Hey, it's Nancy. Before we begin today, I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to

Crime Beat early and add free on Amazon Music included with Prime. As a crime reporter, I get to know a lot of police investigators,

from a lot of different units, from sex crimes to guns and gangs and of course homicide.

In this episode, one of those officers, a veteran investigator,

shares behind the scenes details about some of the most high profile cases I've covered and opens up about the impact these cases have had on his own life.

Yeah, I still suffer because of it.

The lost sleep that I can, that I'll never get back because of the images that are ingrained in my soul.

I've seen things as my co-hearts have that the rest of society should never have to look at and that's just part of the job that you have to learn how to deal with that.

I'm Nancy Hicks, a crime reporter for Global News.

Today, on Crime Beat, a special conversation with retired homicide detective Tom Barrow.

Thanks so much for coming in. You're welcome, Nancy.

So people will know you, people who've listened to Crime Beat previously, you've joined

us for one of our episodes and you're going to be on several other episodes in the future.

But we want to give people some of the background, some of the stuff that they've always wanted to know from a homicide detective.

And because you're retired, I feel like you can say things a little more freely than somebody who's currently working.

Sure.

What was the reason why you became a police officer in the first place?

To tell you the truth, I didn't set off to to be a police officer I actually wanted to be

a dentist if you could imagine that and then in the in the late 80s it was it was very competitive.

I was going to school I was doing my best but

the writing was on the wall I wasn't going to be a doctor or dentist and I started

looking for other career paths and I just kind of fell naturally into the police world

...