( 0:55 ): Welcome back to TSC HIM & HER Show. #721: Today, we’re sitting down with Dale Sutherland, pastor and former undercover cop for the Washington DC Police Department. Dale worked for the DC Metropolitan Police Department for 29 years, retiring as Detective Sergeant in August 2013. During his career, he served as an undercover cop, buying drugs and weapons from criminal organizations, and helping to lock up hundreds of criminals. Simultaneously, Dale also assisted people in rebuilding their lives through his ministry work as a pastor, providing spiritual freedom. He talks with us today about his time undercover, describing his daily life and sharing some of his craziest stories as an undercover cop.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS WITH
2:30- Michael asks, “How did you originally get interested in a career in law enforcement? Is that a family vocation, dad, grandfather, or… How did you initially just get interested in this line of work?”
3:05- Lauryn asks, ““What is the first wild experience that you have in law enforcement?“
5:48- Lauryn says, “I’m always curious how you compartmentalize when you see something that’s awful as a cop. Like, I’m sure you’ve had to go into houses or homes where there’s child abuse or neglect or molestation. How were you able to compartmentalize that?”
7:00- Michael asks, “How do people hold restraint in that situation? Because I’m a father. I can’t imagine running into somebody like that and being able to restrain myself.”
8:03- Lauryn asks, “What do cops say behind the scenes when there’s something that horrible that happens and the cop punches him, and then the only headline is the cop punches him? That’s got to be frustrating behind the scenes to say the least.
8:47- Lauryn asks, “Do you follow up?”
12:46- Lauryn asks, “When you are approaching becoming someone else, I have to ask this, did you change your voice? What are you wearing? How did you prepare to become someone else as an undercover cop?”
14:25- Lauryn asks, “Where does Richie Giovanni come out of? Like, you just come out of nowhere”
15:01- Lauryn asks, “I mean, though, how do you come out of thin air to criminals? Like, if you’re Richie Giovanni with your Rolex and your picture of your grandfather, like, how do you just appear and put yourself out there so it makes sense and they have context of who you are?”
16:06- Lauryn says, “So when you plan and prep for this, I also wonder when you’re in character, when you’re able to come out.”
17:42- Lauryn asks, “So what do you do with that? And what do you do even before, like in the morning when you, like how do you keep the character going all day long for the bad guy?”
19:13- Michael asks, “When you first got into undercover work, why did you either choose or why were you selected to do that kind of work?”
20:10- Michael asks, “Is this mostly going after narcotics and drug busts?”
26:40- Lauryn says, “Okay, but if I’m a criminal, I’m putting a shot of tequila on the table and a line of cocaine that’s thick as fuck and saying, let’s do this together. What do you do? Do you have to do the cocaine?”
27:42- Lauryn asks, “What do the undercover cops do in the cities where people do use drugs? Do they have to?”
27:58- Lauryn asks, “How does every criminal not know who the undercover cops are because they’re not doing drugs?”
28:46- Lauryn asks, “I’ve maybe seen too many movies, but what do you do if they keep offering you alcohol? Do you have to just drink?”
30:11- Michael asks, “So you’re doing this for 22 years, is what you said, and you’re undercover. At what, at any point during all the time, are you ever scared for your life? Are you nervous or is this like, hey, I can go get the job done, go home, next one?”
31:57- Lauryn asks, “How does a woman undercover cop play that she’s like a prostitute or something if you have to sleep with the guys?”
32:35- Michael asks, “Yeah, so during all this, is this something where you’re like, this was the job today? Or are there days where you’re like, wow, that was a close call? And you got to maybe relocate or protect your family or whatever?”
34:45- Lauryn says, “You know what’s the most intriguing thing to me? Gangs.”
35:23- Lauryn asks, “What is the, for someone like me who doesn’t know a lot about it, what is the infrastructure of the gang? Is it like 13-year-olds are in it? Is it like really young boys?”
36:33- Michael asks, “Is there any cases that you remember like, I just kind of feel bad for the person, as opposed to like the hardened criminals who are out beating old men and raping women?”
39:10- Lauryn asks, “When it comes to kids, were you around a lot of kids when you were doing undercover work or was there not a lot of kids?”
40:04- Lauryn asks, “When you look back on your career as an undercover cop, and we’re going to get to what you’re doing now because it’s incredible, but I just want to know if you look back on the career, is there a common denominator of these criminals, meaning did they come from a bad childhood?”
41:30- Michael asks, “What do you think about that when you see the influx of more people coming to this country illegally?”
48:34- Lauryn asks, “Is the Hell’s Angels and motorcycle gangs what we see on television or is it different?”
49:20- Lauryn asks, “When you caught the bad guy and the bad guy now knows you’re an undercover cop, are you actually in a room interviewing them? And what does it look like when they know that the person that they’ve been hanging out with deceived them?”
51:54- Lauryn asks, “Were you ever worried that someone that you caught is going to tell a friend in jail to do something to you? Was that not a worry for you?”
55:05- Lauryn asks, “What is the epiphany to get out of law enforcement? Do you remember where you were and where you decided that you were done and you were going to switch to ministry?”
56:14- Lauryn asks, “When did you decide to switch full time and what does that look like?”
1:00:33- Lauryn asks, “The most common things that people come to you for when it comes to ministry, like what is it marital issues? What is it?”
1:04:00- Lauryn asks, “You mentioned that you were in India and you have a ministry there. Is that what you said?”
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