In "Wearing the Badge," former Chicago top cop Garry McCarthy offers a rare look into the inner workings of one of America’s most-scrutinized police forces. Beyond breaking down the latest crime trends and the policies that shape strategies, McCarthy and seasoned law enforcement officials share what it really means to wear the badge—revealing both the challenges and rewards of serving on the front lines.
Before CompStat and modern police discipline, the NYPD was a wild, tribal organization where officers carried guns in their back pockets and headquarters barely tracked crime. In this episode of Wearing the Badge, host Garry McCarthy reunites with fellow NYPD veteran and former Deputy Chief Edmund Hartnett to share unfiltered stories from the front lines of the 1980s and '90s. From policing "dog years" in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx to navigating the crack cocaine epidemic, they recount what it was really like to work inside controlled chaos.
The two law enforcement leaders break down how the arrival of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Commissioner Bill Bratton transformed the department from a reactive culture into a data-driven meritocracy. They candidly discuss major policy shifts that cut police-involved shootings, the unintended consequences of political interference in modern departments, and the critical lessons learned from seismic scandals like Abner Louima and the Mollen Commission.
Beyond the historical transformation, Hartnett and McCarthy tackle an urgent, often overlooked crisis facing law enforcement today: retiree police suicide. Hartnett shares his current mission with the IACP to track and combat post-career trauma, making the case that protecting officers doesn't stop when they turn in their badge.
00:00 When the NYPD was pure wild west chaos
01:40 Surviving dog years in the bloody Bronx precincts
05:45 Plainclothes cops hitting the street raw
10:00 Headquarters had zero clue what we were doing
11:30 The crack epidemic hit and dumb rules handcuffed us
16:30 Bratton showed up and finally made performance count
21:00 Cleaning up absolute nightmares after massive precinct scandals
30:00 How clueless politicians ruin damn good police work
41:00 Fixing force policies actually saved lives overnight
47:30 Nobody is tracking retired cops taking their own lives
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10 Jul 2026
The Gacy Cold Case: Hunt for the Missing Eight
Join host Garry McCarthy as he sits down with Cook County Sheriff’s Department Commander Jason Moran to explore the chilling, patient reality of high-profile cold cases. Discover how Moran reopened the infamous John Wayne Gacy investigation to bring long-awaited answers to families stuck in a cruel limbo, moving beyond the media headlines to uncover the true nature of modern forensic detective work.
The dialogue moves deeply into the psychological and procedural reality of cold case work, beginning with a candid debate on why terms like "closure" and "justice" are dangerous illusions for grieving families. Garry opens up about his own profound personal loss—losing his daughter to fentanyl—to underscore why finding definitive "answers" is the only true anchor for a family stuck in limbo. The two law enforcement veterans trade stories about what draws a person into the dark world of investigations; Moran recounts transitioning from a 22-year-old patrol cop who simply needed to know what happened after he submitted a police report, while Gary shares gripping reflections from his NYPD days, including the fallout of the Mollen Commission corruption scandal and his father’s dangerous post-WWII assignment tracking the mob on New York's riverfront docks.
Beyond the Gacy investigation, Moran details the harrowing reality of the 2009 Burr Oak Cemetery case. Dubbed part of the "Cook County X-Files," this massive investigation exposed an unbelievable institutional low where cemetery employees systematically disinterred hundreds of bodies from a historic Black cemetery, dumping the remains in an unmarked back field to resell the plots for profit. Moran describes the mass-disaster style forensic operation required to navigate the commingled remains and the delicate execution of proving desecration while managing the grief of affected families.
00:00 Why "closure" and "justice" are dangerous myths for victims' families
05:17 The exact moment a patrol cop chooses the gritty path of detective work
10:49 The brutal procedural reality of why cold cases get shelved
13:25 Hitchhikers and hippies: How the 1970s landscape bred a golden age of serial killers
20:56 Reopening Gacy: The shocking truth about the "open" status of a closed case
25:11 The DNA hit that changed human identification forever
28:43 Exhuming the pauper's field: The blind hunt for the nameless eight
31:31 An unexpected flood: How 150 families cracked open non-Gacy mysteries
35:12 The Burr Oak Scandal: Uncovering an all-new low in the death care industry
43:47 Inside the real-life Cook County X-Files
49:56 The final word on the nobility of wearing the badge
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13 Jun 2026
How street gangs make their own automatic weapons
What happens when politicians hold public safety hostage, and how are federal agents bypassing the red tape to take back the streets?
In this raw, unfiltered episode of Wearing the Badge, former CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy and Christopher Amon, Special Agent in Charge of Chicago's Field Division, blow the lid off the politics of policing and look at what it actually takes to dismantle a city's violent infrastructure. Take an inside look at the front lines of the ATF, where
investigators are using aggressive, data-driven tactics to hunt down the shooters terrorizing our communities.
The conversation jumps from the gritty reality of 1990s New York - where "broken windows" policing meant getting slapped with a $120 ticket just for riding rollerblades in the subway - to the high-stakes federal war rooms of today. This isn’t about soft, reactive policing; it’s about a proactive blueprint designed to permanently crush criminal
networks.
You’ll find out exactly how fifteen different law enforcement agencies gather every single morning at 11:00 AM to target the most dangerous repeat offenders. The discussion exposes the terrifying reality of the street weapon of choice: illegal conversion "switches" that instantly turn standard handguns into fully automatic machine guns. From unleashing the power of the federal RICO statute against entire street gangs to calling out the prosecutorial failures that let violent criminals walk,
this episode pulls zero punches on what it takes to win the war on violent crime.
00:00 Cold Open
01:24 Who is Christopher Amon?
02:46 From Brooklyn to the ATF
05:12 Hockey Beer Leagues and Super Bowls
07:25 Politics and Proactive Policing Policies
11:36 Understanding the ATF Mission
12:45 Crime Gun Intelligence Center Concept
13:40 Daily Intelligence Sharing in Chicago
17:44 Detective Danny Golden’s Impactful Work
19:11 Confronting the Machine Gun Switch
22:20 Using RICO Statutes Against Gangs
24:43 Long Term Investigations and Robberies
26:00 Reclaiming Territory and Washington Heights
29:58 High School Bike Messenger Memories
31:45 Quality of Life Enforcement Lessons
34:50 Post 911 Federal Agency Cooperation
37:47 Leadership and Prosecution Importance
40:49 Future Strategies for Nonfatal Shootings
42:25 Ballistic Tracing and Gun Trafficking
48:58 Final Thoughts on Noble Service
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Who has been a guest on Behind the Badge
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Terry Almanza
Derek Maltz
Rich Wistocki
Danny O’Toole
Ed Davis
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
381,784,830
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.3 / 5
6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 42 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
35
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
31
Contact Behind the Badge
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Behind the Badge
Who hosts Behind the Badge?
Garry McCarthy host the show. Published by Fox 32 Chicago.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Behind the Badge take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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