Byron Branch II (Lessons from the Pandemic, Marksmanship in Policing and the Opioid Crisis) - Episode 1183
Behind The Shield
James Geering
4.9 • 695 Ratings
🗓️ 1 January 2026
⏱️ 140 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Byron Branch is a veteran law enforcement officer, amputee and fencing paralympian. In this second conversation, we discuss the unlearned lessons from the pandemic, marksmanship in law enforcement, the opioid crisis, homelessness, fitness in policing, wheelchair fencing and so much more.
Byron first began fencing in high school. As an indoor sport, fencing worked well for the frigid winters in Ohio where Byron grew up. As an extra bonus, Byron could still play baseball in the spring after the fencing season ended.
Byron excelled at fencing. Prior to becoming a Parafencer, he competed in the able-bodied divisions of the sport. In 2011 he was top in the sport for able-bodied fencing in the Great Lakes Region, and in 2014 he was 17th in the USA for DIV1A Men’s Foil. He also volunteer coached at the local fencing club, helping numerous fencers gain scholarships and earn titles in the sport.
Outside of fencing, Byron dedicates himself to his family and his community. As a police officer, Byron is committed to strengthening his community. In addition to serving on a panel to improve community and police relations, Byron has visited local schools to engage students and help build a better understanding between police and the citizenry.
In 2016, Byron was injured during a traffic accident while on duty. After his injury, he continued training students at the local fencing academy, and in 2018 Byron decided to try wheelchair fencing. Shortly thereafter, he won Gold at the 2018 PanAm Games in Saskatoon, Canada. Within one year Byron quickly moved up to ranking 17th in the world.
He has since won 3 Pan Am games and was a 2024 Paralympian.
Episode Sponsor:
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by StationWise, the first staffing software to be truly firefighter proof. |
| 0:07.1 | Now, you may be wondering why I have software as a sponsor when I focus usually on physical and mental health of the first responders, and I will tell you exactly why. |
| 0:17.3 | For the first time, this is a staffing platform that also is able to integrate wellness information |
| 0:24.0 | through call load tracking, exposures and wearables integration. |
| 0:30.3 | Now, of course, station-wise focuses on staffing and allows you to manage staffing, choose vacation |
| 0:36.6 | picks, put in rules for leave and trades, |
| 0:40.5 | and even deploying strike teams. But through the latest programming and AI automation, |
| 0:46.4 | they have streamlined this process to free up battalion chiefs so they can focus on what they're |
| 0:52.0 | supposed to be doing on the operational side and the fireground. |
| 0:55.0 | Now station wise is also able to monitor not only how many calls we've responded to in the shift, |
| 1:01.0 | but the duration of the call, therefore the rest and recovery in between, |
| 1:05.0 | thus monitoring the sleep deprivation that degrades our health and performance. |
| 1:10.0 | It's accessible not only through |
| 1:12.1 | the computer but also on Apple and Android devices, meaning that you can access it not only within |
| 1:18.0 | the station itself but outside as well. Now one of the most powerful features of station wise, |
| 1:23.8 | in my opinion, is the ability to run reports. Therefore, for example, be able to see just how much money is being used on overtime that could actually be front-loaded for proactive staffing, as well as setting alarms knowing when you are hitting overtime parameters. And another important feature is the integration of other programs and software for payroll, |
| 1:48.2 | training, reports, etc. |
| 1:50.9 | Now, StationWise is trusted by numerous agencies in California, Texas, and Idaho. |
| 1:57.3 | And if you want to hear the full story from the founder who he himself is a son of a firefighter, listen to episode 1163 with Marcus Edwards. |
| 2:08.0 | And if you want to book a demo or learn more, go to stationwise.com. |
| 2:14.4 | Welcome to the Bion and Shield podcast. As always, my name's James Gearing. And this week, it is my absolute honor to welcome back onto the podcast. As always my name's James Gearing and this week it is my |
| 2:18.6 | absolute honor to welcome back onto the show, veteran law enforcement officer, amputee, and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from James Geering, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of James Geering and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.