Houstonian Alan Helfman, president of his family’s group of five Helfman Auto Dealerships (Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, RAM, and Fiat), giving back is in his DNA. Today share his story with the listener and dive into his true “why” as he continually gives back to various charities and has a heavy presence in assisting the first responder community. The Helfman Family has a legacy of giving and helping those in need, especially in the Houston area. Alan holds the record for the highest leg kick as he i...
Aug 17, 2025•38 min
Today we sit down with Retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol Commander Brad Shepherd and guest cohost Courtney Runnels to pull back the curtain on a life and career of service. No stories is without a lot of highs, lows, heartbreak, and successes. This episode will cover all of the above….and then some. Captain Brad Shepherd (Ret.) is the Director of Public Safety for Chateau Health & Wellness, a national First Responder residential treatment facility that treats Trauma, Suicide, PTSD, Substance A...
Aug 06, 2025•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 119
Today we are honored to sit down with retired DEA Agent and Founder, lead facilitator of Wake Up/Level Up Margaret Bedolla. Margaret walks us through her journey, growing up the daughter of an Agent, and living abroad and being exposed to true poverty and the excitement of the hidden dangers of her father’s work in a different country. Starting the DEA at 24 she found herself working on the tragic and high profile case of the kidnapping and murder of DEA Agent Kiki Camarena. Dedicating her life ...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 118
We are honored to sit with the 31st Police Chief in the Dallas Police Departments nearly 150-year history, Chief Daniel Comeaux. Chief Comeaux is a 33-year law enforcement veteran, currently serving as Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Field Division, overseeing 12 offices throughout Texas, including Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. His jurisdiction covers nearly 16,000,000 residents who live in 114 counties across 118,000 square miles, 645 of which ...
Jul 09, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 117
Today we sit with the 18th Fire Chief in the Dallas Fire Departments storied history. Chief Justin Ball immigrated to the United States from England more than thirty years ago, joining the fire department in 1997. Chief has a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration from Texas A&M and maintains certifications as a Master Firefighter, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), Fire Officer II, Fire Instructor II, Incident Commander, and Incident Safety Officer. We are excited to have the oppor...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 116
Today we sit down with three familiar voices to the show to address an ongoing problem in the Dallas Police Department and the first responder profession. Welcome back on Sgt. Gordon Fulton and newly promoted Major Andre Taylor to have a discussion on the topic of alcohol use in the first responder community. After some incidents over the last few months the Wellness Unit wanted to reiterate the Departments commitment to helping our own and putting our people in the best position to be the best ...
Jun 24, 2025•34 min
Today we sit down with one of the Dallas Fire Department’s true leaders in Chief Greg Stoy as he enters his 40th year of service in the City of Dallas. Dallas Fire and Rescue has an amazing national reputation as a world class fire department as it enters into its 153rd year. DFR is one of the few municipalities in the world to achieve the highest possible IOS rating, demonstrating its high-quality fire protection services. Chief Stoy, starting his career in 1985, serves at Station 4 and has a r...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 115
“Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself for the unacceptable” To further this show’s mission to change culture in the first responder profession in the realm of mental health maintenance, we have a roundtable with some of our highly trained ATO counselors. Conversations and education are key to normalizing and prioritizing our own mental health, especially in the very hardened world of the first responders. Police and fire are excellent at saving lives and helping ot...
May 21, 2025•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 114
Today we are sitting with one of our East coast brothers in retired Braintree Massachusetts PD and founder of the KITT Foundation, Billy Cushing. Billy was a 17-year veteran of the Braintree Police Department where he served as a patrol K9 Handler for 10 of those years. He is a two-time recipient of the Geroge Hannah Award for Valor among other honors. In this episode Billy tells the story of his K9 partner, Kitt, and the bond and partnership they shared. On June 4th, 2021 Billy, Kitt, and backu...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 113
On a hot summer day in Dallas Texas, in an upscale Dallas restaurant and bar, a failure of a man would commit the largest mass murder in the City’s history by shooting seven people, killing six. Just after midnight on June 29th, 1984, Abdelkrim Belachheb took six lives at the Iannis Restaurant and Bar as he had an argument with one patron, Marcell Ford, as she turned away his advances. He then would leave the bar and return with a gun and committed an act that would rock Dallas, alter the victim...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 112
Welcome back to ATO story time with our Treasurer, Detective Justin Bowen #8522. Special guest cohost, NLLEO President, Juan Hernandez Jr. #8447 sits in to help tell this story. Juan and Justin rode together for years in the Southeast Division and continue their friendship to this day. This story will detail Detective Bowens career, their partnership and will highlight an awful night in March of 2009 at 700 Cliffview Dallas, Texas. The very detailed, chilling facts of this case are laid out by b...
Mar 25, 2025•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 111
Welcome back for another message from the hosts as we sit down with a BTD alum in Garland ICAC Detective Tony Godwin. Tony is here to talk about an organization that is near and dear to his heart, the National Law Enforcement Officer Hall of Fame. Detective Godwin was inducted himself and now his mission is to give back to this great organization. This message details this foundations origins and highlights the mission of Megan Stockburger and Adam Davenport to create this platform to honor the ...
Mar 22, 2025•55 min
Today we do a podcast collaboration with our great friends at the TMPA, Clint McNear and Tyler Owen. This is a long overdue episode as we sit with two men that represent a great organization, the TMPA, to talk about our mutual mission in being there for our law enforcement brothers and sisters. We go behind the scenes in the Blue Grit podcast origins and also get to know the hosts and understand their “why” in their journey. Special guest cohost, Plano PD Sgt. James Babb sit in to help tell this...
Mar 09, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 110
Today’s episode will highlight one of this shows founding missions in truly connecting to people from all over. This guest has traveled over 1,800 miles to join us for this show to tell his story. Barnstable PD Officer Brandon Sanders has a unique story in his journey to policing as his childhood could have very well created a different path but it was a chance meeting of a young police officer that became a big brother and showed him what the brotherhood was about. Brandon grew up in Hull Massa...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 109
This episode will feature twin brothers that have dedicated their lives to the city of Dallas and to the police profession. However, their family name started here in Dallas in 1988 when their brother, Israel, joined the Dallas Police Department and immediately become a recruiter for his family. Next would be their cousin, Miguel, to join the PD and then these twin brothers. Saul and Sammy grew up in Progresso Texas in a family of fifteen siblings and learned the definition of work ethic early o...
Feb 04, 2025•2 hr 33 min•Ep. 108
Welcome back ATO Family Today we bring you a story from a retired servant that served over three decades in Los Angeles County. Jeff Wenninger grew up in Kent Ohio and was raised in a unique blended family during a time in this country that family diversity was rare. Jeff realized that his natural physical prowess led him to dominate hockey and set him on a path to learning a new type of resiliency and leadership style. He hired on with the LA County Sheriffs office and worked there until he joi...
Jan 19, 2025•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 107
Today we get to hear from a guy that joined the Dallas Police Department but also served as a soldier in the United States Army. This story begins with this guests journey from growing up as an Army brat to enlisting himself and joining the 10th Mountain Infantry Division and on a path to fighting terrorist in Afghanistan. Tyler fit in as soldier, and a leader and on July 5th, 2006 all of his skills, resiliency, and faith were put to the test as his unit was ambushed in Afghanistan, and this day...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 106
Welcome back ATO Family We finally get to discuss an integral function in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, the Crime Scene Response Unit. Today’s guest has a Master’s degree in Forensic Science, currently working on Doctorate, and is a dedicated member of the Dallas Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit. It is up to the trained crime scene investigator to take advantage of every scientific and technological development in forensic investigation in order to correctly analyze, retri...
Jan 02, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 105
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of its Santa Cops program, which has provided toys and food to over 10,000 families since 1984. The initiative supports families who have been victims of crime and those in need during the Christmas season. Today we sat down with some of the elves behind the scenes that make this incredible program run so that so many families in need can have a merry Christmas. Former Dallas PD legend Chuck Young, now Victoria Texas PD Chief, in 1984 and grew this program into th...
Dec 20, 2024•44 min
This show will never shy away from having the difficult conversations. Thriving mental and physical health is paramount and crucial to survival and sadly, if not addressed, it could lead to a life ending. First responders are three times more likely to die by suicide than the from the job that they do. These numbers don’t include the suicide attempts or suicidal ideation of first responders that are suffering and struggling in silence. There are a lot of descriptors that officers apply to themse...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 104
Welcome back ATO Family One of this shows mission is to create a platform to educate our listeners in the very complex and layered conversation of mental health and the many modalities and treatments that are available. This episode is one of our most information based shows as we take a deep dive into EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy). This show has talked about EMDR at length to provide as much information as we could on this trauma t...
Dec 02, 2024•2 hr 57 min•Ep. 103
Welcome back for this special goodbye to my first partner and one of my best friends, John Valdez. There are perks in being best friends with the host of a show and this is it. John served over 29 years with DPD and is leaving as a Homicide Detective. He did not want a big party or any attention as he walked out the door of DPD but I actually talked him to this. So, sit back and enjoy the roast of John as he is surrounded by people who care for him. Special guest cohost: Mike Mata and Detective ...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 2 min
We are honored to sit down with a true piece of Dallas history in Judge Hawk. This show will take the listener back to the Dallas during the 90’s when a young talented ferocious new District Attorney walked into the Frank Crowley Court Building in downtown Dallas and her star began rising. From1995 to 2002 worked as a prosecutor and ultimately become Chief over the Child Abuse Division. In 2003 her star rose higher as she became the youngest female to be elected to the bench in Texas as she took...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 102
Welcome back ATO Family! Today we return with a true piece of Dallas Police history with the Great Kevin Navarro as we chronicle his amazing life and servant career. Kevin hired on with the Dallas Police Department in 1981 and remained in service until September 11th2012 and he laid the foundation for future procedures and trainings that have molded young and old officers for generations to come. Officer Navarro started patrol at the Southwest Division before becoming a Detective in Assaults the...
Nov 01, 2024•3 hr•Ep. 101
"You were worth All the sacrifices....." This is a special message from Dallas Chief Eddie Garcia as he is retiring, after nearly 33 years, from the law enforcement profession. It is a sad time for the Dallas Police Department as we are losing a true innovator and a “Cop’s Cop” natural leader for the Department. Eddie Garcia started his law enforcement career, age 21, at the San Jose Police Department and he rose to become Chief of that Department in 2016. He served in Narcotics, SWAT, the Homic...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Welcome back ATO Family We wanted to take this opportunity to give an update on the show and tell you about the Dallas Police Department’s upcoming David Clark Superhero Health Fair. This will be the third Health Fair that was created to provide active first responders with access to key medical screenings and technology used to identify silent health conditions, as well as direct access to preventative health services, nutrition resources, and fitness techniques. The idea for this fair was crea...
Aug 21, 2024•40 min
**** Trigger Warning Alert**** Episode 100 was always going to be a special episode for our show but when I got today’s guest to finally agree to tell his story I knew I wanted to make it extra special for the listener but also make it special for one of my best friends and one of the most impressive humans I have ever met. – Joe King. We are honored to share this stage with Dallas SWAT Operator and ATO: Bridging the Divide Co-Creator, Daniel Canete. Danny gravitated to music at the age of five ...
Jun 10, 2024•4 hr 19 min•Ep. 100
Today we sat with Dallas Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Morse to discuss the origins of the Dallas District Attorney’s Office new approach to caring for their own. Jennifer and a team at the DA’s office saw a need to create something to provide support for their staff in the world of mental wellness and to address, head on, the trauma that they are exposed to. Police and the District Attorney’s Office work as partners to help give justice to victims of crimes as they prepare each case to b...
May 30, 2024•54 min
T.E.D: Tell, Explain, Describe. Today is our first episode of a training series that will be topic specific and will feature subject matter experts. Our goal is to help provide a form of training and education to other first responders as well as the community. This episode will cover the art of investigative interviews and will be presented by retired Dallas Police Homicide Detective John Palmer. John Palmer retired after 28 years of service with the Dallas Police Department (DPD). He served in...
May 15, 2024•2 hr•Ep. 99
Today we sit down with the Dallas Firefighter Association President Jeff Patterson. After growing up in Plano Texas, Jeff answered the call to serve in 2008 when he applied for the Dallas Fire Department and once, he stepped into that role and into the firehouse he knew that he was where he needed to be. He then had a second family as he now was a firefighter in Dallas and was assigned to one of the busiest areas in one of the most violent parts of Dallas. On May 3rd, 2014, Jeff and his team ans...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 98
