Beyond The Barrel Podcast

After more than 22 years with the Las Cruces Police Department, Adrian De La Garza has built a career defined by resilience, leadership, and service. Beginning his law enforcement journey in 2004, he currently serves as a Traffic Investigator, a role he has held since 2009, specializing in serious and fatal crash investigations. Beyond the badge, Adrian is an instructor in multiple disciplines, including motorcycle operations, driving, and physical training—helping shape and mentor the next generation of officers. But behind the titles and years of service is a moment that changed everything. On February 4, 2021, Adrian was shot in the line of duty—an experience that not only tested his training and survival, but reshaped his purpose beyond policing. In the aftermath, he founded the Southern New Mexico First Responders Assistance Fund, an organization dedicated to supporting first responders and their families during times of crisis, injury, and loss. What started from personal adversity has grown into a mission to give back to those who serve. This conversation goes beyond law enforcement tactics and career milestones. Adrian opens up about the realities of the job, the weight first responders carry, and how life-changing moments can redefine purpose. Timestamps: 04:03 Nonprofit Mission 13:52 Fatal Pursuit 18:22 Shot & Fighting 23:16 Facing Fear 34:29 Growing Up 36:06 Father's Sacrifice 47:36 Becoming Motors 52:05 Stem Cell Recovery 59:18 Family Impact 1:08:10 PTSD & Healing 1:20:45 Advice for Officers If you like what you hear, like, subscribe and follow the Beyond the Barrel podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_barrel_pod/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two officer-involved shootings. First on scene to a home invasion at a cop’s house. Task force interdiction. And zero tolerance for bad Fourth Amendment policing. Sgt. Jake Bigelow is a 13-year law enforcement veteran with the Casper Police Department, a former multi-agency drug task force officer, and a legal instructor with Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training. Before policing, he served in the U.S. Air Force Security Forces and the Army National Guard as a flight medic, with additional experience as a firefighter and paramedic. In this episode, Jake challenges the idea that “good intentions” excuse bad searches, breaks down real-world interdiction mistakes cops still make, and explains why constitutional policing is the difference between locking criminals up—or letting them walk. No fluff. No excuses. Just hard truths from someone who’s lived it. Timestamps: 00:02:30 Jake’s Background 00:08:45 Troubled Upbringing 00:15:30 Mentorship Impact 00:29:45 Pilot Life 00:31:00 Midair Emergency 00:36:25 Fire to Police 00:38:45 Drug Task Force 01:17:35 Shoot or Die 01:24:00 After the Shooting 01:39:35 Acceptance of Death 01:56:00 Mental Health Stigma 02:03:10 Justice Defined If you like what you hear, like, subscribe and follow the Beyond the Barrel podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_barrel_pod/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Gould has spent nearly two decades in law enforcement, but his career has taken a path few ever walk. From working the wild and unpredictable terrain of Cape Cod as a Natural Resources Officer, to pushing a cruiser on the street, to becoming a civilian background investigator for the LAPD, Steve has seen every side of the badge. In 2018, he launched the wildly popular Things Police See podcast — a space where active and retired cops come off script and tell the stories that never make it into official reports. The funny ones. The dark ones. The ones that stay with you long after the shift ends. Now, through his Sgt. Steve YouTube channel, he breaks down body-cam footage with the kind of insight only someone who’s lived it can provide. In this episode of Beyond the Barrel, we go deeper than the uniform and the footage. We talk about what those moments really do to the men and women who experience them, how storytelling has become a form of therapy for cops, and why the truth of police work is far more complicated than what the headlines or viral clips ever show. This is a raw, honest conversation about life behind the badge, the weight cops carry home, and the power of telling the stories that need to be told — straight, no chaser. Timestamps: 07:30 Bodycam Breakdown 14:30 Police Upbringing 21:00 Communication Skills 27:45 Academy Reality 34:30 Firearms Training 41:30 LAPD Experience 48:15 California Policing 55:30 Career Reflections 1:08:30 Leaving It Better If you like what you hear, like, subscribe and follow the Beyond the Barrel podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_barrel_pod/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyond the Barrel is where we pour truths straight, no chaser. In this episode, we sit down with David Hines, a former law enforcement officer whose career in a South Louisiana narcotics unit ended with a federal civil rights conviction and a prison sentence. What followed was the loss of his badge, his career, his identity and a reckoning that reshaped how he views leadership, ethics, and responsibility in policing. David doesn’t speak in excuses or deflection. He speaks in ownership. This conversation goes beyond headlines and courtrooms and into the real consequences of misconduct legal, professional, and deeply personal. We talk about the impact on family, the erosion of trust, and how culture, supervision, and decision-making can quietly push officers toward irreversible mistakes. This episode isn’t about tearing policing down. It’s about protecting it by confronting uncomfortable truths, emphasizing accountability, and challenging leaders to build cultures that prevent failure instead of explaining it away. If you’re an officer, supervisor, or leader who believes integrity matters and that hard conversations save careers this one’s for you. Off duty. Off script. And beyond the barrel. Timestamps: 11:30 – Law Enforcement Roots 24:00 – Early Patrol Years 37:45 – Career Progression 51:30 – Narcotics Unit 1:06:00 – Leadership & Culture 1:20:45 – Critical Incident 1:34:30 – Mental Impact 1:48:15 – Prison Reality 1:59:30 – Lessons Learned If you like what you hear, like, subscribe and follow the Beyond the Barrel podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_barrel_pod/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

K-9s don’t get a pension. They don’t get a retirement plan. They get us—or they get forgotten. In this episode of Beyond the Barrel, we sit down with Chris Bingham—a law enforcement leader with over 20 years of service and a lifelong commitment to police K-9s. A graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command, Chris has built and led K-9 programs nationwide—but his most powerful story is the bond with his retired partner, K-9 Tambo. Chris opens up about loyalty beyond the uniform, the responsibility handlers carry after retirement, and why advocating for working dogs through organizations like Project K9 Hero matters more than ever. This conversation goes beyond training and tactics—into leadership, sacrifice, fitness, fatherhood, and honoring those who served without a voice. Off duty. Off script. Beyond the Barrel. Project K-9 Hero 00:00 — K9 Resilience 01:30 — Career Transition 04:50 — Growing Up 07:40 — Fatherhood Impact 11:00 — Communication Matters 15:00 — Finding Direction 21:00 — Entering K9 28:20 — Mentorship Loss 36:40 — Handler Bond 47:05 — Tambo’s Story If you like what you hear, like, subscribe and follow the Beyond the Barrel podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_barrel_pod/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices