Michael Arterburn - on the frontline of child protection.

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Intentionally Disturbing" - Episode Featuring Michael Arterburn on the Frontline of Child Protection

Overview In this compelling episode of Intentionally Disturbing, hosted by Megan, Michael Arterburn—a seasoned police officer specializing in crimes against children—shares his harrowing experiences and insights from the frontline of child protection. Drawing from his extensive 23-year career, Michael delves deep into the dark realities of child exploitation, the psychological toll on first responders, and practical advice for parents to safeguard their children in an increasingly digital world.

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1. Michael Arterburn’s Career and Experiences

Michael begins by recounting his extensive tenure as a police officer focused on crimes against children, particularly internet-related offenses. He highlights the relentless nature of the job, stating, "They say that the average person maybe sees three critical incidents in their life. And if you're a first responder, you see like around 700." (04:05) This staggering statistic underscores the constant exposure to traumatic content that officers like Michael endure daily.

2. The Psychological Impact and Personal Struggles

The conversation takes a personal turn as Michael opens up about the mental health challenges inherent in his role. He shares, "They gave no heads up on this is the trauma you're going to see and hear firsthand." (04:16) Michael discusses how the lack of mental health support led to the deterioration of his first marriage and personal wellbeing. He recounts a severe health crisis following shoulder surgery, which resulted in pneumonia and a month-long coma, further exacerbating his trauma.

3. Handling Graphic and Disturbing Content

Michael delves into the grim details of his work, including dealing with Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM) and other illicit content. He explains the meticulous process involved in identifying and prosecuting offenders: "My day would start with an image or a movie. And my first objective is to identify the child if it's a legit csam." (10:35) He emphasizes the challenges posed by the sheer volume of cases and the limitations posed by jurisdictional boundaries.

4. Interview Techniques and Law Enforcement Collaboration

Sharing his unique approach to interviewing perpetrators, Michael reveals techniques aimed at building rapport without intimidation. He notes, "I'm the guy that takes the handcuffs off. I'm the guy that asks him, do you want to smoke? Do you want to coke? Are you hungry?" (55:08) This method, grounded in empathy and understanding, helps elicit confessions and gather crucial information for prosecutions. Michael also highlights the invaluable support from the FBI and Interpol in his investigative efforts.

5. The Role of Technology in Prevention and Enforcement

Michael discusses the advancements in technology that aid in combating child exploitation. He credits tools like machine learning and specialized software in identifying and tracking offenders: "The software's come a long way in, I don't know, 14 years." (14:43) Additionally, he praises the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for their role in vetting and managing cases, urging listeners to utilize resources like missingkids.org for reporting and prevention.

6. Advice for Parents on Protecting Children Online

A significant portion of the discussion is dedicated to empowering parents with strategies to protect their children from online predators. Michael offers practical tips such as enforcing secrecy regarding electronics, using headsets without microphones for younger children, and actively monitoring online interactions. "Secrecy. No electronics behind closed doors." (39:42) He underscores the importance of parental vigilance and the use of monitoring tools like Bark Technologies and Google's family safety features to detect and prevent grooming behaviors.

7. Addressing Vigilante Vigilance and Legal Boundaries

Michael addresses the rise of vigilante groups aiming to catch pedophiles independently. While acknowledging their good intentions, he cautions against potential legal repercussions and the ineffectiveness of such actions without proper law enforcement support. "Vigilantes are, have good hearts, but you could actually fuck it up more to the point where the pedo isn't going to go away." (53:56) He stresses the importance of relying on trained professionals to handle these serious crimes safely and legally.

8. Coping with Retirement and Ongoing Trauma

Reflecting on his retirement, Michael shares his strategies for coping with the lingering trauma of his career. He emphasizes the necessity of finding new hobbies, rebuilding personal relationships, and seeking professional help. "As a retiree, I try to tell guys that I know that are retiring is find a hobby." (65:04) Michael also highlights the enduring impact of his work on his worldview and personal relationships, illustrating the deep-seated challenges faced by retired first responders.

9. Final Reflections and Advocacy

In his closing remarks, Michael reinforces the critical role of community awareness and proactive measures in combating child exploitation. He encourages listeners to leverage available resources, advocate for stronger laws, and remain vigilant in protecting children both online and offline. "If you've got lewd and lascivious and you know it's a child, you know what streets to not walk your kids down." (63:17) Michael’s dedication to safeguarding children shines through, leaving listeners with a profound understanding of the complexities and urgencies of child protection.

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Notable Quotes:

• "They gave no heads up on this is the trauma you're going to see and hear firsthand." — Michael Arterburn (04:16)

• "The FBI is great. I know shows portray them to be like, they'll take over your case or whatever. They want credit. Not my experience." — Michael Arterburn (15:50)

• "Secrecy. No electronics behind closed doors." — Michael Arterburn (39:42)

• "Vigilantes are, have good hearts, but you could actually fuck it up more to the point where the pedo isn't going to go away." — Michael Arterburn (53:56)

• "If you've got lewd and lascivious and you know it's a child, you know what streets to not walk your kids down." — Michael Arterburn (63:17)

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Conclusion

This episode of Intentionally Disturbing offers an unflinching look into the frontline efforts of combating child exploitation. Michael Arterburn’s candid discussions shed light on the pervasive challenges, technological advancements, and personal toll associated with this crucial work. Listeners gain not only a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices made by law enforcement but also practical knowledge to protect their children in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

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Resources Mentioned:

• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC): missingkids.org
• Bark Technologies: Monitoring tool for online safety
• Google Family Safety: Parental control features

Follow Michael Arterburn:

• Website: killerbtactical.org
• Social Media: Search for Killer B Tactical across major platforms

Stay Informed and Protect Your Children

Ensure your children’s safety by staying educated, utilizing available resources, and fostering open communication. Together, we can create a safer environment for the next generation.

Transcript

[Megan]

This is an I Heart podcast.

[Jenny Garth]

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[Mike Arderburn]

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[Megan]

It's Megan.

[Mike Arderburn]

Are you ready for megansummer?

[Megan]

Megan.

Megan. Megan.

[Amica Insurance]

Megan.

[Mike Arderburn]

Megan.

[Megan]

Would you prefer that I give you a printout that you can read at your own pace?

Megan?

Yes, it's me. What a shock.

[Mike Arderburn]

Et cetera on June 27.

[Howie Mandel]

She is a smoking hot warrior princess.

[Megan]

All right, meat sacks, let's get to work. Are you going to stand in my way?

[Amica Insurance]

The bee is back.

[Megan]

You think you learned your lesson the first time, Megan?

[Amica Insurance]

Game 2.0 only in theaters June 27th for DPT 13.

[Megan]

Oh, hey, you're here. Welcome to another episode of Intentionally Disturbing. Today I get to talk with my friend Mike Arderburn. Now, Mike was a police officer in crimes against children with a large focus on Internet crimes. He would view the image, the videos, and he would find the perpetrators. And his advice, his stories, his experiences are absolutely incredible. And they will teach you how to protect your children, but also things that you can teach everyone around you. So I'm excited for you to listen. We talk a lot about explicit csam, which is child sexual assault material. So trigger warning that we do talk about things that are very, very uncomfortable. And this is not an episode for children to listen to. Oh, hey.

[Mike Arderburn]

You'Re here.

[Megan]

I started following you because of your safety advice and tips. And I mean, you used to play a child on tv. Yeah, let's talk about that. Let's talk about your career a little bit.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, go.

[Megan]

Okay. 23 year police officer. That's a long time to see all that crazy shit.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. They say that the average person maybe sees three critical incidents in their life. And if you're a first responder, you see like around 700.

[Megan]

Wow. And how many have you seen?

[Mike Arderburn]

I don't know, it's a lot. We made, where I worked, we worked a shooting or a stabbing every single day. Now they work three.

[Megan]

What's crazy to me is that there's no mental health preparation. Like they don't tell you what it's going to do to you. Your trauma, your family, your marriage, your life.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. You know, it contributed to losing my first marriage for sure. When I was in Crimes against Children. And they gave no heads up on this is the trauma you're going to see and hear firsthand. And it's not so much when you're. Because you have to review all those videos to look for CSAM or contraband. And there was no warning and there's no checkup. It should be mandatory for first responders to go. Depending on your job like every six months, you should have just a check in. It doesn't have to be anything big and the cops will complain about it for sure. But I was telling you I got sick when I came out of that, I thought I was fine. I hadn't retired yet. I was getting close, but I thought I was fine with all my unprocessed trauma and it just came vomiting out. When I woke up and started to get my brain back together again, it.

[Megan]

Was to explain you had a minor shoulder surgery that led to pneumonia and a one month coma.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, yeah. That's the fine print they never tell you about when you're getting general anesthesia is that pneumonia is a risk. So I had this minor shoulder surgery that took an hour to repair. And I didn't think anything of it. Three days later I had 105 degree temperature and coughing my head off. Couldn't take it, couldn't hold air in my chest. And I told my wife, I was like, hey, can you look after our son? I gotta drive myself to the hospital. And I left her a note so deliriously I hallucinated on the way to the er. We live an hour from the closest hospital.

[Megan]

Oh my God.

[Mike Arderburn]

At like three in the morning I get there and I walk in and they're like, you need a wheelchair. So they, they put me in a wheelchair and take my Temperature. And they're like, yeah, you're, you're in a bad spot. So they, they put me in one of the beds and they asked me, and because I have no reference of time and they asked me for my code to get into my phone so they can call my wife who's in surgery. And that's the last thing I remember.

[Megan]

Oh, my God. And so you, so you were in a natural coma? It wasn't a no.

[Mike Arderburn]

They put me on a drug induced coma, but I was getting so, so little oxygen that things just were not functioning. My body was failing. I had kidney failure, liver failure. I've lost sight in partially in this eye because of lack of oxygen. The doctor told me that had I not been as big as I was that I probably wouldn't have survived. I woke up 53 pounds lighter. Yeah, all the stuff they don't tell you when you're in a coma is that you're going to have to learn how to do stuff again because your body's going to forget. So I'd learn how to feed myself, how to walk again. They told me if I could, with my little IV3, if I could walk around the nurses station, they'd let me go home. And I did because I'm hard headed. And they're like, you can't go home.

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Mike Arderburn]

Oh, God bless my nurses, they're awesome.

[Megan]

What's it like? What was it like in those, those few moments where you woke up?

[Mike Arderburn]

It was a different, it was a different season. It was fall when I went to sleep and it was snowing when I woke up. The first words I remember, well, I had a lot of really bizarre nightmares that I couldn't wake up from. They told my wife, who's a physician, your husband's going to die. Usually they say, we're going to do all we can, that kind of thing. They're like, you need to make funeral arrangements. So that's what she's dealing with. I remember her. And I always tell people if you know somebody that's a loved one that's in a coma to talk to them. Because I can't write you a book on what I heard, but I can write the Cliff Notes. I can remember things that were on the radio. I remember my wife vividly holding my hand and telling me and praying and also telling me, I need you to fight for me.

[Megan]

Oh, that gives me chills.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, I remember that as clear as a bell. And I asked her, after I could, after I could talk again, I asked her, did you say that or Is that a dream? She's like, no, no, I said that.

[Megan]

So you were in a coma, but you were aware.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Of. Of your surroundings?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yep. Yeah, I could.

[Megan]

What was that like? Like, emotionally? I mean, were you. Could you feel sadness and fear and all that when you were terrifying?

[Mike Arderburn]

It was terrifying. And I guess because of all my past, a lot of people dream normal dreams. I dream nightmares. Sometimes it's cases that I've had. Sometimes it's variations of cases that I've had, but instead of somebody else's kid, it's my kid, you know, and it's. Yeah.

[Megan]

So your nightmares are of the crimes against children happening to your children?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

That's fucking horrifying.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Yeah. And they're like, we can give you medication these days. They're like, we can give you medication to stop the night terrors. And I'm like, I have bad experiences with those kind of drugs, you know, antidepressants and stuff like that. I'm good. I'll figure it out.

[Megan]

Oh, my gosh. Okay. So we didn't even really introduce that part of your career. Like, the focus was child trafficking and online trafficking.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Megan]

So, I mean, I think the. The biggest question is, you know, how can we educate the audience on preventing trafficking? Like, what should we be looking for? How does it start?

[Mike Arderburn]

So it's mostly prevention. The FBI estimates there's over a half a million child predators online at any given moment. That's what you're up against. A lot of people. Half a million.

[Megan]

In the world or just in America?

[Mike Arderburn]

The world. They could be anywhere. And I'll tell you this. If they are outside of the United States, they're not under our jurisdiction. And unless I've worked with Interpol, I had a cool. I had to do some cool things that I'm very grateful for. My day would start with an image or a movie. And my first objective is to identify the child if it's a legit csam.

[Megan]

So I'm looking an image. Yeah. What's the image of? Is it just a child, or is it actually somebody being harmed?

[Mike Arderburn]

It's usually a mix of both. It could be. First I got to figure out, is it legal? If it's legal, my job is over. I have more. I have a stack of cases. I can't get to the reality of ICAC detectives. And you can ask any ICAC detective this. We have so many toddler images, and toddlers see Sam if they have secondary sex characteristics in the video or the image that goes on the back burner. Unless you know exactly who that child is. If there is a chance that they are over the age of 18, like a barely legal kind of situation, that case goes on the back burner. Unless you know for a fact that child was 15. Because they've been previously identified and they're tracking it through ncmec, the national center for Missing Exploited Children. NCMEC keeps a database of known images and it the problem.

[Megan]

But what's a secondary sex characteristic that.

[Mike Arderburn]

You would consider development of breasts, pubic hair, Just generally how their body is developed.

[Megan]

And so back burner. If you are. If the little girl's 13 and she started to develop breasts, unless it's just.

[Mike Arderburn]

Obvious they are a child, then you just don't have time. There are cases that you can work that are. There just aren't enough detectives doing this. And the problem is so huge, people just don't, don't know. And the topic is so awful, people don't want to talk about it. The detectives in Crimes Against Children, we had our own office. My partner and I and the other detectives knew not to come in our office because they're going to, they're going to have trauma from just walking in because it's just the nature of the cases. So we would get an image. Usually my day would go like we would get to work. I would get a case from the national center for Missing Exploited Children or our own cases that came within our county. But my cases were worldwide. This kid could be anywhere, literally. So if it's a totally unknown, which is very frequent, you look for things in the background, like what did the wall sockets look like, the outlets? Because in Europe they're different. So you start to develop clues. What do the trees look like? What kind of climate are we in? Now they have software. There's a content creator called Jose Monkey. He's awesome. And people will send him a picture of themselves somewhere in the world and say, find me. And he will find them.

[Megan]

Oh, wow.

[Mike Arderburn]

So the software's come a long way in, I don't know, 14 years.

[Megan]

Wow. Well, I mean, but the software's been educated by you and your experiences, right?

[Mike Arderburn]

I hope so.

[Megan]

Well, I mean they have to put it into the machine learning and teach it. Right? So who's doing it? You built the foundation for it.

[Mike Arderburn]

You have things like Google Maps and things of that nature that are constantly taking surveillance and you know, with AI and all that these days the AI is terrifying. From my perspective on what I used to do on, like I had a voice changer which was super special and the only reason I had it is because I was working with the, with the FBI. I worked on the innocent images task force. So the FBI is great. I know shows portray them to be like, they'll take over your case or whatever. They want credit. Not my experience. In my experience, they were like, we're the bank. You do your job and be good at it and we will help you do whatever you need. That was my experience. I was like, bring it on, let's go. So they gave me, I had access to their forensic lab, their computer lab, which was amazing. Those guys are fantastic. Because my cases were won or lost. I never lost a case. My cases were one or lost on digital images, on, on the computer.

[Megan]

So you're, are you talking about cases where you could identify the child and then you'd find the perpetrator and go to trial?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes. In some cases they were local and you could go kick the door in, you know, this guy's. And it's almost always a male. They're creating csam. And if it were a new enough image and it was local, I could get a search warrant after doing some, some detective work and then go kick the door and rescue the child.

[Megan]

What's it like to, to look into the eyes of a pedophile that you're about to arrest?

[Mike Arderburn]

So I'm going to say what I said as a young officer, which is crimes against children is the one job I would never have. And part of it is because I would grab that guy and throw him off the bridge. So what happens in police work, in my experience, after I was in about seven or eight years, you get jaded. Two drug dealers shooting each other in the street. I'm sorry, I feel sorry for their parents, but you're in that game. I lost my empathy. About the only people that I really, really cared about were kids, because kids are innocent. I'm that way to this day. You call me in the middle of the night, I'll come help. So with that, I guess it was just God's timing. I had worked in domestic violence and I took a break for maybe eight months, and then I was asked to apply for this position. And domestic violence kind of molded me for these kind of cases because with domestic violence, it's not a whodunit. You know who the perpetrator is so you can mold your interview technique. And what a lot of people don't understand is that when you're putting on your case to a jury of normal people, most normal people don't understand how a full grown man wants to have sex with a three year old. And so that beyond reasonable doubt, that reasonable doubt is what could possibly hold that one juror. Like, people don't think that way. There's no way that man that I'm looking at right there wanted to do that. So my job interviewing pedophiles was to not be intimidating because my guys weren't like bank robbers and murderers. These are guys that have never been caught committing a crime. So what I had to do, I would come in as a dumb fat guy. I would wear a big Hawaiian shirt. That was my dress for the day.

[Megan]

God, that's such a technique that lawyers use in depositions too. Like, a lawyer always wears a fucking Hawaiian shirt so that you don't think he's gonna come at you. But okay, this is good. It's actually an excellent tactic for a pedophile.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. So you structure your whole interview technique around that. And my job was to get that confession, was to get him to say, yeah, that's what I typed. That's what I like. I like this age group. Once they're of a certain age, I don't like them anymore. Just the details and get them talking. I'm not a smoker. I had a whole drawer full of cigarettes. And if they smoked, I smoked. It's just that mirroring.

[Megan]

Well, yeah, because a lot of pedophiles also, like, they have no friends. They have really, really, really. They don't have social skills. They don't.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes.

[Megan]

It was. They. They talk to children.

[Mike Arderburn]

And many of them wanted me to hear. Wanted to hear from me. It's not your fault you have a sickness. Yeah. And it's not your fault that you're this way. And we're gonna get you some help. And of course, in my mind, my help is sending them away for at least 10 to 15 years.

[Megan]

Yeah. Or forever.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. If I could.

[Megan]

So you, you could pull yourself together enough to sit there and engage with them in conversation about raping children and masturbating over children.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes. And blaming the child. And you feel like such a grease ball when you're in front of a jury on the stand and they're watching this interview video. And I'm sitting there saying, well, she was wearing that short little skirt, and she was wearing, you know, you had to change her diaper or whatever. And you're blaming the victim so that they're like. And they'll be sitting there going, yeah, yeah. So, yeah. And everybody's different. Interviewing interrogations are an art form as much as they are a Pseudoscience. And one of the easiest ways I could tell, like, you have to know when to read somebody Miranda because they're in custody, and I'm going to ask them questions about the crime. That's the two prongs for Miranda. So if you don't have one or the other, you don't have to read Miranda. Like, we're sitting at McDonald's and he's free to leave. I don't have to read a Miranda. But one of the hurdles as an investigator that you have to get over is that fear of, you have the right to remain silent. Because if they invoke your rights, your interview's over unless they spark it back up. And it's all on video. Everything's videoed. So what I would do, how I knew that, like, I could talk to them about their day or whatever. As long as it didn't have to do with the crime, I could talk to them and build rapport. So.

[Megan]

Rapport, such a fancy word. You really got them to trust you and like you quickly, and you were good at it.

[Mike Arderburn]

I tried to, you know, and some people just don't like you. I worked on a guy for two hours, and he would not. He didn't invoke his right to remain silent, but he would. He would not tell me what I needed to hear. And my partner, who was female, came in and honey babied him and touched him on the knee, and he cracked immediately. And that's not a technique I can use. So it's just, you know, it's just people like you or they don't. But one of the techniques I would use to know that it was safe to start getting into the crime, that we're building rapport is I would buy them a soft drink. And in the inner interrogation room, there's a table between us. And I would be able to tell the soft drink would be in between us to start. And as they started to open up, they would move it to the side so that barrier was not there anymore.

[Megan]

Oh, I like this. There's so much psychology involved in this.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, it's wild. Just on human nature. And, you know, everybody's different, but everybody's the same, too. Like, everybody wants to mitigate. So you don't want to say you raped that kid. You say you made love to that child.

[Megan]

You taught that child you were unhealthy sex.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes. Yes.

[Megan]

It's fucking disgusting.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. And like I said, when you're up on the stand and your normal people are watching you, how you do your interview. You have to reassure them. Like, look, this is an act. I'm trying to solicit the truth out of this guy. But yeah, it's a wild world.

[Megan]

I gotta get paid commercial time.

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[Megan]

So. So what do you. What do you do with it? I mean, you. It goes inside you. You feel. You're aware of so much trauma and horrific things. And I've seen the images too. Like I. They'll never leave my brain. How did you manage to survive it?

[Mike Arderburn]

You don't do anybody any good if you fall apart. And that goes for any. Any scene that you're on. You got a job to do. I've had younger officers break down. A dad had rolled over on his infant because they were co sleeping and suffocated her to death. And one of the officers that was there was. Was breaking down. I'm like, hey, you're not doing anybody any good. We got to get through this. We fall apart later. But right now you're here to help these people. So you keep that in mind. You process with working out booze. You. I isolated myself during my first marriage and didn't know that I was. What I was doing.

[Megan]

But I would go downstairs, isolated physically and also emotionally. Like, you weren't telling her what you were seeing and how you were feeling.

[Mike Arderburn]

Reasonably. She had told me, don't tell me about your day. And I was like, cool. Well, what. And that. That's fine. I shouldn't bring all that awfulness to somebody else if they're not getting paid. Oh. But what I should have done is had some kind of healthy outlet. And thankfully I was working out. I worked all the time. Like, if there was. If there was overtime to be had or if there was a case that went long, no supervisor is going to tell me to go home because what's the alternative? The child gets hurt and that makes the news because you made me go home. Yeah.

[Megan]

I mean, in part, you're a body for the government. Right. You're a number. But also you're this human being who has to ruin himself to. To take on a caseload that in one case is enough, but to just keep going and work overtime because you'll never catch up.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. And there's that feeling of, I know it makes a difference if I show up to work, if I stay Home or I call in sick or I don't do my job, something bad is going to continue to happen. But if I come to work and I do my job, I might be able to save a kid. Like, it is tangible. So it was a tough job to leave, but it was definitely. Burnout is just over a year, about a year and a half on that. On typical crimes against children, I did it for seven and there was nobody to pull me aside and tell me, dude, you're burned out. You need to. You need to take a break. So when it was time, it was definitely time.

[Megan]

Seven years.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

How many cases have you. How many cases have you been on?

[Mike Arderburn]

You would get three to four cases each detective per day. And some of those, there's nothing to them or they lead to China. Enemy countries don't cooperate with us. So my connections at Interpol, the case was dead because I have to follow the track. I have to trace that image through different countries. Germany was great, England was great. They're like, we'll go snatch that guy up right now. Because they don't have the same rights as we do. So. And you know, and I had a few of those cases, but you never know what you're. What you're gonna be working for that day.

[Megan]

And just so that people are aware, these images, the things you're reviewing the evidence, I mean, these are not just images of children, but these are adults assaulting children. And you are seeing the graphic details of grown men and literally babies at times.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes.

[Megan]

And the aftermath and the wreckage.

[Mike Arderburn]

The thing that you pray for is that there are a bunch of known images on this person's hard drive. And I don't have to see them because there's a hashtag. Number. Not a hashtag, A hash number assigned to those images, which is more accurate than a fingerprint. So hopefully there's a. Like I said, there's a bunch of known images and I don't have to look through a bunch of unknown images. But another thing they don't tell you is that there's a bunch of legal porn that is awful. Self harm videos, the Pain Olympics, just to name a series of horrific videos that are completely legal here.

[Megan]

What? What?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

What are the Pain Olympics? It's like BDSM but snuff.

[Mike Arderburn]

There's. There's.

[Megan]

This video is not going to be monetized.

[Mike Arderburn]

I'm so sorry.

[Megan]

No, it's. I just said snuff. Okay?

[Mike Arderburn]

That's that old timey stuff. You. You put your nose. It's that snuff.

[Megan]

How do we. Let's. Let's explain to people what is snuff.

[Mike Arderburn]

Gosh. Snuff videos are kidnapping videos that are illegal. And there are fake ones and there are real ones where usually a female is kidnapped, she's sexually assaulted, and then murdered on camera.

[Megan]

Yep, there you go.

[Mike Arderburn]

The pain Olympics are people usually on PCP that can't feel pain. One of them was a guy that circumcised himself with a razor blade. On camera one, a guy sits on a big wine glass and puts it in his rectum, and it breaks, and he's pulling out the shards one by 1.

[Megan]

On PCP.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, well, I don't know if he was or not, but I'm assuming they had some kind of pain medication or something.

[Megan]

People are masturbating to this. This is like. It's more like an. Just like a fun.

[Mike Arderburn]

It's like Faces of Death, that old VCR thing where it's, you know, just awfulness, and a normal person doesn't see that. So, like, I don't go to see horror movies. I don't go. I don't go to haunted houses because I know what it is to go to be called to a house. There's a person that is wanted for a violent felony. It's his third strike. He's never getting out. If he gets caught. The house is completely dark. He's probably armed, and he's hiding in the attic or he's hiding somewhere in the house, and it's my job to go get him. And you're afraid. I mean, I don't want to die, but that fear keeps you safe, you know? So you. You think of all the different things that you can do to mitigate the danger and going and getting that guy. But, yeah, the reality of the job had I done, I'll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing when I applied to be a police officer.

[Megan]

I had no idea what cops a lot.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. I have no idea. I don't. I have no idea what. What. I had no idea what cops really do. I was hooked when I made my very first run out of the box before I even knew my fto, my field training officer's first name. Our first run out of Interrupted Roll Call was an armed robbery, and I'm riding literal shotgun, and I was hooked. After that run, I was like, you could just pay for my room and board. I'll do this job for free. And I had that attitude for three years. And then after three years, you know, the. The newness wears off. Or whatever and it becomes a job and. But yeah, that's the, that's the part I don't tell my kid. I don't want to be a cop.

[Megan]

Yeah. And you know, I've had similar, you know, in my role as a forensic, forensic psychologists, these cases and I see the gruesome details. I'm not there on site that would just add this layer. I can't even fucking imagine. But I, I get these flashes throughout the day of. Not necessarily with emotion but just images of like, oh, this could happen or this happened.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes.

[Megan]

And the worst for me are like when I'm changing my son's diaper and I'm like, oh my God. I remember this scene. This is how the child was laying.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

I don't think people realize that we're doing this for the world and we're carrying it with us every day too.

[Mike Arderburn]

What gets me is the people that don't have it coming. Family of five driving down the expressway, hit by a semi, tractor trailer in a minivan. Bodies literally all over the road and I'm picking up body parts and they, it's just a family going to church or whatever. They didn't have it coming. And I think of that now that my son drives. That's what scares me. That that's what, you know, I, the normal person doesn't think of that kind of stuff. But I'm that way on almost everything that I do.

[Megan]

And you know, you and I both get a lot of shit online like that we're fear mongering and all this bullshit and it's like, what do you want us to do? Do you want us to pretend that this fucking world doesn't exist? I mean, somebody has to be there to explain grooming. It's. And it's amazing to me, tell me how in your mind you justify these fear mongering comments.

[Mike Arderburn]

My first thought is that person's blessed and they don't know it because they've never experienced awfulness.

[Megan]

It's not as this person is an evil cunt, but okay, that too. They're pretty blessed.

[Mike Arderburn]

I hold back on my videos. I intentionally tell it like I'm telling a detective on the stand. I do my best not to sensationalize things because I feel like that the truth is so awful. And this is how I, I was a helicopter parent to my son. He's 17 now, but when he was 2, when I was in crimes against Children, I was a helicopter parent because of all the awfulness that I mean, drowning, you name it, that I Had seen that it happened to somebody and I just didn't want it to happen to me or to my family. But yeah, the grooming. I've had cases where the bad guy's known this person since they were 12 and they're like, just wait until you're 16. Because at the time, 16 was the magic age in my state. Now if they took a picture of it, it had to be 18, because that's federal. But the actual act of grooming starting at 12, if you have that conversation saying, just wait till you're 16, that's illegal.

[Megan]

Wow. Let's give some tips to people on how to catch grooming, especially online, if your kids are getting groomed. Like, what can we tell parents?

[Mike Arderburn]

Secrecy. No electronics behind closed doors. So no Xbox, no computer, no phone in their room. If your kids sound young and they use a headset to game, they don't get a mic. They make plenty of headsets with no mic.

[Megan]

If your kids sound young.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Okay.

[Mike Arderburn]

If they sound little, like they have that little voice. Now, for my child, it was a challenge to communicate online. Friends are not real life friends. So when he's gaming on his Xbox and he's in a chat room with a bunch of people, they aren't his real friends. And he's like, well, so and so introduced me to this guy and he's nice and I'm like, yeah, buddy. And it's my parenting skill or my parenting mindset was to expose him enough to my world that it informed him but didn't scar him for life.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah. I take the same, I don't know, methodology. Like I inform them, but I don't. It's not fear, it's empowerment that they walk away with. And there's a grace to doing that. So, yeah. Timing. What age groups do you think warrant certain explanations?

[Mike Arderburn]

I think the national center for Missing and Exploited Children, if you go to missingkids.org that's their website. Those are the guys that sent me all of the cases, or a lot of the cases for cyber complaints. Like if you see something or somebody does something online and you think it's illegal, you send it to them and then they vet it and then they either send it to me or the FBI. But they have some really excellent age appropriate videos explaining, like through the levels of age for the dangers of online or over social media in general.

[Megan]

Oh, that's great. What's the website?

[Mike Arderburn]

It's missing kids.org.

[Megan]

Okay.

[Mike Arderburn]

But yeah, they're a tremendous resource. They also have the take it down program. Where if somebody generates a nude of your child or your teen sends somebody a nude and it gets released to the school or whatever, you can contact them. And what they do is they contact all the big companies like Google and Yahoo and all those companies, and they identify that photo and they say this photo is illegal. And if one of those big companies sees it going through their mail, they stop it. And then they inform law enforcement that it's going through.

[Megan]

Okay. Oh, so I mean, parents can do things?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes, absolutely.

[Megan]

It's not just going to happen to you. We can prevent it. And if something does happen, we can stop it.

[Mike Arderburn]

Well, the federal government has a heavy hammer, and there are federal guidelines where companies have to comply, like Facebook, Instagram, all those guys they have to comply with. If something is identified, they have to take it down. So instead of complaining, you should definitely make a complaint to the companies, but also go to missingkids.org and let them know so that they can follow up and make sure that those companies are doing the right thing and taking things down. Like I've had, man, I've had the weirdest circumstances. I had a case where a little girl had her image uploaded to dark holes, which you can imagine. It's a paid site, so I had to write a purchase order to my chief for this website. So it was very odd having to send this through the official chain and being like, yes, sir, I really need this membership because I'm working a case. And then you verify that that image or that movie is on the site, and then you notify the site, and then you also notify Nicknick to get him to take it down.

[Megan]

Oh, my God. The world has no idea what dark sites are. Most people don't know how many there are or even just how to fucking access them. I mean, Interpol took down that huge one. What was it? Seven? Recently took down a huge one. But there's so many. How many do you think there are?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, well, as soon as you take one down, they pop right back up. And then like I said, if they're going through, what's dangerous? What? What? Only fans. You can be in high school and have an only fans. So if somebody finds that out, it's immediately illegal. If you're under 18. But what of age models? Don't know. And I've done a couple videos and I got a little blowback on it. There's a site in Russia that I won't name that works to identify onlyfans models, where they live, their real address, their real phone number, how many Kids, they have what their kids names are, where they go to school. If the OnlyFans model has a real job where she works, all of that is. I've been on the site. It shows a map where they live and there's dudes that contribute.

[Megan]

And this is for trafficking, I imagine.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes. Yep.

[Megan]

And it's time for a break.

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[Megan]

It's Megan.

[Mike Arderburn]

Are you ready for hashtag Megan Summer Megan.

[Megan]

Megan. Megan.

[Amica Insurance]

Megan.

[Mike Arderburn]

Megan.

[Megan]

Would you prefer that I give you a printout that you can read at your own pace?

Megan.

Yes, it's me. What a shock.

[Mike Arderburn]

Etc on June 27.

[Howie Mandel]

She is a smoking hot warrior princess.

[Megan]

All right meat sacks, let's get to work. Are you going to stand in my way?

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[Megan]

Do you think you learned your lesson the first time.

[Jenny Garth]

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[Amica Insurance]

Megan 2.0 only in theaters June 27th.

[Megan]

For DPT 13 okay, so I have one final kind of bigger question and then I want to ask you some rapid fire questions. But big bigger question is what do you think about this kind of trending vigilante atmosphere of taking down pedophiles and catching them on, on your own? Like there's, I forget what they're called, but there's these groups that are starting to advocate for themselves and finding them themselves.

[Mike Arderburn]

I think it's great. They get, they, they got the right heart. When I was doing sting operations, we had operate by certain rules. So it's not entrapment. A lot of the cases that are generated by individuals and then handed over to law enforcement, law enforcement usually can't take them because they violated some right of somebody. So you did all that. It's when you set up somebody to do something that they wouldn't normally do. So gosh, as an undercover, I can't really tell. I, I can't explain to you what our rules are because it would out all the other undercovers out there on, on our techniques. But to Catch a Predator, that show. Yeah, a lot of those cases, they didn't go pro, they didn't prosecute them, they just embarrassed the guy. But safety, that's my main concern as far as, I mean I want the bad guy to go to prison for sure and I hope they follow up. But when you meet one of these guys, just the conversation itself, not meeting is a 10 year mandatory minimum in a federal prison. There is no probation, there is no parole from federal prison. You serve most of that time now that we've been doing it enough that got out into that into the pedophile community. And the Internet's one of the worst things because these guys network now and they're all over the world. One of my guys that was filming children in a Walmart, he was putting his camera over the stall of little boys to film them.

[Megan]

I hate people.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, he was networking with a guy in Canada and this guy was intentionally dating a mom to get to her child.

[Megan]

It's so common.

[Mike Arderburn]

There was a notebook on how to groom a child and how to make them comfortable with you, to be physical with them. And it starts with things like wrestling and tickling. And then now because they have AI, they can use movies like Shrek or Mickey to show them csam and see, it's normal.

[Megan]

Is that all funded by the Catholic church?

[Mike Arderburn]

One of our detectives had a big case where I worked with that.

[Megan]

Is that the publishing company for that book?

[Mike Arderburn]

So, yeah, there's a well known like how to groom workbook out there, if you will.

[Megan]

Disgusting. It's insane. And everything you're saying is so true because every victim of. I, I have a lot of survivors who are 40 plus and they were groomed and abused at 5 or 6 years old. And that's exactly it. I mean, I can't tell you how many wrestling coaches in high schools went away or had civil litigation against them. They, they coached wrestling on purpose. Yes, because it is one of the most common grooming techniques. Like, what am I gonna do? Is he gonna say something? If my hand brushes against his penis when we're, when I have him pinned, he didn't say anything. Guess I can move it to his butt. He didn't say anything. Let's move it to the shower. You know, like, parents need to be educated on this.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. And the scary part is that pedophiles will put themselves in jobs or positions where they have access to your children. It's on purpose. And I've made videos before where I say, look, nobody gets a pass if a case comes across my desk or if my child is out there in the world, nobody gets a pass. I'm going to vet that person. Thank goodness. There's like, it terrifies me if I see like Facebook groups and somebody says, hey, does somebody use a babysitter out there that we can use? And I'm like, did you vet this person? You're trusting them with your three year old. There's a company out there now that vets people and I think it's great. At least it's something. It's better than nothing.

[Megan]

What do you mean? How do they vet them?

[Mike Arderburn]

They use teachers and they do background checks and things of that nature.

[Megan]

Okay.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Because like on, on care.com, when you're picking a babysitter, you know, you can pay more and they'll do background checks, but I always wonder, you know, what are they actually doing? I did just do it myself.

[Mike Arderburn]

Well, and the scary thing is that pedophiles usually don't have a record.

[Megan]

Yeah. Ain't that the truth.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

So we've learned that, you know, vigilantes are, have good hearts, but you could actually fuck it up more to the point where the pedo isn't going to go away.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

And you could also get yourself in legal trouble.

[Mike Arderburn]

Well, you can get killed too. I've had, when I did takedowns, we would have a meet in a parking Lot or a park that was not busy. And it was because just in case a gunfight. I've had guys travel. I'm in Kentucky, and I've had them travel as far as North Carolina to come and meet me. And when we take them down, you take it down just like a squat operation. You don't give them a chance because you don't know if they have a gun under their leg. I've had them show up with duct tape, Valium, crotchless panties, sex toys, see Sam on hard drives, on, like, thumb drives, rope, all kinds of stuff.

[Megan]

Fucking twisted monsters.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, yeah. When I say predator, that's what I'm saying is they are predators.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah. Animals.

[Mike Arderburn]

But then with that same brushstroke, I have to pull it back in because I need this guy to talk to me.

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Mike Arderburn]

So other officers usually take him down, and I'm the guy that takes the handcuffs off. I'm the guy that asks him, do you want to smoke? Do you want to coke? Are you hungry? Because I think I read something like 80% of human conversation is had over food. So we had, like, a jar that we could dip into in the office to go get the guy a Happy Meal and whatever he's eating. I'm eating.

[Megan]

Yeah. Oh. When I was working in the state hospital, I got so pissed at the night staff because they'd bring, like, McDonald's to the guys in isolation. I'm like, they're not going to learn their fucking lesson. I know you had a burger last night, but it does. Food makes. Food makes violent, dangerous people easier to be around and get things out of. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I just. I want to, like, shout out Bark Technologies and not. This is not paid at all. But, like, you and I both love it. And I use, like. I feel like people need some tips with what they can use to monitor the online presence for kids. Now, I know AT&T has something. Bark Technologies reviews the software so you'll get alerted to your phone if your kid is around violence or bullying or bad things. But what are some other products, things that you recommend so that parents can feel like they are as aware as humanly possible with online grooming?

[Mike Arderburn]

Nash. I think Google makes family safety, something like that. There's just not enough, like, Instagram recently put up, like, we have teen accounts, and they're totally safe. They are not totally safe.

[Megan]

Yeah. Oh, that was one quick question I had. If you private your account and you still have images of your children up, how secure do you think that is.

[Mike Arderburn]

For the average person? Pretty Secure for somebody that wants to see your photos. Not secure at all. There's. There's a way or multiple ways to get past the privacy setting on somebody's account.

[Megan]

Okay, that's a huge, huge lesson to learn.

[Mike Arderburn]

But like I try to tell people with burglars, the average burglar doesn't know how to jam your WI fi. They don't know how to hack through your password. Most of them are like trying to pry your door open. Is it possible that somebody could hack your WI fi and turn your cameras on or, you know, look through your cameras? Yes, it is possible. It's not likely.

[Megan]

But how do you know if you're going to be a target?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, it only takes one. I mean, you know, I live in a safe neighborhood. You live in a safe neighborhood. Until the one bad guy walks through your neighborhood, then it's not safe anymore.

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly. Okay, let's do our rapid fire questions. If you could commit a crime and get away with it, what would it be?

[Mike Arderburn]

Gosh, I don't know. There's some bad guys out there that. So I could probably drop off and not worry about anymore.

[Megan]

Same. I think we probably have the same. We could just do the crimes together. Yeah, let's just go, you know, let's just go kill a bunch of people anyways. Wow. This video is just going to be taken off the Internet. Okay, if you had to die by death penalty, which way? Which method would you choose?

[Mike Arderburn]

I'd probably say firing spawned.

[Megan]

Really?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. And I guess because I'm so familiar with firearms and having to brain and I guess I would want to be aware of it, I wouldn't want to like, go to sleep and not wake up.

[Megan]

Oh, I guess you also have the coma history, so you don't want to like, gas you and then not like, have you die.

[Mike Arderburn]

I didn't sleep for three days when I woke up and I was scared. I was afraid to go back to sleep. And my wife was sitting right next to me in the hospital, God bless her. She didn't leave for 30 days. People brought her clothes, brought her food. She's amazing. But yeah, I've not been scared since I was a child. And I felt fear when I was. When I woke up and I was like, I don't want to go back to sleep. And my wife was like, you're going to lose your, you're going to lose your mind. You're hallucinating. Because on the third day.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so. So if you get the death penalty, we'll advocate for, well, make sure you do it in a state that has death by firing squad.

[Mike Arderburn]

Firing squad.

[Megan]

Wait, like do your crime that you won't get caught for in Idaho and then we'll. Right, do the firing squad.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Okay.

[Mike Arderburn]

Okay.

[Megan]

One more question. If you could change a law in this country, what would you change and why?

[Mike Arderburn]

One they're working on now, and some states have it, but a lot of states are playing catch up. In a lot of states, this is a two prong, a generated AI image of a child that is csam. In some states, that's not illegal because it's not a real person. And it takes forever for the laws to catch up with technology because technology evolves so fast. The other One is child YouTubers. I think the parents are benefiting massively from if they have a successful show and many times the kids don't get anything from it.

[Megan]

Interesting.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Is there anything we can do to help advocate for that since you said it's kind of happening now?

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, I think if you just get the ear of Congressman, like, I was super lucky at the time when I was working, I was working hard and I was taking a lot of cases and I got the opportunity to talk to the attorney general of my state and he asked me that question, if you could change something, if I could do something for you, what would it be? And I said, sir, pedophiles, when they're in prison, research where they can move to where the restrictions aren't so bad. Our state doesn't have enough restrictions and make their life miserable. We are attracting pedophiles from prison. And he was like, really? I was like, yeah. So, you know, this comes from talking to bad guys. Like, I see you're from Indiana. Why did you move to Kentucky? Why are you even here? And if you really want a real eye opener, go to Family Watchdog US and look up the sex offenders that live around you. Enter in your home address and you will be blown away at all the sex offenders that live close to your house.

[Megan]

Yeah, and, and look up the, the crimes. Like, look up the penal codes, figure out what it means. Some of them aren't. They can't. Some don't have a lot of explanation. But, you know, if you've got lewd and lascivious and you know it's a child, you know, what streets to not walk your kids down. And you, you know that on Halloween they have to be inside. Like, sex offenders in each state have these rules, right. And you can help if they're violating their parole. You can find their Parole officer and let them know.

[Mike Arderburn]

Right. And almost all of them do. It's a felony in my state. Do not report a change of address if you're on the registry. So we got those guys all the time, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I guess I'm just a dark person. I would love to. I love going to mom's address and arresting these guys because they're visiting. But they use mom's address for their home address and they don't live there. So they get this felony, felony warrant. I'd pop in on Thanksgiving. Hey, guess what? You're going to prison.

[Megan]

I like your style. You want to hurt a kid? I'm gonna ruin the rest of your life.

[Mike Arderburn]

It's not over. You haven't paid your sentence yet.

[Megan]

Okay. Can you tell me a secret?

[Mike Arderburn]

Like what? Put me in a direction.

[Megan]

I don't know. Something nobody else knows other than your wife.

[Mike Arderburn]

I don't know. I guess I was going to go with. You know, police work's not what it seems like. You have it in your mind. It's one way and it's. It's. When you're in the job, it's something else, and it will change you. I'm definitely not the person I was before police work. And I don't know, I guess it's just a sacrifice you have to make.

[Megan]

Okay. I think it's so important for people to hear because it's so true. I mean, I work with police in therapy, and it creeps up on you. And then when you retire, it floods you.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, one of the things that, as a retiree, I try to tell guys that I know that are retiring is find a hobby. I don't care what it is, because as a cop, it is all encompassing. It is a 247 job. You are sworn. So just because you're home doesn't mean you're not the police anymore. You're still the police when you retire. You're not that anymore. So you got to figure out who you are. And if you haven't thought about, if you haven't been making friends and building foundations or you've alienated your family and all your close friends. And I don't mean your cop friends, because you'll keep some of your cop friends. But most of my friends are people I knew before police work, so. And I'm still cool with the guys, you know, that I work with, and I still have good friends that are. That are still cops. But, you know, once you're out, you're out and, you know, and people Ask me, do you miss the job? I don't really miss the job. I miss the caliber of people that I worked with because it takes a special person. You got to be a little crazy to want to do that job. I get along with first responders great. I get along with military great. There's a lot of common threads in a lot of professions, but just the guys that I worked with are all, you know, crazy. And I think we're all cut from the same cloth.

[Megan]

I agree. I feel the same. Okay. And my secret is that when I first started following your account, like, years ago, and then, you know, we met, I'm so excited. We. We've met in person, like at conferences and stuff. I had watched them.

[Mike Arderburn]

Sorry, are you doing Crime Con this year?

[Megan]

They haven't replied to me.

[Mike Arderburn]

They haven't replied to me either.

[Megan]

Get it together, Crime Con. We'll go.

[Mike Arderburn]

I'm guessing I'll just go and walk around.

[Megan]

We'll go. We won't be wearing free Diddy T shirts like the news right now. But I had just watched what is the movie? Beekeeper. And when I started seeing your videos, I was like, oh, my God. I really. I think he's like a secret beekeeper. I think because he talks like it's. Your account is killer bee tactical. You're cop. Okay. You're like a secret pedo killer. That's really genuinely what I thought. And then as I got to know you, I was like, oh, my God.

[Howie Mandel]

No.

[Megan]

He really just makes honey. He has real. He actually has bees. And that's his hobby.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, that was supposed to be the hobby, and then it turned into online stuff.

[Megan]

Yeah. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

[Jenny Garth]

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[Howie Mandel]

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[Megan]

It's Megan.

[Amica Insurance]

Are you ready for Megan Summer?

[Megan]

Megan.

Megan. Megan.

[Amica Insurance]

Megan.

[Megan]

Megan.

Would you prefer that I gave you a printout that you can read at your own pace?

Megan?

Yes, it's me. What a shock.

[Mike Arderburn]

Etc on June 27.

[Howie Mandel]

She is a smoking hot warrior princess.

[Megan]

All right, meat sacks, let's get to work. Are you going to stand in my way?

[Amica Insurance]

The BE is back.

[Megan]

You think you learned your lesson the first time?

Megan.

[Amica Insurance]

Megan 2.0 only in theaters June 27th with APT13.

[Megan]

But yeah, I think it's so you're not like a secret murderer or vigilante, but you do have bees. And that's why your handle is Killer B. Tactical.

[Mike Arderburn]

One of the great things I was saying before, like all, all people say that, you know, I throw that guy off the bridge or whatever. One of the, the good things about what I did, most cops are disliked in rough areas. And I could go in my goofy shirt into real housing projects and talk to the guys on the corner and be like, look, yeah, I am five. Oh, but I'm looking for a guy that hurt a three year old. They would take me to his apartment.

[Megan]

Perfect.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. So like in court, I've literally had judges say, he could have done that a little bit better, but he's a pedophile, you know, so it's, I guess the one crime most people are united in that is absolutely wrong. That guy's a monster and let's put him away. So, yeah, it was hard work and I did come away a little banged up. But I never asked myself, did I do some good. You know, a lot of cops when they retire, they're like, you know, did I make a difference? I don't ask myself that question. I got to help some kids. So not everybody gets to say that.

[Megan]

God, you are. You're so like every officer, where you just minimize. Minimize what you do. Like you were on the other end of 91 1. And I cannot believe that first responders don't understand that the world relies on this one little phone number and that you're going to respond. Like the world relies on this small section chunk of people who are willing to just fucking go out to anything to rescue people they don't know. Yeah, that's an incredible, honorable job. Your career is incredibly honorable, and it still is because you are still spreading the message. You're just doing it and such a different way now.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah, well, you gotta have fun. Cops have great senses of humor usually, and it's usually gallows humor. So I can be around them and say some really messed up stuff and everybody gets it and everybody laughs. But yeah, it's like I said, that run, that very first run, I was booked, and it was a dangerous run, but I was like, let's go. So what's funny is the evolution of becoming a sergeant and being in charge of those guys, because when you're a new sergeant, I waited until the very end of my career to make them promote me. So when I was promoted as a new sergeant, they put you on night shift. And night shift is mostly young guys. I mean, I'm old, so everybody's young to me. But like, the brand new guys, like, they've been on since yesterday and like, all their equipment is super shiny because it hasn't been through anything. As a sergeant, you got to kind of pull the reins back a little bit. And because guys are hard chargers and like, let's do this, let's do that. I'm like, well, hold on now. Let's. Let's make sure this is legal. We're not violating policy. And, you know, we can. We're gonna do it the right way. And I got a kick out of working with the younger guys because they never complained. And if they complained, it was over stupid stuff. They were enthusiastic and most of them wanted to learn because by then, honestly, I'd been there and done that. I've done a lot of stuff. If you want to learn how to write a search warrant on a bad guy on a drug deal, I can show you how. If you want to go pull trash out of a trash can because you don't need a search warrant and go through some dude's trash and get a search warrant for that house off the trash. I can show you how to do that. So that part was a lot of fun.

[Megan]

Yeah. And meaningful. Yeah.

[Mike Arderburn]

Well. Yeah.

[Megan]

You and your wife together are incredible.

[Mike Arderburn]

She's a good. She's a good person.

[Megan]

And I think that saving lives, too. Geez.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Well, she's a good human. Like, everybody likes my wife. Like. Well, after years of police work, I came through relationship wise, jaded. And my fatal flaw was vetting everybody. And I would look to find something wrong with you until I found something wrong with you. And then we were done.

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Mike Arderburn]

So. And it was. It was always something awful like they're talking to, like five other dudes or whatever. But I did that with my wife. And as it turns out, she's actually a good person. And that was almost a hurdle I didn't get over because I wouldn't let myself believe it. There's something there and there's just not. She's just a good human.

[Megan]

Yeah. Good. I'm happy. I'm so happy for you. With the way that life has turned.

[Mike Arderburn]

Out, Every day is a plus one. When they tell you you're going to die every day after that, I had a come to Jesus moment. And I was like, God, whatever you want me to do, I'm on board. I'm in service. So when I have a bad day or whatever. Well, even I had to get my blood checked because my blood got all screwed up from being on all the medications that I was on and all that. From all the blood draws and not eating at all. Being on a feeding tube like I had, I was anemic. I mean, just all the wild stuff that could go wrong with your blood, I had. So at one point, my kidneys weren't working. I had to be on dialysis. I had a tube sticking out of my neck. Yeah. But anyway, I'd walk into the blood place and they didn't tell me that it's a cancer place. And I'd hobble in with my cane and I'd look at all the people that had cancer getting chemo, and I'm like, oh, I don't have any problems. I'm good. So it gives you perspective on that. Every day is a plus one. You got to appreciate the day. And whatever little hiccups I have, I'm alive. You know, it's not. It's not the alternative. So we're good.

[Megan]

I appreciate that. And also protect the Shit out of your children.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

And you brought them into this world. You are in charge of keeping them safe.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Yeah. Especially with. With online stuff. The online stuff is scary. You wouldn't take your kid and drop them off at a bar and be like, good luck. And that's exactly what you're doing when you put them on the Internet. You're putting them out there to guys that are hunting children. Literally, they're hunting children.

[Megan]

Gives me chills.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah.

[Megan]

Well, I thank you for doing this podcast. I know I've been talking to you about it forever.

[Mike Arderburn]

That's my pleasure.

[Megan]

And anyone listening, like, go follow Mike's accounts. Are they all Killer Bee tactical everywhere?

[Mike Arderburn]

You can go to killerbtactical.org and whatever your platform you like. Hopefully I'm on it.

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Mike Arderburn]

But, yeah, it's killerbtactical.org and then everything that I do is on there.

[Megan]

Yeah. And genuinely, if he's recommending a product or a safety tool or pepper spray, he stands by it. And I really, really appreciate, appreciate that because he's not just selling you bullshit like a lot of other creators out there.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yeah. Anything that I represent, if I put my name on it, I've vetted it, I would use it myself or my family actually uses it. There's a lot of trinkets out there. There's a lot of con artists that will tell you liquid pepper spray, because it's not federally regulated or there aren't very many regulations, a whole can will only have a three second burst in it, whereas the company that I represent, it has like 30 bursts in it. So you got to be careful what you're getting. Like if you buy it from what brand, you're buying that kind of thing.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah. And I appreciate that your recommendations are. Your recommendations are awesome.

[Mike Arderburn]

I appreciate you. Thank you.

[Megan]

Thank you for coming on. This was a. We went long, but I think it was awesome. And the world is a better place for listening to us for an hour. Oh, hey, you're here. Thank you for listening to another episode of Intentionally Disturbing. I hope you genuinely learned a lot and I hope you share this information with individuals in your life and we keep our children safe. Check out my bio for all of the links to these child organizations. Keep protecting your children. Stay aware. You don't have to be overly vigilant, but if you brought them into this world, you're in charge of them and you're protecting them. I'll see you next time.

[Jenny Garth]

This is Jenny Garth from I do part two. Can't afford Ozempic. Try WeGovy from Future Health. Just $199 and FDA approved for weight loss. No insurance or tricky syringes needed, just results. Visit futurehealth.com that's future without the E and start losing weight this week. Future Health weight loss data based on independent studies sponsored by Future Health Future Health is not a healthcare services provider. Meds are prescribed at providers discretion.

[Mike Arderburn]

Hey it's me. Ear Heart. Mind if I pick the next song?

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[Mike Arderburn]

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[Jenny Garth]

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[Mike Arderburn]

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[Howie Mandel]

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[Jenny Garth]

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[Mike Arderburn]

Ah, but do you know what our most important ingredient is?

[Amica Insurance]

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[Mike Arderburn]

Almond Joy's got nuts and something even.

[Megan]

Way better than that.

[Mike Arderburn]

Yes, Almond Joy is made with almonds and Johor.

[Megan]

This is an I Heart podcast.