LAB-434-Behind the Badge: Ryan's Reflections on a 30-Year Law Enforcement Career | Episode 1 of 2

LAB-434-Behind the Badge: Ryan's Reflections on a 30-Year Law Enforcement Career | Episode 1 of 2 Law Abiding Biker | Street Biker Motorcycle Podcast · Jun 30, 2026

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Brand

Indian Motorcycle

A famous American brand that makes large, comfortable cruising motorcycles. They are one of the oldest motorcycle companies in the world and are the main competitor to Harley-Davidson.

Brand

Harley-Davidson

The most famous American motorcycle company, known for making loud, heavy, classic-looking bikes designed for long highway trips.

Car

Honda Goldwing

A very large, high-end motorcycle made by Honda that is designed for ultimate comfort on long road trips. It has a huge engine, comfortable seats, and lots of technology, making it feel almost like a car on two wheels.

Brand

Ciro 3D

A company that makes custom add-on parts, fancy lights, and comfort accessories for big motorcycles.

Term

CAN bus

A computerized system inside modern vehicles that lets all the different electronic parts talk to each other using fewer wires. It makes installing new electronic accessories trickier because they have to be compatible with this digital network.

Brand

HogWorkz

A popular brand that makes custom parts, bright headlights, and saddlebags for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Car

Jeep Wrangler

The Jeep Wrangler is a rugged SUV made by Jeep that is famous for its ability to drive over rough, muddy, or rocky ground. You can take its doors and roof completely off to drive in the open air. It is designed for people who want a vehicle built for outdoor adventures.

Part

Batwing fairing

The large, wing-shaped plastic or fiberglass shield on the front of a touring motorcycle that blocks the wind from hitting the rider and holds the stereo and gauges.

Car

Chevrolet Caprice

A large, heavy American sedan from the 1990s that was extremely popular as a police car and taxi. It is known for its rounded, bathtub-like shape and smooth, powerful ride.

Car

Holden Caprice

The Holden Caprice is a large, comfortable four-door sedan made by an Australian car company. It was designed to carry passengers in comfort with lots of legroom and a strong engine. In the United States, a version of this car was imported specifically to be used as a police car.

Concept

false compartment

A secret hidden space built into a car or truck used by smugglers to hide illegal items. They are often opened using hidden buttons or magnets that trigger electronic locks.

LIVE

Put the fucking mic on.

Want to ride longer?

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because there have been, we've sold them, we're the number one reseller.

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I got mail. Yeah.

Got some emails here. They're both emails.

The first one's an email and the second one is for the next episode.

Oh, I see what you did.

I see what you did there.

That's what it's going to look like to lose the show notes there.

So this is an email from Gary York.

And he says, I enjoy all your videos and knowledge with bike add ons and mechanical replacement jobs.

I always do all my own mechanics and your videos are a great help.

No one knows it all.

So it's great to watch your version of how to do the project.

Also enjoyed your Canadian bike trip.

Intense ride.

Noice. Thank you.

Gary York law biting biker.com forward slash contact is how he left us a written message there.

You can leave a voicemail from there to from your phone.

It's free or your laptop built in microphone, whatever your computer.

It's free to do.

Love to hear your voices.

We appreciate the messages to love it all.

And thank you so much in the chat.

This is a live video broadcast and chat for members only.

Of course, you may be listening to this because it comes out sometime later in audio format only to the regular audience.

It's the non patron member mid level and above.

And so we are chatting with these folks in here and lab writing buddy.

Hello, sir.

Use my buffer for a four hour four hour father's day ride.

Very, very nice. Love that.

Anthony Peters.

This is Peters is in there as well, Stacy.

Oh, nice.

Welcome to the Peters and I will tell both of you that she loves a good buffed butt.

Oh, yes.

Yes.

Yeah, there you go.

I will tell you because you're both Indian folks.

I cannot tell you everything.

There's some behind the scenes stuff going on that I'm doing and everything's getting finalized.

It's a big deal and it's going to be Indian content for the channel.

Quite a bit of it.

I just have it.

We've been going back and forth with brand deals and stuff and sponsorships and different

things.

We ride all bikes here and obviously you all know that because you're in the chat.

I don't take sides.

I don't take positions.

I have Husqvarna.

I have an electric sir on Ultra B.

I've got Hardee's.

I've got an Indian road master on long term loan from them and big things coming though.

As far as, yeah, I got to leave it at that.

We've been going back and forth.

We finalized something and everybody's going to sign on the dotted lines and then we're

not, obviously we're still going to do a ton of Harley content, whatever other motorcycles.

If BMW sends me when I do a BMW, if Honda Goldwing sends me when I do a Honda Goldwing,

I have never, I love all bikes.

We love all bikes.

We support all bikes here.

I want everybody to know that and we certainly want to do more Indian content.

We always have.

We've got as much as we could depending on, you know, we establish relationships with

the marketing company and things like that.

So I'm just telling you a bigger Indian stuff than's ever been on this channel before coming

and I'm super excited and I can't wait till I can officially tell you all about it coming

up here.

Hopefully, well, probably by next month, so at least.

So there you go.

Lots happening here as a lab continues to grow.

Hey, my colleagues.

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It's all about the hog works lurch because they build motorcycle parts the way bikers

want them clean fit quality finish and customer service that actually answers.

Yep, we run their gear on our own Harleys because we trust it.

I just put out a video hog works silver tooth headlight install review and today I was getting

the video ready for the hog works gold tooth, which is the yellow version of that same headlight

and I did a back to back white, yellow, white, yellow.

Anyways, that video I was getting the article ready.

I'll probably pump that out next Friday, I suppose.

So if you're interested in the yellow and how it compares to having white and you can't

decide, well, we're going to answer that question for you.

So check out our full selection of hog works products in the lawbitingbiker store.

Remember, we've only added a select few.

It's on lurch's calendar to get the rest of the stuff done that is pending and him and

him and Javon because I have many videos ready to go, but we can't put them out until I have

the listings in the store.

But with that said, we can get any hog works products.

So if you have a part number, just contact us, grab it from their site, grab a part number,

what you want, and we can get it for you for your patron member discount.

And remember for all the regular listening audience, if you're not a patron member,

you still get no tax sales tax.

If you're outside Washington state for shipping over $100 and you're supporting bootstrap

company of bikers, helping bikers, not like the corporate stores that are just selling

things they've never even heard of.

They just know that their algorithm sucks it in and they drop ship it to you.

We're actually using testing, installing, trying to help the biker community not just

sell you something.

So yeah, we appreciate it.

Hit us up if you want anything hog works.

We have a very close relationship with them.

Obviously they're a sponsor of the YouTube channel and the podcast this year.

So we're very happy to have them on board.

You've got some store items you want to promote because we're adding ship fast to the lawbitingbiker

store.

Guys, just get over there and search around.

You're going to see stuff added all the time.

A lot of items come to us because the biking community asks for it.

Whether that's through the email or just people that walk into the lawbitingbiker store.

So these first couple are requests that we've been getting from folks coming into the lawbitingbiker

store.

So we added them so that the local guys can come in and take a look and potentially purchase.

But also it's available online as well.

And there's a full line of leather vests and leather chaps.

As you that listen for a while probably know, we don't really wear a whole lot of leather

anymore.

There's nothing wrong with it.

We've just moved to, you know, textiles that tend to be lighter and more durable.

But we understand that there's still a lot of people that are, I won't say old school,

but maybe traditional and like to wear the leather items.

So we've added a bunch of leather vests.

Whether that's on the bike or in the bedroom.

You can definitely wear them in the bedroom.

Somewhere I've got a grainy picture of one Ryan Erlacher.

We were sharing a room in the early days.

We had two rooms with the joining doors and he popped it open and the man was wearing

nothing but leather chaps and a blue bandana and some goggles.

True story.

Yeah.

We'll keep that one private, but it does exist out there.

Maybe you'll see.

No, you can get it on OnlyFans.

I make a lot of money out of that photo.

I never thought of that.

What girl doesn't like a biker and nothing but chops and a bandana?

And pasty white.

It might be some guys, and my OnlyFans too.

I don't know.

Pain whatever, man.

Whatever they're paying for.

If you like it, you like it.

And then also figure out a guardian bell.

They came up with their own guardian bell.

It is high quality.

It like everything that figure out he makes.

Now there's a chrome version and a black version.

It comes with a really neat mounting solution that you can mount it through any hole on your

bike that they've designed it to go underneath the radiator cover.

There's a hole down there.

You can put it through, but high quality as normal with figure out.

So there's a couple items there that we've brought to the store.

Nice.

I will say at Graham Jenkins.

Oh, what's Graham up to?

Is he going to make me throw away my trucking hat?

Afternoon, gentlemen, Ryan looking good these days, especially with the cowboy hat.

You see my boots?

Okay.

I got cowboy boots.

I got Wranglers.

I got me a hat and yeah, I told him to get a long little doggy.

You instituted Frontier Fridays right before I went on a busy June and part of July.

I've got a lot of long weekends taking some trips.

And so I don't know when I'm actually going to get in for a...

I don't know, but you're really ruining the spirit.

Frontier Friday.

Because I've got boots.

Well, you're ruining it.

We haven't seen it.

So we think it's bullshit, but whatever.

Just one day when you're on work at a Friday, you'll show us.

I'll bring it in.

I got to fuck with him.

Yes.

Yeah.

Frontier Fridays.

And we did some short videos on Instagram and stuff.

So a lot of short stuff going out.

We put up some more LED lighting inside the store.

I did an Instagram reel on that.

So if you haven't been over to Instagram, go check our page at lawbindingbiker.

Doing a lot of short video stuff over there.

More fun.

Definitely behind the scenes.

Not the long form stuff like on YouTube, but just some fun.

Behind the store, in the back room, everything we kind of do.

The craziness that goes on.

We're getting graphics put up on the window tomorrow.

Awesome new graphics facing Main Street.

We just had the front windows tinted.

We're doing some different lighting.

It's...

The store is really coming along.

It's going to be even more of an experience for everybody.

And Lurch came out today and actually I was in my office and he's like,

yeah, there's definitely a ton more walking customers this year.

We're getting...

Everybody knows we're there and people are traveling from all over the world.

And when they're in the area, they want to...

You know, what they've seen on YouTube, they want to come in and support us.

Obviously, we want to meet them and they want to see the store.

So we're working very hard.

Jevon, Lurch and I to have that vision and know what it's supposed to be like in there

and make it something that you won't forget as you part ways

and go back to where you're from if you're not local and stuff like that.

So, yeah.

A destination and an experience.

There you go.

Yeah.

We'll set.

So, okay.

Did you cover?

Guardian bells.

We covered all that.

Okay.

Real good.

Then we got a great episode for you guys.

I suppose we should dive in.

Do an intro.

There you go.

Welcome back.

You freaking Bikaholics.

This is the podcast for the Motorcycle Majority, the big MMO,

also known as the 99% large and in charge of the motorcycle scene

by being here, by listening, by watching today.

You're part of what we call the hashtag Biker Revolution.

One question.

What do you wait for?

Bikaholics, mount up and let us take you on another wild ass ride.

There you go.

Ryan Erdacher, your host of the law-binding biker podcast and your high tech redneck.

Okay.

A couple of things that are of interest.

I'm sure to everybody, but we are going to dive in here to the main topic today.

And again, this is a live video broadcast and chat for mid-level and above patron members.

So, we'll be chatting and yes, it will come out in regular format later to all the regular

listening audience on the regular podcast platforms, but I encourage you to get signed

up as a patron member so you can experience this right here.

It's very close.

We have a lot of fun and chat.

We'll be monitoring as much as possible.

The main topic today, which we've been putting off.

I have and we just want to make sure we did it right and things have been insane.

And so we finally picked today and to do the main topic, which you took out.

Let's see.

Let me go back up to the title behind the badge.

Ryan's reflections on a 30 year law enforcement career.

I did officially retire last July 31st, 2025.

I know it's almost July again.

So here we are.

It's just as I retired, we started ramping the business and I've been scaling it like crazy

and things have, I just, we just couldn't even put it together.

We are barely lucky to get episodes out.

Thanks for being patient on live episodes.

We're going to ramp that back up because we realized that we've failed a little bit there.

So we appreciate it.

Just we're trying to get employees in place.

We hired multiple employees.

And so scaling has been typical for a company that's trained at that scaling very fast.

So yeah, we've been heavily involved in the store both you and I.

And as we get Jvon up to speed and then eventually hopefully the next several months hiring another person, you know,

and we've got another guy that works remotely full, not full time, but yeah.

As they get up to speed and are able to handle those daily, you know, tasks,

we'll be able to step away and get back to more of this part of it, which I look forward to.

There you go.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

But a couple of things, putting out videos obviously on the YouTube channel like crazy still and Lurch wants to go ahead

and mention a couple new videos, right?

A new video.

I'll do one this time and one next time.

So the first one is going to be how to remove and install a 2024 and newer Harley Batwing fairing.

That's the new redesign fairing.

We show you how to take it off and put it back on.

Very free.

That video and that used by a lot of people and it gets inserted in a lot of our projects.

So I don't have to redo it when we're filming.

We have some raw footage of it.

But yeah, there's a lot of reasons and I had to remove mine this weekend because I found my goatee light from Sierra was loose.

I must have not tightened it when I was doing.

I was doing headlights in out, in out.

And I think I just didn't tighten the bolts.

In fact, one nut was missing.

I was just cleaning my bike.

Another reason to clean your bike is we taught that in motor schools.

It's not, it is the benefit is it looks great and you look professional,

but that's when you find all the loose bolts and loose parts before you go on a trip.

Yeah, you're wiping it down.

You're touching it.

Yep.

You're looking at stuff actually when you ride it is jump on.

So yeah, good reason to inspect your bike and find loose parts.

That's not a critical part.

It would have sucked.

They would have been hanging by the wires and while I was riding, you know, 18 states that would have sucked.

Anyways, found that.

So I had to take my fairing off.

There you go.

And secure that thing.

All right.

Now, it's like I said, live video broadcast and chat and we've got lots of new patrons coming on board.

And hopefully some of the new ones are here in the chat.

We will get to meet you.

But yeah, you want to thank some of the following people for signing up as patron members.

We'd like to thank Steven Mona of C Cliff, New York, Bernard Hocko of Newcastle, Ontario, Canada.

He is a top tier member and John Markham of Spring City, Tennessee.

LawBitingBiker.com, four slash Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O.

And you sign up for a monthly subscription.

You get to choose the level of benefits that you want to receive.

There are a plethora of those benefits such as t-shirts and stickers.

You get access to the private Facebook group, a troll free zone.

Nothing but bikers helping and connecting with other bikers in there.

You get access to live video broadcast and chat like this right here.

Podcasts early before everybody else.

Access to those premium videos upon request for you top tier.

And of course, access to the ride meetup events, which we will be doing here in about a month in Buffalo, New York.

And it's all closed.

You can't sign up anymore.

Everybody's locked in.

Emails are coming out.

And we hope to see you all there.

So, and don't forget your year round patron discount code of 10% on everything in the Law of Biting Biker Store.

And I know so many members take advantage of that because we see you shopping in the store.

So, thank you very much for that.

Okay.

I suppose at this point, what we're going to do, Lurch is going to take over.

He's really the, he's going to ask me a bunch of questions and I'm going to talk openly about 30 years in law enforcement and kind of the different agencies I worked for.

And I'm going to try to stay fairly focused because I can get off track a bit too.

Yeah, nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, we'll see.

We'll see where it goes.

But I will tell you, this is going to turn into a two-part episode.

And when we get to the end of part one here, as I watch the clock, we'll kind of decide with you guys whether you want us to stay up live.

Of course, in regular podcast, we're going to come out in two episodes, but we'll have to do another intro and all that.

Anyways, with that said, I don't want to waste any more time.

Let's dive in.

If you guys have any, we'll try to monitor the chat as much as we can.

And if you ask questions, that's great.

It may be coming, so we may ignore it.

But there may be a question that we don't have on our itinerary here, but to Lurch will monitor the best we can and say we will get to that or whatever.

So yeah, there you go.

This has been a long-awaited podcast.

I know a lot of people are interested because law enforcement is an interesting job.

I mean, look at how many TV shows there are about it.

I mean, it's exciting.

It can be dangerous.

It can also be a monotonous, but it's something that not a lot of people get to do.

So I know that we wanted to make sure that we did justice to this and 30 years of law enforcement is a long time.

So we've spent quite a bit of that together in the State Patrol, but you were in law enforcement before that and you moved on after that, even though we've been friends, you know, I didn't work with you.

So it's going to be fun specifically to talk about maybe before the State Patrol stuff and after the State Patrol stuff.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So I retired as a captain and as a captain, you were in charge of a district and you would have to do a lot of these ceremonies and retirements.

And one thing that I say to everybody because it's true and I feel it is that we're, even though it's a tough career, you know, you give up a lot to do it.

There's a, you miss a lot of holidays, birthdays and just the stress of it all.

But there is a big reward to it that we have to remind ourselves and that's that you make a difference in somebody's life every day.

You may not, you may not even know it.

I've had conversations with people that I've run into and they'll mention something that I said to them and it was just something I said, but it stuck with them.

And so we'll never know how many lives we change with the conversation at work or through our actions at work.

So 30 years is a big deal and you should be proud of your career, first of all.

And, you know, you've made your community a better place for doing it.

So it's not an easy job, but thank you for stepping up and doing it.

Yeah, buddy.

Now we'll get into it and kind of talk about and have a little bit of fun.

I really, I mean, you and I were in the same high school.

We went to West Valley High School, but you were at least a couple of years ahead of me.

And so we didn't really know each other in high school.

So I didn't really get to know you until, well, when I transferred to Yakima on 99.

So you had a bit of a career before that.

Before we get into that, let me ask you, what drew you to law enforcement back then?

If you can remember what made it seem like a good thing to do.

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because we'd love to get it headed your way.

Well, so interesting.

I know a lot of people, and I've heard other people like,

I knew from a child I wanted to be a police officer.

I didn't give two shits.

I'm just an honest guy.

I didn't give two shits about law enforcement or anything like that.

The reason is I actually wanted to be a firefighter.

That's right.

That seemed better for me because I was in it.

I, in high school, right after high school,

I joined as a volunteer firefighter and I started doing really good there.

And then I was a Forest Service.

While I was a volunteer, I was also Forest Service firefighter

working on an engine crew.

And then my volunteer or the fire district I worked for

paired, partnered with the Forest Service and we did a multi-agency truck.

And so I was just, I kind of was just in the firefighter.

I don't know how I really got into that.

It just seemed like, you know, it seemed like it was somewhat exciting

and I kind of just got indoctrinated by it.

I was an opportunity out of high school.

Somebody told me, I'll try that and I kind of liked it.

And so there you go.

And so what happened is back then, and a lot of you remember this,

this is not political in any way,

but there was a lot of affirmative action in place.

And so what happened is I went and applied to be a firefighter

and there was an auditorium of God at that time,

at least 500 to 1,000 people at the college.

And they sat us all down.

And again, this isn't political.

This is what was said.

It said, and I'm looking around and it's 99% white males.

And they said, back then you guys remember if you're my age,

they literally said it because it was government mandates.

And they said, out of this auditorium here,

we're hiring two females, two minorities, and one white male.

And I looked around and I was like, holy shit.

And these sorts of jobs back then,

private industry wasn't booming like it is now.

So these were coveted government jobs.

That was the way that a lot of our parents directed us

towards government jobs because they were good jobs.

They paid well back then.

And you had some safety with them, right?

And some benefits.

Correct.

So they were sought after.

They were.

Yeah.

And you could make a decent living without a college degree.

And so when they said that, I tested a couple of times.

I was like, this is futile.

And law enforcement had a ton more openings.

And so I was like, I know I wish I had a better story

to tell you that I just dreamed of being a cop.

Since I was little, I did watch chips.

I liked that.

I wanted to be a motorcycle cop, but you don't start out as that.

You know, every boy wanted to when he saw chips,

but I didn't really think about it.

So what I did is I started working some security jobs

at the hospital and I became a volunteer firefighter.

I switched and became a reserve deputy sheriff

with Yakima County Sheriff's office.

And they let me in before I was 21

because you can't carry a gun until you're 21.

But by the time I got done with the reserve academy,

I had just turned 21 and was able to carry the gun

and qualify and all that.

So then I got hired by the sheriff's office full-time.

I don't know if any of you remember back in the day,

the King County Courthouse shootings.

Before we had a lot of these mass shootings,

that was a courthouse shooting that happened in King County,

which is Seattle, Washington.

And right after that, there was no security

in courthouses before that, not in cities like ours.

And that instantly spurred every courthouse across Washington

and the state to implement security because they're like,

okay, times are changing.

And so I got hired as a full-time courthouse room deputy.

I was still reserving on the road.

I'd go out and volunteer my time on the weekends

in a squad car and do all that kind of stuff.

But at the courthouse was full-time Monday through Friday

and I was a deputy.

And they've since changed to a different agency.

It's not part of the sheriff's office now necessarily.

But back then it was just like, we need deputies.

And so I got hired.

And while I was working up there for a couple of years,

I was applying.

I wanted to get hired by the sheriff's office

and they just weren't hiring anymore for a road position.

But they were kind of full.

And all these other agencies, including the state wash

and the state patrol had openings.

So I did, I just figured, you know, I just need a good job

and the firefighter route probably isn't gonna work.

And I think I can get a job here

because I felt like I was really good at it

and everything really made sense to me.

And I was encouraged by a lot of people.

So I started applying, applied all over.

And the first agency to offer me a job,

it could have been any agency.

I didn't give a shit about the state patrol.

I didn't give a shit about Yakima City.

I never cared what agency I was with.

Just give me a paycheck and a gun and a police car

and I'm good to go.

So the wash and state patrol called me

and I went through their whole process

and they were the first ones to offer me a paycheck

and the rest is history.

So I carted my ass over to Shelton Washington

or the Washington State Patrol Academy,

scared little kid at 23.

Never been in the military.

And if you know anything about the Washington State Patrol,

it was, it's very candy ass now like a lot of agencies.

And that's not a put down on them.

It's just things have gotten soft over the years.

Back then it was very much a boot camp

and they got away with a lot more than they did now

and I'm glad they did because I needed to be

squared away, so to speak.

And they squared my ass away real quick

and I'm very proud of going through that process

because it's not easy and they have legitimate

like Marine Corps instructor,

retired Marine Corps instructors and shit

and yelling at you and knuckle pushups

and running in the snow and rain and it's very intense

but I made it and in fact I got a call

as I was in the State Patrol Academy

about three weeks into it.

I got a call from Union Get Police Department

which is where our store is now.

I said, you want a job?

Toughest decision because I was like,

I'm almost done here but I could be home.

Oh, I was only three weeks in the State Patrol Academy.

Oh, you're only three weeks?

Only three weeks.

Yeah, that would be a tough decision because

with the state you're going to get assigned

where you're opening.

Correct, correct.

Your chances of getting home,

especially in that time to get into the ACMA area

was impossible.

And the State Patrol back then,

it's been ups and down like all agencies

but it paid more than the city agency.

So I just was like, nope, I'm here

and I've uprooted my life

and I was starting to get used to being yelled at

a little bit.

You oddly get used to it

and you kind of like it.

Yeah, I had some guys that have been in the military

before and they were roommates

so we would switch roommates

and once I figured out, once they told me,

because I'm a jokester, in fact,

that's one of the things.

Peer evals was I joked too much

because I was always fucking around

once I realized this is a big fucking game

and it didn't bother me after that.

I actually found it funny

and so I played along

and I would fuck with people

like they would come through your rooms

and fuck, you know.

Do inspections.

You'd mess with somebody else's room.

Oh yeah, I'd fuck people's rooms up

and they would think the instructor.

I put saran wrap over people's toilets

so when they take a piss at night,

I sprayed all, I did a lot of shit

that shouldn't be going on in there

and if they would have found out

I'd have been in big trouble

but everybody kept it pretty hush hush

but I did get told I'd joke a lot

and too much.

I just can't, I'm not a very,

I can't take stuff seriously like that.

I've always had that kind of sense of humor

where I just find the humor in things

but I, you know, obviously

in front of the instructor,

I think it was, I played the game, you know.

But at first I didn't know it was a game

and I'm not lying for like the first month

I was like, these people fucking hate us, you know.

And then once I got it explained

by some military guys like, oh,

oh, okay, I get it.

It makes sense why they do, why they build you up

and then you're like, we were doing so good.

We were still doing the same thing

and they fucking ganked us

and you're like, yeah, it doesn't matter

how good you're gonna do

and about a week the military guys goes,

yeah, they're giving us way too much rope here.

They're like, in about a week we're fucked

and I go, but we're doing everything good

and then I realize, oh, it's the break up,

the breakdown, the build up and all that.

Build you up as a team.

So once I figured out all that,

it was good, but it's a tough experience

and I'm very proud.

It's a, what did we go for six months

and then was it six months back then, damn near?

Yeah, pretty close to it.

And then two months on the road.

It's about eight months altogether.

Now it's broken up into two different sections.

They got a phase one and a phase two.

Oh, okay, okay.

Back then you went through the whole thing.

Yeah, we went through the whole thing

and then got out, graduated and top firearms,

I will say, proud of that.

I was always just really good.

I'm not a, people ask me.

So I was a fire, you'll find out,

I was a firearms instructor for eight years too

with my local agency here.

And the thing is I can talk motorcycles

and parts all day.

I don't know, I know enough about guns,

obviously as an instructor how to teach,

but I'm not a ballistics guy.

I'm not a gun nut like, but I shoot really well

and I always shot really well.

And so people would always ask, you know,

they think you're a firearms instructor.

What about this green and this green?

I don't know.

I fucking shoot the hall of points they give us,

but I can teach you how to shoot.

I don't care about guns and parts

and I own a shitload of guns,

but I don't know that much about them.

I know how to shoot them and I know what ammo goes in them

and I can take them apart and clean them,

but I just never, that's not a bad thing.

Some of the best shooters we had were people

that never shot before and were taught by instructors

and did the right thing.

Right, right.

I shot a lot growing up, but I was never instructed.

We just shot like 22 rifles.

I did a lot of shotgun stuff.

Luckily, apparently I didn't learn too many bad habits.

It must have been right.

You didn't clear your shotgun by jacking the shells out

with a pump?

I did.

I didn't know any better.

I thought that's how you unloaded one.

I think somebody told me not to do that,

but that's what we did growing up.

And I would still do it that way.

I'm not sure why they say you're not supposed to do that.

In case you got a finger on the trigger or something like that.

You should professionally unload it,

where you reach in and push the little levers

and whatever you want to call them, the charging arms,

and get the shells out through the bottom,

not pumping through the chamber.

Yeah.

Well, I say go ahead and do that.

If you follow the first firearms rule where you're not

supposed to point your gun at anything you're not willing

to destroy, then you always have a backup.

Yeah, it goes off, you're all right.

Yeah, exactly.

So yeah, I graduated that two months on what's called

a coaching trip with a formal training officer.

Pete Decray.

Okay, that's right.

Oh, he's a ball of fire old Pete.

Super nice guy, but not a ball of fire at all.

No, never was.

And I was like, I'm just raring to go chomping at the bit.

In fact, he was nice because he was pretty humble

in his own way, because I had to teach him a few things.

Because I stopped some cars, he goes,

you can stop for that?

And I would show him the law.

He's like, yeah, I had heard something changed.

So I knew right away, I got this guy.

He's great, nice, but he was at the end of his career

and he wasn't really caring about all the stuff,

so to speak.

But nonetheless, luckily I was motivated.

I already been a reserve.

I worked a lot of hours as a volunteer as a reserve

and I pretty much knew law enforcement as much as you could

at that stage inside and out.

And so my FTO trip was like walking the park for me.

You did that in Yakima?

Mm-hmm.

Did you think there's any chance you'd be assigned to Yakima?

No chance in hell.

Yeah, because occasionally it just depends on the budget too.

If the budget's good and they can afford it,

they'll put you up where they think you're going to go,

but that involves per DMs or paying for your food,

hotels and whatnot.

But if they can get you in your home area to do your FTO,

then you can stay at home or stay with family

so it's cheaper, it just kind of depends.

I don't know which one's better.

I mean, hard to say.

I coached in Seattle and ended up in Seattle.

That was good for me.

Yeah.

Because Yakima and Seattle look a little bit different.

Yeah, right.

Right, exactly.

But you went from the Eastern Yakima to the Western Yakima.

I did.

When you're in the academy, you can pick where you want to go.

It's just very much like the military.

It's a wish list.

But if you pick places that you know you're not going to go,

then you're wasting a pick because there ain't no fucking chance

in hell I was coming back here.

So I picked realistic places that were open.

You hear everybody's talking, you know, the down low.

So I picked a place called Shelton,

which is actually where the State Patrol Academy is

in that county in Mason County.

And their district office, not district office,

but detachment office is right there on the same grounds

as the academy.

That's horrible.

I didn't go very far.

I moved like 20 feet.

No, but you get to see all the rooks over there

and you just like, I'm done with that.

Watch them run around.

You're glad you're not doing it.

Yeah.

Did you get an uneasy feeling, maybe not you didn't

since you went to Shelton, right out of the academy.

But when you went back for training at the academy,

the first few times, did you get an uneasy feeling at all?

Or was it no big deal?

Cause you worked there.

I think no big deal.

Cause I just worked there and I was around it all the time.

For most of the rest of us were like,

it took a few years to be comfortable walking around there.

Right.

Yeah.

From that generation.

Little PTSD.

Yeah.

It was definitely boot camp back then.

And I was like you, I had no military experience,

but luckily I had military roommates that helped me out.

But yes, that first,

a lot of people will tell you the first couple of years

that you go back to the academy for training.

You're like, huh.

Yeah.

I can see that for sure.

Yeah.

Cause I got to go home every night, right?

Cause I had a place in Shelton.

So yeah, I didn't have to stay at the academy or anything.

I just went home.

It was normal for me.

But yeah.

So that's where I spent my first two years.

Baptism by fire, very remote area at two in the morning.

You're by yourself and your nearest backup is likely 30 minutes away.

Especially if you're not in the city limits of Shelton.

And so I learned how to survive pretty quick.

How to use gift to gab and a lot of scary moments too.

Cause it's very desolate area and you knew then

there's some rough people out there's rough.

It's a log loggers and a shitload of drunks.

There's two reservations you're working near and one on to on.

Um, it's kind of back then, especially very depressed area.

Um, a lot of logging industry and things like that.

So, uh, uh, yeah.

Yeah.

That was a crazy, uh, learning that and fatalities, multiple,

gross 34 fatalities, you know, and, uh, you're investigating them

as a brand new troop and, um, yeah, there's not a lot of guidance.

No, it looks at you like, you know, all the answers and you,

you've got a couple months on and now you're investigating a fatality collision

and trying to do your best.

Yeah.

So that's why I, uh, uh, got baptized.

Um, and I had my transfer in cause there's no way in hell I'm staying on the west

side of Washington state anywhere.

Before you get to, sorry for all your west-siders.

Before you get to your transfer, when I was in the Academy,

which is the class after you, you were assigned to Shelton.

And, uh, one of the days we actually got to leave the Academy and go do an

exercise was, uh, manual traffic control.

And they took us into, into Shelton and, uh, had us do traffic control.

And here comes this guy that in his, was it like a 1992, probably upside down

bathtub.

Yeah.

They look like upside down bathtubs.

Caprice.

The Chevy Caprices.

He's got like a gangster lean going.

He's, uh, burning, smoking a, a cigarette's hanging out the window.

You got your like, uh, Oakley razor glasses on.

Nice.

Kind of with that lean going by, looking at all of us.

Like you were the coolest dude ever.

Oh dude, smoking a seagate.

Yeah.

Sucking down a dart.

Sweet dude.

That was the day guys.

That was the day, you know, um, I did smoke back then.

Yeah.

Dude, that's awesome.

Awesome story.

Um, yeah.

So anyways, uh, yeah, uh, two years later after, uh, staying alive in Mason County

and, uh, um, God, there was a lot of drunk people there.

Um, I, uh, Trent got my transfer in back home, kind of home, uh, sunny side Washington

detachment, which is 30 minutes from Yakima, which is where I lived.

Um, so I was in the same county.

Um, just it's a huge county.

And, uh, so I worked that area, which is like the lower valley.

Um, and still can be a little desolate in places, but there was a lot more troops and

a lot more local agencies that would back you up and out when you're out on the freeway,

they'd pop out and check on you and things like that.

So it was a lot better, um, than working by yourself.

I mean, you were the only one.

Yeah.

And Shelton like I'd be the only troop from there to who knows, dude.

Fuck.

Yeah.

There's only a couple of deputies if you're lucky and they're all the way.

That's a big county too.

Yeah.

It's a detachment of eight.

And so you're all working different shifts and different days.

It's rare that you actually have two troops work at the same time.

Yeah.

Maybe during peak hours and you overlap for an hour or two, but not much.

Yeah.

It's tough.

Yeah.

So yeah.

So, uh, and I'll let you follow the notes, but for my recollection is, uh, two years in

sunny side, uh, I just worked as a troop and, uh, um, and I will say, uh,

my transfer was in for Yakama still cause that's where I wanted to end up.

Um, cause each time you transfer, you can, you know, put in another transfer for your

next area.

And, uh, but I was back home, uh, essentially speaking and with family and stuff like that,

um, racked up a, uh, very quickly became, um, one of the top DUI guys in the state for

the amount between Shelton.

I got a couple of wards, uh, mad mothers against drunk driving.

We'll take, they take the stats and, and, uh, so they would, uh, it was pretty cool.

They would fly me, uh, state patrol had a jet then and they had a prop plane too.

I think I went the prop plane too, um, but they would fly it to these big award ceremonies

and, and recognize you for having, you know, X amount of DUI arrest in a year.

So very quickly became kind of a DUI guy, so to speak.

And, uh, I think it was two, it was about two years later.

Finally, uh, got transferred back up to the Acoma district office, which is the main office

for the county.

Um, and, uh, started working out of the, uh, district office doing some of the same thing,

just a troop.

And then, uh, yeah.

So you got three at that time, you had three detachments a day, night and a relief crew.

And so you had more people that you're working with.

You were working with, you know, four to five guys every day.

And so there's, there's a lot more backup.

The cities are bigger.

Yeah.

The opportunities are, are, are, are more ample because of the amount of people that

are there.

Yeah.

It's, it's good to be out of a district office.

You can versus a satellite office down sunny side.

Yeah.

Totally.

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And so this is when I'm working out of Yakima office as a troop now and this is when me

and Matt started crossing paths, so to speak, me and Lurch here because he was working out

of Yakima too and so I came over July 99.

I got my transfer from Seattle to Yakima and I honestly can't remember right here.

Were you there before me or after?

I'd have to look at my notes.

It's close.

It's really close.

It was right about the same time.

It could even have been the same transfer for all I know.

Yeah, right.

Oh, no, that wouldn't be right because you would have got a Yakima before I did.

So you took sunny side and then you got, you had to put it back on.

And so I think I was, got there a little after you did.

Okay.

And to put it in perspective, Academy, when I got hired at the state patrol was 1995.

December of 95, the Academy was 96, FTO trip and late 96.

I was out on my own and then 97, 98, 99.

Yeah, that makes sense.

So 96, 97, I think it was 98.

I got over to sunny side, 99, like 2000 or something like that.

Maybe 2000 when you got up to, yeah, through the, we'll talk about, but the canine

positions when you got up to Yakima.

Gotcha.

Um, yeah.

So, uh, from there, I forgot to mention that I had 10 days of seniority on you.

Nice.

Um, I got hired December 1st, but I went to the governor's mansion.

You went straight to an Academy.

Academy class.

Yeah.

Um, so, uh, with that said, uh, so in Yakima now working as a troop, obviously, um,

you guys know me by now, I don't sit still very long.

I was getting bored and I needed to do something that would actually, uh, test

me again and, uh, I know most people don't understand that, uh, but I was, uh,

uh, bored in law enforcement, um, so to speak, uh, so, um, I applied for a, they

started an narcotics canine program back then that would have been 2000, uh, for

the state patrol and, uh, I and many people across the state, uh, were some of

the first to get drug detection canines for the state patrol and helped really,

um, build that program.

Um, and then it transpired into even more than that.

Once I got my canine, I went to, uh, McNeil Island, which is a prison in, um,

Washington state, uh, it is an island.

You have to get there by ferry and that's where they did all the canine drug

training over there.

And so I was on that island for God, a couple of months.

Um, I'd ferry across on the weekend, drive home, drive back.

Um, and I got my canine named Lenny, uh, a lot of them were rescue dogs and he

was a black lab kind of kind of talk about the pit bull that was in him.

Obviously by looking at him, his head definitely had some to it, uh, but he

was a spaz and just a fucking phenomenal drug canine and he fed off my

personality and fed off his and look like we were both on meth, I'm sure.

Um, but had a lot of success with Lenny and then the, uh, uh, the state

patrol amped it up even more and Lurch and I, um, and another guy basically

started what was called the SCAT teams, which was the, uh, uh, serious

highway crime criminal apprehension team.

And we did not chose that.

We had better acronyms, but we lost cause we not SCAT.

Yeah, it's S H C A T SCAT, but it's, yeah, we, we said, it was a sergeant

at the time that came up with it and we told him, you know, SCAT, that's

another name for animal crap.

We don't think that's a great, uh, uh, acronym, but, uh, we had the low,

the higher badge numbers.

I always say the lower badge numbers went.

So, uh, unfortunately he won and it was called SCAT.

Yeah.

So that, what that was was a criminal interdiction team and it was

paired with a couple of us, canine drug detection, canine handlers.

And then we had troops assigned to the team right along with us and lurch

was one of them and he was one of the permanent positions.

And then we had some others come and go over time.

Uh, but what we did is started criminal interdiction and you guys have all

seen it, um, places like desert snow was a big training facility, uh, that

we went to training place, but basically you're knocking off huge loads

of drugs and money, um, coming up the, through the interstate systems.

And that's all we did.

So we didn't really handle crashes unless it involved drugs.

Um, we didn't handle really anything like the regular troopers.

We were just supposed to go out, stop a shitload of cars and look for

criminal activity, whether that's guns being transported, drugs being

transported, money, people, panties, panties, whatever.

You know, if you're a panty smuggler, uh, that's what we did.

And we were the only team in the state and they modeled it after us

once we built it and they saw we were pulling off like, you know, loads

of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Um, I don't know how deep we'll get into this, uh, but, um, we have a

lot of photos, um, we were really good at interdiction and, um, pulling

off, you know, major kilo loads, like 60 kilos, um, you know, and false

compartments, um, we got lurch got really good too.

He's a wiring guy and so they're making all these false compartments.

I mean, they're even bond doing over it underneath beds of trucks and

it's very hard to detect.

Um, and the canines help, uh, but they can't always either

depending on how much it's sealed.

And we had drills and scopes and tools and, um, and magnetic compartments.

I think one of them was lurch finally figured it out.

We tore it apart and they would be so sophisticated that there

would be a false behind the rear seat and the trunk, a false compartment,

but you think it'd be easy to find.

They're not, you look in the trunk.

You can't tell you look at the back seats.

You can't tell even if you pull them down, you can't tell.

They do, uh, they, I mean, they have milk.

They have more money than the police have to take it to these body shops.

They make phenomenal.

There were some shitty ones too, uh, put it in the side door panels and

put the panel back over.

We got kilos out of those.

But this one, um, and we started seeing a trend like this, um, but you

could basically, we would break it.

Once we realized there was a compartment, whether it was drilling or scopes,

then we would just fucking tear apart the car apart.

We don't care if it breaks shit.

Um, but then we always wanted to figure out how they worked because it's

much easier to find drugs if you know how the compartments work.

And so we would take them back, seize them and lurch found, um, on several

that they would put a, uh, relay and a magnet.

So somewhere in the car or in their pocket, they'd keep a little magnet.

And if they slid that magnet over the back windshield underneath the trim,

there would be a relay magnet thing and you would hear click, but you just run

it on the outside of the car and you'd hear click.

That was the compartment opening and closing.

So they're pretty sophisticated.

Yeah.

You would need two sources of power and a ground to make the relay work.

So you, on that one particular car, I can think of was that, uh, red, um,

that's what I'm visualizing on escort, whatever the hell it was, a little four

doors, not yet.

I know what you're talking about.

Yeah.

So you had to have the headlights on the rear to frost on and then they had a,

uh, switch hidden behind the tent in the back window that you run a magnet

through to catch that and make the third leg of that and then pop the trunk.

Yeah.

They got pretty, pretty sophisticated.

I saw in there that, uh, we got a, we got a question.

Was was that washed in vice?

And is it like Miami vice with flannels?

Yeah.

I just answered, oh yeah.

Yeah.

I'm going to say that that was probably the most fun I had in my career.

I, you know, I like you when we're going to continue your resume, but, uh, like you had

a lot of opportunities and promoted it, all kinds of stuff.

But I think that was probably the most fun I ever had.

It was enforcement.

It was a hoot.

It was, um, yeah, we had a ball and we were killing it.

And the department took notice and so they modeled a program after us.

From then on, we had to, we built a complete training curriculum on what we were doing,

how we were doing it, how we were seasoned so much drugs, how we were seasoned so much money.

They sent us to trainings all over.

Um, we brought all that knowledge back and we built an entire, uh, five days.

Was it five or something like that?

I can't remember.

It's at least three.

At least three, but they were interdiction, drug interdiction, criminal interdiction clinics.

And from then on me and our team, uh, the next couple of years, uh, we did less interdiction

and more training because they wanted us to spread our knowledge throughout the agency on

how we were successful and we, they would send us to different districts to build programs in

those districts and they would started teams.

And so two years later, we had interdiction teams across the state, um, doing criminal

interdiction and they added more canines, um, and all that kind of stuff.

And, uh, so yeah, and we started being very noticed by the DEA, the FBI.

And so then, um, when we kind of settled down training a little bit and got that established,

and even while we were working like basically a task force, we were working directly with

FBI directly with DEA, other agencies with lots of, or, uh, alphabets, you know, whatever they say.

Yeah. We got recognized as the guys that come in and find hidden dope, hidden money.

So they'd have search warrants, uh, the DEA would be up on wires and they would get information

and then they would, before they did their search warrant, they would take us with them.

Um, we found, because we would find it for whatever reason, we just kind of prided ourselves

on that. And I remember going to the lower valley, we saw pictures of it. Um, and these places we

would start going through chicken coops and we had rods, the cocaine divining rod, the cocaine

divining rod, just metal rods. We'd grab whatever was around and we felt in the chicken coop.

We're like, that's soft. Dig up kilos. They put them right in the chicken coop, buried them a

couple of feet deep and we dug them up ice chest down there under the shop foundation.

We would just look for soft dirt and stuff. We had our, our ways, but, uh, and the DEA was just

like, holy shit. They were missing stuff like that. Believe it or not. It's a DEA, but the DEA

doesn't operate like that. They operate on the wire. Did they tell us where it is? They don't

really, and then they started to open up their eyes and they're like, well, these guys will find it.

So bring them and they got dogs and all kinds of shit. So we had a really good working relationship

with those agencies and had a lot, man, we made a lot of friends and, uh, it was pretty cool because

we seized a truckload of like 60 kilos of cocaine and the DEA, um, put us up in their private jet

and they flew us all the way to Oakland. They were just like so happy that we were finding

all these drugs for them and taking off major players that they wanted to take off, but they

didn't have information on. And so we were just, uh, they flew us in a private jet to Oakland to

take the kilos to the lab and we got pictures of that. And we got a whole bunch of really,

like Lurch says, it was a really fun time, um, just, uh, you know, pushing that program and

making it what it was. Uh, and so yeah, um, anything else about, I mean, we could go into

story after story about scat and, and drug interdiction and how many loads we took off and

all that, but, uh, I don't know that we need to go into all those. So no, I would just ask, uh,

what was it like, you know, being a canine handler and having the dog with you every day?

I wanted to do it. In fact, I tried to talk the captain in to letting me apply for the one that

you got. Yeah. Um, but you had to have four years on as a trip to apply and I only had three and a

half at the time commissioned. Right. Right. Cause while I got hired a few days before you,

I was commissioned several months after you were. So I didn't get to apply for that one.

And then because the program was successful, so successful guys kept transferring in that

already had dogs. Oh, that's right. So I never got the opportunity to have one because as soon

as a spot would open, somebody would transfer in and take it. Yeah. So just was it, what, I mean,

what's it like? Boy, um, I'm not, I'm not saying that you missed out. Um, it's a lot of work. It's,

you got to be a hyper person, um, with a lot of energy. Uh, but I'm, it was rewarding. Um,

but you're dirty all the time. They shit in your car. They piss in your car. They get sick too.

Um, the vet all the time, you know, if they get an injury, um, every day while you're off,

your car always stinks too. It's wet. You got to wash them all the time. Um,

very rewarding though, but I will tell you, by the time you're done with your canine portion

of your career, I was very happy not to have a dog anymore. Yeah. Well, I'll say that you

definitely were one of the better canine handlers and, uh, Lenny in particular was a standing dog

psycho psychopath snorted a crystal meth one time. He did get high. I still remember that.

You know, I was like, yeah, he was wigging out, uh, a bag broke open and yeah, he got a,

he got a little crystal up his nose. He's all right. He was, he was good. Um, but, uh, yeah. So

I hope that answers your question. It was very rewarding. I'm very glad I did it, but there

was many days where I was like, I wish I could just be you. You know what I mean? Yeah, because

you got to do the same shit I did, but you didn't have to do all the fucking all that shit with

the canine training and, you know, got to run the dogs through and do that part too and have the

fun part and not have all the responsibilities. So while I was disappointed at first, not being

able to have one, I did get all the benefits and yeah, none of the responsibilities. It's pretty

cool. I think it's okay. Um, yeah. I'm just a lot of training monthly training. I was all over the

state and, uh, you know, every night, every morning you got a partner and a dog and weekends and

vacations you got to take him to the kennels. Yeah. So there's a lot, but, but rewarding.

Um, so where are we going from there? Uh, before we transition into, we'll see where we're at.

Yakima PD might be episode two. We'll see. Yeah. I think that's good. But before you get there,

uh, obviously people know you as an entrepreneur through lab. Um, and we'll, we'll get into how

that all started as we do your YPD journey. Um, but that wasn't your first adventure. You had

the canine solutions, uh, with Jason Johnson, the two of you had that canine private canine

company, uh, doing mostly schools. Yeah. So I, and I did get to work for you guys doing that

and pushing a dog. That's right. A lot of work because you'd have to search a whole damn school

and that dog's tongue was dragging the end of it and you had to give them a break. Then they

want you to do the parking lot, but a lot of fun. So that, I think that was probably one of your

first entrepreneurial adventures. Yeah, it was. I'm glad you said that. I wasn't even thinking about

it. Um, yeah. Yeah. We started a company and, uh, it wasn't like super, you know, money maker or

anything like that, but we made money and we served, uh, the community and, uh, um, yeah, with, uh,

a friend of mine that was also, he was on the Yakima police department. I was still a state

patrol and we combined. So yeah, we were getting the school contracts. Um, and we had employees,

obviously, uh, you know, I think contractors, uh, so to speak, however, we did that back then.

Um, but started training our own dogs and I had dogs here at my property. I had kennels.

Um, so it kind of got, uh, big, bigger and a lot more work. And, uh, um, and then we would train you

guys on the dogs and we had, yep, I was licensed through the DEA, uh, to actually have some drugs

on hand so that we could have the dogs sniff them and train them and things like that. Uh, so yeah,

that was, that was, uh, a cool experience and definitely could have gone much bigger with it,

but at the end of the day, um, it was a lot of work and I don't mind that as much as, uh, the

individual I was in business with decided to leave the agency locally and went, uh, uh, out of the

state. And I was like, I just couldn't, I was like, that's going to be really hard on my own.

And I was in the height of my career. And so I just kind of, we kind of let it fizzle,

so to speak, but yeah, good memory, good memory. Had some dogs and, uh, yeah. So that was a lot

of work. Yeah. That's all I'm saying. Trying to train them all on your own and train employees.

And yeah, yeah, yeah. So big undertaking while you're working a full-time job. Not that lab wasn't,

but I was at least later in my career. Yeah. Yeah.

And then, uh, yeah, it's the opportunity for, to go to Yakima PD occurred. Um, so when, when we

started, uh, with the Washington State Patrol, one of the highest paged paid agencies, uh,

and then it didn't take a whole long for them to be one of the lowest. That's one of the downsides.

Uh, I don't know every state agency, but I'll specifically talk about the Washington State

Patrol and it's changed since then, but, uh, all the funding came through the legislature. And so

it, it would get the pay raises get pushed, and there'd be a big one.

Push, push, push, push. Instead of just giving a normal cost of living increase now, uh, they're

tied to the five largest, not the most, the, the well, the best paid, but the largest as a personnel.

Uh, they're tied to that. They had to be within a certain percentage of that. So that, that helps.

But back then, uh, we would get a pay raise and then we would get one for like eight years.

And other agencies were more, um, like, like Yakima, please, we're giving, uh,

cost of living increases yearly or close to that. And so there became an opportunity, uh,

Yakima was doing a lot of head hunting, uh, of the state patrol. They were, yeah. And, uh,

there was a quite a few different things going on, um, at that time, uh, Lurch mentioned one of them,

um, pay. And we started seeing, they actually lost a lot of troopers during that time. I know

quite a few of them, um, to other local agencies just because of lack of proper raises and pay.

And the chief that came in and the chief. Yeah.

Another state with a different thought process and kind of really killed morale a little bit.

That too. Yeah. Um, yeah. So I had actually been for several years while I had the canine.

I started doing a lot more like, uh, working in the cities and things like that. And I was having

a lot of fun and, you know, uh, for me again, Erlacher, not you again. They started getting

them on me like a city cop. And, uh, it's just me, uh, I need to be pushing myself and learning

new things and I can get bored. Um, and, uh, I know I was canine and I got a lot of opportunities,

but I was getting bored with that. And I just always need to be learning something new, pushing

myself. And I was like, man, I started working with the city guys a lot more.

And, uh, I was like, God, they get to do this and that and this and we only get to do this.

And, uh, you know, and I was like, man, and some of the positions, you know what I mean? Like

they're just positions that they don't exist in the state patrol because they're highway

traffic, right? Everybody knows that it's a, it's a traffic law enforcement agency.

Um, so I was like, hmm, now at the time of the state patrol, I had just tested, uh, for sergeant

and I placed number 16 finally on that list, which means I was getting promoted for sure.

Um, I was also tired of some bullshit politics going on in the state patrol that I didn't agree

with politics in a state agency. I have that. I can't believe that. And I was kind of treated

shitty, uh, very shitty by some, uh, very shitty people. Um, and I was like, you know what, fuck off.

I don't have to be here. And, uh, I can actually go to another agency that's trying to pick me up

and I can make more and I don't have to move and I get more opportunities. Um, so not that it was

an easy decision. Still, you've invested 10 years of my life and a different retirement system,

different retirement system. Um, yeah, they don't necessarily roll into each other. So I'm a dual

retiree is what they call now. Um, is that what they call you? That is what they call me a dual

retiree. Uh, and so honestly, I was like, the problem is here's the, here's the dilemma. Um,

if I were to get promoted as a state patrol sergeant, I would have been drugged right back

to the west side of the state. There was no sergeant's positions open in my area. And Matt

knows that because Matt did this. Lurch did this, uh, promoted a sergeant, got moved,

promosal lieutenant got moved, promosal captain got moved. And so, um, I had just had my first child

on top of it, my first daughter. That would make this decision for me too. Yeah. Yeah, it would.

Yeah. I, we, my wife and I didn't have kids. So it was a lot easier. She said, go do what you

want to do. I'll be here when you get back with kids that would make it completely different.

Especially young kids. We were at the point where I couldn't leave my daughter. Um,

and I just was like, and me and my wife actually had these, she remembers it. We were literally,

we had just built this home, not that many years before we were happy and we had a beautiful home

on this chunk of property that we're on now with the studio, studio wasn't here yet. Um,

but, and we were literally going to sell everything.

Cash put in the bank, you know, wherever the market, and we were going to buy a fifth wheel

trailer and we're going to fucking live in a trailer over there with a child until I was able,

I know until I was able to come back. My wife had a job here too, part time at that time,

because she was caring for the child. And honestly, I just did some soul searching and I was like,

number one, I'm being treated like shit. Number two, my pay sucks, dick. Number three,

I have way more opportunities. Number four, I never have to move again, you know, and I just

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I knew it would be easy for me to get hired and I was like screw it. I'm a bandit on ship and

for me, I'm so happy I did, especially for my family because I would have drugged my family

and troops do this and there's nothing, there's no, I mean, military does it, right? I get it.

If you have to, do what you have to do. That's a respectable thing. So I'm not

dogging that. I had, I didn't have to do it because I had choices and I was like, why and then what?

So then I dragged my family to Seattle for two years and then I get back to Yakima and now I

want to be a lieutenant and now I get to drag my family back somewhere else and I was just like,

I got to stop this noise. It's not something I completely thought through when I got with

the State Patrol. I should have. I was just so excited to be a cop. But as you get older and

wiser, you're like, no. It's one of the draws when you're young. You're like, I can work anywhere

I want in the state. Yeah, exactly. I got kids, my wife will go with me, right? Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

So for all those above reasons, I said Sayonara State Patrol and I took one day off

I'd already been hired with the Yakima Police Department. You only had one day off?

Yeah, I know. I know it's awesome. It's funny, isn't it? I literally left State Patrol, took one

day off and I was in a squad car at Yakima Police Department. And so 10 years is when I did that

little over 10 years with State Patrol and then swapped to Yakima Police Department where I

spent the other 20 years of my 30 year career. Anything else about before we pass history,

State Patrol, anything like that that we missed based on your notes because there's a long.

No, we hit all of it. But as far as stories, one of the things about criminal interdiction is

recognizing signs of it, right? So when people do things outside the norm and it comes down to a

lot of body behavior, but there's also a lot of things you notice in cars that, you know,

just scream criminal activity. And it doesn't necessarily have to be that criminal. It could

be something, something benign. But if that person believes that they're guilty, they will give

themselves away, such as not being able to look at you when they talked to you.

You know, the nervous dry mouth, you see the heart, the heart pounding pulse,

yeah, sweating when it's, you know, 32 degrees out. And I can't remember who stopped this vehicle,

but we stopped a car and all the signs were there. You know, the person was nervous,

infertive and just the story about where they were going, what they were doing was bullshit.

We thought we had the mother load. And what we found was a backpack full of panties.

Yeah, the panty bandit. We call it, we love referring, lovingly refer to him

as the panty bandit. So these signs of criminal activity, I mean, it works. I mean,

obviously you can't go around stealing people's panties, but it's not a, it's not a dead body in

the trunk. It's not, you know, $100,000 or 40 kilos of weed. It was, it was panties. And

it's just a fun, fun story to talk about that guy because I thought for sure, we had the mother

load. Well, you did have panties. A mother load of panties. Yeah. I think he was more embarrassing.

I thought that's what he was. Yeah. He was just embarrassed. Yeah. I think you felt guilty about

it more than, if he would have had five kilos of cocaine, you probably would have been happier than

that backpack full of panties. Yeah. Lurch was like, Hey, you got any extra soiled ones? I'll

buy them for five bucks. Yeah. He was going around. He was from the east side here and he's going

over the west side, going around to laundry mats and stealing panties. Yeah. What a freak.

Yeah. He was a freak dude. Oh, yeah. Oh God. Yeah. We could go down the story path there for sure.

Yeah. I'm just trying to think if there was, before we wrap it up, because you got the

notes and resume there. And I, I can't remember. I, I gave Lurch basically a outline of all I had

kept throughout the years, my resume for different positions and search warrants and things like that.

We were doing a lot of search warrants. We talked about that with DEA and all that. Got some awards

too from the DEA, some very high awards from that agency. So very proud of those two.

And so the other guy's not just me. Our entire team was awarded there. So yeah.

No, that pretty much sums it up to date now anyways. Yeah. Okay.

Up to your transfer to Yakima. All right. I think, yeah. I think we're going to,

do we have any other things to thank here? Oh yeah, right there. Got some donations.

There we go. Yeah. I want you to be a patron member. Of course, we want to get to know you

better. We want in the live broadcast and chat, but hey, the only way you want to support us or

the way you choose to support us is through a flat donation. We never lock.

How to flat donation. I want to thank the following folks. We'd like to thank Dianne

Brown of South of Jordan, Utah, Jeff Pulliart of Cortalene, Idaho, and Michael Gumpel of Green

Valley, Arizona. A very cool law budding biker.com forward slash donate. That's forward slash

donate. It helps put a little fuel in the law budding biker gas tank. So we can keep this thing

running on down the road. Also, if you go to the regular website, lawbuddingbiker.com,

there's a donate button on the home page. All right. So that brings us up to basically

where I leave state patrol, take one day off. I had to go through an application process with

YPD and you can't just, it's not like a regular job where you can just apply.

I still had to go take the written and the physical and all that kind of stuff and

got picked up by them. So yeah, I think in episode two, we'll move on with the rest of my career,

which ends with my motor's position. And we'll talk about that. I got to do a ton of shit.

Because like I said, I am not a guy to sit still and I did a plethora of crazy shit and

positions as a city police officer and a lot of stories there. Yeah. I think somebody touched

your wiener once. That happened. Or you had to show it anyway. I was naked in front of multiple

prostitutes, buck naked. I was that guy. I didn't care. And so they would send, if you had a tough

one that they had been busted before, they would send me in because I knew I'd just get buck naked

and I don't care. Stay tuned. We'll get more into that in the next episode. Yeah. So anyways,

we will, with that said, I think we'll go ahead and take it out of here for this episode,

but stay tuned for episode two of two. And yeah, thanks all the patron members for being here

in the live video broadcast and chat. Hang tight because after the music out, I will take a poll

there in the chat. So don't bug out yet because we do have to do episode two and we're excited

at the time of this recording. We're about three weeks out from leaving for our 12 day

where we're going to write 18 states and 12 days in the Northeast United States.

And I'm going to complete my map. So I will have all of the U.S. including all 50. Yep. And

and then Canada, I've got Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon. And so I'm going to have a lot of the

map filled up. I think Lurch will be shy one or two in the lower 48. Yeah, right kind of in the

middle of Colorado was that trip. And then down in Texas, I missed that one. So I've got a few.

We'll pick them up. Luckily, that's not too far away. And we've talked about Texas as another

ride. So yeah, we'll pick them up for sure. So yeah. And the patron meetup is going to be over

in Buffalo. And we've got you just secured the ride and the venue, right? Yep, it's all done.

Okay, we had some awesome patron members over there that helped us. The place is the place that

we're meeting is secured. We've just been playing phone tag with the gal to put a deposit down,

but it's a done deal. Okay. And then we've got the ride plan, but I need to put it on the ride

planner. Yep. Yeah, nice. And if you signed up, obviously, you already know, we sent you an email

right preliminary email, an updated email. And then the next one you get will be a Saturday morning

before the Sunday event. Yep. The morning before the event. And y'all are double opted into the

email list. You'll get the actual meet location. You already know basically the time and all that.

So yeah. Do you have an up top of your head? Put you on the spot. Do you have a number?

It's 4840. Nice. That includes riders and passengers, passengers, patrons. That's a decent one. Yeah,

it is. While biting by group. That's going to be good. And the place we're going to it's a it's an

in and they have a restaurant, nice bar restaurant area. She's closing it down. So just us. Yeah,

nice. Yeah. I'm excited. My shoulder, I'm still in physical therapy. I was in physical therapy

this morning. It's coming along. I'm getting more range of motion. I'm starting to get some strength

back, but I can ride street bikes. So that's cool. I have definitely not been cleared to do hard

and dirt or dirt bikes or adventure or anything like that. That probably won't be till September,

but I'm just blessed from my surgery that I can at least I did a window to where

I'm good enough to ride 18 States in 12 days. And I've been riding my Harley. I've been riding

the Indian some to every day back and forth to the store. So yeah, I feel like I'm

I'm good doing my exercises at home and trying to get this bad boy. The nice thing is I don't have a

lot of pain anymore. And I can sleep actually on my back. And even on my side, for certain periods

on the bad shoulder, the bad, it's getting better. But yeah, so I'm just happy about that. Not to be

in pain and every night or sleeping in a fricking recliner. I'll tell you that. So anyways, thanks

for tuning in guys. Love y'all appreciate you listening.

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About this episode

Law Abiding Biker hosts dive into a mix of motorcycle gear updates and personal stories, starting with Ryan's reflections on his 30-year career in law enforcement. The crew discusses the latest shop updates, including new leather gear, Guardian bells, and upcoming Indian Motorcycle content. They also share insights on popular upgrades like Butt Buffer seat cushions and Hog Workz headlights, blending practical riding advice with behind-the-scenes stories from the road and the badge.

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Original notes

This is episode 1 of 2. We take a look back at Ryan's 30 year law enforcement career. Ryan retired from the Yakima Police Department last July and is now working full time at Law Abiding Biker. Ryan's path into law enforcement didn't start with a trooper's badge. He began in 1994 as a Reserve Sheriff's Deputy for Yakima County. In 1995 he moved to the Yakima County Department of Security, working courthouse law enforcement duties. On December 11, 1995, he was hired by the Washington State Patrol, graduated the WSP Academy, and was commissioned as a Trooper in July 1996.

At the Washington State Patrol Ryan performed normal trooper duties, but also was a Serious Highway Crime Apprehension Team (SHCAT) member, K9 handler, and K9 instuctor.

SUPPORT US AND SHOP IN THE OFFICIAL LAW ABIDING BIKER STORE

In April of 2006 Ryan lateral transferred to the Yakima Police Department where he spent the majority of his law enforcement career. In addition to routine patrol officer duties Ryan was a Police Training Officer (PTO), Narcotics K9 handler, Pro Act Team undercover officer, Gang Team member, Safe Streets Task Force Detective, Motors officer, and Motors Instructor.

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Across his career, Ryan was voted Officer of the Year by his own squad three times in 2008, 2014, and 2016. He received a Yakima PD commendation in 2008 for going above and beyond for a house fire victim, and recognition the same year for the apprehension of two assault suspects from a 2004 shooting. He was recognized by the DEA (2004) for contributions to drug law enforcement, by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington (2005) for the large-scale "Operation No Mas" investigation, and by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (2007) for "Operation Intolerance." Over the course of his career, he also authored and executed numerous search warrants.

Ryan retired from law enforcement on July 31, 2025, after thirty years of service across multipleWashington agencies. He's now focused full-time on Law Abiding Biker, the motorcycle media branded store he built alongside his law enforcement career.

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Law Abiding Biker | Street Biker Motorcycle Podcast

Ryan Urlacher | Street Biker, Motorcycle Rider

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