021: How does the power of faith plays a role in the most difficult patrol situations?

Strap in as we embark on a journey that spans decades, tracing the path of a man called to serve. Meet Master Sergeant Mario Rojo, who committed 36 years of his life to safeguarding the streets of Miami Beach. From a young age of 13, Mario felt drawn to a life of service and law enforcement. The transformation of Miami Beach and the emotions Mario encountered on his first patrol are just glimpses into the transformative journey we delve into.

We examine the grueling challenges that law enforcement personnel face daily, and the turbulent waves recent events have set off in their lives. Mario and I get candid about the vitality of maintaining spiritual, mental, and emotional health while serving the community. His reflections on his career serve as a testament to the resilience and dedication of our heroes in blue. We address the art of balancing the scales of chaos and order in law enforcement, recounting our initial years at the Miami-Dade Police Department's South Beach area during Memorial Day weekend.

As we navigate through the stormy seas that law enforcement often faces, we draw upon the power of faith and prayer. We share our experiences from the prayer tent during the chaotic Memorial Day weekend, emphasizing the role of faith in such trying times. Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation as we unravel the wisdom we've accumulated through our years of service and share valuable insights into the challenging yet rewarding world of law enforcement. Be sure to tune in!

Chapters

• 0:00 00:19:39
• 0:03 Law Enforcement Transformation and Calling
• 10:28 Law Enforcement Officer's Journey and Impact
• 28:09 The Challenges of Miami Beach Events
• 36:01 Managing Chaos and Implementing Prayer Tent
• 46:46 Prayer in Chaotic Times

Transcript

Announcer: 0:03

This is Ask a Cop, a conversation with those serving our community in law enforcement. We're connecting to ask questions, hear perspectives and continue to build a relationship between the community and officers. If you'd like to connect with us, stay tuned after this episode to learn how. Right now, though, get ready to Ask a Cop.

Mario Rojo: 0:28

When you start asking yourself was it worth it, Was it worth the sacrifice, Was it worth a lot of things that you go through throughout your career personal life and career life And at the end of the day, my answer is absolutely, absolutely worth it, because that's what the Lord calls you to do. And I realize now and now I try to go back and try to put that same thought in an officer's mind and heart.

Pastor Razz: 1:11

We are here now on the air This is Ask a Cop, and what a great day. I just have a sense in my heart that man, the power that the living God, wants to be glorified today and wants to strengthen and bless law enforcement and the community. In our studio this morning we have a very special guest. He is Master Sergeant Mario Rojo. That's how he the rank that he held as he retired. Good morning, How are you, sir? Good morning, He's really good to have you. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What directed you to get involved in law enforcement?

Mario Rojo: 1:50

All my life I've been a servant. I love people. I had a calling very early in my life when my father passed away when I was 13 years old, and my mom took me aside and he said you're the man of the house now And that led me to understand the responsibility of family and from that I just sent a call to follow that into police work and just wanting to help people and be a servant. And that's what we are. We are servants of the Lord for the good.

Pastor Razz: 2:44

You know it's interesting as you say servant, what comes to my mind? Jesus said it There's no greater friend that he that's willing to lay down his life for his friend, and that's a servant You serve. It's not about us, it's not about you, it's about God and about the community. But one of the things that, off the start, i want to point to you know, sometimes the community misunderstands law enforcement. Unless you're walking in the shoes, it's very difficult to know what that's really like. And from the start, one of the things that I see that it's a calling. You know, here you are 13 years old, your dad dies. It's a tragedy, but out of that, god is doing something in your heart and your mind that he is fine, tuning you and reserving you, setting you aside to be a law enforcement officer. I guess the next question would be in your law enforcement career, what year does that start? Now tell us a little bit about you. Know your BLE, basic Law Enforcement Education class. What agency did you start with and why?

Mario Rojo: 3:44

Well, I only worked for one agency. Oh wow, my whole career It started back in, if I can remember, 1986. All right This is when I was so this is my 36th year in law enforcement. I retired in 2015 after 29 years, and now I serve as a chaplain in the department and in a reserve.

Pastor Razz: 4:14

But yeah, it's been a long ride, a long long ride, 36 years of service, and what agency were you started with? What agency, what, what? was the department Miami Beach, miami Beach. Wow, you were there 36 years. I imagine you saw quite some changes in that area.

Mario Rojo: 4:36

I've seen all the changes. Yes, You know, when I first started it was like a retirement home.

Pastor Razz: 4:44

That's right. I remember that. I remember that.

Mario Rojo: 4:48

A lot of elderly people now where you see the beautiful people down in South Beach and yeah, you know, all that was just pretty much the Marielle Boat Lift. That's right. It has happened a few years earlier, So we had a lot of them on the beach and all folks. you really didn't find a whole lot. So things have developed and completely changed. If I had a cell phone camera back in those days and showed you pictures, you wouldn't recognize the same place.

Pastor Razz: 5:25

Yeah, the buildings.

Mario Rojo: 5:27

I remember The buildings have stayed pretty much The Art Deco ones, the Art Deco ones.

Pastor Razz: 5:32

But then you have those high towers, man, that are like amazing as far as the construction, the glass, the shape, the architecture. Yes, absolutely. You know it's interesting. We would ride by Miami Beach and it would be kind of like you get to that season in life where you're just going to chill and relax, and so you would have a lot of elderly people sitting in front of the Art Deco hotels, you know, and their chairs. But this brings me to my next question, which is the same way that Miami Beach has been transformed as far as the look and the heart and the moving of it. What happens in a law enforcement when they start? How do they change, how are they transformed? And I guess the best way to tackle this question would be so you finish your basic law enforcement, you know class, you get your vehicle, you get your gun, you get your badge, you know. Tell me a little bit about the emotions, the feelings, you know. The first day you're patrolling, you're going in the street. One of the good questions would be when you started, were you already married?

Mario Rojo: 6:36

Yes, okay, i had been married one year.

Pastor Razz: 6:40

Okay.

Mario Rojo: 6:42

By the time I started, I've been married 37 years now Congratulations. And that's my greatest accomplishment as a police officer, which I had nothing to do with that.

Pastor Razz: 6:55

Usually the wives are the ones that get the crown right. They put up with us.

Mario Rojo: 6:59

The wife and the lord Amen, absolutely Amen.

Pastor Razz: 7:03

So the first day you go to work, you're 09, like we say, you know you're in service and you kiss your honey goodbye. Tell us a little bit maybe the community what goes through the mind of a servant? you know a public, a servant, an officer, law enforcement what goes through the mind, what goes through the heart as you go out there? Obviously you've been trained FTO training, on the road training but you finally released, you go to work. It's officer Mario Rojo now that's going to protect and serve. Tell us a little bit about that, if you could go back there and remember in mind what. And what I'm looking for is where a community and cops connect for the listener to see. What is it like? What's the motivation, what's the drive? How do you go of a young, recently sworn in police officer?

Mario Rojo: 7:48

Well, i could tell you a funny story. Before I even hit the streets, before I went 09 for the first time, we got sworn in in our brand new station. Yes, and back then it was on a Friday and I don't know if a lot of people that are listening remember paper checks, wow.

Chaplain Adrian: 8:09

Yeah, what was that What?

Mario Rojo: 8:14

was that Paper?

Chaplain Adrian: 8:15

Rotary phone.

Mario Rojo: 8:18

So we got paid that day and I wanted to cash my check. So I asked where could I go? and they said go to 41st Street and you'll see all the banks there or whatever. And I go, and I was in uniform, full uniform, and I got out of my personal car and this lady stopped and she asked me for directions to a place on Miami Beach. I had no idea where to send her. I didn't know Miami Beach, and so I told her honestly, ma'am, i wish I could help you, but you see, i just got sworn in today and I'm pretty sure you could find somebody down the street that could help you, but I don't know. And she was very grateful that I was honest with her and she said thank you, good luck, wow, you know. From that moment I realized what this uniform means and how people depend on you. You know, once you put it on, they want you to be everything Superman. They want you to be a psychologist, a doctor, a cop, whatever. And they think that you have all the answers to all their questions or all their problems. Because a lot of times the community, they don't call you to say thank you, they don't call you to offer you a coffee or anything like that. They call you when they've reached the end of their rope a lot of times And they want you to fix their problems, which may have been going on for many years. And they want you to fix it like right now. One call, yeah, and so the uniform. It made me realize, man, i got to get my act together because people depend on me for a lot of things.

Pastor Razz: 10:27

You know it's interesting if you're listening. This is Ask a Cop. This is a program that happens every first Tuesday of the month where we have a member of our law enforcement community here And it's where community and cops connect. It's for us to get to know the law enforcement officers better the career, the profession, the challenges of the job, the compliments of the job, the rewards of the job, the testings and the trials of the job And just for you to get to know them better. There's a phone number you could call 786-3133-115. If you have a question, you could also text us if you have a comment And you might be listening to this on podcast. So this was if you're listening on podcast, then it was previously recorded. You could connect with policethankyoucom And we're always welcome to hear from you. Our guest today is retired staff sergeant Mario Rojo. I call him Mario. We also have Chaplin Adrian here with us this morning. How are you doing this morning, chaplin?

Chaplain Adrian: 11:30

I'm doing good, doing good for those listening at a later date. This is a couple days after Hurricane Irma. I mean, i'm not Irma, i'm not her flashbacks for a couple years ago, hurricane. Ian. They're both with a letter I, this letter I situation is probably not the best. So, hurricane Ian just had the pleasure of being over there with the troops over at the West Coast, the Miami Beach guys. I felt bad for them a little bit. They put them on traffic duty. They were all red and baking and roasting in the sun. They had Miami and Corgables and some other departments assisting for Myers. They're doing a lot over there And I know Chaplin, mario Rojo, through another friend of ours, told me that I know he's looking at possibly being able to go over there And so I'm going to jump forward a little bit, if that's okay, pastor As, and then we can go back a little bit. But at some point, mario, you decided to do more than being a police officer And now, as a Chaplin, you decided to be helping other police officers through different things. So real quick did you grow up knowing the Lord, trying to help people in this way? You said you've been helping and serving your whole life. But how about this change in your life? What kind of led you to that?

Mario Rojo: 12:56

Well, i didn't grow up knowing the Lord like I do now personally, but the Lord always knew me And that's even more important He, you know, i look back. I love to reflect in my life things that I prayed for, things that I asked for, and seeing how those things sometimes the door was closed, sometimes it was open And I realized that he's working on you when you answer his call, your entire life for a moment in time where he's asking you to do something. And the hardest for me, the hardest year in law enforcement I wasn't even active. The hardest year was two years ago, in 2020, watching what was going on all over the country the hatred towards police, the riots, the lawlessness and sin is lawlessness. It says that in the Bible. And it just tears you apart because something that I put my heart and soul, my three and a half decades of my life into and I watch it being destroyed in three months in the summer of love which had nothing to do with love. So you start asking yourself was it worth it? Was it worth the sacrifice, was it worth a lot of things that you go through throughout your career, personal life and career life And at the end of the day, my answer is absolutely, absolutely worth it, because that's what the Lord calls you to do. And I realize now and now. I try to go back and try to put that same thought in officers' mind and heart. I was just there yesterday in training, talking to some of the officers. A lot of officers that were there were retired. Like me, they came into the job. I believe in my heart that all police officers come into the job loving people, wanting to serve After decades. They come out a lot of times very bitter, completely opposite, not liking the job, just wanting to get out because of the stress, because of whatever, and that's not a way to retire. Getting away is not a way to go. So I try to go back and talk to the, especially the young guys, and I tell them, you know, to the veterans. I tell them, you know, who is the most poisonous person on earth is ourselves. It's not the media, is not politicians, is not what's going on, it's it's the individual that goes in With a love for something and comes out hating everything, including themselves a lot of times. And when you are ready to leave and you're talking to a guy that still got 20 years on, what kind of message are you sending? So that has to change. That has to change, definitely has to change, and understand that the job that you do is not a good job at times. It's not an easy job at times, most of the time, but it's something you've been called to do and it's a blessing because it's a calling.

Pastor Razz: 17:07

Yeah, you know it's interesting because you did law enforcement for 36 years, which is not one day and in a moment. What I'm going to ask you is to tell us a little bit about how can a law enforcement officer keep themselves spiritually, mentally fit clean. You know, obviously you established something which is you go in one way. You know you're going to make a change, you're going to, you're going to make an impact in the world And then sometimes, along the way and the world makes an impact on you and instead of us making a change, sometimes it changes us. So in a few moments we're going to come back and hear our guest today. Staff Sergeant Officer Mario Rojo, with the Miami Police Department, did 36 years. 786-313-3115. You can text us, you can call us if you want to, if you want to make a comment, if you have a question For Sergeant Rojo, that would be excellent to receive your question. If you're listening on podcast. Thank you, police. Thank you, that. Calm is another way to get in touch with us. Ask a cop where community and cops connect. If you're just tuning in, welcome, this happens the first Tuesday of every month. You could also listen to podcast. You could go to police. Thank you that calm. This is God's way. Radio 104.7 FM WA YG LP, miami Florida. Our guest today is Sergeant Mario Rojo, 36 years, with Miami Police Department, miami Beach Police Department. Thank you, you know my mileage 68000 miles shows every once in a while. Sergeant, thank you, you know it's interesting because we were just talking about how a officers you know they coming young, full of life, full of energy, they're going to make an impact. But one of the things in our, in our conversation today, that that I so appreciate and that I try is one of my goals in this program, is that law enforcement They're human beings. You know their husbands, wives, daughters, sons, dads, moms, and I love your beginning how here you have this authority, this training. You know, you know how to fight crime, you know how to do things, but it's something as simple as hey, directions, where, where's this place? you're in a new turf, you're in a new area and yet one of the things that came through, sergeant, and I appreciate, is honesty. You know to be able to do what you know and when you don't know, just to be honest. But here you started. You said that that day you saw the weight, to a greater degree, of being a law enforcement, how people depend on you. They look on you, they believe you got the answers. You're going to make the difference. And so you start that way. And then you also mentioned sometimes, when, when an officer retires, sometimes they're bitter, sometimes they're cynical, sometimes they're they're in a wrong position, so different than they started. So we wanted to hear from you. Obviously that didn't happen in you and you're also a chaplain now you help younger officers by your experience. What would you say to that young officer that just got started? or maybe that officer that's been there 10 years, 15 years, and they already see the change? you know they have the sweating dreams. You know they have the nightmares. They are maybe already leaning towards the bottle, the gambling, the immorality, the wrongful life living that's going to catch up with you. What would you say? how can you keep from getting there? and if you're there, how can you come back?

Mario Rojo: 20:37

Well, all those things that you mentioned are just temporary painkillers and I tell them pretty much to drown out. what, what is being said when? when I retired In 2015, the the up kick of the hands up, don't shoot, and black lives matter, and all these anti police officer type of organizations were starting to, you know, emerge around the country. And I remember a roll call that we we have take home cars on Miami Beach and we we had a roll call one night in a couple of our officers said that they were embarrassed when they drove their police cars home. Well, we asked our captain and lieutenant to step out and we had a pretty heated conversation with not only them but the rest of the guys in roll call. because when, when all this started to happen, and in my last roll call, i said we are the most unique profession in the history of mankind. There's no other profession like ours. That's right, you know. it's the profession that if a police officer here in Miami does something that is deemed to be improper by the media, but whoever the police officer in Seattle is going to be saying, oh no, here we go again. There's no other profession that you can name. that is that way. If a doctor messes up in Miami, the doctor in Seattle is not saying oh no, here we go, so we're, we're, we're all put into one big sack and hit with the same baseball bat, no matter where you're at. and I told them in my last roll call the thing that you have to do when things like that happen is you look, go into a mirror, look at yourself and say is that me? And if the answer is no, then don't let. don't listen to it, don't let it get to you, because if you do, guess what?

Pastor Razz: 23:18

they win. Yeah, you know it's so good to get that. You know you're talking about what I, what, what's known, i think, in the middle, in the medical world world, as an antibiotic, you know, or an antiseptic, you know, or something to prevent this bitterness that can creep in and take over. And what you're saying is learn to differentiate between, maybe, someone that's a bad cop, someone that messes up and don't assume the guilt, or the attack, because that's not you. You know you're, you're, you're a good law enforcement officer, very, very important. And and it's funny that that leads it creeps into a thought I don't know if we want to go there or not, and I really feel for officers sometimes because they don't know they're there to protect and serve. You know they sign up to do law enforcement but they don't realize the battle, the spiritual battle, that they stepped into the front line of good and evil. That is the biggest battle of God and and and and Satan. You know there is a devil, there's demonic warfare, and so I don't know if that's too heavy, maybe, for our listeners right now.

Chaplain Adrian: 24:26

But I didn't mean to interrupt a chaplain, chaplain, adrian go ahead. What do you want to say? I'll say stay tuned. We have a good story about the reality of good and evil and prayer in a situation So that we'll save it for just a moment, because I don't want to lose the track here of you know, and I know, mario, you you use certain scriptures and you you have a certain A group cop to cop, discipleship. Tell us a little bit about what that is.

Mario Rojo: 25:04

Well, cop to cop It's. it's part of the FCPO, the fellowship of Christian peace officers and some FCPO members.

Chaplain Adrian: 25:16

President listening. Welcome to call and interrupt 786 313, 3115.

Mario Rojo: 25:25

Yes, and I've been involved with that since about 2014. Now, when we started a chapter down here in South Florida and from that what we try to do is bring Jesus to the police officers, then back in 2020. Actually, i was even called further because I said, well, we're we're not truly embracing what Christ wants us to do, which is, yes, it's OK to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to police, but we need to take it a step further and have the police actually share the gospel with the community, which is a like the Lord put it in my heart Christ to cops, to community, and and that that in itself will tell you I'm all for defunding the police And I could give you a perfect solution to that, or remedy. To do that, all we need to do is have 330 million Christ followers and you no longer will need the police or jails or anything else. And is that a possibility with man? absolutely not. With Christ. There's nothing impossible for him. So you know that that is the gold, and police work is very copycat, like kind of like the NFL. Something's going good, and the way that I explain it to police officers is this way I tell officer Adrian here about the Lord Adrian starts to share with the community. Well, adrian's little sector there, little area of responsibility, starts to change because people start to change. And now officer Adrian tells officer Mario, and so on and so forth, because Mario wants to know Adrian, what are you doing in your area, man?

Chaplain Adrian: 27:50

you don't have the crime you used to have, and so it just manifests into having people we've seen times in history right, this is not a rare occasion where there's been those revivals, those pockets of people choosing to go a different direction in their life. We have a phone call here.

Pastor Razz: 28:11

Let's get that phone call what area of town are you calling from Miami? good to have Miami represented. which one, kendall, did you say? Kendall, kendall, all right, good to have candle. in what question? Good morning, good morning, good morning. what Kendall, what? oh, i think I know this voice, but what comment would you have for a sergeant, retired sergeant, mario rojo?

Caller 1: 28:34

I have a lot of comments for him. We're going to keep it with the love of Jesus. I just want to thank you guys for doing this. I love what you're doing is really more of a comment than the question, but I just want to thank you for you doing because it really gives us an opportunity and and I wanted to call in earlier, just didn't have a chance. But I love what you're doing because it's given us an opportunity to show that that we are human beings and sometimes we're putting in a different light. And you know, there's been. One reason I'm calling in late to you guys is I had my mom in the hospital yesterday and I was just thinking about today how, through my career, i had several times I had family in the hospital and my family passed away. And you still have to go do the job, yeah, and sometimes people don't see that. So, yeah, but I just want to thank you so much for all, for all you doing, and I wanted to kind of jump in if, if you guys had questions to and I'm. I love what Mart has been saying and The questions you've been asking, and I love that Adrian's back safe, yeah, but I'll bless so many over there, yeah.

Pastor Razz: 29:44

Yeah, what is so good to have to have you participate in the program today. Adrian, I'm sure you want to greet our brother.

Chaplain Adrian: 29:51

Yeah, yes, i knew he was. he was hearing as we called them out earlier. this is he's the president of the FCPO chapter here in Miami and I Thought, you know, i always told him while he was before he retired, that he didn't have enough time to do everything he has to do, and then I also realized that he still doesn't have enough time to do everything has to do. You know, that's where we depend on the Lord, right? He allows us to do only the things that we need to do at that moment before we get all stressed out.

Pastor Razz: 30:25

Well, it's funny, because Adrian is talking among three, three guys that they say we're retired. You know, rojo Vasquez, alexandria. But Adrian will soon discover that sometimes you don't retire because you, you don't get tired in the Lord's work, you just are reassigned to a new post. But, alexandria, we have to go out for juice or something, i don't know. You finally crossed that line, you, you made that, you made that, that decision, that did you take the plunge.

Caller 1: 30:50

I Did, i did. Yeah, i stayed as reserve officer. It's both chaplain and I go over to the chaplain's team. Good, but it was a difficult. It was a difficult decision. I love the job. You know, i heard Mario talking. I, i love the job, i love my department, i love my officers. Yeah, i love being being able to be present and I and I love to witness God's hand moving. It was just so amazing from where we were to where we are, and Mario can really attest to that. He was there much longer than I was.

Pastor Razz: 31:25

I gotta jump in here. Yeah, i gotta jump in here and say something. You know It's something about law enforcement that you, you love what you do, but you love your agency, you love your officers, you love your community and but that's something to be said when you do law enforcement right, you know, like anything else, you know as a pastor, there's a way to do ministry right And there's a way to do ministry that's not right and I've seen that. I've seen pastors that they get, they get Honorary, they get bitter. You know my comments that are so they're. They're crazy to say I love ministry, i hate people. I'm thinking what are you talking about you? What are you saying? You know so, so I just wanted to highlight that to you're able to cross a retirement line And you're still coming into the building and you're still serving, and you a retired officer, you know you just don't go play golf someplace and vegetate and forget about it. You know, sit in Miami Beach three days, you know, but but you're still in the game and and I love the fact that you could do that, alessandro, anything else you want to say Adrian, any questions you will have for him or Mario, jump in here. You're our guest today. You're being questioned, but now you got an opportunity to release. If you want to put some questions on Alessandro, you go for it.

Mario Rojo: 32:38

How's your mom, george?

Caller 1: 32:39

She's doing much better. Thank you and I thank you all for the prayers I spoke to early this morning that she is A hundred times better than what she was. It's some follow-up that you need to do, a few follow-ups, but the praise God, you know she's in the big picture, she's doing well Good.

Pastor Razz: 32:55

Thank God for that. We thank.

Chaplain Adrian: 32:56

God, now that I have George and I have Mario here, let's go to this moment. A couple years ago, there is a lot of Hatred and all this animosity. 2020, we had COVID, we had all these different things going on. Oh, right around that time and I am very bad with memory, but it's all big blur I was standing in a certain very popular corner on a certain very Eventful weekend in Miami Beach, next to Mario and next to some of the other guys. George because he does a billion things was in the station, but even from the station In years past, you can hear the commotion and you can almost feel the the the difficulty of that night, traditionally or historically in Miami Beach.

Pastor Razz: 33:48

So yeah, let's start with a little bit more information, because I'm not sure people know Exactly what's going on. Mario or George, i don't know which one of you.

Chaplain Adrian: 33:57

What's?

Pastor Razz: 33:57

to give, like what's the event that's held in Miami Beach, what's been the history, so that then we could come to the place and point in time where there was a difference um.

Caller 1: 34:07

Okay, go ahead, mario the Miami Beach.

Mario Rojo: 34:12

It's an event all the time, but we have Special events that are known throughout you know the world, you could say and one of them is Memorial Day weekend or Urban week, and and All the hip hoppers and everybody congregates, and that's been going on. Actually, the What preceded Memorial Day weekend was the Super Bowl in 1989 I'm sorry, 98 between Atlanta and Denver, and That was the first time we actually had to shut down the beach because it was overwhelmed with people. And And a couple years later, memorial Day weekend, because they liked it, started to happen, and so That's the event that we're talking about and we get 250 300,000 people in a very tiny island, so you have a tiny island.

Pastor Razz: 35:14

You have like about 300,000 people, the population Additionally and the presence is additional to what's usually Miami Beach, but something that I want to put in there There's a lot of Alcohol, there's a lot of wild living there, there's a lot of passion and I'll put it this way without any control going on, and then there's drugs also, and then there's the criminal element. Alessandro, george, i don't know if you want to add to that as you, we paint the picture for the listeners of the Challenge of what's going on, and then the law enforcement that's there to try to meet that challenge, keep some kind of normalcy and Protect those people that they didn't sign up for, that They, they moved to Miami Beach. They didn't want 300,000 people. Cars, loud music, you know, hydraulic cars bouncing up and down. George, what do you want to say about that?

Caller 1: 36:00

Yeah, no, it was. It was just mass chaos and and a lot of people were upset initially at the city too. They thought that they were sponsoring these events and and they weren't. People were just showing up and And it was just, it was chaos the first couple years. I see, the first year We ended up calling see you, miami for a backup because we didn't have enough officers. The city just was shut down. Here for you, we're on the road, we're here for you 2001. You guys were. And then it's funny because after that, once you got it kind of a little more organized, as every year went by, we actually had city coming out, we had we had every pretty much agency in the county that comes out, yeah, and and now we're kind of starting to kind of get a little bit of a control. But it was just, it was just like shooting, stabbing, i mean, i remember you know obviously three calls for us, our priority, and we had I don't know how many three calls holding, which is couldn't respond. We didn't have enough officers, yeah, and and that's just obviously unheard of. So there's a lot of stress, a lot of chaos, a lot of fights, your exhausted, you're working a lot more hours than you normally work.

Pastor Razz: 37:09

You know you're not sleeping right, so it just everything compounded, yeah and and what you're saying is, i thought, for the officer that wants to protect and serve and take care of The demands and the challenges again for the listener three calls, those are emergency calls. That's a shooting, that's a stabbing, that's a crime. Life is threatened to be taken from people, they're violated, stabbing, you know, and and it's, and it's kind of like on an increase. You're holding these calls, you want to get there to answer to, to render service, and what you're saying is you have no manpower to do it. You know you don't have the ability to do it, and so we had this for several years. And then I don't know if, alessandro Mario, you want to get to, okay, so what happens?

Mario Rojo: 37:54

Well, it, like I said, it started in 2001 and the first couple years it was We. We had no idea how we could control this. Like George was saying, after a while you start doing certain things as You, you start to see what, where the problems are and you start to get better. At one point we started goodwill ambassadors and the God squad to go and try to, you know, be a buffer between the police and the crowds and stuff like that. That started a few years in. I remember it was either the first one, a second one. Actually we had a Shooting. Three people were shot at a gas station on 14 and Collins and They weren't very cooperative, that you know. It wasn't fatal shots, it was in the leg and stuff like that very, you know, minor, if you could call the shooting minor, but still They were able to walk away. They didn't want to say operate nothing and I give the name and what are you going to do? People leave and we went actually back in service with a no report Because we had no name with. We just did an incident report just documenting. There was a shooting where the victims didn't want to cooperate and a couple days later there was a retaliation where actually they were using and and a What sounded like a machine gun, a few days later coming out of a van and Thank God that nobody got hit. By the grace of God, nobody got hit. But that's the kind of thing that you're looking at. And You know, fast forward to a couple years ago. We had tried, like I said, over and over, tried everything. And then George gets a thought. The Lord spoke to the, look to him and all he said was prayer tent. And He tells me prayer tent. And so we're trying to figure out what, what to do here. Finally, when We have rolled around to Memorial Day weekend, the, we decide to put the FCBO Canopy tent that we have. We had two of them out there, that's all. And The Wednesday prior to the weekend starting, there was like a Community board meeting at the station that I went to. I attended and At the end of the meeting there was, you know, first of all did one of our captains was saying the layout, what we were going to do, which is pretty much what's been done over and over again in different ways, but Pretty much. You could only do so many things To try to control the madness. And the only difference this year was that we were going to have that, that tent that canopy up at, at where Adrian said it's the eye of the hurricane, which is aid and ocean. And We put the tent up and in that meeting I just felt like saying to Everybody that was sitting on that community board That for 20 years We've been spinning our wheels and And doing the same thing and every year we've had a major incident of stabbing, a shooting something. And I said the only thing different this year is that we're going to have a prayer tent out there And I tell you that nothing's gonna occur this Memorial Day weekend. We're not gonna have a major incident. And you know, i said I'm not putting my God to the test, i'm putting my faith on the line. And we didn't have a major incident that weekend.

Pastor Razz: 42:06

Yeah, so, if I'm listening correctly and George, i wanna hear also in a moment your perspective and your view and your participation. Incidentally, you're listening to Ask a Cop. It happens every first Tuesday of the month here, 104.7 FM God's Way Radio WAYGLP, miami Florida. You could also go to policethankyoucom. We try to post these interviews and programs there And very soon we're gonna have a podcast. It's already about to be released, but we have our guests here today. We have I'm sorry.

Chaplain Adrian: 42:41

today the podcast is released And that's exciting.

Pastor Razz: 42:43

That's exciting. It is out there.

Chaplain Adrian: 42:46

You go to any podcast channel and the podcast is there. We do have a new phone call. I think we could take that phone call and come right back. Let's go to it. Good morning, Hey. Ask a Cop.

Pastor Razz: 42:59

What area, town are you listening to from?

Caller 2: 43:02

Right here from Miami.

Pastor Razz: 43:03

Hey, good to have Miami calling this morning And what would you like to say?

Caller 2: 43:08

I would like to say to George congratulations, george, welcome to the other side of retirement.

Chaplain Adrian: 43:14

George, could you hear that One second here? Let me see, nancy, i maybe a technical difficulty.

Pastor Razz: 43:20

I hope we didn't lose him. Alexandria Police, call us back. Call us back, i'm here.

Chaplain Adrian: 43:24

I'm here George. Is there Nancy? I think I hung up on you. Go ahead and call us back. I couldn't figure out, So let's go.

Pastor Razz: 43:30

We have retired major Nancy Perez that called us. We had some technical difficulties. We have George Alexandria, president FCPO, former Miami Beach Police Department, also retired. And then we have Mario Rojo, sergeant with Miami Beach Police Department, and then I'll lift up my hand and I'm in the club too Razz, kind of like semi-retired I don't even like to say that word, but we're gonna come back to you, george, in a minute. I just wanna mention something clear that it was mentioned kind of quickly, but in the midst of the mayhem and the tragedies and the lack of respect for life, for law, for order, shooting, stabbing, killings, we had Calvary Chapel, miami Beach, and we have Pastor Robert Fountain that they kind of jumped into the forefront there, i think, mario, with what was called as the God Squad right Later on. First it was the people from the church volunteering to actually be between the citizens there that were there, or the visitors to just have destruction and law enforcement. They kind of came into the middle of that to try to buffer that.

Mario Rojo: 44:38

Yes, the actual buffers were the Goodwill Ambassadors, goodwill Ambassadors, and then the God Squad was formed to actually go off of prayer to the people.

Pastor Razz: 44:54

Thank you for that clarification. So every year it's like intensifying More shootings, more stabbings, calls that we can get to people, and they breed it. That's another way of saying they're drunk out of their mind, you know. And so, george Alessandro, fcpo, you put a tent in the middle of where the action happens, like they would say the eye of the hurricane, right. And so, mario, you go on there and you say you know what? this year, nothing's gonna happen. I'm not putting God to the test, i'm just putting my faith on the line. And so, george Alessandro, please jump in there and okay, so Nancy's back on the line.

Chaplain Adrian: 45:33

I, george, is on hold. I will, we will figure out. guys, forgive me for my technical knowledge of not knowing how to do both lines at the same time.

Pastor Razz: 45:41

I don't wanna drop Nancy. Nancy, you're on. Okay, Nancy, you're back. Welcome retired major Nancy Perez. Good morning. What do you wanna say to George Alessandro? We can't have him speak at the same time, but he could hear you right now.

Caller 2: 45:54

It's okay. It's okay. I just wanted to say congratulations. What a year you know. First his son I remember his son getting baptized along with him And then his retirement. It's just what a blessing. It just shows God's hand just continuing to bless his children. So that's it. Yes, and a good morning to all of you.

Chaplain Adrian: 46:17

Thank you, good morning. Good morning And I'm thankful for, for we have here Nancy, now George and Mario, and these are, you know, again, men and women that ended their career or it finished, retired, and did not have to be some of those that were having a diminished life, of being bitter and jaded And, in a sense, going in loving people at one point, like Mario said, now coming out hating the world. Obviously, things change and we're, you know, all these things form us into the person we are. We're not the same like when we started, and I think there's a common thread through Mario, through major Nancy Perez, through George Alessandro, and that is the thing that holds us together, it holds the world together and it's the Lord and it's Jesus. And so, nancy, thank you for calling. I'm gonna go back to George here on the line. Thank you for calling, nancy.

Caller 2: 47:14

You're welcome. Have a blessed day.

Chaplain Adrian: 47:16

Thank you, you too, bye, bye, and so, george, you're back on now, on the line now, and so I wanna go back to that moment there just to paint a picture. I was trying to look for physical pictures and maybe one day I'll find them and I'll upload them and people can see what it was like, but I wanna paint the picture of what it looked like on that street eighth and Collins. Mario, as we're there, can you kind of paint a picture for us of what that meant?

Mario Rojo: 47:45

Well, eight, most of the time eight, and Collins, especially at dust, when the sun starts going down, it's just a mass of humanity. You can't even see the sidewalk or the street, or anything And what kind of things are going on Like.

Chaplain Adrian: 48:02

people are reading books, people are playing cards.

Mario Rojo: 48:09

People are just Dressed from head to toe. No, no, no, no, it's not a Bible study.

Chaplain Adrian: 48:18

It's the exact opposite, right?

Mario Rojo: 48:21

It's Sodom and Gomorrah.

Chaplain Adrian: 48:23

Yeah, just to give a picture, mario, i remember this clearly. I believe it was you or one of those that was in our group and we were having there this prayer tent. Just you know, it basically says need prayer and people would come up and ask for prayer And, as I see, there was a couple, and I remember they're praying with someone that weekend. Not even five feet away was a barely dressed person twerking and dancing while another person was putting dollar bills and there was prayer five feet away And that's kind of the scene of what's going on this weekend. So you have some crazy live, crazy things. There's alcohol everywhere, dancing, drugs, and then you had a little corner that had this people coming up for prayer. I remember a young man crying as we were praying for him because he knew that this was God preventing certain things that he wanted to do. And some people would walk by, mario, if you remember, and they would say man, you're making me feel guilty, man, you're making aw, man, you know, not like with animosity. I don't think we got any resistance, i don't think any haters in a sense came and said, oh, i'll get out of here, because we weren't preaching. We were just there for prayer and a presence. You know the ministry of presence.

Mario Rojo: 49:46

Well, actually, the only hostility that I saw was a couple, and they weren't what you would call, you know, the typical young 18, 20, 25 year old. this couple was in their mid to late 30s And they came up to a group of the God squad, which they have very bright orange shirt with God squad on them. You can't miss them. And the male came up and he asked a very harsh question to. there were two girls and two guys that were standing there And I was just standing to the side and he said you know, why does God allow white supremacy?

Caller 1: 50:38

Oh, wow.

Mario Rojo: 50:40

That was his question, and you know one of the young ladies that was standing there. I could see her trying to answer, but nothing was coming out. You know she didn't really have an answer for him And I didn't hear the initial question And so I kind of mouthed to one of the other people what do you say? And they came and told me, And so I just stood next to him and he kept going on And then his girlfriend, his wife, who was next to him, she says to the group, she says don't get me wrong, I believe in God, I pray to God and it makes me feel good. But then I see what goes on in this world And all the killings and the white supremacy and blah, blah. She says all this you know, and then he interjects again and he goes can you answer that? And that's when I tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at me and he looked at my badge which it says Chaplain. But a lot of times they don't read Chaplain, they read Captain. And I have my gun on him, I'm an officer and a Chaplain at the same time. And so he kind of looks at me really hard and he goes what? And I go. Did you hear what she just said? Should you just answer your question? And he goes again what? and I said she answered your question. Is she said, when she prays to God, talks to God, she feels good, Makes her feel good, but then she looks at what's going on in the world, Which is going back to the flesh, and it gets her angry. And I said there's your answer right there.

Chaplain Adrian: 52:42

Where do we?

Mario Rojo: 52:42

step away, when you lose your focus, when you look away from the Lord, you're gonna get angry all over again. So you have to keep them in focus, keep them in your heart, keep them in your mind. And so well, they actually wanted my information and I told them well, to get the information from the church guys. And they did. They Exchange information and walked off. Yeah, that's powerful.

Chaplain Adrian: 53:10

Oh, you know that the those moments, just what we're ongoing and ongoing things like that and real struggles. You know we would pray for people's families, we would pray for people's and so so that's what's going on. This was the one major difference this weekend from From other weekends. In a group of people that were the board, or you know, and planning these events, are just figuring out the Logistics and they all heard something's gonna be different. And You know, i think of that story right when the prophet was challenged and he says alright, whoever burns this, you know we'll burn at the altar, catches on fire, you know, and we'll ask God. And they tried and they jumped and screamed and everything I just said let's see which God is gonna send the fire.

Pastor Razz: 53:56

Incidentally, I got a jump in here. This is ask a cop. First Tuesday of every month we we come in. We have three minutes left on the program. Time goes by so fast as George Alejandro Alexander is still on the phone with us.

Chaplain Adrian: 54:10

I was gonna go to him next. Let's put him on because he's been waiting.

Pastor Razz: 54:13

It's like a, like a meter taxi there. You know we're gonna get a bigger bill. He's holding.

Chaplain Adrian: 54:18

I was gonna go to him and I was gonna try to. We have a one almost like two minutes left, george, and I wanted to kind of finish off maybe with you here commenting, and so We had this going on in the census showdown. I walk away that night and, you know, as we walk away we're meeting the officers and greeting them and they're so thankful. You can see him saying, wow, no one has come up and said thank you to me, and all this. I get to you, george, at the station and we had a conversation I don't know if you remember and you walked out and you said and you felt something you want to maybe Tell us a little bit about from your end how that was. And then we want to was there less violent crimes? Was there less Threes and emergencies? you know, maybe from a hundred, you know, did it go down to 99, george?

Caller 1: 55:04

So I just kind of expands a little bit on the pertin. Yes, you know, when you, when you get to a point in life and this is really and I want to share Obviously with everyone, and if there's any officers out there play, you know, i realize in this time I've been on 25 years that I couldn't do this without God. You know, i needed that rock, i needed that foundation, and when you get to this point of chaos and nothing is worth, you have to surrender it to him. And And that's what we did, you know, we surrendered it to him and that's what he gave me as a prayer tent. A lot of people I'm sure we're laughing thought we were crazy, but that is the first year we've ever done that and that is the only year that we had no incident happen. Did you say?

Chaplain Adrian: 55:44

you say no zero on the more they weekend, notoriously in Miami, be emergent calls waiting, and what a testament to that weekend that weekend where we have all our Stabbing and shootings and robberies, that we had nothing.

Caller 1: 56:01

The only incident we had we had a shooting. That was Tuesday morning, outside of what we consider that, that area, yeah, you know.

Chaplain Adrian: 56:08

And we didn't have the tent up at that time.

Caller 1: 56:10

And that was the next day that was already down and it was, and it was Tuesday morning and it ends Monday, so yeah, what the Lord's moving away that weekend.

Chaplain Adrian: 56:19

God got answered there. It doesn't mean now, if you're listening in the future, that you're gonna go now do this as like a formula. I put up a prayer, tent. Nothing bad happens. No, that was just. We answered what we believe that God was telling us at that moment. Oh, be obedient. And that's where law enforcement and and God connect you know, guys, you're obedient, you know the wisdom it's, our time is up.

Pastor Razz: 56:39

I want to thank our guest this morning, sergeant Mario Rojo, with Miami Beach Police Department, and then you had a 15, you had a backup here with George Alessandro, and I want to say to those that are listening, i want to try to tie this together very quickly. The application here is whether you are going through a son, a daughter that's sick or runaway, whether you're going to a mom, like in the case of George, in the hospital, whether you're going through a divorce, whatever you're going through. It applies also to law enforcement. God is God and you guys reminded me of that scripture where, after God challenged Aisa and he says listen, don't you know that God is looking to and fro to show himself strong on behalf of those who have a heart That want to be loyal to God. And Mario, that was your case and and George, that was your case. You, you just had a heart to God. Yeah, and I love what you said. I'm not, i'm not testing God, i'm just putting my faith on the line. How God is looking. And he showed himself strong and that weekend and he says You know what? I'm here now and there was no major incident in that zero Red zone I would call it. You know where everything happens. God just proved to maybe skeptical officers skeptical What I'm looking for public Officials, officials, you know, elected officials. That's what I was looking for, you know, it got God made himself known on that weekend in Miami Beach. Hey, this has been God's way. Radio, this has been ask a cop. Thank you so much. Tune in. Next Tuesday, as far as the first Tuesday of the month, we'll be having another guest here and Mario and George, we're gonna have to have you guys back. Thank you for being with us, thank you, thank you. Thank you for having us and we'll sign out. Adrian, thank you for your ministry and your service for More information on ask a cop, visit police.

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