Imagine being a cop today and making less then $500 a month, no bullet proof vest, no Taser, no SWAT to call out to & only 6 rounds in your gun…

How would you fare?

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On this podcast episode I was joined by fellow officer, Andre Burton, as my co host.

We had the honor and privilege of interviewing a retired Deputy Chief from the LAPD, Maurice Moore, Academy Class of 5-61...

Maurice Moore is originally from Kansas City, Kansas. He grew up during a time when segregation still existed. He embarked on several journeys along the way for love, for his career and to discover his family roots.

Maurice Moore has had an illustrious career to say the least that spanned 4 decades. He joined the department in 1961. He’s been through two major riots, numerous chiefs, high profile cases, several fallen officers, historic police scandals & so many cultural changes over time. He has moved around and worked many of the agency's geographical stations, he’s worked several specialized units and moved up the ranks to Deputy Chief before he retired in 2002.

Although this podcast is almost 2-hours in length, we hardly touched the surface of all the historical events that Maurice has experienced as a police officer. I’m hoping we can podcast with him again so we can focus on key eras in his career. It was a pleasure to hear about his experience, leadership, positivity and sound advice he gives for the modern day cops.

As a side note, some sound edits were made to omit certain officer names, by his request, while still keeping the integrity of his story in place.

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"RAP Sheet"

1961:
Police Academy Class of 5-61
Narcotics Division
Central Station
University Station
Hollywood Station
North Hollywood Station
Juenile Division
Intelligence Division

1968:
Promoted to Sergeant
77th Station
Intelligence Division
Vice

1975:
Promoted to Lieutenant
Team Policing
Personnel Division
Metropolitan Division, C-Platoon
Office of Operat ions
Executive Officer

1980:
Promoted to Captain
Wilshire Captain
Captain-II
South Traffic Division
Captain-III
Southwest Station
West Los Angeles Station
Internal Affairs
Admninistrative VICE

1991:
Promoted to Commander.
Central Bureau
Headquarters Bureau
West Bureau
Chiefs Office

Year TBD
Promotoed to Deputy Chief
Special Assistant

Retired in 2002

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TIMELINE:

00:02:09 - A kid from Kansas
00:03:00 - The road to California and the love story that drove him back
00:06:00 - “The Green Book”
00:11:00 - Segregation, schools & local police
00:14:00 - Class of 5-61: The Police Academy & Jack Webb’s influence
00:26:00 - “Bob” the undercover narcotics rookie
00:35:00 - Probation, then vs now
00:42:00 - Police work before S.W.A.T.
00:49:00 - 1965 Watts Riots & the 1992 LA Riots
00:54:00 - Community Problems Unit
00:57:00 - The “Us Organization” vs militant groups
01:00:00 - Evergreen Cemetery: Families that built Los Angeles
01:02:00 - "The Onion Fields” Ian Campbell and lessons learned
01:07:00 - 10 police chiefs, leadership & the trifecta of LA’s power dynamic
01:15:20 - Personal leadership style
01:28:00 - Career advice & regrets
01:38:00 - Finding his roots in Kaufman, Texas
01:45:00 - "The Brown Derby” & historical gems of Los Angeles
01:47:00 - Dedications
01:52:00 - "I walked away from there, shattered”
01:53:30 - A final dedication

Daniel Malek is a Marine in the United States Marine Corps. He served between 2000-2008 as a corporal and served in Iraq as an OIF Vet. He Joined the LAPD in 2005 where he has worked patrol, the gang unit & is now a field training officer, where he trains probationary officers.

Malek and I have worked patrol at the same precinct for the better part of 10 years. Him and I have always had intense conversations about what it takes to be on patrol. Through the years I have seen his progression and maturity develop as we have gone through politically murky times.

He’s a genuine warrior, father and a real cop’s cop. After podcasting with him I can truly say that both young coppers AND brass can learn a ton from his insight and approach to policing.

Thanks for listening and supporting what we do.

I hope you enjoy this podcast.

TIMELINE:

00:02:00 - The Beard: Yay or Nay

00:05:00 - Tradition: Marine Corp vs Law Enforcement

00:08:00 - The "Dragon Wagon"

00:14:00 - Training: Applying USMC principles to law enforcement

0018:00 - Transitioning: From Marine to Street Cop

00:28:00 - Caliber of Probationers, then vs now

00:37:00 - "Shogun” by James Clavell

00:44:00 - Transformation

00:47:00 - Muay Thai

00:55:00 - Physical Fitness

00:58:00 - Retirement

00:59:00 - Hypothetically speaking, advice and insight to his daughter the police officer.

01:08:27 - In honor of Marine Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle, Killed in Action March 24, 2010

THE FALLEN BUT NOT FORGOTTEN PODCAST:
“The Bloodhound Warrior: Pain, Peace and the Facade of Perfection, with Joe Cirrito”
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I sat down with my friend and fellow street copper, Joe Cirrito. We take a deep dive into how he gets through the pain of his endurance runs and extreme workouts.

Joseph Scott Cirrito was born and raised in New York. He went to Lona College where he played football and studied abroad at Trinity College Dublin Ireland. Before his illustrious carreer in law enforcement, he was a teacher at Herman Lehman High School and coached football, track and baseball

He worked alongside his friend, fallen officer Dominic Pezullo, who tragically died in the line-of-duty when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11. Both Joe & Dominic spoke about becoming police officers together. Joe then moved to Los Angeles to fulfill that pact with the Los Angeles Police Department. While in the hiring process, he taught for the LAUSD 2002 to 2005 before starting the LAPD Police Academy in March of 2005.

Joe has been assigned to patrol in 3 different geographical areas of Los Angeles, “Safer Cities”, gang unit for 2 different precincts, Senior Lead Officer, Gang & Narcotics Division as a K9 bloodhound handler and now works as a field training officer where he trains probationers.

Joe conceptualized and built a homeless outreach program in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, which he coined, H.O.P.E. (Homeless Outreach Partnership Endeavor ). The program was a success & would ultimately be adopted by the LAPD and implemented city-wide.

Joe ran over 400-miles with Kristina Tudor, and a volunteer support team of 30 officers, from Los Angeles to Sacramento in full uniform to honor fallen officers. This run was called “Project Endure”. His efforts raised funds for the nonprofit, Bluecoat Foundation, a 501(C)(3) that supports families of law enforcement agents who have died in the line-of-duty.

Since then, Joe has continued his passion for running ultra marathons and endurance runs while honoring fallen officers. He completes a yearly 24-hour nonstop workout, (yes…24-hour nonstop workout), that he dedicates to his friend, Dominic Pezullo, and all first responders who perished on 9/11.

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TIMELINE:

00:02:15 - Tobacco Pipes
00:08::00 - Finding peace in a frenzied mind
00:11:00 - Trail runs & daydreams
00:13:20 - Laziness
00:14:20 - Pain
00:17:35 - Inspiration
00:20:20 - “The inner governor” -Goggins
00:23:00 - The spirit of a bloodhound
00:24:00 - Extreme measures
00:28:00 - The power of people
00:36:46 - The bond with Kristina Tudor
00:38:20 - Lt Humphries
00:39:45 - Mileage count vs humility
00:42:25 - The treachery & the beauty of California’s “Grapevine”
00:49:45 - Books & leaderships. “The Need to Lead” by Dave Berke & books by Jocko Willink.
00:55:00 - Perfection in policing
00:59:50 - Figure it out
01:04:27 - Skittles galore & brown piss
01:07:30 - Project Endure 3 and shark repellent
01:08:10 - What’s next?
01:13:00 - Joe shares a heartfelt dedication to Deputy Andrew Nunez of San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department End of Watch October 27th 2025



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