Passion...

As a cop, I always found meaning in a quote from Ernest Hemmingway's 1936 short story “On The Blue Water.”

It reads “There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.” For those of us who truly loved the profession of policing, it has tremendous meaning. It reminded us about our passion the work we did. For us, policing wasn't a job. It was a vocation. A calling. Good, bad or indifferent, it defined us.

Although I retired from the profession in October of 2021, I still get calls on occasion from former colleagues who want to run something by me, or from an executive who wants a little coaching on a sensitive issue. It's not the same, but it helps me stay current and keeps me engaged. I don't miss the politics of the job (especially under Garland's DOJ), but I do miss the mission of fighting violent crime and many of the people I worked with. The calls I speak of make me feel like I'm contributing something, even though it might not be much.

This weekend, I spent time catching up with an old friend and a DEA legend- Derek Maltz. While our wives chatted about things, Derek and I talked about the good old days of fighting violent crime and drug gangs in NYC in the 1990s. We also spoke quite a bit about the insane crisis at the border, Mexican drug cartels, the Fentanyl crisis, and the proliferation of weapons in Mexico and in many border towns. I don't know of any man who possesses more knowledge on the topic of transnational narcotics organizations. He's one of a very small group of people who has read the manuscript for my book, because I value his opinion and his expertise on the border, on fighting crime and on the Mexican cartels.

We both seem to be on the same page in feeling that our government has really dropped the ball on securing the border and protecting our youth from the surge of deadly Fentanyl that has spread across the country. Derek knows many of the families who have lost loved ones to this issue. For him, it's personal. It's one of the many reasons why I'm honored to call him a friend.

It's long past time for our elected officials and their political appointees to show even a fraction of the passion and energy that my friend Derek, and many of our former colleagues in law enforcement show, and end this crisis now. Less talking points and obfuscation; more action and results please.