On Being a Police Officer Ep. 48 Seattle PD Lt. Brandon James on working undercover narcotics, ICAC, School Resource Officer and more.
Ep. 48 Joining me is Lt. Brandon James who has 24 years with the Seattle Police Department. Much of our conversation focuses on his role supervising the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the dedication of these detectives to saving our children from predators. I interviewed a detective in this unit more than a decade ago and that conversation has never left me. Brandon and I review the challenges for ICAC detectives in maintaining wellness considering what they are exposed to in these investigations.
We begin the interview with a subject that I feel strongly about: the role of School Resource Officer which has come under attack and in some markets been fully eliminated. We look back at Brandon’s work as a school officer in Seattle middle and high schools and discuss the positive impact officers in this role can have in helping students one on one, as well as educating them about the true nature of police work.
We then delve into Brandon’s work as an undercover detective in narcotics investigating both street-level drug dealing with SPD and high-level narcotics investigations with the FBI with whom he was a task force officer for ten years. We also cover the difficult subject of police corruption and the challenges for law enforcement when having to investigate and arrest one of their own, and how that can be done with sensitivity and compassion.
As I always do, I ask what drew him to the profession, what the rewards have been and continue to be.
Since being promoted to lieutenant, Brandon has become the commander of the Relational Policing Innovation team. Congratulations, Brandon! Your ongoing leadership will continue to be a great asset to SPD.
I mention the Seattle Police Foundation’s fundraising for the ICAC yearly educational conference. Here is a link to get more information and if you so choose, to make a donation.
https://seattlepolicefoundation.org/internet-crimes-against-children-conference/
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©Abby Ellsworth. All interviews, editing, production done by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org