity, and emotionally intense subject matter. Listener discretion is advised.

 

Daryl Smith:

So everything that you learn in training kicks in, but if you don't train now, you're trying to think about it. Seconds in a gunfight is a long time.

David L. White:

This podcast contains real-world accounts and discussions related to law enforcement, military, criminal investigations, public safety incidents, and violent crime. Topics may include graphic descriptions, strong language, trauma, death, and emotionally intense subject matter, and may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Mark Bridgeman:

You kind of alluded to the shooting under Buckingham. Yeah, was that your first officer-involved shooting?

Daryl Smith:

Yes, I didn't actively lose my backup on the domestic, Mike Halstead,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

came. The guy was known, turkey nice me, and Halstead got there in time and shot him. From domestics, especially for young officers, you know, you can be there and they will, they're fighting each other. I mean, he beat her when I saw her, her lip was just, and she had this butcher knife, and you know they're fighting each other, but now you're getting, when you get involved, they turn on you,

Mark Bridgeman:

absolutely.

Daryl Smith:

And so that's what happened, you know. Now I'm fighting her, and she throws a knife at him out in the hallway, and first I could see that Mike was going to the wrong house and neighbors pointed and I yelled, Mike's got a knife and he stepped towards my with it, like Mike shot him, so but yeah, domestics are dangerous, you know,

Mark Bridgeman:

and don't like having a domestic in a kitchen, it was a knives.

Daryl Smith:

Yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

get him out of that, that room.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah, yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

the best you can.

Daryl Smith:

Exactly, exactly the ones up at Buckingham, that was yet direct. That was, that was close.

Mark Bridgeman:

We got intel that a guy had to 38 Well,

Daryl Smith:

he had the 38 in the bed.

Unknown:

Yep,

Daryl Smith:

you know, he usually lays in the bed with the 38 right there in front of the door, and it was actually a note with the gold, no knock search warrant, but we were like, no, we're gonna sound, you know, we're gonna announce, just as Shannon Brewer hit that door, which was good, I'm glad he did, because the way, the, you know, like a couple of steps, and he had to, you going from the outside, it wasn't like an indoor motel room, and so he had to hold the ram a certain way to get it, because if it would have took him two times, thanks, probably, you know, God would probably shot through the chair and everything, so he got it open the first shot, and and this is where training kicks in soon as the door briefed open. Blair was one, I was number two, and the week before we had trained a whole week out there, Bragg,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

at a certain place, you know, yeah. And so Simmunition, so it was just like clockwork, so as soon as he went in, you know, he hit his corner and kicked and sweep back around. When he did that, you hear a crack, and it was like a pop to me and Blair, and I saw Blair flit, and that's when the route hit him in the helmet and went up into the ceiling, and instead of freezing up, Blair did what he was supposed to do. Yeah, he continued to move and was out of the doorway. And when I came in, by the time I came in, the door hit the TV, and came back, and by the time I come up, that's when the guy swung around, and everything slows down, you hear this in training with firearms about auditory exclusion, tunnel vision, all of that. I mean, you're 100% focused on because your life is dependent, you know, and so everything slowed down. I literally could look down the barrel of a gun waiting to get shot in the face, but because of the training kicking in, is just automatically coming up, you know, pressing the trigger. We both engage, and we're firing until he dropped the gun, and and then you're like, "Holy crap, this just happened. You know, it was closed. We were only like eight feet away from him, because the bed was right there,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah. And I think you know, learning that immediate threat concept is a big deal. You know, you take care of your responsibility, you clear your corner,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

And you know, the next guy in the door is immediate threat. I mean,

Daryl Smith:

he's, yeah, well, you still got it now. You still have to hit your corner, but there was no corner to go in. It was just like the door was like boom, yeah, so there was no, no right for me to go,

Mark Bridgeman:

and burger might have sent me home in cop time that night.

Daryl Smith:

Oh, really?

Mark Bridgeman:

Yeah, maybe calls me up, get out here,

Daryl Smith:

yeah. So everything that you learn in training kicks in, so but if you don't train now, you're trying to think about it and. Seconds in a gunfight is a long time.

Mark Bridgeman:

It is.

Daryl Smith:

If we would have thought about it seconds, the guy would have had time to fight. He was a Vietnam vet.

Unknown:

Yep,

Daryl Smith:

you know. Fortunately, he was on drugs, you know. And so it would have been a different story. But train,

Mark Bridgeman:

to be set it up, this guy was slinging dope,

Daryl Smith:

yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

out of a little motel room, right across from the VA hospital,

Daryl Smith:

yes.

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, and you know, we had Intel, he was buying, had intel that he had a 38 in the room, you know, and he slept with it on his stomach or his chest or whatever.

Daryl Smith:

Yep, yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

So you guys went through the shooting, and only by the grace of God that Blair,

Unknown:

the

Mark Bridgeman:

bullet, hit the lip of his helmet and deflected up into the ceiling.

Daryl Smith:

Yes, yep.

Mark Bridgeman:

And Blair still has a helmet to this day, which is good.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah, look, they measured it. If it would have been 1/8 of an inch lower, it would have went into his eyeball.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

that's how I mean, God was on our side that night.

Unknown:

Yes.

Daryl Smith:

Now, if he was a little taller,

Mark Bridgeman:

I've had to deal, I've never been involved in officer-involved shooting, but I had to deal with the ethnic math with my officers being involved, right? And it's a process, you know, you get ready for a long night or a long day, you know, they're going to keep you awake, you know. I wasn't real comfortable the way that they handled the shooting with you and Blair, because yeah, I'll let you go ahead and describe it. You know, afterwards you go through, you got to give your statements to the SBI, you got to give your statement to Internal Affairs, then they send you to a doc

Daryl Smith:

up here, and you carry somewhere,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, and it's a contracted, you know, psychiatrist, you know, to talk about, you know, you know, shootings, you know, Officer Bob shootings, stuff. Yeah, how did that go compared to what happens nowadays?

Daryl Smith:

So, after that, we went, and we waited for the SBI, and back then we had PBA attorneys,

Unknown:

yep,

Daryl Smith:

and so we waited for our attorneys, and so we're up, all you know, all night waiting for the SBI to get in there, even talk to OPS at the time, and so it's interview after interview, and so daylight come now, no break, they put us in the car, and we're driving up to carry to talk to someone, and what really, it was just a waste of time for because it was just like, well, how do you feel,

Mark Bridgeman:

and you put you both in a room at the same time, right?

Daryl Smith:

Um, I can't remember, I don't think so. No,

Mark Bridgeman:

okay.

Daryl Smith:

And I'm just like, yeah, just shot somebody. What do you, what do you think? You know, I wasn't real happy. Of course, we've been up 36 you know, yeah. We're just, and so the process wasn't that great then. I'm sure it's probably better now. Well, back then we were back at work the following week,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah.

Daryl Smith:

Now it's months, you know. They have to wait before they hit the road, yeah. We're back hitting houses the following week. Today, what people don't, real lot of young officers, and like Total Academy, too. If you have problems, you know, everybody handles situations differently, you know. I was, I was kind of, I was quiet with Mons internally. It really didn't bother me. I didn't think I had PTS.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

I had to use PTSD, but PTSD, right? But it was building up, but really didn't affect my work, you know?

Mark Bridgeman:

I mean, you didn't think about it. No

Daryl Smith:

party job, right? You know, it didn't affect my home life either. You know, I was good with, you know, the kids and their family, good support. But now I've learned a lot, having been overseas, you know, five years in Iraq, doing a contract with, you know, with Special Operations Group. Most of the guys came out of GRAC, you know, and saw a lot, did a lot. Larry was there too. Walt Fisher was there, and each had our own experiences, and didn't know that it built up until you got home, at least for me, you know. Anger, I mean, I had thrown my wife out of bed a couple times and swung at her while,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, because you know, hearing mortar rounds and stuff like that, and driving me radically. Oh gosh, I'm driving, running people for running red lights, because that's what we did over there, and so it built up. So finally it was all time low when we moved to Tampa and. Finally, I was, my wife convinced me to talk to someone, because I was like, I don't talk to anybody, and, but I was hurting myself by, by not doing that, and you know, I may be getting ahead of what you want to talk about, but, and I'm not ashamed to say it now, but there was times when I was living in Tampa, there was twice I put the 40, my 45 in my mouth, because of just the stuff we see, and I believe in Afghanistan as well. Yeah, and it's just nothing but the grace of God and my family that kept me from doing it, but I lost my son too. Yes, you know, so he was a combat medic at 21 years old, so this stuff is real, and I told him, I said, "Police, the suicide rate for police officers just as high as the military. Oh,

Mark Bridgeman:

it is absolutely,

Daryl Smith:

you know, and don't be afraid to get help.

Mark Bridgeman:

Well, you know, the thing about law enforcement, I had one of the guests on a couple podcasts go, he retired Raleigh PD, he had medically retired, he's been in stuff, you know, his former Marine, using the Marines, and about a dozen years, you know. So you talked about that difference between, you can speak to that, as well as being on the edge in the combat zone versus working the streets and being on the edge working in a law enforcement environment, where you always got your head out of swivel. There is no green zone,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, unless you go into the PD,

Daryl Smith:

right? Right,

Mark Bridgeman:

then sometimes you have stress within the PD, dealing with different people, you know, different kind of stress. I would much rather be out in the street dealing with people than inside the police department dealing with internal strife sometimes, yeah, that wasn't all bad. I mean, but you know, sometimes there was threshold disagreements, yeah, and you always didn't get your way, which is okay. I mean,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah. See, with the one thing about Fayetteville, working in Fayetteville, it was a good training ground for Iraq.

Mark Bridgeman:

Oh, really?

Daryl Smith:

Because we saw a lot here, you know. Yeah, I mean, from the dead bodies, they were just mutilated or shot up or whatever. So, when you go over there, it wasn't a shock,

Unknown:

yeah.

Daryl Smith:

You know, and I've seen guys and working with different companies in law enforcement go over there, and they're just like, I didn't sign up for this. Wow, you're in the war zone, dude. Yeah, and I understand the money, but realize you know

Mark Bridgeman:

in the thing about being in patrol law enforcement, and hopefully it's changing as time goes by, but it's slow to change that law enforcement, especially in a high tempo environment like Fayetteville, you go to, you know, a horrific call, you know, critical call or something like that. Right after the call is over, get back in your car and go back at search, you'll take an extra fork, you know, we got calls stacked on, man, you know. So there was really no time to decompress, because, yeah, there's.. I saw guys busted up by a train, you know, and your body parts all over the place, and it was like, okay, you know, they policed them up, you know, put them in a bag, and you go back 10 eight, and you go back at service, that's

Daryl Smith:

it, that's it,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, and it's like, okay,

Daryl Smith:

yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Daryl Smith:

be like me and Terry, when we were sergeants together, you get calls, you know, brain guy, airline pilot goes high in front of his house, and everything. It's just like, wow. There was just after Google Content, they went, got something,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know. But it's all that stuff built up. So, when I talked to my therapist down in Tampa, I said, do I have this PTS? He goes 100% so really feel, oh yeah, she explained why, and everything, and you know, if I can't listen, you got to get help, you got to get a support group,

Unknown:

if

Daryl Smith:

this is what helped me, because I mean, I've been at a lowest low point, and a lot of my friends didn't know that, and I kept it to myself. The biggest thing now is is lack of sleep, because of pain. Yeah, and sometimes nightmares, but what's helped me overcome is being part of a support group, and so one of my friends, now Pat McNamara unit, him and one of my other friends, CJ, we have a group called Keith the Blaze Alive, and so we get a group of people from all over the United States. We'll meet twice a year at a meet up and meet weekly on a Zoom call, and everything cool. Pat took me, I wrote Pat an email just to take a chance. I saw him online, I was like, he's not even gonna read that. I expect him to read it, and he did. He took a ticket, you know. He's like, whoa, you heard my story, especially with my son, and he. Yeah, invited me to his house, and, and he was just real, I mean, just smart. He has his, you know, people see him on video, and they say, 'Oh, he said two times, 210, so you don't know off camera, you know. Yes, and so really smart. So he told me how to draw. I got into photography and different things, and especially working out combat strength training, and so I just followed him, and he's really had an impact, great impact on my life being changed, not only, you know, my relationship with with Jesus Christ, but he practically has had a great impact on on my life, and, and I'm really grateful for that. So, but you can't do it on your own, you can't, you cannot do it, you'll lose if you try to solve that problem. Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

and a lot of times, you know, people, and you've seen how stress, you know, affects people, you know, down to the PD is my frame of reference, and I worked at Fort Bragg CID for about nine years, and I saw their level of stress, which is more self-inflicted, more than anything else, you know, stress nonetheless, different type of stress, right, but you know, if you bottle that stuff up and keep it inside, and I did for years, man, I hit the bottle harder, man, you know, and bourbon and cigars almost killed me back in 2020 I had a health issue, you know, had come to a reckoning, and you know, one of my kids said, "Dad, why don't you be around to see your granddaughter's wedding, you know, and that kind of hit home, you know, and you know, you put things a different perspective, yeah, you know, the stress never leaves you, the situations never leave you, but you kind of like learn to cope with it a little bit better, yeah, and you know, people down at the PD, you know, they would do things that were kind of strange. I think everybody down there is genuinely a good person, but stress affected them differently, where they acted in a manner that they probably normally wouldn't act,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, I'm not making excuses for them,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

So, I had plenty of professional disagreements. That doesn't mean I wouldn't get out and right

Unknown:

on the

Mark Bridgeman:

street you fight for,

Daryl Smith:

right,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Unknown:

right,

Mark Bridgeman:

and you know that's the way life is, you know, but you got to have that outlet,

Daryl Smith:

you do,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, so did you have a testimony like, like, you know, Jesus Christ came to your life, and, oh

Daryl Smith:

yeah, oh, big time, and that was more so before I got on the department, but as I was on the department, it was not religion, it went from religion to relationship, so some guys will say Darryl's religious, and I'll tell you firsthand, I said I'm not religious at all. I said, but I do have a relationship in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's there's a big difference in that, and because it's from the heart, and so, and my kids will tell you, a lot of my friends probably don't even know my wife and I pastored a church for 14 years in Clinton, but I left because of being in Iraq, you know. I stopped doing it wasn't fair, and so by doing, by having that relationship, I think has has saved me a lot, especially the encounters I had overseas for all those years, and just my faith in the Lord, and there's nothing to be ashamed about, you know, guys, that's weak, no, that's weak, you don't have the faith, you know, they had that faith in the Lord, but, but that's the road I decided in my household is that we're going to follow what Jesus says and what the Bible says, and that's the path that we chose, and it's worked out for us, but yeah, I don't even, I even take it further now, from religion to relationship to reflection, and what do I mean by that? When it says in Genesis, he says, you know, he said, 'Let us make man in our likeness and in our image. Well, image, you look in the mirror, you see an image of yourself. So I just want to be a reflection of Jesus. Jesus wasn't religious either, you know, and so

Mark Bridgeman:

he turned the tables over,

Unknown:

yeah, he got mad,

Daryl Smith:

and it was a religious, they hung him on the cross, yeah, and so, and so it's just having that personal relationship, and my kids will say, you know, people were at church, and it's like, is your dad really like that, because I'm well, I was way at home, I was way, you know. Church, they were like, well, my dad's what you see is what you get, you know, isn't it? You know, you go to some places, the preacher, pastor is one way at home and then another way at church. Yes, you know, we

Mark Bridgeman:

all have our difference,

Daryl Smith:

yeah. And so my kids will tell you now, my dad, he, he doesn't play that card, you know.

Mark Bridgeman:

I know. I noticed a difference in me, like when I was working plain clothes versus when I worked at uniform. My persona was different, because when you're in uniform, everyone knows you're a cop.

Daryl Smith:

Yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

and you got to have that command,

Daryl Smith:

yep, present, presence, yep.

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, or plain clothes, you can relax a little bit, you can let it go for a certain situation, let it go for

Unknown:

a

Mark Bridgeman:

certain length of time, or if there's younger guys around, let them handle it, which is good, always a good thing. So, you know, your kids are probably like my kids, you know, grow up cop, you know, I mean, like my kids have a different.. I didn't let my.. I was very strict with my kids, right? I should say very strict. I let them get away with, I let them fall when they needed to fall. I picked them out, dusted them off, but I let them get away with stuff I did when I was a kid.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

So, you know, they got to know me a little bit differently than people at work.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

I wasn't at work to make a lot of friends. I had, like, teammates. I had, you know, if you're my buddy, I'm there for you, no matter what,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

But you know, I'm not there to date, I'm not there to have relationships with you. If there's a squad party, absolutely, I'm in, you know, I'll have good time with you.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

but when it came down to business, it's business,

Unknown:

business,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, and you know it had very good supervisors, and had some ones I think I learned more from supervisors that weren't so good that taught me how to talk to treat people,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, which

Mark Bridgeman:

is okay,

Unknown:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

And it was kind of funny because some of them even wore crosses on their uniforms, and I was like,

Unknown:

that's it.

Mark Bridgeman:

Okay, you know, and they do need stuff, and I'm looking at the cross, saying,

Daryl Smith:

oh yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

that's kind of counterintuitive, you know.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, going to, you know, transition from policing, you know, and being religious and stuff. How did you recognize? How did you get recruited to go to Iraq?

Daryl Smith:

It was from having training out there to brag,

Unknown:

okay?

Daryl Smith:

You know, at with the soft units,

Unknown:

yeah.

Daryl Smith:

Once I healed up, the

Mark Bridgeman:

ones I'll not be named,

Daryl Smith:

yeah. So Walt was actually in contact with, with one of the command sergeant majors, yeah, just working with the government, and so Walt gave him my, my name. This is when, before I write this with the air marshal.

Mark Bridgeman:

Okay, yeah, yeah.

Daryl Smith:

Program, so so I went down there and met with him and gave my, my interview. And so he knew one of the guys on the sheriff's department, Danny Q, and he called Danny. He says,"Hey, Dan. He says, "You know this guy, Darryl Smith? He said,"Can you tell me anything about him? He said, "Yeah, he should have hired him yesterday. And so my boss, and he says, "It's all I need to know. Boom, called he called me up, and that's how I got, you know, did the air marshals, and then the war broke out, and then Walt and I got called up to his room, hotel room, sat down with two guys from out there, and they said,"Here's the deal, you know, the President won this task force, yada yada yada, this who you working for from DC, and are you know, are you interested? It was just honored

Mark Bridgeman:

when you said the president, and talk about POTUS,

Daryl Smith:

POTUS,

Unknown:

POTUS, yes,

Daryl Smith:

and so it was a special kind of thing he wanted, so, so kind of honored, because they saw us train out there, they trained

Unknown:

us, yeah,

Daryl Smith:

so and so, so it was kind of honored that they asked, and and so it was like we made a check with our bosses at home first, so got on the phone, call my wife, and I told her how much, and she says, when you leave

Unknown:

it,

Daryl Smith:

I guess I said yes, you know, boom, now's history from there, you know,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, I mean, like, when the money was very good, you know, so I can understand why I was attractive to a lot of people,

Daryl Smith:

but the danger level was just as high,

Mark Bridgeman:

well, exactly, you know, that's why, like, working off-duty jobs, it in Fayetteville,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, guys would say, "Hey, I'm working at this bar, and they pay x amount of dollars, so they pay a lot more because they expect more out of you.

Daryl Smith:

Yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know

Daryl Smith:

exactly.

Mark Bridgeman:

So, what was transition like going from civilian law enforcement into. To contracting in a combat environment, were there specific rules of engagement?

Daryl Smith:

Oh, yeah, oh yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

So there wasn't like

Daryl Smith:

what they call ROEs, yeah, yeah, it was definitely different, but it was a little bit more flexible for us. The thing that I've learned from going from law enforcement to working with people with specialized units, you got to show you got to prove yourself, you know. It's like, what have you done lately, right? What have you done today, not yesterday? You know,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, like who's this cop coming

Daryl Smith:

from, you know? And I shot just as good as they did, because they trade, yeah, they trained me, yeah. And so, you know, you know, they betted me, give thumbs up, and that we weren't afraid to hit, you know, downtown Baghdad, and, and be out there, and so we're, you know, because we've had people come on the team, and they got sent home because they were like, well, we didn't sign up to get into all this. Well, I, you know, they didn't play around, but you know, and for me, just be honest, you know, being of African American, like I really had to prove myself.

Unknown:

Oh, yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, because it looks like, well, can he really shoot? Oh, he can, okay, something different about this guy, you know, and so you know you had to deal with that, not much. Guys were good, but you know, you just had to, you come across to that, you know, and as long as you can, you can do your work, and and be up 1618 hours a day.

Mark Bridgeman:

What year were you over there?

Daryl Smith:

2003 to 2008

Mark Bridgeman:

Oh, so you were in that

Daryl Smith:

right after you

Mark Bridgeman:

were doing ops, pretty much

Daryl Smith:

right for

Mark Bridgeman:

every night. It

Daryl Smith:

was, it was busy.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

we were all only place I didn't go, and I don't mind. We never went to Fallujah.

Mark Bridgeman:

No, okay. Don't

Daryl Smith:

bother me at all.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

so it was good. It was good to go back. It was fun. I go back if it was the right people, you know. Now, just,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, you just can't roll up in there with, you know, just anybody,

Daryl Smith:

right? And you just saw the difference in how Tier One operates in tier two, you know, people like seals operate,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

big difference, you know, big difference. And so it was just an honor, just a unique position, maybe being retired from, I mean, that that was, that was a benefit, you know, I mean, that, that really, really helped, you know,

Mark Bridgeman:

multiple houses a week, you know, I mean, was great training for you, were about to do it, even though you didn't know

Daryl Smith:

it, right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, you had that discipline down, you got the best training for the best people in the world in time, or we did. I was out there with you guys.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, I remember there's certain somebody tried to use an Australian descender, you know, repelling it didn't work out too good, actually. Fractioned one of his verb, fraction, couple of verb phrase. Yeah, that was bad. Yeah, I was like, oh man, that's not supposed to happen. But he hung me there for the rest of the day, man. Yeah, you know, he didn't know it. Yeah, that was good times out there. It was, you know, you know. Do you keep in touch with, you know, those guys? Oh yeah,

Daryl Smith:

oh yeah, some he's called my big brother,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

Greg Burch. He, he's like a mentor to me,

Unknown:

yeah. And

Daryl Smith:

he lives out out west, and, but, yeah, so contacts with several of

Mark Bridgeman:

them. That's cool, man. That's cool, seeing both sides and mentoring the current tag team down in Fayetteville, and other teams as well. I'm sure you networked with a lot of other teams. Yeah, what's the big difference? You know, yeah, obviously the rules of engagement are different, you know, you can't take the guy that's necessarily got like tier one guys, they don't always, it doesn't always translate into like law enforcement ops and stuff like that, because we just can't,

Daryl Smith:

right,

Mark Bridgeman:

toss a grenade into a room because the target with all we'd like to,

Daryl Smith:

right, right,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, you just can't do

Daryl Smith:

that, right, well, actually, you know, with Tier One guys that we've had on a couple on the department and a couple on the team, they're actually not like that. They're actually, I mean, the smart guys, I mean, they're just the intelligence, and no, they know how to switch it, they know how to turn it.

Mark Bridgeman:

There's a very well disappeared,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, very well, you know, but I've had guys from, you know, Special Forces Group come on the team, and it was like, get him off, because he's gonna, he's, he's gonna do something, he thinks he's back in the military, and yeah, and he got, he got kicked off the department, because he, he's done some really crazy. See things, and was like,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, I see it doesn't have to be an operator or anything like that. I've seen people do some, like,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

it's like, okay, put your gun away, it's okay,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

take a couple deep breaths, you're okay, you know. We hit a house one time, one of my yellow officers was, you know, he just rolled up to a house party and went inside, we shouldn't have done that, you know, but he winds up finding like a pound of marijuana, like a big bag of dough, no big deal,

Daryl Smith:

right, right,

Mark Bridgeman:

but to him it was like the biggest find ever,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

and he was like hyperventilating, and I get out there and I'm like,

Unknown:

it's okay,

Mark Bridgeman:

man, take a couple of deep breaths, we got this,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Daryl Smith:

yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

relax, you know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

and he didn't stay on the PD that long, and Fable is not the place where it has a high operational tempo, and I'm not thinking we got could have been a great cop in a smaller tile or even a larger

Unknown:

tile, right? You

Mark Bridgeman:

know, it doesn't matter, but Fable just wasn't a fit for him, you know, and I was used to ask my young officers, you know, whether I was a patrol sergeant or lieutenant, you ever been in a fight, you know? Well, yeah, my brother, no, no, that is a cop. Okay, I'm talking about a fight, you got a gun on your hip, somebody's trying to grab your gun, you got to fight for your life. Well, just get ready, that day is coming. Okay, just get ready, and it's okay. You just got to be able to. I remember one young officer, I told her that, you know, and she'd never been in a fight, and we had this old guy downtown, big red. Remember, we read the big tall dude, about six to eight, he was old by my person. Oh,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah, yeah. That he mouthed off

Mark Bridgeman:

to her, and she said, "You're under a head of warrant order for arrest or something. He says, "Not today, and she was only about five foot four, and she relayed one upside his head and took him into custody. That I said, good job. Nowadays, it's like whole use of force thing, and you know where it can be. I don't know if it's like that now, but under past regimes it was,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

Talk about Jonathan a little bit, you know. He hadn't talked about Jonathan.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah, so he was the youngest of my three kids, my oldest one now, he's 37

Mark Bridgeman:

Yeah, you remember my son Rob? Yeah, he's about the same age.

Daryl Smith:

Okay, and so he's.. he lives in Texas. They have one boy, and then my daughter, she's great, she'll turn 35 this summer, and she has four kids, so yeah, and she lives in Charlotte with her family. And then Jonathan, growing up, he was my mini bee. Out of all of me, he looked like me the most. And growing up, he would say,'Dad, I want to do what you do, you know, and so working overseas, I was like, well, son, that's good, you know, you don't know what I do, yeah, but he got into, you know, guns and firearms, and then wanted to get into the military, and so he wanted to become a ranger, he wanted to become, get into the unit, you know, so once you do some two friends, actually, one of my cousins was, was in the unit, and so he took, you know, took him around and talked with him, and he, yeah, got into the military, the army went through basic, and went through AIT, and they wanted to be a combat medic, 6068 whiskey, and make a long story short, being a medic, not young, there's a lot for this to see what they see, you know, could you Afghanistan, Afghanistan,

Mark Bridgeman:

okay,

Daryl Smith:

no, so, so I'm

Mark Bridgeman:

sure the medics weren't just treating soldiers, they were treating civilian population as

Daryl Smith:

well, right? And so he came home on the event. He knew that I knew I can read his body language. I mean, I studied body language, so he knew how to hide it during the Christmas holidays. The playoffs, college playoffs, were living in Tampa, and they came up to Fayetteville, drop a friend off. He helped his mother drive back. He came home, came in, gave me a hug, and this hug was different. He squeezed me real tight, you know. I love you, and I went back to watching the game with my wife, and he went upstairs, and then he came downstairs, and I saw him go outdoors, and down there it was, it was chilly outside, he just had a short sleep, sure, now he went outside, and after about 20 minutes, blah. I said, hey, tell John to come in, it's cold. First, I said, go ahead, get him. I want to watch the game, so I'm glad I did. I went out, but I couldn't find him, and I was like, maybe he's taking a walk around the block or something, because it did some times I didn't notice him getting down. That's the one thing I tell parents, especially these kids going into the military, is just watch the change of behavior.

Mark Bridgeman:

Oh yeah,

Daryl Smith:

watch if there's any changes, just keep an eye on that. And so I did notice that, and so I didn't. I said, "Let me get my keys and flashlight and see if I get him in the house, so I don't know where he was at the time, but when I went out, I went out to the left with him, looked on the corner a lot, and went to the left, and when I turned around, I saw him laying on the grass on his side, like he was in it, he was in his bed, I was like, dude, I said, it's not a skid up, just get in the house, and he didn't respond. You didn't want to believe him, like no, because I didn't hear nothing, you know. We live in the gated community, you know. Dogs didn't hear anything. Our dogs didn't bar, and so I go over there and flashlight, and I see some blood, and I can see his eyes, and being seen a lot of dead people look like, and I'm like, what the.. and like you see the blood, and then I couldn't find the gun at first, and then I realized he wasn't responding. Then I was pissed, because that's like someone just killed my son. I'm going hunting. I just switched, and then I just happened to see the gun between his feet somehow. I don't know how, if he did it while he was on his knees or wood, and fell over, and it fell between his feet, and I found it. I went into work mode, so that's why I can describe it. I went into not panicking as a parent when I told my wife,"Call 911, and she started freaking feeling like what, so I ended up calling 911 and Tampa police came, and they came in four deep, really, really hard, and they might show them my badge, and everything, and and they really took care of good care of him, you know. They got out there, the sergeant, he made sure I stayed in his side while a medical examiner,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, of course,

Daryl Smith:

and everything, and but it was just a shock, you know, just before Christmas. Christmas for me, not the same anymore. Yeah, it hurt. So that took me, I had already hit a low, I was coming back up, that took me back down again. Enough lost my little mini me, and what was even hard, I had called my son and daughter, tell them about their brother, and then my mother, you know. So I had to make sure some.. my son-in-law and friend was over at the house with my mother when I told her.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, so that was hard. It was really hard. Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah. I'm so sorry that happened. There's really no explaining it. I mean, like, why these things happen to good people, you know? I mean, right. And you know, we've been on a number of calls like that, but it's totally different when it's your own.

Daryl Smith:

Yes, yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know. And, and that goes back to losing Walt, too. You know, that's another.. I mean, he was your best friend. Yeah, I mean, like, yeah, you know, Walt got killed in Kandahar,

Daryl Smith:

no, in Kabul,

Mark Bridgeman:

Kabul,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah, that hurt too. But they got him and the guys who were with him when they got set up. We're working with the National Police, I believe

Mark Bridgeman:

Afghanistan,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, Afghanistan. When I learned this from my wreck, I learned that, you know, I'm nice and respectful, but I don't trust him.

Mark Bridgeman:

Don't trust, yeah.

Daryl Smith:

And so, when I've learned that the nicer they are, the less I trust them. And so this guy kind of befriend them, it's real nice and everything, and, and I guess he got activated some kind of how, and one of mr. Walt tried to tell him, "Hey, let's not go back to our hangar the same way all the time, change it up, you know? They were driving an MRA, thinking of it, so the guy waited for it. They drove in, parked the same place, he did big air conditioner, he waited, and he came around. Walt was first out of the truck, and Walt didn't have a chance. He turned around and saw the guy who was friends with him.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, just take him out, and took out a couple of other guys, and then one guy, Dan, he thought it was like, was gonna throw this train. He was already in the hangar, and he saw that guys were down, and he was the one that ended up killing, killing the guy that hit us hard, you know, and yeah, that hurt too.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

helped his wife. I called her, they lived in South Carolina, Dre. I said, "Hey, how you doing? And, of course, he wasn't doing well at all. I said, you need me to come up there. She goes, yes. So, you know, my wife lives newer, and so I went up there next day. I was up there, and I didn't plan on it, but I ended up playing in the whole funeral with her.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

and I mean, you talking about stress, I said I at the end of the week, I literally.. this is no joke. I had trouble spelling my name. I was that stressed because it was that big, and it was just..

Mark Bridgeman:

it was huge. Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

I wanted to help, you know, Trey out.

Mark Bridgeman:

Of course,

Daryl Smith:

it was just so.. I couldn't even hang out with the guys afterwards. I had to lay down, but yeah, that was a tough one,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

real tough, but what helps me is, especially with my son, is to talk about it, yeah, you know,

Mark Bridgeman:

now, did you want Johnson to get in law enforcement, or you didn't mind?

Daryl Smith:

I didn't mind, but I, I knew he wanted to do the military,

Mark Bridgeman:

okay,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, he wanted to be in the middle here,

Mark Bridgeman:

so I tried to steer my youngest son away from law enforcement, get him into the medical field,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

ultimately pays better, yeah, you know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

and you know, he graduated college, he went to Methodist, you know, that's what

Daryl Smith:

my son went, he's in the medical field too,

Mark Bridgeman:

oh really,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

so Mike's best friend is an MD, went to Methodist, took a guy a biology degree, and I told Mike, I said,'Hey, why don't you get a degree in nursing or something like that? You know, I mean, no, no, I'm gonna do biology and stuff, and then I'm gonna become a PA, and so after he graduated, he wound up becoming an EMT, ride ambulances, and doing that type of stuff, and volunteer firefighter, and then one day he says, "Dad, I would go to BLET, and I'm like, "Okay, where are you planning on going? I said,"I get you in, you know, the Fayetteville Academy. Yeah, no, no, I got this. I want to go to Johnston County Community College, you know, and I'm like, all right, whatever. So he got out with the sheriff's office, and then got out with Fayetteville PD, yeah, and worked the exact same area that I did when I was a rookie, you know, right downtown Robu Terrace, ran across the same people, you know, different generations, you know, as he called me up one day, he says,"Dad, you know, Gloria Banks, she's still alive. He goes, well, yeah, she's passed now, but she would like defecate on herself not to get arrested, you know. She's old heroin addict, you know, that we knew coming up, you know, and even the generation before us knew her, you know, so I tried to steer Mike away from that aspect, you know, but he's an ALE now, he's got himself a solid career, you know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

so that's good, right, yeah, that's sad about Jonathan, man, you know, but you know, you know, talking about us carrying out his legacy as well, yeah, so,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, yeah, and you know, if, if I can reach one person to help save a life of their son or daughter, you know, that, that meets a lot.

Mark Bridgeman:

Well, you know, telling young cops, you know, we're the old dog style, you know. Well, we came up, you know, the Louis Moore's, those guys, so you guys don't know shit, you know?

Daryl Smith:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

we became those guys. Say, okay, now you guys don't know shit, you know. Now we're the old guys. Oh, things are totally different now, you know. I know, still, you know, when you get out there, you know, dealing with people is still dealing with people, you know, no matter what environment you're in, you know, and I've always thought that the biggest tool, or one of the biggest tools you have, is talking to people.

Daryl Smith:

Yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

how you talk,

Daryl Smith:

how you talk to them,

Mark Bridgeman:

because you could talk yourself into a fight.

Daryl Smith:

See, officers do that,

Mark Bridgeman:

and there's been times where you know, I would push other officers' buttons to say, "Ain't talking to me, he's supposed to be talking to you, and they get all tuned up.

Daryl Smith:

He could get tuned up,

Mark Bridgeman:

he would get, I'd get him tuned up about stuff, but you know, he's, he's actually was a really good cop, you know, in, did a lot of things. He says a lot of people don't know about, you know, he did with the violent crimes task force and stuff. They, they locked up a couple of 100 people in that violent crimes task force. We just did the search warrants.

Daryl Smith:

Yeah, one

Mark Bridgeman:

of the guys that was the head of the Roe v. terrorist at the time, Ronald Perkins. My son Mike saw him on Minor Street sitting on a couch at 3o'clock in the morning with a bag of dope in his head. Waterfall from Greece, a deal with hundreds of kilos down to 30 years later, slinging a bag full of cracks, sleeping out of couches. Yeah, so what's the message you give? Like, you know, you just talked to the Academy yesterday. Are they?

Daryl Smith:

I just talked to the reality of what they're going to face. From, hey, learn from the instructors that very capable veteran instructors, most of them are from here on BRT, and learn from them. You have all the pile of books in front of you, but when I got an academy, I didn't look much at the books at all. You're going to wake up to the reality that the streets are not like the books, right? People are not going to say, "Oh, yes, officer, you know, no, officer, no. You're going to get called every name but the child of God, and you have Bill. How are you going to handle that? And one of the ways that I handled it was respect. They had to take it there first, you know. I've stopped people, I've made traffic stops, and have more people say thank you after I gave them a ticket, because the way I treated them.

Mark Bridgeman:

Yes, absolutely.

Daryl Smith:

You know, but then you had the thugs, and you had to talk their language,

Unknown:

yep,

Daryl Smith:

you know, so it's learning how to transition, talk, and everybody's not a thug, you know, and so I realized I said, I said, if you're on patrol or on the part of long enough, I say every one of you don't get in a fight, are you ready for that, and some may even get be involved in the shooting, are you ready for that? So you learn from you, can't, and take your off time, off time, come down to your practice, you know, a lot of things, just, hey, this is your life, you know,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

and buddies on the on the same squad, depending on you, and so I just leave them, leave them with that, say, hey, it's not Kansas anymore, you know, you go out there,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah, and you know, grappling with people as well.

Daryl Smith:

Yes,

Mark Bridgeman:

because most of the time you're, you're not going to use your, your handgun,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

But you got to learn how to grapple. Back in the day, I had a discussion with Ron Hanson, that's when they were, they're doing the Bruce Siddle pressure point control tactics had it had its place, had a couple of good strong moves, you know, wasn't the end all be all, but it was something,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, and our former chief, Ron Hanson, he was like an eighth degree,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, black belt, black

Mark Bridgeman:

belt, and judo, I mean, like one of the highest in the night, and the nation, you know, still it's probably, but you know, and I talked to him, he didn't really want to do it at first, and I said, well, why don't you teach judo, because, well, you know, reliability, so we got to give him something, you know, it's okay, do

Unknown:

it,

Mark Bridgeman:

but you know, you had to practice that type of stuff, you know, so I don't want to say I practiced on my kids, but I taught my kids how to gravel when they were both, you know, I'd always give them a way out, but I do know how to lock somebody down if I need to, yeah, you know, yeah, yeah. I remember we just got issued the bean bag routes. I don't know if you were at the

Daryl Smith:

I was the one that brought the bean bag rounds, yeah, department, yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

Well, somebody wanted to get shot with it with the bean bag route wearing the vest, and he forgot to put the plate caved his chest in, nice little mark, got to put the ceramic plate in there. Okay, you learn next lap

Daryl Smith:

work. I said, you sure you want to? Yeah, okay, that's funny,

Mark Bridgeman:

but you know, with the new generation, there's always going to be a new generation coming up, you know, and I think we have an obligation to kind of like share some of the stuff, maybe even like telling some of the stories, you know, behind the thin blue light, you know, because people have no clue what goes on, you know, they think we just randomly pick people up, and

Daryl Smith:

well, see, this is the thing. I had a neighbor starting to cut her off. The neighbor said, 'Man, you guys don't do nothing. He was in the wheelchair. You guys, you guys don't, you know, to ride around. I see you duck and dilling this, and all I said, 'Hey, why don't you do a ride along with me? And so he did on a Sunday night, and you know, Sunday nights, by the time he got home, he said, 'Man, I will never say anything bad, but you guys get.. I said, I don't know how you do it.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, and so it's just those who don't know,

Unknown:

yeah,

Daryl Smith:

never experienced it.

Mark Bridgeman:

But yeah, I was talking, and I always encourage people to do ride-alongs, you know, and that's great.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

my wife wanted to ride along, she got the knuckle treatment. You

Daryl Smith:

don't have to be first all the time in a shooting call. You have to be first.

Mark Bridgeman:

Yeah, we do

Daryl Smith:

get there. There

Mark Bridgeman:

was times going up Bragg Boulevard. I was doing 100 miles an hour, talking on the radio and the phone at the same time, talking about distracted driving.

Daryl Smith:

Yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

yeah. Now the kids, they have computers in their car. See, you know, that was just coming out. Well, we're like, what mobile data?

Daryl Smith:

I know,

Mark Bridgeman:

talk about, be careful, you know. Is there was a time they were using the mobile data, talking about supervisors and stuff, and then they wound up reading, you know, people read like Kenny Wiseman wound up reading things about himself in there.

Daryl Smith:

Oh my gosh,

Mark Bridgeman:

man, too good, so is there anything else you want to say? I mean, like,

Daryl Smith:

I think we covered. I just really want to hone in on the PTS issue.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

you know, it's really important to get help. Don't be ashamed.

Unknown:

Yeah,

Daryl Smith:

ask for help.

Mark Bridgeman:

I did a podcast a couple weeks ago, about a month ago, now with Tracy Bowman, that she was the lead detective in the Schneider race,

Unknown:

right,

Mark Bridgeman:

and I was captain, you know, at the captain level, I'm just making sure that's that was my perspective, making sure the guys got what they need, okay, let them do their job, let me get out of the way, you know, and that took a toll on sound led the while I was in charge of the ground search. If it wasn't for Lee County Emergency Management, and we'd have been lost in the sauce because it turned into a ground search out in Lee County. Okay, and you know, I was one of the first ones to see her in the hole and stuff like that. You know, and then the motion that went with the whole thing, and you know, we filed her. People detected to break it down, crying like it was just horrific. Talking to Tracy, that she, when the trial was over, she had talked about it publicly since 2013 when the trial was, you know, so in now she works with a company up in Michigan, and she's like a screen taker for a company that handles like PTSD and stuff, like they need resources for public safety, law enforcement, fire, you know. She's a call taker, she gets them in the right direction. Well, that's, you know, emotional, or you know, but she said the same thing, you got to talk about it, man, because for years that she thought that if she could have got a confession out of the mob, she could have got Shania Davis back alive, you know, and that took a toll on her. There's just evil people in the world, you've seen it, you know, you've been in the presence of evil, just like I have. It's hard, very hard to describe evil, right? Yeah, I guess it's kind of like love, you know, it when you see it, yeah, but it's evil, you know it, you feel that presence, you know. I've sat in interview rooms of people and say this, an evil somebody, you know, but you got to sit there, you got to be patient, you got to get a confession out of them, and you know that type of stuff, you know, so yeah. Well, Darrell, you know, one of the things we do with Behind the Thin Blue Line podcast is we cover four pillars, you know, the service, the sacrifice, the strength, and the support, because we can't do our job without those four pillars, and that's what you know holds the table up,

Daryl Smith:

yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know, and we need that, and everybody that comes on on the podcast, they get a coin,

Daryl Smith:

okay?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know, behind the thin blue line,

Daryl Smith:

okay? Appreciate it,

Unknown:

yeah, man. Thank you,

Mark Bridgeman:

and I'll give

Unknown:

us

Mark Bridgeman:

a little coin for you, engraved your name on it,

Daryl Smith:

yeah, great,

Mark Bridgeman:

you caught that one. You could show two sides of the coin.

Unknown:

Yep,

Mark Bridgeman:

and you know that's just a little token of, you know, my appreciation for what you've done. You know, you taught me a lot. You know, and I was coming up, you know, and I was a sergeant, stuff like that, and I was green, as green could be, about tactics and stuff.

Unknown:

Yeah, but yeah, I had more,

Daryl Smith:

right?

Mark Bridgeman:

You know,

Daryl Smith:

yeah.

Mark Bridgeman:

And I wish it wasn't a good student. I told also, if I said, "Look, if I get your way, step on my back. When I blew my ankle out, he stepped on my

Unknown:

wrist, so you did exactly what I expected.

Mark Bridgeman:

But I didn't catch my guy, man. I don't want to say it on camera, but I detained him long enough, so I could put the cuffs. Somebody could put

Unknown:

the

Mark Bridgeman:

cuffs out,

Unknown:

you know.

Mark Bridgeman:

So, you know, we had some good times in law enforcement in Fayetteville, you know. I hope the next generation comes up, you know, they're having a good time in law enforcement, because I think right now, if I was 30 years younger, right now would be a great time to get law enforcement, the way

Daryl Smith:

we think, so yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

the way they're doing signing bonuses, and it's not always about money. When I came on, it was 15,

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

15 five or$15,200

Daryl Smith:

yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

and it was like, oh man, you know, and now we're, you know, and then now it's like these guys are getting $67,000$67,000 you know, they deserve it. They absolutely deserve.

Daryl Smith:

Oh, yeah,

Mark Bridgeman:

you know,

Daryl Smith:

oh yeah, absolutely.

Mark Bridgeman:

But with the technology and the intelligence and stuff, you know, I didn't know I was doing intelligence because I would keep track all the guys in a three ring binder, you know, but terrorists, you know, like who they were, you know, I had little. Well, you know, she protected their little information, you know, so it worked out well. Then I kind of gravitated towards the gang stuff, yeah, you know, which worked out good for that too. Yeah, still active, involved with the association. This podcast would not be possible without the support of the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association. Please like and subscribe.

Unknown:

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