I Spent 24 Years With the NYPD — Here's What Nobody Tells You | Keith O'Palick
2026-06-09 | 2h 4 mins.
Keith O'Palick spent 24 years with the NYPD — rising from beat cop to plain clothes officer in Chinatown to detective handling murder investigations and high profile cases. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Keith pulls back the curtain on what it really looks like inside the NYPD — from stopping robberies undercover in Chinatown to working homicide investigations in Midtown before transitioning to the DA's office where he worked protective detail during the Trump trial. He breaks down the truth about New York City safety, why cops do perp walks and whether that will ever change, how detectives manage massive caseloads, and why Rikers Island will never close no matter what politicians say.
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#NYPD #TrueCrime #newyorkcity
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Connect with Keith O'Palick: Website: https://www.kopinvestigations.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keith.opalick/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLNM7RCG?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_2P37RZCM562NNWMBXTPZ&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_2P37RZCM562NNWMBXTPZ&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_2P37RZCM562NNWMBXTPZ&bestFormat=true&csmig=1&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGn63jIRsGPGC4zobZdkhXB-SHKDcjFTYKdqG3saWzaiQ25l7-mRZ5W9bxxfAo_aem_eQi9Wpvz6EQIYg2i5R6Wrw&utm_content=link_in_bio&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ig
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps: 00:00 Meet Keith Opalik: 20+ Years NYPD 00:24 Growing Up in NYC & The Road to Policing 01:21 Why He Chose the NYPD 03:20 Family, Roots & Early Influences 04:44 What Pulled Him Into Law Enforcement 07:12 How His Parents Reacted to "I'm Becoming a Cop" 08:55 Should Future Cops Go to College? 10:26 Day One: His First Assignment on the Force 12:48 Going Plainclothes 15:00 Undercover: The Taxi Cab Sting Tactics 19:13 Policing a City That Never Stops Changing 22:01 The Admin Battles Nobody Warns You About 26:13 Promotions, Politics & Internal Affairs 29:36 First Detective Case (And the Media Circus) 32:01 Working the Media as a Detective 34:38 Leaks, Pressure & High-Profile Cases 38:08 Why Some Cases Go Viral 42:22 Midtown vs. Every Other Precinct 45:57 The Crimes That Made Headlines 51:39 Perp Walks: The Truth Behind the Cameras 01:00:04 Caseloads, Staffing & Cop Burnout 01:09:43 Can a Cop Actually Have a Family Life? 01:14:54 Leaving for the DA's Office & Executive Protection 01:21:50 Inside Trump Trial Security 01:25:12 America's Political Divide From the Inside 01:28:57 Is NYC Still Safe? The Post-COVID Reality 01:36:39 Rikers Island & What's Broken in US Prisons 01:44:46 Retirement & Life After the Badge 01:49:37 Hard Lessons, Mental Health & Moving Forward
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I Was A Bronx Shot Caller — I Got 17 Years In Prison & Never Snitched | Angel "Julito" Diaz
2026-06-08 | 2h 36 mins.
Angel "Julito" Diaz grew up on Creston Avenue in the North Bronx — the youngest of six kids, watching his mother run the block before he ever touched a drug. By the time he was 12 he was selling crack after school. By the time he was a young man he was running his own operation — hundreds of pounds of their signature Mango Piña weed a week — eventually becoming the shot caller of the infamous Creston Avenue Crew whose takedown became one of the most notorious drug cases in Bronx history. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Julito tells the complete story — the story that Reggaeton star De La Ghetto portrayed on Netflix's El Ganador. Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee were part of his Bronx operation before they were famous. He opens up about the betrayal from his own childhood friend who put out a murder contract on his life, the robbery case that sent him to state prison, and the federal case that gave him 17 years total. When 22 people around him cooperated with the government — Angel kept his mouth shut. He served 11 years and never snitched on anyone.
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#prisonlife #BronxStory #TrueCrime
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Thank You To CASH APP For Sponsoring This Episode: Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/6pao71et #CashAppPod Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Discounts and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.
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Connect with Angel "Julito" Diaz: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bx_julito/ Buy His Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D63JX8GX?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_CQ6DFDAZ3FRHK8SBHY35&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_CQ6DFDAZ3FRHK8SBHY35&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_mwn_dp_CQ6DFDAZ3FRHK8SBHY35&bestFormat=true
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps: 00:00 Bronx Shot Caller Who Never Snitched — Julito's Full Story 02:00 Growing Up in the Bronx and the Family Background That Started Everything 05:00 Watching His Family Run the Block — His First Exposure to Street Life 09:00 Growing Up Surrounded by Addiction and the Drug Trade From Day One 13:00 The Early Hustles and How He Built Trust on Creston Avenue 16:00 His First Real Steps Into the Drug Game and What That Felt Like 19:00 Balancing School and Street Life — The Choice That Defined Everything 22:00 His Mother's Influence and the Family Dynamics Nobody Talks About 25:00 The Block Loyalty and What Survival Really Looked Like on Creston Avenue 28:00 Moving Up — From Runner to Hustler and What That Transition Cost Him 31:00 Master Splinter and the Crew Dynamics That Would Later Destroy Everything 35:00 Learning the Unwritten Rules and Hierarchies of the Drug Game 38:00 How Daddy Yankee and Nicky Jam Came Up on His Block Before They Were Famous 42:00 The Power Shifts on the Block That Changed Who Was Running Everything 46:00 Becoming the Shot Caller of the Creston Avenue Crew 50:00 Block Rivalries Internal Conflicts and the Tensions Nobody Could Control 54:00 The Friendship Breakdowns and Betrayals That Changed His Life Forever 58:00 When It Escalated — Violence and the Murder Contract Taken Out on His Own Life 01:03:00 Block Wars Arrests and the Beginning of the End 01:07:00 The Robbery That Set Everything in Motion and What Came After 01:11:00 The Day the Feds Came for Him and What That Felt Like 01:17:00 Life in Federal Custody and the Legal Battle He Fought From Inside 01:23:00 Snitches Street Codes and What It Really Means to Do Your Time 01:29:00 Master Splinter's Betrayal and the Fallout That Defined Everything 01:34:00 The Aftermath — Who Betrayed Who and the Consequences That Followed 01:40:00 Route 35 Cooperation and How People Around Him Got Life Sentences 01:46:00 Surviving and Hustling Inside Federal Prison — How He Did His Time 01:53:00 The Brothers He Lost the Loyalty That Held and the Losses That Broke Him 01:59:00 Coming Home to a Different World — How the Street Game Changed 02:07:00 Family Forgiveness and the Healing Nobody Warned Him About 02:13:00 Finishing His Time and What Walking Out Actually Felt Like 02:19:00 The Sins of the Father and How He's Breaking the Cycle for His Kids 02:24:00 What He Would Tell the Kid He Was on Creston Avenue 02:27:00 The Lessons From a Life Lived on the Edge — His Final Message
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I Was a Purple Heart Army Sniper — Then I Was Sent To Prison For 15 Years | Cody Boden
2026-06-07 | 2h 54 mins.
Cody Boden grew up in Grand Junction Colorado, the son of an alcoholic father in a coal mining town. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Cody shares how he found his purpose in the U.S. Army — becoming a sniper with the 1st 40th Cavalry, earning two Purple Hearts from a bombing and a VBIED attack, and witnessing horrors overseas that would follow him home forever. When he returned from war the military forced him into medical retirement — leaving him without the only life he'd ever known. What followed was a bar altercation, drug dealing, a 15 year sentence he served 5 years of, and a battle with opiate addiction he finally won in June 2017. Now he faces his greatest fight yet — terminal liver failure connected to an illness contracted during deployment, waiting for a donor since May 2023.This is a story of war, trauma, addiction, prison, redemption, fatherhood and faith — and a man the system tried to throw away who refused to give up.
Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop
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Timestamps: 00:00 Purple Heart Army Sniper to Federal Prison — Cody's Full Story 00:21 Growing Up in a Coal Mining Family and the Childhood That Shaped Everything 04:13 High School Struggles and the First Time Drugs Entered His Life 07:07 The Family Coal Mining Business and How Everything Started to Change 11:28 His Father His Grandfather and the Discipline That Defined His Childhood 16:01 Losing His Grandfather and the Moment He Turned to Drugs to Cope 18:59 Joining the Army to Escape — The Decision That Changed Everything 21:31 Army Training and How He Fought His Way Through Early Addiction 28:35 Making It to Army Sniper School and What Life in Alaska Really Looked Like 37:18 Preparing for Deployment and Adapting to the Most Extreme Environments Imaginable 41:01 Life in Alaska — Brutal Weather Brutal Training and What It Built in Him 45:00 Deploying to Iraq — His First Combat Experience and What He Wasn't Ready For 51:40 The Toughest Missions and the Friends He Lost in Battle 54:00 Survivor's Guilt — What It Does to You When the People Next to You Don't Make It 01:00:43 Heavy Combat Devastating Losses and What Leadership in War Really Looks Like 01:11:04 Coming Home — Injuries Forced Retirement and the Painkillers That Started Everything 01:18:50 A Bar Fight An Arrest and His First Real Taste of Jail 01:27:49 How Addiction Took Over and What It Did to His Family 01:30:47 Fighting for Custody of His Kids While Fighting His Own Demons 01:39:10 Prison — The Legal Troubles the Politics and What Survival Really Looks Like Inside 01:46:35 Prison Life Racism and the Mental Health Programs That Started to Help 01:58:03 Therapy Childhood Trauma and the First Real Steps Toward Recovery 02:05:00 Life After Prison Meeting Katherine and Then the Hepatitis C Diagnosis 02:12:42 Building a New Life Staying Clean and Finding Professional Purpose 02:18:11 The Terminal Liver Disease Diagnosis and the Transplant Journey Nobody Prepares You For 02:26:26 Medical Hardships Finding Hope and the Faith That Kept Him Going 02:32:23 The Delays the Donors and the Nightmare of Navigating the Medical System 02:36:09 What His Family and Legacy Give Him the Will to Survive 02:43:17 Reflection Gratitude and What Moving Forward Really Looks Like
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Was a DC Cop & War Veteran — What I Saw In Afghanistan Will Forever Haunt Me | Rob Fessock
2026-06-04 | 1h 9 mins.
Rob Fessock served as a military officer before becoming a DC police officer — one of the most violent postings in American law enforcement. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Rob breaks down what it was really like policing Washington DC, the gangs that made it one of the most dangerous cities in the country, and the calls he'll never forget. Then in 2011 he was deployed to Afghanistan where he worked alongside the Kabul City Police — responding to terrorist attacks, gathering evidence at bombing scenes and witnessing violence that changed him forever. When he came home the PTSD caught up with him — forcing him into retirement as a cop and pushing him into drug addiction. He opens up about hitting rock bottom and how he found his way back.
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#VeteranPTSD #DCPolice #Afghanistan
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop
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Timestamps: 00:00 DC Cop War Veteran and PTSD Survivor — Rob Fessock's Full Story 02:00 Growing Up and the Family Influences That Shaped Who He Became 05:00 Military Ambitions and the College Years That Changed His Direction 10:00 The Leadership Lessons That Prepared Him for Everything That Came Next 15:00 Deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan — What He Signed Up For vs What He Found 22:00 The Combat Experiences in Afghanistan That Will Never Leave Him 30:00 Coming Home and Becoming a DC Police Officer — A Different Kind of War Zone 36:00 Policing Washington DC — The Violence the Community and the Reality Nobody Shows You 44:00 The Challenges of Police Work and the Coping Mechanisms That Almost Destroyed Him 50:00 How PTSD and Addiction Took Everything He Had Built 55:00 How Teaching Himself Piano Pulled Him Back From the Edge 01:00:00 Recovery Reflection and What Life Finally Looks Like on the Other Side
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Spent 14 Years in Gang Intelligence — Here's What I Found Inside America's Jails | Steve Lundquist
2026-06-03 | 1h 15 mins.
Steve Lundquist spent 14 years as a Gang Intelligence Sergeant inside Suffolk County's jail on Long Island, New York — tracking some of the most dangerous gang members in the country. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Steve breaks down exactly what goes on behind the walls that nobody outside ever sees. From identifying gang leaders the moment they walk through the door to monitoring phone calls that give inmates away, Steve shares the insider knowledge that took him 14 years to accumulate — and the cases involving Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, MS-13, 18th Street and local neighborhood crews that defined his career.
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#GangIntelligence #TrueCrime #prisonsecrets
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Thank you to QUINCE for sponsoring this episode: Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to https://quince.com/lockedin for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop
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Timestamps: 00:00 14 Years in Gang Intelligence — Steve's Full Story 00:23 Growing Up and the Early Influences That Led Him to Law Enforcement 01:54 The Childhood Inspiration and Career Path Nobody Expected 02:34 How He Went From Restaurants to Corrections — The Career Shift That Changed Everything 03:00 What the Corrections Test and Hiring Process Actually Look Like 04:02 Academy Training and the First Impressions That Surprised Him Most 06:28 The Jail Facilities Population and Roles Nobody Explains Before You Start 07:35 His First Day on the Job and the Lessons That Hit Him Immediately 08:22 The Most Common Inmate Charges and How Facilities Are Actually Structured 09:53 The Inmate Mental Health Crisis and What It Does to the Officers Who See It Daily 12:00 The Human Side of Jail — The Stories That Stay With You 13:13 How He Got Into Gang Intelligence at Suffolk County Jail 14:25 Rising From Officer to Investigator — What That Career Progression Really Looks Like 15:21 Life as a Sergeant — The Leadership Challenges Nobody Warns You About 17:04 Daily Duties in the Gang Unit — What It Actually Looks Like From the Inside 18:02 Jailhouse Snitches — How to Manage Information and Who You Can Actually Trust 21:11 Gang Dynamics Separation and the Situations That Can Turn Deadly Fast 22:00 How Contraband Gets In — Phone Calls and the Intelligence Gathering Nobody Sees 23:12 How He Built Trust With Inmates to Get the Information That Mattered 25:36 The Major Gangs Their Affiliations and How Gang Investigations Actually Work 28:33 Jail Politics Prison Hierarchies and How Inmate Segregation Really Works 31:36 What Inmates Actually Fight Over — Food TV Technology and the Petty Battles That Turn Violent 37:09 The Contraband Methods That Shocked Him Most and How Daily Operations Handle Them 41:41 Handling Informants and the Dangerous Situations Nobody Prepares You For 45:27 Weapons Smuggling and the Gang Violence That Defines Life Inside 47:50 Female Inmates and Gang Involvement — What Most People Don't Know 50:15 How Inmates Communicate — Kites Hand Signs and the Coded Language Officers Learn to Read 52:01 Gang Hierarchies Shot Callers and the Set Politics That Run Everything 54:32 Officer Safety Use of Force and What It Really Takes to Maintain Security 01:00:31 The Mental Toll of a Career in Corrections — What It Does to You Over Time 01:04:06 The Respect He Gained the Lessons He Learned and the Impact That Lasted 01:07:08 How the Media Gets Corrections Wrong and What He Wants the Public to Know
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Real stories from the people everyone else judges first. Locked In with Ian Bick is a podcast hosted by Ian Bick, a former federal inmate turned podcaster. The show features raw conversations with former inmates, recovering addicts, bikers, law enforcement officers, attorneys, investigators, and people who have lived through crime, prison, addiction, trauma, and redemption. Each episode dives deep into real prison stories, life inside prison, the criminal justice system, street life, addiction recovery, mental health, and what it takes to rebuild after incarceration. Guests share what really happens behind bars, how people survive prison, and the difficult road to second chances after hitting rock bottom. If you’re interested in prison stories, criminal justice experiences, life after prison, and honest conversations with people who have lived through the darkest chapters of their lives, you’ll feel at home here.
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