First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 31: Dr. Serena Liebengood - How Culture Change Can Prevent Police Suicide

First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 31: Dr. Serena Liebengood - How Culture Change Can Prevent Police Suicide

More officers die by suicide than are killed in the line of duty and that single fact should change how we talk about public safety.  Dr. Serena Liebengood, a physician and public health professional who also knows this crisis in the most personal way, talks today about her husband, Howard “Howie” Liebengood, who served with the U.S. Capitol Police and died by suicide after years of service and the intense strain that followed January 6. We talk about who Howie was, what police families live with, and why the hardest injuries are often the ones nobody can see. We dig into the real mechanics of law enforcement mental health: cumulative trauma, understaffing, overtime, sleep loss, and the nonstop exposure to high-stress incidents that pile up across a career. We also explore why awareness isn’t enough. With about 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, even excellent research and resources can fail to reach the departments that need them most, especially smaller agencies with tight budgets and limited staff. Dr. Liebengood explains how the Howard C. Liebengood Foundation is designed to close that implementation gap through interdisciplinary collaboration, education, and research with a strong focus on systems and organizational change. We talk change management, culture, labor and management working together, and the foundation’s Washington symposium with Johns Hopkins Carey Business School aimed at helping leaders and teams bring practical improvements back to their agencies.  If you found this conversation valuable, subscribe, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and leave a review so more people can find honest discussions about police wellness and suicide prevention. https://www.pepperball.com [https://www.pepperball.com]

First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 30: Lieutenant Frank Borelli - Behind the Badge

We talk with retired Lieutenant Frank Borelli about why police officers get flattened into stereotypes and how everyday courtesy can prevent conflict before it starts. We also dig into the family cost of the job and why honest communication matters as much as any tactical skill. Lieutenant Frank Borelli, a longtime law enforcement trainer and a leading voice at Officer Media Group and Officer.com, talks about what people miss when they only see policing through the loudest headlines. We get honest about how mainstream incentives can sensationalize police incidents, how context gets stripped away, and why that fuels stereotypes that harm community trust and public safety.  Then we go where most conversations don’t: the impact on officer families. Policing is a lifestyle with odd hours, constant situational awareness, and the quiet fear that lands on spouses, partners, and kids who have the least control. Frank talks openly about what gets shared at home, what gets held back, and why 100% open communication is the best chance at making it work. We also point to Police Week and the importance of supporting survivors through Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS).  If this helped you see the badge differently, subscribe, share this with someone who only knows policing from clips, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. What’s one thing you wish the public understood about police officers and their families? https://www.pepperball.com [https://www.pepperball.com]

First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 29: Captain Abrem Ayana - Trust Through Technology

A 911 call gets answered and, in under a minute, a drone is already overhead. That single detail forces a bigger question: can public safety technology make policing both more effective and more ethical at the same time? PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke sits down with Captain Abram Ayana from the Brookhaven Police Department, the leader behind some of the most forward-thinking programs in American policing, to find out what’s real, what’s hard, and what other agencies can actually learn from it.  We start with the human side. Ayana walks  through why he joined law enforcement, what the academy does and doesn’t prepare you for, and why field training officers are the backbone of good policing. He also speaks candidly about stress, burnout, and the reality of drawing a weapon, including how training and repetition are meant to create calm decision-making, not aggression.  Then Ayana gets into innovation with guardrails: Brookhaven’s mental health co-responder program with licensed clinicians, peer support for officers, and drones and first responders paired with tools like Live 911, cameras, and license plate readers.  The conversation then turns to  community trust, transparency, and the tension around surveillance, including why Brookhaven limits drone use to 911 calls and why sitting down with the ACLU matters. If you care about ethical policing, de-escalation, real-time crime centers, and practical public safety reform, this conversation is for you.  If this sparked a new perspective, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more people can get behind the badge with us. https://www.pepperball.com [https://www.pepperball.com]

First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 28: Rajiv Maan, Expert in Threat Mitigation, Counterintelligence, Cyber Security, National Security Strategy & Policy

Most people judge counterterrorism by what they see on TV: explosions, raids, and last-second saves. The truth is almost the opposite and that’s what makes it so hard to appreciate. When the FBI gets it right, nothing happens, and the public may never learn what was stopped or how close it came.  We sit down with Rajiv Maan, a retired FBI leader with more than 20 years in the Bureau and 31 years in law enforcement, to talk about how prevention actually works. He explains how counterterrorism investigations balance evidence, timing, and risk, and why Joint Terrorism Task Forces matter so much when the stakes are mass casualties. We also get personal about the mission-driven mindset it takes to run toward danger, the pressure of never wanting to fail, and the professionalism that comes from training built on research, constitutional law, and repeatable tactics rather than heroics.  Maan also walks us through major chapters of his career: the post 9-11 shift that brought him into the FBI, the reality of working state-sponsored terrorism, and what overseas assignments really look like when you’re operating openly through an embassy and coordinating with partner services. Finally, we dig into hostage recovery and the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, an interagency effort that pulls together intelligence, defense, diplomacy, negotiation, and family support to bring Americans home and pursue justice when possible.  If you value clear-eyed conversations about public safety, national security, and the people doing the work in anonymity, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.  https://www.pepperball.com [https://www.pepperball.com]

First Response with Bob Plaschke, Episode 27: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Training Officer Andrea Alt - More Than the Bite: Inside Police K9 Teams

A police cruiser door pops open, a K9 rockets out, and the “bad guy” goes from confident to panicked in seconds. That viral moment is real training, and it opens the door to a bigger question: what do police K9s actually do all day, and how are they controlled when everything is loud, fast, and dangerous? We’re joined by Andrea Alt, one of the leading voices in police canine work, to walk through the mechanics and the judgment behind K9 deployment. We talk about why the professional term is "K9,” how working dogs learn commands in Dutch or German alongside English, and why tone and consistency matter more than any single word. Andrea also explains the difference between apprehension and detection, including how “bite and hold” is trained to target limbs under legal standards, and why that jaw pressure is the part people underestimate. From there, we dig into the less visible side of K9 units: tracking that recovers discarded clothing and DNA, passive alerts for firearms or explosives, and barking alerts used to locate hidden people during building searches. We also cover the practical realities of running a K9 program, including how many teams might operate in one area, what it costs to equip a dog, and why ballistic and stab-resistant K9 vests can be out of reach for some departments. Andrea closes with the mission behind her  nonprofit, the K9 Creed Armor Program, which helps fund protective vests for K9 teams in need. If you care about police transparency, K9 training, and public safety, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. https://www.pepperball.com [https://www.pepperball.com]