Ask A Cop
Ask A Cop is live and unscripted. Each episode gives other officers and the community a window into a police officer's world and provides authentic community engagement with law enforcement professionals.Listeners can relate by asking questions, hearing some of their own struggles, and finding solutions. Despite preconceived notions, these men and women, who serve and protect, are approachable and eager to answer questions. This resource provides meaningful engagement for officers, their families, and the community. As chaplains, we have witnessed the immeasurable rewards of simply sitting down and having these positive conversations. Produced in partnership with Gods Way Radio.
Ask A Cop
041: How Do Love and Faith Shape a Law Enforcement Partnership? - Carla and Ricky (Sergeant MDPD)
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. Right now, though, get ready to ask a cop If you're listening on the podcast.
Speaker 2:You did a good thing by listening, in subscribing If you haven't yet hit that subscribe button and if again you're listening live, kind of going back and forth you are live premiere here on God's Radio, thinking of the future podcast listeners as well. If you don't subscribe yet to the podcast, make sure you look for Ask a Cop anywhere you normally listen to your podcasts and make sure to catch up on past episodes. If you're listening live, make sure you have the phone number written down or stored in your phone so that you can participate without any hindrance. The phone number to the studio is 786-313-3115. 786-313-3115. We have some guests here with us today, so excited to have them. Two law enforcement officers, you know it's an amazing thing. I'm going to allow them to just introduce themselves, starting here at my left. Please, if you want to introduce yourself to the radio family, we're gonna get that volume up. We're gonna get going. It's gonna be a good thing.
Speaker 3:Go ahead, please so my name is carla and I'm from the blue land angels church awesome, I'm ricky and carla's husband awesome husband and wife team man.
Speaker 2:Just so many cool, cool connections here today. Carla, I'll allow you to go first. Just a little background, uh, you know how long you've been in law enforcement? Shout out to all the psas out there, uh, but please give us a little information about your start and career in law enforcement well, I began as a psa my first year and I'm now 22 years in the department.
Speaker 3:And um, hold on one second no problem and um and yes, um is. I mean I look back and I'm just saying to you 22 years and it's. It looked like yesterday like I started yesterday.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. Have you been with the same department the whole time? Yes wow, awesome, awesome and uh ricky. What about you?
Speaker 4:I started 2002, so 21 years with the same department.
Speaker 2:Awesome. You know one of those things that I found out speaking with you guys you both have the same amount of time in law enforcement. She beat you with that year as a PSA, but same amount of time as law enforcement officer. More about your story uh, you were not christians when you started in the profession, uh, but uh, you, you also met on the job.
Speaker 4:Tell us about that 2004 yeah, it would have been uh, god always has a plan, but it would have been so much easier if we would have been believers. Um, but we did it the hard way because you know we're hard-headed. Yeah, we met on the job. We didn't like each other very much at first, but we grew to have a mutual respect at first and then an adoration for each other and it grew into love and our relationship, and that's been 18 years 19 years.
Speaker 2:Awesome, carla. Any comment on meeting Ricky there? A rookie law enforcement officer?
Speaker 3:Yes, I was assigned to ride with him because when I started they didn't have enough pool cars. So my sergeant said you need to ride with him. But I didn't like riding with him because we went to a couple calls and we think very different. So I used to say you're not a cop, you're not a cop interesting.
Speaker 2:If you don't mind elaborating. What do you mean by that? That's very interesting oh now again. This is 18 years ago, so everybody listening. He's grown, he's matured, he's improved.
Speaker 3:But yeah, so we went to a call juveniles throwing rock to the carts and you know, I got the juvenile and the aunt, I think it was there, and the aunt was saying allegations that you know that I closed the door on the kid's leg and it wasn't true. So we wrote a report and you know, when it went down to the administration, the report needed to be written a certain way and Ricky didn't put all those details like no, it didn't happen that way. So I'm like you were there with me and back then we didn't have cameras, so, um, that's how I started and then. But then I had to ride with him. There was no more cars and kind of like God put us together. We didn't know what God was doing, but you see the fingerprints of him when you look back, when.
Speaker 2:When you look back, yeah, you know it's so interesting. I mean, right there, that little scene. You know the dynamics of law enforcement teamwork, the culture, the reporting. You do it this way, I do it that way, man, one of the things that we hope to come from this program is just praying for law enforcement officers. It's not easy. It's such a complicated job with so many aspects to it. So what an important scene that we get some insight into. Wow, thank you so much for that. I mean you guys met in 2004, married in 2005. That was pretty fast. I mean, how did that come about?
Speaker 4:we got married on our one year of our first date, wow, yeah. So, um, we just we knew, you know, after a bunch of you know relationships and dealing with people, um, I knew because of the fact that I've never felt in this way before for anybody. And it's one of those things where it's like, okay, you know, I can't picture my life without her. I better do something to keep her in it.
Speaker 2:So put a ring on it yeah exactly, exactly awesome and carla, I mean. That's it. It takes two parties to agree.
Speaker 3:He he did a dinner um that. I tell him. To this day, 18 years later, they have never been a chicken parmesan like that oh, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:He, oh, he cooked, he cooked, yeah, yeah, he's a chef.
Speaker 3:Guys take notes, Gentlemen, take notes, gentlemen Cooking so he cooked and it was a very romantic dinner, italian theme and everything. And then that night he said you're going to be the wife of my kids and the mother. I mean, you're going to be my wife and the mother of my kids. And I looked at him like I mean, you cook good bud.
Speaker 4:Yeah, sometimes that's not enough, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, so awesome and from that day I knew he was serious yeah he, he, he was serious about it and he was pretty. He's younger than me okay he's six years on, a younger than me, yeah we didn't know, yeah, like because we would never ask.
Speaker 2:You never ask a lady.
Speaker 4:It's one of those things. I thought she was younger. She thought I was older because, you know, she's not like an old woman and I carry myself like a grumpy old man sometimes and who cooks good, though who cooked good? Yes, yeah, the occasional little knife incidents, but I cook good you know, even in that right the seriousness.
Speaker 2:The other thing that I get from that story is how important it is right Maybe there's couples listening right now how important it is to go through stuff you know, learn about that person, get to know that person right. You knew his work ethic. You knew him as a person so you didn't go in blind into marriage so important, any comment even on that ethic. You knew him as a person so you didn't go in blind into marriage.
Speaker 4:so important, any comment even on that um, yeah, getting to know somebody does not mean you need to live with them, because that's an unfortunate thing that people seem to think is important, and it's not. It's set you up for disaster, but getting to know personality and then, once you fall in love, um, you know love is a choice that you make and it's a choice you make every morning.
Speaker 6:And it's.
Speaker 4:It's not easy. We have our I refer to them as intense moments of fellowship, you know, because we don't have arguments, we just have our intense fellowship. It's usually it's usually scripture based, though, which is the funny thing. Like we have stupid things, you left your clothes on the floor or whatever, but are are are in, not not intense, but the more back and forth we go is usually because of scripture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, interpretation, that's awesome yeah, no, you know, really, really getting into it. Um, that's good to know, that's good to know. Right, there's um, that's a whole other conversation, the this is how I put it when I talk to people there should be things in marriage that are out of bounds. We don't use those words, we don't go there. You know we're going to make a commitment. Maybe we'll come back to that, but we already have some text messages, believe it or not, I love it when people participate. We'll pull those up on the screen so you could follow along as I read them.
Speaker 2:I'm talking to our guests here in the studio, ricky and carla. If you want to text, if you want to call, remember, remember that phone line is open. 786-313-3157 8 6, 3, 1, 3, 3, 1 1, 5. Caller text no special code needed, no app, just like any other cell phone. So we have a really encouraging, fun text. And then we have a difficult one, we have a tough one. So we'll start with the encouraging one. Uh, I mean they could both be encouraging. I don't want to discourage the person who sent the tough question. It's a good question, but it's a tough question. Let me read the the fun and encouraging one first rick and carlo are my pastors and I love them.
Speaker 2:They are the best because they teach us the word of god. They are love. They are true gospel of jesus christ. We need more people like them. Our church is the real thing. Exc. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. They adore Yeshua and we. There's a mistype there. They adore Yeshua, they teach the Bible like God created it to be the book of instructions and revelations and they gave their name Sarah, sarah.
Speaker 3:So that was just an encouragement from Sarah. Hi Sarah, Thank you, Sarah. Thank you for the words of encouragement.
Speaker 2:We appreciate it, that is awesome and we're going to get to that Blue Line Angels Church or Blue Line Church.
Speaker 3:Blue Line Angels Church. It started Blue Line Angels and then last year we changed it to church.
Speaker 2:Blue Line Church. So we're going to get to that. I mean, that's a huge blessing, a part of your life, so we're gonna get to that. They're, they're beating us to it, but wow, so exciting. Here's the tougher question, but it's an important one. Go ahead. It says this is uh, bethany and judah, my five-year-old would like to know what happens to the bad people who steal children. Where did they go when they are caught? And, um, they're, they're thankful that they got the notification. We sent a notification out to the listeners that have our app and they're thankful that they got the notification that they can ask a police officer questions. So there's a mom and her five-year-old and they have an honest question. They want to know.
Speaker 4:Well, judah, thank you for your question. The bad guys they go to jail is what happens when they get caught? They have a trial, because that's the way our government works you have a jury who will find you guilty if you're a really bad guy, and then they put you in a jail so you can't be out in public and you can't cause anybody any more hurt and keep. Keep them away from good people like you guys.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, carla, anything you want to add.
Speaker 3:If you take it to the Word of God, which he is the government, like Ricky said, the natural will be that they go to jail. But what God does is he gives us always a second chance and we're all sinners. So he's a sinner for stealing that child. But if we look at the heart of God, how God is going to judge him he is the ultimate judge and we all have that opportunity to forgiveness. So we have to look at it in both perspectives. So that's the difficulty of being a cop that we have the cop heart and justice, just like God, but God also has that forgiveness.
Speaker 7:You know, it's such a good, important thing If there's any law enforcement listening even though this was a question asked here by Bethany and Judah and we got some perspective and some answer but if you're law enforcement and you're listening, I think it's such a good thing to remember.
Speaker 7:There is, uh right, you you say it in your oath when you come in you're up there to uphold the constitution and to live by the laws of this land. But, as carla brings up too, there is the God, the creator of heaven and earth. And so when a law enforcement, I think, has that perspective to me and maybe you guys can comment, I'll put it as a question how does that affect you going and doing the work that you do, which is to bring this law in order, where sometimes there's maybe not enough evidence or something, and maybe someone who, who, who is, quote-unquote a bad guy or does wrong things, breaks the law in some way, maybe doesn't end up in jail or, you know, vice versa? And so how do we reconcile, how do we, like you know, do this and how does knowing god and knowing that he is the ultimate judge, how does that maybe help you in your everyday career as a law enforcement officer. Go ahead, yvonne Go ahead.
Speaker 3:It's great that you asked that because we just had that question earlier this morning In another meeting. I was, and it was one word that was said, and it's grace the only way you could perform as a police officer and implementing law and order and justice is doing what is written in the law, because you have a duty to do. But at the same time don't take it to your heart you do what you have to do. Go all through the process of that particular person, of breaking the law, taking him where he needs to go, go in front of the judge, go all through the process. But in the meantime you know what I do I pray for that person and that's when grace comes in, because if I start judging that person, then I'm lying to my own belief of my faith, of my God. So grace.
Speaker 8:Awesome.
Speaker 4:And I think it's so important. You know before being a christian, this job can be very frustrating because there has been times where I will arrest a person, you know, like I'll work a double shift and I will literally arrest him and he will be back out at the same store stealing again before I go home and you think what's the punishment for this?
Speaker 4:but then you realize we have an eternal uh judge and he can handle it. Where I can't and it's out of my reach, he can handle it. So I shouldn't be frustrated and just leave it. Leave it in god's hands, yeah and I think it's incredible, the same day yes, wow even back-to-back days happens a lot to the same people over and over again.
Speaker 7:And it's so important to have that, because two things can happen, I think. One is I just stopped caring about justice, let me answer a call and leave and just forget it. What's the point? These guys aren't staying overnight, they're coming out the next day. And the other perspective is where Carlos mentioned, in mentioning grace, you could be so hard that these things affect you to such degree and and and and. Now it's. It's it's carrying through your whole life, not just on the job, the way you interact with people, and so I think and who's the prisoner there?
Speaker 3:the prisoner you took to jail, or or you or you.
Speaker 4:So yeah, you end up taking it home and your really your family suffers, relationships suffer.
Speaker 7:And God gives you then the renewed hope or perspective when you need it, or the sense of hey, I got to carry out justice tomorrow, this is my responsibility, so I don't just give up. I continue on Having God in the life is just so good.
Speaker 3:And let me just say something, because maybe you're a listener there and you're saying yeah, but how do I forgive a murder that I just murdered somebody, took away their life for somebody. Because it's one of the commandments do not kill. But the Bible has to say. Jesus said also if you talk bad about your brother or say something wrong to your brother, then you have committed death.
Speaker 1:You have killed somebody, killing him with your tongue.
Speaker 3:So it doesn't have to be a physical death. He also could be a spiritual death like behind the scenes, so that's why you need to be keep that in perspective.
Speaker 7:Jesus deal with.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, jory no problem, no, don't but Jesus deals with.
Speaker 7:I'm sorry, jory, no problem. Jesus deals with that saying where we heard but I didn't kill nobody.
Speaker 3:You feel like you're great.
Speaker 7:But our words at times are tearing people down, killing.
Speaker 2:What she's referring to is the high standard that Jesus set for us. And we say, oh well, and it's the classic argument right, right, well, at least I didn't kill anybody jesus says you sure about? That. Check out matthew chapter 5, chapter 6 yes, well well, uh, the mom and uh five-year-old are listening.
Speaker 2:They said what a beautiful response, so they're thankful. Uh, thank you so much for that question. If you're going, hey, I want to ask a question. Well, ask the question. 786-313-3115. If you're listening live, if you're listening on the podcast, you can always text or call us. We can get in touch with Carla or Ricky, I'm sure of it, once you hear this at a later date. But if you're listening on the first Tuesday in June, june the 6th we're live and you can call or text right now. Again, 786-313-315. So you guys were married in 2005, and then the Lord got your attention, the Lord got a hold of you guys. Tell us about when you came to know the Lord.
Speaker 3:It was in May 18, 2013 in a restaurant. Well, like I said earlier, it was to a radio station listening to a lady talking about her life coming to the lord, and she wrote a book, a puzzle elephant, a step of an elephant. And she said I'm gonna be in kendall drive and 162 sharing about my book. If you want your book signed that you have bought, I'd be there and she started sharing her testimony and that day, everything she was saying is like I'm going through this right now, Like I don't know this woman and how does she know that everything that I'm going through? So then she did the calling. She said anybody here want to leave everything at the cross right now and receive Jesus in your heart? And she did the calling and my kids were there, my sister was there and she'd been praying for me for 20, and she did the calling and my kids were there, my sister was there and she'd been praying for me for 20 years to come to the Lord. And that was my testimony.
Speaker 3:But it has a lot of layers but, that was the day, and then Ricky came six months after to another radio station.
Speaker 4:It started through the radio station because they had the Extreme Christian Music Conference. It was a concert going on in january of what that would have been 2014 yeah so my thought process was I'm gonna buy her tickets for christmas.
Speaker 4:She's gonna go with her sister, because I wasn't a believer. She's gonna go with her sister, I'm going to go out with my boys and I'm gonna have a great time and she can go do her christian thing. Because you know, I didn't get it at the time, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She convinced me to go to the concert and we've been to a lot of concerts before. There was an energy in there and I didn't know what it was, but it was the presence of the Holy Spirit and I never felt that in my life before the scene to the worship music and to be surrounded with all these people. And it was at where the Panthers play, whatever it's called now.
Speaker 3:The to be surrounded with all these people, and it was at where the Panthers play.
Speaker 4:whatever it's called now the arena. Yeah, and it wasn't full. The arena wasn't completely full, but there was more energy in there than, like I don't know. We went to like a Shakira concert, you know, five years before that, completely packed house and nothing compared to what was in that place and that's what changed me.
Speaker 3:We were crying that we were crying the whole worship and I didn't understand why he was crying until we left the place and he told me. But that's how it happened yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I mean so much to glean from that. I mean, if you're praying for someone, for one year. Hey, you have 19 to go yeah, yes, if that's discouraging.
Speaker 2:Ask god for grace. God don't make me wait 19 years, please, lord. But but seriously, I mean, man, don't quit praying. The lord sometimes takes longer than we want, longer than we expect. The lord knows right. Well, we have the two extremes, right. You have nine or 20 years that you were being prayed for carla ricky. It only took six months. So hey, ask carla how to pray or something. I mean, man, it's just rejoicing yeah, not so much.
Speaker 3:Great, great observation you made there about praying. But you know, what Ricky started seeing on me is that I wasn't arguing for him leaving the clothes on the floor. I wasn't arguing for little things. So I started changing within myself, inside as a wife, and he started seeing something different in me and that got his attention as opposed to you trying to change me, which you have no control over.
Speaker 3:You just change yourself, and I saw that and yes followed suit because I think if you're a wife and you listening and you go into tribulation with your husband and you're a believer and he's not, I encourage you to keep looking at the inside of you, Also praying, but also that he see the love that you have for Jesus.
Speaker 2:That you win him over.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Amen, we have somebody on the line. Thank you for calling. Where are you calling us from today? Miami, miami. Is it Kendall Coral Gables, homestead, homestead, homestead. Great to hear from Homestead. If you have a speaker or radio, please turn it down so we can hear you clearly over the phone. And then, please, you can share a comment or ask a question of Carla and or Ricky. Go ahead.
Speaker 5:I have a comment. My name is Debra Garcia and Ricky is my youngest son.
Speaker 8:Oh, wow, yeah, hi, mom Hi.
Speaker 5:I'm so proud of the man that he has become through the love of God and I bless him every day and I'm so proud. Like I said, I'm so proud of him and Carla Carla's, my daughter-in-law. I have two beautiful grandkids and that's it. I just wanted you know to come love it. That that's worth, that's worth a million bucks.
Speaker 2:That was awesome, thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you for calling all righty well bye mom, I love you mom bye mom, bye baby, that's so sweet.
Speaker 2:I mean you know what I see there just off the bat is how the love of Jesus, it just goes, it pours over. You know it affects the whole family. So what a sweet phone call. Hey, you don't have to be related to Carla or Ricky to call. You know I make that joke all the time 7-8-6-3-1-3-3-1-1-5-7-8-6-3-1-3-3-3115. If you're listening live, you can call or text. We've already gotten some texts. That was our first phone call. I look forward to more Guys. Anything in a sense you know just speaking with Adrian as well any significant event as a married couple, any testimony, anything that God's done or brought you through in your marriage as a married couple.
Speaker 4:Well, our son was born in glaucoma and that was one of the triggering factors of seeking God and trying to figure out why this happened. Because the doctor says, oh, you know, it's just a developmental thing, it happens in the wound. We don't know what causes it. And for those who don't know, like Andrea bacelli, ray charles those singers who are blind were born glaucoma. They were born in a different generation, so treatment was different, prescriptions were different. Um, you know, the doctor said if he would have been born 10 years earlier, he'd probably be blind, because things, you know, just changed that way. And that's what got the trigger started of like why? Questioning why, why did this happen? Starting to seek answers. And you know Carla more than I, because that's just her personality difference than me but yeah, it's and it's, it's still.
Speaker 4:You know, we still go to the doctor every six months but he's had 14, 13 surgeries. You know he's had laser treatments. He has these little tubes put in his eyes. He's been through a lot. He's a tough kid because he doesn't complain. He's one of those types. He's been through so much that if he complains about something, you know, okay, something's up.
Speaker 3:So that was the first one. And then the second one was directly to our marriage and it had to do with integrity in the marriage and there had to be a forgiveness. So with my son we learned gratefulness that word gratefulness like seeing him how joyful he was even though he was going through so much pain. And then into our marriage it was forgiveness and we had to restore the marriage right from zero. And that was seven years years exactly after when that occurred. And we did not know the Lord when all that forgiveness happened and we didn't even know where we were going to start from there. But God sent a friend of ours she's a lieutenant still in the department. She invited us to go skiing and it was like a Like snow skiing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like skiing.
Speaker 3:And we actually did it. It was like a honeymoon, it was like a whole week of honeymoon. And she said don't pay. You don't have to pay hotel or anything, just pay the plane ticket. Now that I look back, I know that was God. I know that was God opening that door. And then the third thing that happened and this is personally me, it wasn't my job and it had to- do with integrity too, where I had to come with the truth, and that's when I met, actually, jesus.
Speaker 3:That's when I met Him and encountered. I was reading the book of John when I was assigned to the port port and I was looking up to the sky, it was raining and I was looking how he was telling the disciples look, I'm going to leave. You're not going to understand why I'm going, and this is me paraphrasing I'm going to leave, but you need to do A, b and C. You need to do all these things. And when I had it, like in YouTube and audio, and then I was listening to the voice and reading at the same time, and when I saw those two things, it was like I received okay, now I know my mission. Now you're telling me it's like your dad will tell you look, I'm dying and you need to do all these things and take care of things these final words.
Speaker 3:So I took it like okay, I'm your disciple too. Yeah, I have welcomed you in my heart, so now I need to join you in your mission. Yeah, and from that day forward, I understood my mission. Not at the restaurant. Yeah. But that day, so it was like in layers.
Speaker 7:Yeah, yeah, like Joey said earlier, there's so many things um a lieutenant that would take the time out to see a need to invite you no, and she didn't even know she didn't even know god's fingerprints on things as well
Speaker 4:you know, it was one of those things. Like you know how people all use the expression oh, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Well, what she was going through, she was literally losing sleep over it, like you know at the job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sitting at the job.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was one, yeah it was one of those things where it was bothering her so deeply inside. Um, and yeah, it wasn't easy, but those soul, soul stirring events is what you know can really direct you to the lord.
Speaker 2:You know you use that word integrity, and I think a good definition for integrity is what you do when people aren't watching you know, and uh man talk about the need for integrity in law enforcement yes, right I mean yes you know, we, we it.
Speaker 2:It's really with any job, any profession, but for whatever reason, you know, people like to throw the police profession into into the fire, into the mud in a sense. And so corruption and this and that, and bad cops and good cops. First of all, let me just say, on behalf of our guests here today, that's in every profession, okay if you didn't know, there's bad dentists, there's bad lawyers, there's corrupt politicians, there's corrupt, uh uh, restaurant owners. Okay, okay let me.
Speaker 4:There was a local pastor from north miami that just got charged federally for the you know you know from, for stealing money for the payroll protection during covid wow so.
Speaker 2:So it's an every profession. So, uh, yes, we do need to pray for them. And if you are listening, if you're a law enforcement officer, listen, you be the difference, you be the good cop, you have integrity, like we heard here. It was challenging. I mean anybody listening right now not to give the details, but how can you encourage them? They're in that situation, they're being faced with a challenge of integrity.
Speaker 3:This is my encouragement to any officer that's listening with integrity is that remember that day when you graduated and you sworn that you will serve, that you will love the community, that you will be devoted to protect and serve the community of the community, that you will be devoted to protect and serve the community.
Speaker 3:And when you were putting that hand up, you're swearing, but you were not swearing to a director or a name of a police department. You were swearing and building a covenant with God Almighty. And if you don't know Jesus, if you don't have a relationship with God and you're listening right now and you're a cop I pray that God will open a door for you and that you will start seeking Him, because His Word says Seek in me and you will find me. So when you find Jesus in your heart, he will give you that integrity, he will give you that truth because you will walk in his way and in his truth. So I'll keep you in prayer, but that will be my word on that, because I remember that day that you got sworn in. Don't take it slightly.
Speaker 2:Amen, amen. Ricky, I mean again, she's the one with the story in the center. First have experience. But any counsel, any comment on that.
Speaker 4:You know the same is is what she was saying. It's just you have um, you you're being judged yourself by the lord and your actions and what you do. So you know you might not make a lot of friends and your decisions, but you have only one person that you need to um live to and that's the Lord and Jesus and what he did, and you know he set such a high standard, like we were talking about, and you're trying to live up to that and if you do, then you know you'll do the right thing at work, you will do the right thing in your relationships and your marriages and your friendships. But it's not easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah know, thank you so much because even that comment of you might not make a lot of friends, right? But? But you're gonna do the right thing. You know, I look forward to talking about what you're doing now. It's an interesting section of uh, policing. Uh, we're gonna give you an opportunity here to just catch your breath. We're gonna hear an announcement, we're gonna go to a break. Uh, give adrian a moment to get that loaded up.
Speaker 2:If you just tuned in, we're about halfway through our program on the live premiere of ask a cop here on god's way radio. If you don't have the phone number to the studio, you are missing something essential to your life, because you need the phone number to call or text to participate today, to speak to or to comment, share with carla and ricky. It's 786-313-315. Stay tuned because we're going to talk about agriculture. All right, so here we go. You may not have known this, but carla and ricky chase goats for a living. Guys, tell us a little bit about where you work. I mean, this is some of the fun parts you know, illegal.
Speaker 7:This is some of the fun parts Illegal, illegal goats, speeding goats, maybe this is some of the fun parts.
Speaker 2:You know all the different things that police do, law enforcement do.
Speaker 4:Tell us about where you're assigned right now, please. There's a lot of aspects of police work, some of which are known to the public, which is be in one. We deal with the agricultural issues of dade county, and they kind of does have a large agricultural community. Uh, we do have a large area of crops and, uh, we also deal with, you know, livestock horses, cows, pigs, goats, you know things that get loose on occasion.
Speaker 4:You know they're very, they're very smart. You know horses horses will unlock a gate and get out, and then you spend two hours chasing after them, do?
Speaker 7:you put light. I mean, is there like light, like you're chasing a car?
Speaker 2:Like it's like a three signal.
Speaker 7:Well, it all depends. Do you do it on foot Sometimes?
Speaker 4:it's on foot, sometimes it's on ATV, sometimes it's in car, because they get out and they are moving and you're not going to run as fast as a horse. How?
Speaker 2:fast do horses run? 20?
Speaker 4:something 30 miles an hour. I think, Wow, yeah, they get to.
Speaker 7:Those are the kind of questions you can't just ask any officer.
Speaker 2:These are very specialized If the child is still listening. Some police may not have the answer to that, Judah, okay, but these guys?
Speaker 4:know how fast a horse runs. It's true, because some people don't, some police may not have the answer to that, judo okay, but these guys know how fast the horse runs it's true, because some people don't even know we exist.
Speaker 7:Yeah, no, I mean, I didn't know, you know, I didn't know so that's, that's so interesting I will say, uh, joey, you know, and we joke because it is funny. Right, there's an aspect of it that's really funny, but when it comes down to the time and I remember, um, a couple years ago now, surfside happened, but um, it's not like like they stay and all they do is agriculture. I remember ricky and and so many from maybe some of these special units they had to respond to to, to very tragic calls, and so, even though it is lighthearted and I I think it's hilarious sometimes, you know the fact that, like, hey, how's your day? I chase a goat.
Speaker 7:Um, there's a very uh still, uh, uh, the thing that pastor razz always says, which is man, a law enforcement officer sees in one day, sometimes more than a person can see in their whole lifetime, even in a department, as maybe silly sounding as agriculture. Uh, there's still things that go on, yeah, yeah, I'll take it to that, it's great that you mentioned that, pastor, because on Mother's Day we were so busy.
Speaker 3:We were so busy, I mean a day that everybody's with their mothers and celebrating, but I responded to a husband attempting to kill the wife, drowning her, and then he actually tried to shoot her two times. So I mean, even though we do agriculture, because we are far west, sometimes we're closer to those locations and they request us to go. So, the police work. It doesn't stop just within the livestock.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we're still cops at the base.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and I was gonna get to that. You know we wanted to start light-hearted. You know the second half of the program, but you don't just chase the goats, you chase the people stealing the goats. Yes, unfortunately. Yeah, yeah, sometimes you catch people. Are there goat thefts?
Speaker 4:uh, yeah yeah yeah, they're very easy people reach over the fence, grab it and just take it.
Speaker 2:Um same thing horses, cows, yeah, pigs you know, and again, I I don't know about everyone else, but I think that's incredible. And again, the way I think maybe it's different from others, maybe you think different from me. Baby, you want to call, you want to ask a question. You're going. I don't know what joey's talking about, but I have a question 786-313-315. But I just see such a love there. Here's what I mean. You, you know, these are hardworking people, farmers, ranchers and you're helping them. Right, there's people that are trying to take advantage of them. There's, you know, they're having trouble keeping everything running. And here, the police. Right, you have these comments. I would say silly comments, I would say unthoughtful comments. Oh, I pay your salary taxes, man. We are allowing, in a sense, this whole department, this whole thing, so that these farmers can be helped. I mean, what a service? Right, you're talking about a service that the police provide. I just see such a, I don't know, it's a beautiful picture to me. I don't know, maybe I'm like I said, you're 100.
Speaker 4:Our farmers love us and we love them. We have, you know, a mutual relationship. Yeah, yeah and we, they know you know because we live out there as well. We live very far out west and we don't see a lot of patrol because unfortunately, the calls for service are in different areas. So we get to know, you know the cops in your neighborhood and the farmers get to know us and we know them and you know so sweet it's a big area, you know.
Speaker 4:Technically it's 440 square miles of our cultural area of dade county and we go to jaelia too because we have an area there that has farms and horses and all that so people might know the listeners, cabrera's pig farm is that that little area is an agricultural area interesting. So yeah, we cover all the way there to down south, all the way into the everglades. Wow, incredible incredible.
Speaker 2:I mean again so much that we could talk about. I mean just such an interesting thing, all that our law enforcement officers do. But we want to get to Blue Line Angels or Blue Line Church. This is something incredible, something that you guys have been just pouring your heart, your life into. Let me just give the website right now. I want to make sure to give it multiple times before we're done here today, thebluelineangelscom. Here today, the blue line angelscom. The blue line angelscom. All one word, carla ricky tell us about the start of blue line church. Formerly, or in the beginning, blue line angels. Tell us please.
Speaker 3:Um, that started in the fellowship of christian peace officer when, uh, george alice andree he was a sergeant now he retired he had meetings in the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers and it was all filled with male officers. And I was going to this meeting and I'm like, where is the wife, where is the daughter, where is the wife ironing the uniform for the officer, ironing the uniform for the officer? So I thought, a knee, being a believer now and going through everything that women go as a law enforcement, I'm like there was a need to cater to women and few officers started coming to the fellowship peace officer and then he started saying my wife would love it, my wife would love to join so it to focus on women and helping first responders and it could be a nurse, military law enforcement. So we started gathering at my house, a little prayer and then from there we went to um, uh, what was the place in sunset elks, the elks lunch. We met there and then from there I was going to school, trinity university and they opened a room for us. So all that time it was all caring, uh, caring to women.
Speaker 3:And then, uh, 2020 came, in 2020, everything was shut down, so we didn't have a place, so I had to learn soon. And then I started learning soon, and then god kept bringing people hungry for the word and because I have gone already to school, um, I was looking at the word differently, with a different perspective, and people just started coming. And then the husband started joining. So I'm like, oh, and then Ricky started teaching them. So 2020 was our biggest growth in ministry, which is the opposite, because of a pandemic.
Speaker 2:There's so many stories like that.
Speaker 6:I mean God doing incredible things.
Speaker 4:This was 2013, when it 2013 when 2013 when it started in 2013, but it was a slow progression and changes, because god's timing is so different from our own, especially when it needs to be done his way and not our way, and we have to get ourselves out of the way and, um, yeah, it's, it's been a slow progress and it still is, and that's great because that's, um, you know that's his time, that's how he works, you know. And it still is, and that's great because that's, you know, that's his time.
Speaker 2:That's how he works. You know, carla, one of the things that you did mention earlier, how. This is what I remember you saying. You said how a mentor you were going to Christ Fellowship, a mentor you shared with her your heart, the things you're seeing, and she asked you what are you going to do about that?
Speaker 3:Yes, I, I mean, for anyone listening, that's what a what a need I mean yeah, she, she challenged me when she said that because I told her I observe a need for women, and I'm a woman and I'm married to an officer and and there's so many things that another woman, like women, keep coming to me like I'm going through a divorce, and I wasn't going through a divorce, but it was like, okay, the other woman that was calling me on the other lines, like I'm going to a divorce, okay, how do I put them together and so they could pray together and they could minister to one another and and just different situations like that, that we, um, as believers, need to walk together and that that is the two greatest commission.
Speaker 3:He said to love your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. But when you walk together in relationship and that's why that mentor I will never forget she challenged me. She's like what are you going to do about it? And I had to. When she said that, I know it was God, it was like I need to do something about it.
Speaker 2:That's awesome Again for anyone listening. I think that we need more of that as believers. I think that we see things and sometimes, maybe, often maybe it's different for different people, but I think sometimes we go right, oh man, there's that need over there and we kind of start looking around who's going to?
Speaker 4:do something.
Speaker 3:Who's going to?
Speaker 2:fix it. The Lord let you see. For a reason the Lord allowed you to see that need, for a reason. I think we need more of that. But, ricky, kind of again going back a little bit, how was that for you? You know your wife here. She has this vision, this mission.
Speaker 4:I mean, tell us about, kind of from your vantage point. You know, the start of Blue Line Angels.
Speaker 4:Um, it was a support role for me because I was the one being behind the scenes, um, because, cooking yeah, cooking for the events, um, you know, putting together paperwork and booklets and stuff, and, um, I was supporting her because you got, you have a calling and it's uniquely yours, um, but you have to wait for God to give you that calling and he gave it to her at that time. So for me it was about supporting that, because he hadn't called me to do anything yet and you know, you have to make sure that you're not doing things out of your own will, because you will run out of your own will when you do things. With God's power, you won't run out. You know, people ask her sometimes.
Speaker 4:I tell her, like, listen, you gotta learn how to say no sometimes no no, but I want to, I want to, I want to and she'll do a lot, yeah and um. So it was just a supporting role for her in the growing and um. What's ironic is that it grew the most during the pandemic, when it was just online well before we get there.
Speaker 2:I do have a lot of questions about that.
Speaker 4:I just realized you have babies at this point when this is starting yeah, you have a newborn, or I'm looking at the years yes, 2013 would have been uh, five and seven, yeah, okay, so they're so they're young kids, still young kids and you're embarking on this endeavor.
Speaker 2:How was that?
Speaker 3:Plus all the surgeries that my son was having All the surgeries.
Speaker 3:I do believe that God once he opened that door, because sometimes he gives a vision and you can't even see it. But you could taste the seed of it, yeah, you could taste the seed of it, yeah. And people around you will not understand. You. You're like it didn't come from me, it's like there is a need here. So the more I read the scripture, the more I had to surrender to that. And then Ricky started seeing, as we did, events and gatherings. He couldn't believe what was happening in front of his eyes and I'm like you see, this is that.
Speaker 1:I told you, it's not me at all, it's like how can a person put this together?
Speaker 3:There's no way. So he got to a point that he's teaching on Tuesday, but now he's coming up with something else. Um, I can't disclose it now, but it's something that he's gonna do with a man and I was like where did he get that from now? Like now I'm in the position yeah, yeah and now I have to support him with the vision that he's getting.
Speaker 2:So so not to disclose that specifically, but but getting to 2020 now I mean, give us a little update the last three years, because I was looking at the website. I mean it's like almost every day I mean you have an outreach in. Is it Kenya? No, India. I mean give us an update the last three years, the explosion of ministry and outreach, tell us, I'm going to explode over here. Tell us Well, yeah, I don't, it's the Lord you know, when TIU closed, carla had to do only Zoom meetings.
Speaker 4:As far as the space at TIU, yeah, when the space closed and you know we didn't have anywhere to host the Bible study and the meetings and she started doing it on Zoom and I guess people were more comfortable because they can stay home and they can study the word and they can feel safe and not be exposed to the virus. And it kept growing and growing and growing.
Speaker 3:And people will come crying in the Zoom and talking about the pandemic and we will direct them to the word and trust the Lord and trust him in every way. And people having family members in the hospital, people having family member in the hospital, people having family members passing away. So it was like a constant prayer. And that's how we met the indian pastor, because we gather in a prayer together and he he logged in in one of the prayers we had and then he started telling us about the ministry there and how much persecution they have over there, and now we have 13 children that we help and women and men over there. So we have built a relationship and that's how India started. It all started in 2020.
Speaker 4:But the Zoom helps, because what happens is we meet people and then they move away, or there's a conference and somebody visits and then they move away.
Speaker 3:So on, like a saturday morning during service we have uh life texas, kentucky, alabama, north georgia, france sometimes so we have to imagine I mean, just imagine, right, I'm finally connecting the dots.
Speaker 2:If you're listening and you have a question, if you're listening, you have a comment, you're running out of time. If you're listening to the live premiere of ask a cop, right here on God's Way Radio, you need to call or text us right now before we run out of time. 786-313-3115. You know the number. If you don't have it saved, make sure you save it so you can just hit dial boom on your smartphone or text message 786-313-3115. But I'm just connecting the dots right now here, ricky, because imagine someone else in a different department, a different state. They don't have the resources that you guys have, they don't have a Bible study meeting, they don't have Christian cops, they don't have a community and they could log in, they can watch and they can hear. You know from law enforcement, hear the perspective here. You know just from from their brother and sister in blue. I mean man he.
Speaker 3:He had an officer from Arkansas that was joining yeah, that was joining for a while His schedule changed.
Speaker 4:That's one of those things that's hard for us is scheduling.
Speaker 7:For sure.
Speaker 4:So that's why, like we were just talking about, on Mondays, I'm really trying to make more opportunities for teaching so that, depending on what your schedule is, you can join us some way, shape or form Awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for calling. Where are you calling us from?
Speaker 8:Good afternoon. I'm calling you from Westville, Westchester.
Speaker 2:Westchester. Great to hear from you. What do you want to ask or share with Carla and Ricky?
Speaker 8:I wanted to greet Ricky and Carla. I love them dearly, I respect them. I miss them. I haven't seen them in too long, but I was given an opportunity for people to call in. But before the program ends, I wanted to thank them for loving God, for loving God's word and for loving God's people. It's exciting to see how God is using you, and praise be to God that the pandemic for the believer really was a catalyst. It wasn't a drawback. Don't misunderstand me. There was pain, there was sadness, but we don't draw back. We are those that go forward, and so it's very exciting. May God continue to bless you. I hope maybe we'll see you in one of our next married couples conferences.
Speaker 3:We just got the text message I love you deeply From God, Lieutenant.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3:Thank you for calling. Thank you, nice hearing from you, pastor.
Speaker 8:Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. God bless you guys. God bless you. Have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2:Family man, carlo, ricky, ricky, carlo, if you could believe it, we're running out of time. I don't know if I gave you the warning that radio time goes fast. What happens is when you walk in through the door, you enter a time space continuum. I didn't. I forgot to warn you guys about that. So my apologies. Will put you back in the normal timeline here in a second. But seriously, I'm rushing, I'm fighting. Lord, where do we go from here? I want to ask you this. I want to ask you to listen to this phone call. That's what we're gonna do. Hey, thank you so much for calling. If you could share or ask your question briefly, we're running out of time, but we do want to hear your voice. First of all, where are you calling from today? Sweetwater and doral, represented again briefly, please go ahead man, I just want to bless you guys.
Speaker 6:Man, awesome job that you guys are doing. I'm going to make it quick. I'm going to have pretty soon a little breakfast and I'm going to try my best to get the city of Water Police Department and the city of Doral in unity in that breakfast, to be together in unity to let them know that we're all a body of Christ. Miami-dade County God bless you. City of Miami God bless you. Miami, god bless you. You're risking your life. You got families there. You're risking your life for those criminals out there. So, god bless you. That's all I wanted to share, man.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, man. Thank you Again. Similar to one of the first calls that was worth a million bucks. The encouragement, the heart. We can hear your heart.
Speaker 4:Thank the encouragement, the heart. We can hear your heart. Thank you so much. We want to encourage you. At the same time, we know you're trying to get together two departments and two groups of people. When you try to get anybody together, there's going to be opposition, there's going to be a battle, but it's worth it. Keep fighting, because you get to see the fruitfulness of that later on. Just plant the seeds and keep sowing.
Speaker 3:And he said the word unity. Yeah, and that's what jesus is all about unity, unify, uniting his children.
Speaker 7:Amen, we've said, we've said in, uh, in this program, and that's what I what I get to. One of the things I love about having so many officers here representing so many departments, police and fire chaplains collab, you know, helps produce the show. The fcpo and george alessandri were a part of doing what they do and they have their ministry and then we have the Blue Line, angels and man, you know, it's God to take all these different people and different opportunities. You might not be able to do Monday, you could do this, you could listen to the radio, but, man, it's about the family that God creates, you know, and it's encouraging, you know, and it's encouraging, you know, it's encouraging to have that also with the community through this radio program that the community can listen and participate to.
Speaker 3:And also closing that gap of you know all the things that cop goes to and looking at cops like they're not human, they're like robots. No, we're humans, we're family. They're like robots. No, we're humans, we're family, we parents, we go to everything that every civilian goes through. So I think this program um, not because I'm here today, but it's so important, uh, because you're closing that gap yeah, you, you and you're doing what god told us to do bring unity, like the brother just mentioned. Yeah, wonderful.
Speaker 2:I want to repeat the Bring unity, like the brother just mentioned, yeah, wonderful. I want to repeat the website again. The church, the ministry that Ricky and Carla are man to say a part of, to say participate in, is an understatement what the Lord is just doing, man. Thebluelineangelscom, thebluelineangelscom com, the blue line angels dot com. With just a few minutes that we have left, ricky, carla, any closing thoughts, words, encouragement question, now, again. Now we don't have that much time, you can't. You got to pick one, but please want to give you an opportunity uh, thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you to everybody listening, thank you to you guys for putting this on um. You know it's. We know it's not easy. We know things. You know scheduling work. It's not easy, but but the glory that we get to give to the Lord is where it makes it all worthwhile. And you're doing a wonderful thing here. You know we're trying to get rid of the us and them mentality and we are all one children under God, and it's great.
Speaker 3:And then I keep seeing God's Way Radio. What a beautiful name.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 3:I could stare at it the whole time I was here God's Way Radio, and that's exactly what it is. This radio station will impact not only local people, nations, and because you are walking the way, Thank you so much for that prayer, that encouragement, that blessing.
Speaker 2:One last thing a couple minutes left. I mean you guys were brief, you guys must be professionals. I could ask how can we pray for you? You know, I want to kind of take a liberty here, embarrass Carla a little bit, kind of pump her up. We're going to be praying for you, teaching role at your alma mater this coming fall. We're praying for you as you have a teaching role at trinity international university. What a blessing.
Speaker 3:But any other way we can be praying for either of you it to keep um, to remind, to pray for all that are in leadership, not only us but all of those that are in ministry, that, um, we are the servants and we are the servant chosen by Him, most of all, like he already predestined us, and to keep our identity in Him. And I know we put names, blunt and Angel or this church or you know, but that's just an avenue that God uses.
Speaker 3:And just to keep praying for leaders and ministry to speak the boldness of the word of God.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 4:Ricky, how can we pray for you? Pray, you know, pray for our city. We are a community, we are one city. We are all God's children. Some of those are still walking in the darkness and they're very lost and we need to pray for them. Pray for them to open their eyes, remove the scales and to see what the Lord has planned for their life. And I pray, you know, for the, for this church and this ministry, because, like Carla said, you're doing it God's way and it will be successful because of that, because you're not doing it for yourself, you're not doing it for own glorification or to be super popular. You're doing it to get God's word out there. It to be super popular, you're doing it to get God's word out there, and it's a blessing. And we pray that the people in Miami can start seeing his light instead of the darkness that we have here.
Speaker 2:I can't thank you both enough for being here, taking time out of your busy schedule to come. We want to thank everyone that participated today. Again, please visit thebluelineangelscom thebluelineangelscom thebluelineangelscom. If you're listening on the podcast and you wish you could have caught it live, hey, that's okay. Reach out to us here at God's Way Radio, you have policethankyoucom. There are tons of resources where you can connect with us and we can connect you to who you are trying to connect with.
Speaker 1:Until next time, grace and peace. This has been another segment of Ask a Cop. To connect with Until next time, grace and peace, florida or through the God's Way Radio app, visit GodsWayRadiocom for more details. You can listen to past episodes of Ask a Cop and find more resources at our website, policethankyoucom. If you're a police officer, family to police or a supporter of our law enforcement, you want to visit this website. Again, that's all one word policethankyoucom.