30 Years on the San Antonio PD: Ernie Stevens' Wildest Calls, Crisis Cops & Mental Health Reform

Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts

Steven D Gould

Society & Culture, True Crime

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Step inside the world of frontline policing with retired San Antonio Police Officer Ernie Stevens, co‑author, crisis‑response pioneer, and star of HBO's Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops. In this powerful interview, Ernie shares raw, unfiltered stories from 30 years on the job — from adrenaline‑pumping pursuits to heartbreaking death notifications, bizarre calls, and the creation of one of the nation's most respected police mental‑health units.

Host Steve Gould of Things Police See dives deep into Ernie's early days as a young officer, his most intense and terrifying moments, and the emotional toll that comes with serving a major city like San Antonio. Ernie also opens up about responding to officers in crisis, the evolution of de‑escalation, and what policing really looks like behind the scenes.

If you're interested in law enforcement, mental health, crisis intervention, or real‑world police stories told without filters, this episode delivers.

Ernie and Scott's Book
https://a.co/d/1ZnX4BO

Contact Steve - steve@thingspolicesee.com
Support the TPS show by joining the Patreon community today!
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=27353055
Sergeant Steve - @TheSergeantSteve
https://www.youtube.com/@TheSergeantSteve

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Things Police See, first-hand accounts, with your host, Steve Gold.
0:07.5	Welcome to the podcast at interviews active and retired police officers about their most intense, bizarre, and sometimes humorous moments on the job.
0:14.4	It is I, old ginger face, here with you as always.
0:18.0	Guys, thank you for joining me.
0:19.3	This is the podcast where you'll hear the men and women of law enforcement tell their
0:23.1	stories unedited, unabridged, just how they live them so you can gain a better appreciation
0:27.9	for what it is that they're actually doing out there on the street for us while we sleep
0:32.3	comfortably in our beds, hopefully.
0:35.0	Thank you to everybody once again from the Sergeant Steve YouTube
0:38.2	channel who are sliding over this way. It's actually been, it's been great getting lots of
0:43.3	comments on this YouTube and also through email and stuff from you guys who are enjoying
0:48.5	both the YouTube and the podcast. And I love to see it. Thank you very much. So if you're doing that, please just let me know. And vice versa, people from the podcast. And I love to see it. Thank you very much. So if you're doing that,
0:54.9	please just let me know. And vice versa, people from the podcast have been going over to the
0:59.0	YouTube channel. If you leave a message and I see it, I will do my best to write back to you
1:04.5	and thank you because it's it's really cool to see. Today's episode is exciting. I'm going to have a gentleman on and then at the
1:13.3	end bring on a past guest who was from like episode 61 in like 2020. These guys are buddies and
1:20.4	co-authors. He's going to come on and chat with us. So the first guest here, 30 years San Antonio
1:26.8	Police Department, Big PD.
1:29.6	Can't wait to hear the stories. He started the mental health unit at this place.
1:35.4	He also did spend some time in FTO, DWI, the gang unit. He was on a show on HBO called
1:41.5	Ernie and Joe's Crisis Cops. So without further ado, let me bring on the great Ernie Stevens.
1:48.7	Ernie.
	...

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