Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And the story I have for you today isn't just one story, but it started that way for me with Sandra Birchmore, which we covered in our last episode. I was shocked and outraged how she was taken advantage of in the police explorer program. Because like, my God, surely parents have to believe that sending

their kids to learn from the police has to be the safest place for them. What a betrayal.

But then I began to wonder, was that the exception? Or was this just one example of a system

with deep-rooted problems that lets abuse thrive.

And just as I was asking myself this question, literally within like two weeks of

Sandra's story breaking, I saw this local news article.

It said, IMPD officer tied to teen suicide, ordered to write weekly journal in rare

sentence.

A teen who was part of the Indianapolis

Metropolitan Police Department's Explorer program. And as I dug into her story,

I realized that we were just scratching the surface of a much, much bigger problem,

because the more I looked, the more I found.

And me and our reporter Nina have spent months

uncovering a systemic issue within the program

that is required listening for everyone.

Crime junkie or not, this is an episode that must be shared

because you will not believe what has been happening right under

our noses for decades. For Mike Gatliff, time stopped on Monday, November 2, 2015, right around 4.41 p.m.

And now his life is split into before and after. Before, he was living out the most average day, went to work at the Indianapolis Police

Pawn Unit, came home to the house that he shared with his wife, Janice, their 18-year-old

daughter Heidi, and their 21-year-old son.

He'd just gotten out of his car and was bringing up some leaf bags from the yard when

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