I'm Tyler Owen. I work for the Texas Municipal Police Association and I'm the communications manager. >> A few days ago, I published a video that included this post from the Texas Municipal Police Association. They basically claimed that government agents that are recorded and criticized by their subjects are victims, and that subjects of governments should only thank their governments, never criticize them. The post is actually so ridiculous that a lot of my friends thought it was satire. Unfortunately, it's real. And today their communications manager, Tyler Owen, called me back and I got to chat with him about it. >> I'm Tyler Owen. I work for the Texas Municipal Police Association. And I'm the communications manager. >> Police associations are the ones who create and push rhetoric like this. To lead Texas law enforcement is to embody courage, integrity, and an unbreakable loyalty to the thin blue line. Not an unbreakable loyalty to law and order or the Constitution or the people or justice. No, an unbreakable loyalty to the brotherhood, the fraternity, the club of which they are a part and you are not. And this is the rhetoric that's forced down the throats of young police officers that we're a brotherhood. And if you want to survive, you better be part of it because everyone else out there wants to kill you and we're the only ones that care. But you see, there's two sides to this. If you're a police officer, you need the brotherhood to protect you. So when the fraternity, the brotherhood, the police association decides to protect a bad cop who violated the law and/or violated the trust of the public, your choice is to either stand with the thin blue line, the brotherhood, the fraternity, or to stand with law, order, justice, and the constitution. Police associations and the fraternal order of police claim time after time to be the ones leading and speaking for all police officers. And if you pay attention to what they're doing and saying, you'll see where the real divide between police officers and the public is coming from. So, after I saw their post saying that cops who had to deal with transparency and criticism are victims, I called the 800 number listed on their Facebook page. >> Hey, my name is Costa. How may I help you? >> I was just calling to see what um myself as a citizen can do to help you guys. I noticed a post on your guys's Facebook page and basically talking about people recording and criticizing the police instead of thanking them. And um it really broke my heart to see that your officers are having to deal with criticism and wondered what we the people might be able to do to help. Yeah. I just I can't believe that officers have to deal with criticism and it's just how unfair is that, you know? >> Yeah. Actually, I can transfer you to his mobile from what I see on here on my list. You want me to do that? >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And what's that what's that number in case I get disconnected? 9039264005. >> Okay. 9039264005. >> Mhm. >> Okay. And what was his name? Tyler. >> Tyler Owen. >> Tyler Owen. Okay. All right. Great. Yeah. >> Tyler Owen with TMPA. If this is an emergency, please call 18008482088. You can also send me a text to this phone number or in a voicemail. God bless you as always and God bless Texas. >> Hey Tyler, this is James. I saw a post on your guys's Facebook page talking about police officers uh having to deal with people recording them and even going so far as to criticize them. And uh as a member of the community, I just wanted to reach out and see what we as citizens could possibly do to help yourself or officers who are having to deal with uh criticism. And God bless you and Texas. >> The next day, Tyler called me back. >> Hi. >> Hi. >> Oh, is this James? >> Yes. >> Hey, James. >> Oh, sorry. I lost you. What was that? I said this is Tyler Owen with TMPA. >> Hey, what's up Tyler? >> Oh, not much. I just wanted to reach out and let you know that when that post was done, this was not even completely related to the situation in McKenna. Um, but you felt the need to include that on your video. So, I just want to reach out and tell you that, man. >> So, Tyler reached out to tell me that when he made this post saying that cops are victims when they're held accountable and criticized, the post wasn't specifically about the McKenna incident. It was about all instances of cops being recorded and criticized. So, we wanted to make it clear that he doesn't just hate me for this incident. He also hates all of you for any time that you've ever criticized the government. >> Okay. You want me to publish that? That it's just in general that um that >> I'd like you to I'd like you to remove my phone number from the uh video. >> Is it Is your phone number in the video? I think just the 800 number is there. >> No, sir. It's the cell phone number. >> Uh okay. Is that is that a business line or is that your personal phone or something? >> That's my personal cell phone. >> He's not a cop anymore, but he still lies like one. That's his official phone number for his position with Texas Municipal Police Association, which has been listed publicly all over the internet for years encouraging people to call that number. But if you go back to his original post, it seems he's not only mad at you for criticizing bad cops, he's mad at you for criticizing him for protecting and defending bad cops. See, if you've ever wondered how cops get their jobs back even after the police department fires them for things like murder, assault, or feeding the homeless sandwiches, the police union and Tyler Owen is the reason these bad cops keep getting their jobs back. Because the job of the police union is to protect the jobs of every single member of the union, even if the member is a criminal and even if he endangers the lives of other members of the union. Is that a business line or is that your personal phone or something? >> That's my personal cell phone. And since then, uh, there's been death threats and all kinds of stuff to my personal cell phone. And just letting you know, I'm not I'm not even a currently a full-time police officer. I'm simply an employee of the an association. >> An association that backs up bad cops. >> That's your opinion. That's far from the truth, but that's fine. >> Okay. No. Yeah, that's uh fair enough. Um, you want me to publish that as well? You're So, you're a part-time police officer with what department? I'm not a part-time police officer. >> You said you're not a full-time police officer. >> I'm not I'm not in law enforcement anymore. I work for the state police association. >> You work for the state police association. >> I work for TMPA. >> I I guess what I reached out for in the beginning though was to ask you what the people can do to help police officers that are being victimized by uh uh criticism. Is there >> I tell you what, I I honestly if you guys want to if you want to come on our podcast and kind of give your viewpoints and maybe educate police officers across Texas, that may be one way you want to uh you're not going to see things through the law enforcement lens because it's just we don't expect people to because they're not they're not cops. We're not we're not suggesting that they're it's a violation anybody's amendment. It's a safety aspect that maybe you don't you don't get or you don't understand that perspective. And I and I and I respectfully understand your position. I I do. Um but the reality is is that it's an officer safety issue and maybe you haven't thought about that lens of things. >> What what specifically is an officer safety issue? Do you mean um people criticizing police? >> No, it's not that. If an officer is conducting a legal traffic stop, um during that legal traffic stop, they have to divert their attention to somebody that's yelling at them and videoing. They don't know what's going on. They don't know why that person's there. It's diverting their attention from a safety standpoint to what's going on on the violation or on the violator of who they've stopped. >> Okay. So, recording and and verbally criticizing is just is unsafe for the officer. >> How how would it not be if they don't know what's going on inside the vehicle? Well, I I mean I I don't know if that's a question for me, but I if I've got if I've got what you're saying right, that you're saying that recording police while verbally criticizing them is a safety issue for the police. >> Well, so just for for perspective, if if you're sitting at an intersection in your front yard and you're focused on one one specific object, >> okay, >> maybe an acorn, I'll say just >> do what now? >> An acorn, maybe focus. >> Yeah, that's fine. Okay, >> that's fine. >> And if somebody walks out from a on your per peripheral or behind you or on the side and they're yelling, right, it's not the criticism I think that you're focused on, it's the fact that they're having to divert their attention on that acorn to look and see and examine what the hell's going on from their side or their back. So by by doing that, not knowing what's in front of them, the dangers of a traffic stop, would we not agree that you can't tell that what you referred to as an acorn moved further movements? And so that that's the perspective that I don't think you completely understand. Okay. >> All right. Sounds good. Thanks for uh calling me back. Uh >> yes, sir. >> All right. Bye. >> All right. Bye-bye. I'm sure I could have gotten a lot more gold out of this conversation, but to be totally honest, I completely froze up when he told me that recording and criticizing the police is dangerous because acorns can make fertive movements. See, my buddy Otto the watchdog was convinced after seeing this post that the Texas Municipal Police Association is a satirical organization and that it's not even real. After hearing their communications director tell me that recording the police and criticizing them is dangerous because acorns can make fertive movements. I don't know what to think anymore. And in case you don't get the acorn reference, about a year or two ago, a cop in Florida was walking past his patrol car when an acorn fell out of a tree and hit his car. He mistook the fertive movements of the acorn for gunshots and then opened fire on his own vehicle, >> then exclaims that he's been hit. I'm here in >> It's not the criticism I think that you're focused on. It's the fact that they're having to divert their attention on that acorn to look and see and examine what the hell's going on from their side or their back. So by by doing that, not knowing what's in front of them, the dangers of a traffic stop, would we not agree that you can't tell if that what you referred to as an acorn moved further movements? In conclusion, I'd like to remind you that the guy on the phone talking about officer safety and the dangers of the furtive movements of acorns is >> Tyler and I work for the Texas Municipal Police Association and I'm the communications manager. >> You went full man. Never go for