Ex-NYPD Detective Reveals the Shocking Truth About Police Quotas | Vincent Guastamacchia

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.9 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2025

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

NYPD Detective Vincent Guastamacchia spent 15 years serving New York City — starting as a housing cop, then working undercover narcotics, serving as a narcotics detective, and even becoming a hostage negotiator. In this candid interview, Vincent shares what day-to-day life was really like on the job, the inside stories from his career, and why police quotas in the NYPD are very real. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to patrol the streets of NYC, work undercover, and navigate the politics of policing, Vincent’s firsthand account pulls back the curtain on it all. #NYPD #PoliceStories #TrueCrime #LawEnforcement #UndercoverCop #PoliceQuotas #DetectiveLife #crimedocumentary Connect with Vincent Guastamacchia: Website: https://fromnegotiatortohostage.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perimeteragency? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14GorC3wuYx/?mibextid=LQQJ4d and X: https://x.com/perimeteragency?s=21&t=k4TVKqm6nINgnr-BLHnjgQ Website: http://www.perimeteragency.com/ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Get 50% off the Magic Mind offer here: https://www.magicmind.com/IANB50. #magicmind #mentalwealth #mentalperformance Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Use code LOCKEDIN for 20% OFF Wooooo Energy Buy Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 Police Quotas & NYPD Insider Secrets 03:31 Podcast Origins & Platform for Stories 04:54 Vince's Upbringing and Family Dynamics 08:06 Role Models, Juvenile Crime & Parental Impact 12:40 Early Life Lessons & the Urge to Help 15:00 High School Years and Neighborhood Differences 20:15 Military Service and Its Life Lessons 24:00 Transition to Policing—Why Become a Cop 26:00 Housing Cops, Quotas, and Community Dynamics 33:44 Police-Community Relationships & Arrest Impact 40:00 Quotas, Corruption, and Systemic Issues 47:00 Undercover Work & Detective Promotion 53:00 Arrests for Petty Crimes & Financial Incentives 59:56 The Vicious Cycle: Systemic Crime, Prisons, and Gangs 01:10:00 Detective Work: Ethics, Empathy, and Major Cases 01:19:00 Challenges in Policing—Rules, Quotas, Bureaucracy 01:26:00 Reasons for Leaving & Mental Toll of the Job 01:28:00 Life After Law Enforcement: Security & PI Work 01:33:00 Law, Justice, and Legal System Frustrations 01:39:00 Mistakes, Lessons Learned, and Hostage Negotiation 01:45:00 Negotiation Stories & Psychology in Action 01:49:24 Final Reflections: Fixing the Broken System Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:29.7	In housing, we have a quota. We had quotas. Two arrests every month and five criminal court summons.
0:36.6	Quotas are real and I'm anti-quota because I believe it
0:39.9	puts the wrong person forcefully in situations that they may not be prepared for. Former NYPD
0:46.1	detective Vincent Guastamacca grew up on the tough streets of Brooklyn, inspired by his stepdad
0:52.4	to serve and protect.
0:59.0	After four years in the military, he joined the NYPD, starting as a housing cop,
1:04.6	before going deep undercover in narcotics, rising to detective, and even serving as a hostage negotiator.
1:05.9	Over 15 years on the force, he saw the truth behind the badge, including the reality the NYPD doesn't
1:12.3	want to admit. Police quotas are real. Vince, welcome to Lockton. Thanks so much for being a
1:21.0	listener of the show and coming on the show today. Well, thanks for having me. I listen a lot.
1:26.3	It's your content is really captivating. It keeps me tuned in because you never know what you're going to hear, right? I got a lot of interest in what happens after arrests that I made a couple of hundred in my career.
1:46.7	And you don't, you don't ever get to follow up with the, uh, sometimes you don't want to.
1:49.5	But sometimes it wasn't really, other than victim or circumstance,
1:53.4	that's what happens, you know?
1:55.7	Yeah, it's so interesting to see the other perspective,
1:58.3	looking back on it.
1:59.1	I think for both sides, like the criminal side,
2:01.6	who gets to listen to the cops that come on the show, the former law enforcement, and then from
2:06.1	the law enforcement side that gets to listen to the former criminal perspective. And then we kind of
2:10.7	all realize that we're not too far off from each other after all. And I think it definitely
	...

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