U.S. Phenomenon
U.S. Phenomenon
Unraveling Gun Violence and Dark Crimes
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Gun violence is skyrocketing in the Puget Sound area, and we unravel this disturbing trend with none other than Photog Steve, the acclaimed street journalist and social media sensation. We confront the shocking statistics of nine gunshot victims and over 70 overdoses in just one weekend, exploring the roots of this chaos from gang battles to personal disputes. Steve helps us understand the immense pressure on trauma centers like Harborview and the broader implications for emergency services.
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in TV news broadcasting? We shed light on the frenetic life of a broadcast engineer, juggling an influx of stories and personal commitments, all while battling the shortcomings of local news coverage. The discussion stresses the pivotal role of citizens in reporting crimes and how federal court cases ripple through local journalism, emphasizing the need for comprehensive and balanced news production despite financial hurdles.
The conversation takes a sobering turn as we reflect on urban safety during a night out in West Seattle and delve into the darker aspects of crime and societal impacts. From tragic shootings involving young victims to the evolution of deviant behaviors and their parallels to historical serial killers, we navigate the intricate relationship between crime, society, and media. Touching on the controversial idea of legalizing aspects of the sex trade, we seek to understand if such measures could alter crime rates and societal dynamics. Join us for an eye-opening exploration of these complex issues and a heartfelt message to our dedicated listeners.
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Welcome to US Phenomenon, where possibilities are endless. Put down those same old headlines. It's time to expand your mind and question what if? From paranormal activity to UFOs, bigfoot sightings and unsolved mysteries, this is US Phenomenon?
Speaker 2:The radio, my only companion, the voice of the legendary Art Bell, filled the car. A beacon in the darkness, speaking worlds beyond our own, stories that were untold and just out of sight. That voice, those tales, ignited a spark within me to seek the truth and explore the phenomenon that lies beyond the edge of reason, from the whispers of the paranormal to the echoes of the unknown. My quest began. So join me, fellow night travelers, as we begin this journey and delve into the enigmas of the night, uncovering mysteries that unweight us. This is us phenomenon, where the search for the answer never ends and the adventure is just beginning.
Speaker 2:In this episode, we're going to be on the streets of the city. It typically would calm down with the hustle and bustle of the night, but tonight we're going to go and we'll find out why the streets have awakened into this dark, eerie place. Our guest tonight is someone who has been pounding the pavement for quite some time, a social media sensation, uh, our good friend, uh, photog steve now joins us here on us phenomenon. Welcome back to the show, man, how are you doing?
Speaker 3:I'm doing well. Thanks for having me back in man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:You know it's crazy. We, you know, I'm everyone who's a follower and watcher of your stuff or watching my stuff like, oh my God, you had Photog, steve, on your show. That's cool. How did you have that? I was like I just asked, you know, and it's just a pleasure to have you back on. What's interesting to me is last weekend, as we were, you're working pounding the pavement, I'm waking up to these different feeds from you coming through and I'm like and another one, and another one, and I'm like when does this guy ever get sleep? But, steve, last week within the Puget Sound area, there were like nine. Was there nine shootings or nine fatalities, or what was there? Was nine shootings, rightalities or what was there was nine shootings, right, is that what it was?
Speaker 3:so there were nine gunshot victims at harbor view alone treated five scenes. We got to in that nine. You know, you don't always know exactly why they ended up there or from what area they came from. Harbor views gets a pretty wide range of that stuff. They also got some, uh, stabbing victims. They got over 70 overdose victims as well. So it finally got to a point where they had to start diverting people to other hospitals unless they had really really serious injuries, which you know that takes a lot of people before. Harborview says, hey, we can't keep taking them.
Speaker 2:That's wild, because you would think, especially with them being a trauma center, to say, hey, like we're gonna divert you over to u-dub or wherever they may send these people to if it's u-dub or if it's um swedish, or however that plays out. I just know that, um, for me, I'm like, okay, if I have trauma I go to harbor view and then after that send me to sweden, send me to the bougie hotel. But what do you think is really going on? Is this past post-pandemic? Just people not being able to deal with situations? Are we talking like this? Is crime? That is like gang-related? What are we looking at here, steve?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean I think there's a mix. There's definitely a gang component in the seattle area that has been, you know, developing over the past few years. Uh, I may have mentioned, in the last time we came on, you know, the shooting side. The gang side has not lately been hitting as many people as they are sending messages. I get messages all night long hey there, a shooting here, there was a shooting there, but there's no victim. Gangs going out and sending messages to other people just by going and unloading. You know, 20, 30 rounds in a place is becoming more and more common.
Speaker 3:What I saw last weekend, on Saturday night alone, were multiple instances that didn't really have a commonality between them. One was roommates in a dispute. Another were two people in a dispute on the street. Another was a 16-year-old girl inside of an apartment, and the other people in the apartment said she did it to herself, and I can tell you that that would be impossible for her to have done it to herself and then gotten rid of the weapon and everything. And then another one that was somebody, a couple of transients, where something popped. You know, there's not really a common thread between all these things.
Speaker 3:What has been showing, though is a trend these last couple of years of a rise and and specifically, gun violence, a lot of different violence up a gun violence specifically, and I'm not sure exactly what they can do to stop it or get it under control, but it doesn't take much. You know, harbor view if it does have to keep a certain amount of mission readiness in case a mass shooting came in. So if that had happened that night, harbor view could have adapted. That's part of when they decide to divert. It's not like, hey, we're, we just can't handle another. It's right, starts now, because if that bus goes off, you know, onto the i-5, right off an overpass or something, we need to be able to handle that too. But you know, you think when you call 9-1-1 you just get these never-ending resources.
Speaker 2:They can get tapped, they can absolutely get tapped and it seems to me that over the weekend that it was close.
Speaker 2:Um interesting that when you go back you think I mean, if the mariners would have been in town that, uh, last weekend, it could have been a whole different scenario. I mean that area on occidental is during the, during this time of the season, you know it's taking me out to the ball game, you, you have sounders, football, you know soccer going on, but when the teams are away, or if it's that time of the season where there's nothing really going on, I mean, yeah, that area becomes kind of a transient area. Yes, you have those stadiums that are there to protect the offset of what used to be the jungle and that whole, some of that remnants of what the city was, of the homeless population, but they are still living in little areas and pockets within fourth Avenue, underneath little crevices. So you're going to find these types of and I know that this is what in this case that you were talking about was a transient or someone who was homeless that was extinguished. I think he didn't make it right.
Speaker 3:He did not make it. But there was another one that night. You know, earlier in the night that was another part of downtown and it was two people having a shootout. About 20 rounds fired, multiple buildings hit, glass shattered all over the place. Everybody running Thankfully there was not, you know, an innocent bystander is kind of a loaded term right. One of those people got shot.
Speaker 3:I don't know that they were, what led up to that, but outside of the two people who were involved, one getting shot, others were running as well for their life to try and not get hit too. So it's very easy and we've seen that type of thing happen in the past. One of the Seattle's mass shootings down on it was in the third and Pike area, that notorious McDonald's. When that happened it was two people in a shootout who shot everything but each other. That's right, they never once hit each other, but they're like. I think seven or eight other people, including a child, were all hit and it was because they're just running, aiming back, trying to keep making forward movement and everybody else gets hit.
Speaker 2:You know it's interesting because I also think about the Fourth Avenue. What was this, doreen? Just right after the pandemic there was that massive shooting. I think it was like on I don't remember what social media feed it was, but it was like 80 rounds that went off in that night. It was a wannabe nightclub or restaurant, bar and grill place that had changed names and hands, right there next to the stadium 80 rounds, 80 rounds. And there was a young teenager in that building and I guess she got hit. But what is a teenager doing in a so-called nightclub? Obviously that place doesn't exist, exist anymore. But 80 rounds is a lot of shells, that's a lot and and and only unfortunately still, this young girl got hit in the leg. But man, it could have been way worse.
Speaker 2:A type of situation where you think about these things. It's like, even for someone like myself who lives in within the city and goes still to events, to a baseball game, or maybe I'll go, and you know, say hi to a DJ I used to know with, worked with, you know, back in the radio days. Stop by and say hi and you know I have no business being out. You know out that late, but I know when it's time to go. You know, I know, but by about midnight I'm out.
Speaker 2:But again, this can happen anywhere. It could happen over uh and their clubs ever. There's not a lot of clubs in seattle anymore. There are very select few clubs still in existence and I'm still I I'm quite intrigued how these places still have not been tapped or hit in these so-called, you know, shootings that have, and especially nine in one evening. Um, that's a lot man like. It's so much you know in each case is definitely different. Um, you know, the bonnie lake situation, way different than the the renton situation. When you, when you're doing these investigations and and you're going through what point of the evening you're like, okay, I'm going home over the weekend.
Speaker 3:You know how did that play out for you last weekend usually we wrap one up and wait about an hour or two. I find it's kind of about the two o'clock, I think there's. There's this perception that somehow two o'clock happens, the bars close and it's like mad max. All of the streets doesn't usually work that way and you kind of get a sense about 1, 30, what's the night going to look like and you you know, as the dead zone comes in, you kind of figure it out.
Speaker 3:This was one where it was like every time I got back in the car there was already another one in progress, so there wasn't even time to kind of like get the last one edited and cut and uploaded.
Speaker 3:I didn't actually start getting my uploads done until after the last one, where normally you want to upload as you go, because that's the best chance that the stations are going to buy it and load it for their day. And I ended up the next morning my daughter was competing in the Special Olympics State Championships and I realized I wasn't going to get to go home and I planned on going home to sleep before that. So while she was competing, I'm sitting there in the stands trying to like edit a video, get another one out, get another one out and you just there was no downtime in between and that was also kind of rare that normally in my line of work it's um, it's a lot of really boring, with some really intense got to move, and it's it's very fast paced in between. It's you're just sitting around. There was no sitting that night. It was next to next to next I.
Speaker 2:I think the biggest concern, too, is someone who's a traditionalist old school, someone's worked in the tv news business as a as a broadcast engineer, someone who has always loved that piece of like being a younger teen growing up watching the news. And is this really going back? And this is what I'm going to ask you these stories aren't getting covered yeah it's people, the city, I don't want to say the areas under siege.
Speaker 2:It's almost like we need to take it back. I'm not saying have Vintolanti guys whatever that dude was, whatever Phoenix, the guy with the mask we don't need a so-called Batman. We, as citizens, need to take back our city. See something, say something. I'm not saying you're a snitch or anything of that nature, but we're not. These crimes aren't being reported on local news, even with your, with your line of work of what you do to be able to give said local news stations and you know, broadcast stations these tips or these packages, and which is presented on your social feeds. What do you think it is steve? Why, why, why is this a miss right now?
Speaker 3:you know it's frustrating because you know people know me as the photog steve 81 guy. That was really kind of like a side quest, as my main thing was to go out and capture incidents and then sell our license to tv news, right, and I just found they weren't covering it right. So I started doing this other thing as a side quest and and, funny enough, that's what I'm known for now. But you know, this weekend was a prime example of there were only a couple stations who even took a couple of those. Now they they made mentions of a lot of these situations, but what they would do is they needed to. They condensed it so much that there's, there's what's called a pio or public information officer in most every department and they'll go out to scene and they'll take a quick still picture with their iphone and they'll write something up and they'll put it on their twitter or whatever their their method is and the news was just taking that and doing a quick mention, not getting into the depth of. Hey, here was the risk to the public. Here was more what's happening and I was very surprised because you know it's a weird business where you go out and you have a night like that and going home and going okay, we did good tonight, we're going to make some money, right, this is what we are here for. We don't want that to be the case, but that's the reality of it. And then get to the next day, finally get some sleep, wake up and go out of the three stations. Five stories, we got four downloads. How can that be? And then go back and find out they're just using stills, they're doing a 15, 20-second mention, no real explanation about what happened. It's very frustrating, and so I think, in some ways, I don't know, that they're trying to not tell the story, you know, as if it's a coordinated effort, but they're certainly in the end they're not telling the story. They're not getting into the depth of what's actually happening out there, really explaining somehow, like working for the cops or working with the cops, but it's like no, this is not hard stuff to find. I'm not. There's no secret to this. It's just going out and grinding and just getting on it, and the more that you do that, the more tips you're going to get, the more things you're going to do.
Speaker 3:I found out recently I was in one that I was working on that involved them going to federal court. It started out as a relatively small shooting up in North Bend and then that transitioned into a really large investigation that ATF and FBI got involved with. Because what started as a small shooting that nobody got to I went, and then it developed and then it ended up in federal court and I went to federal court that day to go to the hearing and it's much different than the courthouse down on like 3rd Ave where there's tons of people and you might get jumped for your camera equipment. This is a very different vibe. You have to show your ID to even get in. I'm one of three other people in there and I'm finding out just sitting there about other cases. Boeing is in with the state of Washington right now that they're being sued for Other high profile, very violent crimes, and so there was another I'm going to I'm not going to use his name, but another TV news guy there who I like a lot. I think he does a phenomenal job. So we're kind of you know we're. We're chatting a little bit and I was like this stuff goes on all the time and he says specifically yeah, I'm from another market, like out here, they just don't go do this anymore.
Speaker 3:It used to be. You would send somebody to federal court every day just to sit in there and just take notes and find out what's happening, because it's not as easy to dredge documents like it is in Supreme and District Court. And I'm sitting here going. You mean, I just got to come sit here and I would just hear about this. He goes, yeah, it's free, it's public access, but nobody's doing it. And so I say that all to say that they don't have budget to do it anymore. They don't seem to have a desire to do it anymore. The public then doesn't even realize this stuff's happening. And if you just do the old school, you know, press reporter thing, which is just do the work, show up, go into this stuff, it's all right there, it's all right there in front of us. This stuff has to be shown to the public. They can't hide it from you.
Speaker 2:You just got to do the work it's interesting when you talk about these cases and going out and grinding steve. I, I love the stuff that you do, that there's no ifs and buts about it. I know you're getting tons of hits, um, the social stuff is just wild to me how much I. I really feel like that's the way in which well, it is for me, that's the way in which I'm consuming my news. Now I'm like, all right, what's going on? Um, and it's easier that way.
Speaker 2:The thing that I think has that has been going on and I think the narrative of, like the word, the I do it in quotations if you're listening to the show or however you're consuming the show fake news. You go out there and everyone's like, oh, you got to do the work. And that's the one thing I've enjoyed so much is it's pretty straightforward on how you deliver it. I mean you can consume it. It's pretty straightforward on how you deliver it. I mean you can consume it. If I want to know more about the story, you have ways to share it a little more in depth. About the story and how you got to. You know a, b, c and d.
Speaker 2:What most people don't even understand what's going on is that, regardless on how they're consuming their feed, their, their news via mostly now, like myself via some type of social media. They are spoon feeding us AI driven propaganda and that's just the way it is. I don't care if you're to the left, if you're to the right. They are spoon feeding this crap to us. You got to do your homework as a consumer on what you're getting and what you're buying to buy into. Look, there's a lot of crap out there from both sides of the fence that you're like it's wild someone who's growing up and you're like this people buying this, people are buying this garbage and it's like it is so disheartening to me as a consumer of media or news that people are buying the bs that ai has been able to wildly put together that it's like it looks so damn good. Yeah, it's scary. So if you're out there and you're you're watching, you're like how do I find good news? You know, maybe you, you lean a certain way and that's cool, do you? I'm just saying, just make sure you're very careful when you're consuming your news from you know if it's a, a twitter or an x or you know some type of social media platform, tiktok or, however, because I know a lot of these younger kids are, you know, consuming news. I mean the story about flat earthers or however I mean, and these different types of stories that people are buying into.
Speaker 2:You got to do your research, understand what you're buying, you're going to consume If you're purchasing it. You're not going to just buy. You know whatever and you know like. For example, you're like okay, well, everyone says we can eat Tide Pods, it's fine, it's safe. No, it's not safe. But you idiots are still doing it, like, you know it's crazy. So that's again, local news, how you consume it if it's from a local TV station or a radio station. However, you're consuming that product. There are so many different ways, but you just got to be careful in what you're consuming, right, and that's the one thing that your product, that you, it's really pretty basic, it's great content, but it's like straightforward, no BS. You know there's no pretty basic, it's great content, but it's like straightforward, no bs. You know there's no fluff on it.
Speaker 3:And sometimes you get a laugh out of it because you're like and another one, you know, here we go you know, I found too recently a lot of the I guess the ones I'm competing with kind of the social media space who are also local but are know I, the following that I have built was larger than I expected and I thought, well, once you hit a certain amount of followers, you just make money. Right, they just somehow just money comes in. It doesn't really work that way. You know, to get sponsorships in this news end of the world is not that easy and others who have gotten backers. But there's a, there's a serious you, a serious expectation when it's political donors that are coming in there and you don't need as much a following. I mean there's people out there with 10 to 20% the following I have making easily four or five times much as I do with a much smaller following. But I think the challenge that comes with that is then you are speaking to a certain audience all the time. Your message gets catered to that, the stories you want to talk about get catered to that. And for me my goal is I've talked about it a little bit in the past is you know, if you open up your story with I'm out here in lawless Seattle or the woke city council, or we need more guns, or whatever those taglines are. As soon as you open up with that, you know 50% of the people are going to shut it off instantly. They don't want to hear the rest of it, they're already done, they already feel alienated. The other half goes yeah, well, here's the person I've been wanting to hear the whole time. They get validated. The other ones shut it off, and that goes both ways and you don't really ever move the needle. You just make people angrier. And the hope is for those political backers of the people doing that is more money will come in because people get worked up going. I need to donate more, I need to do more to go with the political agenda I have.
Speaker 3:My hope has been in every story that I put out whether you totally agree with it, totally don't. Wherever you fall, that you'll at least listen. If I can get 30 to 40 percent of both sides of an issue to just watch the piece and go oh, you know what I didn't think about. That I never thought about. I'd never seen that part before, then I've done my job. But there is not as much money in that and so you know it's the limiter to this. I'd like to really expand and start getting more photographers out there and then just drive around all night to kind of the biggest scenes, while we capture all the scenes to make sure those stories get told. And it's been really hard to scale up and you know it's the nature of it, I think for people who are so frustrated with how the news business and information business works, you know it's built off your viewing habits too. It's kind of it's its own thing. You know it's kind of it's its own thing.
Speaker 3:You know it's kind of like the drug dealer or the drug user. Who do you? You know you can't have one without the other and each one feeds off the other. And I think there there's some similarities to that in the news business of like. If you, if you really didn't like one sided news, whichever side that is, and you didn't want that if you change your viewing habits today, they would have it switched tomorrow. They can adapt at a speed you can't even imagine, but your viewing habits say otherwise. So they keep on giving you the same dopamine hits. You've been taking, you've been, you've been consuming for some time oh it is very true right?
Speaker 2:well, I'll tell you, right now i'm'm not watching the news, but, again, I don't even have Comcast, right, so take that. I mean I do have OTA and then whatever stream platforms that I'm not yelling at because they're trying to take every damn dollar out of my. Now, steve, what's interesting to me? I know we were talking about this earlier and I want to go back to something that we called covered a while ago. Um, but before we go there, I this is the piece that the ugly, the other dark side of the news that doesn't get covered. I want to talk about this, but I wanted to share this first before we transitioned out. In seattle alone, there's year to date, you know there's this is kind of astonished to see how many people have been, you know, been getting shot at around this city. It's wild, and we know that the record was 73 last year. I mean, it's wild, man, I, I'm, I mean, I wonder if we're gonna break that record.
Speaker 3:You know if that, yeah, people looking going well, geez, we're only at wonder if we're going to break that record, you know if that yeah, people looking going well, geez, we're only at 23, 73. We're not halfway there. This is a seasonal thing. It picks up right now. It picks up dramatically right now. Most of that 73 happens between June and September into October. So you're going to see, you will see that number, that gap, close much faster than you would think here in the next 60 to 90 days.
Speaker 2:see that number, that gap, close much faster than you would think here in the next 60 to 90 days what's interesting to me is, you know, and someone who, my buddy and I, we decided to go to dinner, and not that anyone gives a crap, but this is something we grew up in sea tack, and uh, we were having a conversation. We decided to go down to alki for dinner. We, you know, we live in west seattle. We're like, hey, let's go to that. You know, let's do a guy's night, let's go do dinner. Okay, cool, let's go down. All right, I'll come pick you up.
Speaker 2:So we head down and and we drive like idiots down the f down heart, you know, down harbor, and then we go into into into the alki, go around the point, and we get stuck in the traffic and the first thing that we both we both said to each other he goes, dang it. We went the wrong way. Instead of going and I'm not even going to tell anybody because I don't want people to to understand our what our method of madness to this is but we should have took the, the local route, which is, you know, the back streets and things of that nature, and the first thing that came to our heads both of us were police explorers. So, nerdy as kids, we were both played in police explorers. We just both were like, okay, I'm like if something happens, he's like, dude, we're gonna stuck in traffic, there's gonna be a shooting today. I said I already thought about it, but you're talking to grown-ass adults. You know what I mean trying to get to cactus to have, you know, some, you know chips and guac and have some dinner and you know, watch the nba finals or whatever was playing on, uh, the tv and maybe look at some eye candy. And you know we're not seeing any ufos or any bigfoot. So we know that ain't happening. But so we started talking about I was like, dude, if something happens right now, you go. I said you see this, there's an open. Just go up the driveway, through the grass and through the alley. He'll take us up and then we'll get out. He's like, oh, good idea. And I said, as soon as you get, take a left so we can go up and go the back roads. We typically did that. But how sad is it to?
Speaker 2:As true grown adults who lived in the SeaTac area off a close to international Boulevard, we knew we saw a lot of stuff and that's how we got into police explorers. We got into police explorers because the King County police a really good officer uh stopped us because I was running across the street we're playing capture the flag or whatever and I we heard the siren, so it was I. I'm like I was heading home. I could see them coming down 208th, where we lived in pacific highway, and I ran to my house and the cop pulled in the driveway, went over my fence, looking, thinking I was the suspect, and he comes banging on the door.
Speaker 2:He goes was that you running across the street? I said yeah, he goes. Why were you running? I said because you had your lights on, I didn't want to get hit. And he goes okay. So then he came back. He's like hey, do you want to join police explorers? I did to this day. I made a different choice because I've you asked me this. I say this all the time I couldn't be a cop because I couldn't pull a trigger on somebody that was me at 17.
Speaker 2:Ask me at 40 something, I'll smoke someone out before I'm getting smoked you know, so to go back to think, we all, I just want everyone to be present and to understand. Things are going on around the city Shootings, you know, alki being one of those places, kulan Park, these are high populated areas. It's not the first time and last year there was a shooting at Alki and that mother trucker they went two streets up to catch the dude, to shoot the guy and I was like he's, I was like dude, not even on the ad. We're talking a block deep into and I was like that is crazy to me. So it can happen anywhere. But but in these highly dense areas nightclubs, parks, obviously, alki being very populated, high density of individuals Typically as a local, I don't even go anymore.
Speaker 2:This is the time of year, I don't go. If you want to go, go to Lincoln Park. And for those who are listening outside of the Seattle area, look, it happens everywhere. You're just talking about Bonnie Lake, renton, I mean, these shootings are happening in other places, up north, down south. People need to keep vigilant and keep their eyes open. Look, we live in this society. It really doesn't happen to me. I just put my blinders and shaders on and look, we need to be aware this is a phenomenon. People are dying out here on the streets. No need to. There's no reason why people are dying over over what you know. I mean. It could be a traffic incident and you, just like someone, honks a horn wrong, but maybe a second too long. Next thing you know you're smoked out and you're gone. So I know last week was a very interesting time. Out of all those cases, which one do you think really hit you hard for you in all of those?
Speaker 3:You know so well if you go the whole week. There were also three high school students shot and killed, two from the Kent area and one in Seattle.
Speaker 2:The Kent Ridge kid, yeah right.
Speaker 3:I think the one that kind of stuck with me, though, was one that I worked that night, and it was this 16-year-old girl who got shot, and she's in really rough shape. I don't know that she will make it out of Harborview. If she does, life is never going to be the same in any way, shape or form, but what caught me on it was, you know, she gets shot, 9-1-1 gets called, they show up and there's multiple other people around who, who? It was inside of a space. This wasn't outside, and the people who were there wanted to insinuate. Maybe she did it to herself, sure, and it's like well then, where's the weapon? I'm not going to get into her extent of injuries, but I can tell you she definitely couldn't have gotten rid of it. I don't think she'll ever be able to move anything ever again if she survives this. So she definitely didn't get rid of it. And for them to callously then I mean they were in the car like laughing Some of them were laughing during this, during the investigation, and I think, seeing the callous nature of that, of this 16-year-old girl's life is over, even if it continues and for that to be the reaction really kind of stuck with me On the other side.
Speaker 3:You know there was this one in Renton that I worked as well, which really just sticks, because it asks a lot of questions, I think, of us as a society and how we look at people in the private security field. Specifically, there was a young man who got shot where somebody thought that he was on his way to commit a crime. It appears he wasn't. That person intervened and then shot and killed one of these. There were three boys together, three 17-year-old young men I guess, and that one's you know I've been working that one a bit because I believe in the Second Amendment.
Speaker 3:I'm a strong advocate of it. So if somebody's wondering where I sit, lean one way or the other. That's kind of who I am. So I'm not anti-gun, I'm not anti-carry, I'm not anti-protecting yourself, but when you have a situation like this now, where this kid's life's over and I think there are some people who are just so amped up and worried that something's going to pop off at any time and we found out with this person that this isn't the first time that they've done this type of thing, and so you know it's I think there's a responsibility in in doing this work like I don't want people to feel like they're going out into a war zone or that life is terrible, that they should be scared.
Speaker 3:But you should know what's going on. You just need to be informed. But don't take that to where you go out in an agitated state and then possibly ruin somebody else's life and somebody else's life and in turn ruin your own life as well around right, I, I and thinking about that, those cases, um I in which I did see those, obviously through your feed, um, so I thank you for that.
Speaker 2:Interesting to me, that um I, I'm, I'm curious to see what will happen in the in that case, if they will arrest anybody in regards to, you know, the, the victim of the 16 year old young gal, if there will be some type of charges pressed on anybody, if that investigation goes any further, how that will play out here in the near future. As for the young victim, the 17-year-old that was, I think that was at the Big Five in Renton, is that right? That whole situation, a very tragic situation. Probably someone not minding their business as they should be, uh, and and taking law into their hands and understanding like, look there, there's a time and space if you want to help, great, but in this case someone's life was extinguished. You made the wrong judgment call and that's, and, really, again, that's why you're a security cop and not a true cop. Clearly you don't have judgment to and and that's just from the facts, that's what I I see out of that. Clearly, someone made a very wrong decision and a bad judgment. Look, it happens to police officers all the time.
Speaker 2:But as someone who's, you know, pro police, I'm not going to be out here protesting. You're not seeing me protest. I, I'm for everyone to. You want to protest, protest, but don't make it hard for them to do their job. Make it, do you, do you. But just stay in your lane, just like everyone has their own lane in life. Stay in your lane, mind your business.
Speaker 2:You see something? Hey, call the police. Hey, I'm on them, I'm watching them. They're gonna clearly say, hey, don't follow them. Give us, you know, they back off, or however, you know they always give the tips. Are you following them? Yes, I am, go ahead. And you know, you know, let off the pursuit. What, where, where are you see, you know and and say, hey, okay, you're going down this, they're going down you know, first avenue, blah, blah, blah. And I saw them take a right, the cars, license plates x, y and z, blue car, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, as as as that pertains, look, it's so tough out here. Steve, I appreciate what you do, but look, there's some, there's some stuff out here. I almost said I almost, I almost lost it for radio.
Speaker 3:It's impossible.
Speaker 2:And I'm passionate about this piece. Steve, you've covered some serious cases and I know this goes back, and what really triggered me was you coming back from the National Association Broadcasting Convention and something that took place down in Tukwila Broadcasting Convention and something that took place down in Tukwila. This is not the first case that you've been you know keeping tabs on and kind of doing some deep dive investigations. But let's go into the dark side of crime that doesn't ever get covered and if it does, it's very, very rare. So if there's, this is something that you're not into. We're going to talk about some, some not so fun things. So if if you're listening and you're out, you want to leave, go.
Speaker 2:But this we're going to talk about some crimes that are are predominantly happening and they're happening at an extreme rate that you that there's task force that have been built to try to catch these predators. It blows my mind that we have a society that people are so deranged that this is like worse than like trying to catch a serial killer right now. And we're talking about on mass levels. We're not talking about just one individual. We're talking about tons of people that are out here that are preying on younger children right here locally. That's not talked about, steve.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I've been surprised by that, you know I've. So what I have found in going into these stories is that the people who work on these you know their means and methods. They don't want public and they really kind of work behind the scenes and it makes it hard for them to be able to work with media and on the other side too. These cases take a long time. One time they'll bust one person, but they need that to progress to the next, to the next. So they don't always want these stories out. But in talking to a lot of them who work this there are hundreds across king and pierce and stahomish county who work in this space, making large amounts of arrests, banging numbers out, and they say they don't even think they're putting a dent in it. They're not even putting a dent in it. What they're they don't even think they're putting a dent in it, they're not even putting a dent in it. What they hope to be doing is creating that cautionary voice on some predator's shoulder to keep them from offending even more than they already are. That's the hope that they can do, and that's not as a quote, but generally across the board. That is what they tell me, that we are just hoping to make a few paws and maybe not do what they're doing or do more.
Speaker 3:And what I'm finding, you know the ones that I try to focus on. I could do. I could I'm not exaggerating I could do 10 or 15 a day and still not cover them all. I try to pick people who you know, who are quote unquote high functioning. You know they're living life at a pretty high functioning level. Sure, because I think that the public is so used to bad guys being dark, seedy characters in an alleyway and that's not really the reality of it. A lot of really bad people are functioning. They are managers, they are successful, they're charismatic, and so I try to focus on those.
Speaker 3:The other reason I don't do a lot of these stories, and why I do the ones that I do, are I get a lot that come across my desk but they involve family members or close friends, children who are family members or children who are in friend groups, and I generally shy away from those because those are really hard to do without, even though you don't say the victim's name without insinuating who the victim is identifying them. So I try to stick to people who are more in the sex trafficking staying sex trafficking space. And I've got another guy now who was the chief cardiologist at Army Madigan Medical Center for years and he got caught up in a sting in 2023. And he's been able to keep pushing his court date out. Pushing his court date out. And also some of them would like to mention that I don't go hard on a lot of cases where they haven't been convicted yet. I think this is a country where you are innocent until proven guilty.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:I do, though when there you know there's a difference between whether you did it and whether you're guilty of doing it right in a court of law. But when I get the paperwork and there are text messages, there is a massive preponderance to that is.
Speaker 2:Whether or not they are able to plea this down is secondary to whether they did it but but the intent, the intent to commit the crime, yeah, the intent to go to said location, the intent with these text messages, should I'm I'm not judging, but I get again in a court of law, you're right, it is.
Speaker 3:But with and I and I'm all for him having his day in court. But the reality is when, when we get the text messages and it starts out that he believes that he is contacting a woman who's 19 and the the way that these undercovers work is, they'll post an area and they have to have an ad that conforms, and then they'll put in indicators that would make you think maybe this is somebody worth contacting if you want someone younger, and then early on in the conversation says, hey, I'm actually 13. Him then get extremely excited and go from hey, I'll pay a few hundred dollars to see you sometime this week or next to. You're under 13? How about 400? How about 500? How about 600? I need to see you today. I'll come see you tomorrow. I've wanted this for a long time. I've needed this again.
Speaker 2:That's a different level. And for those who are listening or watching the stream, I mean these are stories that they're harsh. This is harsh news. It's not talked about. I mean, go back to the gentleman who was you know not who's dead, who you know died at the Doubletree in Tukwila. I feel like that. He, I'm pretty sure, was like this ain't going to end well for me.
Speaker 3:So I'm going out and I'm going to you know what generally happens with those two, and that one in particular is I did the story and then victims came forward, said I followed you for a while. I know of him. Here's terrible things he did to me. You thought what he was going there was terrible. Here's here, here's, here's more and it. There's only so much I can do to be able to tell those stories on social media, because there is, you know, there's community guidelines, things, and I also, you know, there are times I struggle with how do I tell this story and also not educate a potential predator?
Speaker 3:sure, yeah yeah and that's a that's every story I do. I have to go through that and think about that, um, because sometimes you can see also the means and ways that these task force operate to try and find these people, and there's a lot of things, um, that go into the grooming category too. I think, what another thing that I've learned a lot of, because I'm not a young guy anymore. I grew up a long time ago and I still remember all this stuff happening back then, and so I've asked them I said what do you think has changed? Have the numbers gone up? They say unequivocally numbers have gone up dramatically. Well, okay, why? And they believe that it's a two thing.
Speaker 3:Not only are there more kids available, right, the internet has changed available, right, the internet has changed Social media has changed that landscape of available victims.
Speaker 3:But also, in the past, usually people who are participating in these type of acts didn't know a lot of other people, if any, who did it as well.
Speaker 3:Now they can meet in chat rooms and through other ways and find a hundred, if not hundreds, of other people who want to participate or are participating in those type of activities, and then they can teach each other. It's kind of like going to prison and you own your skills and the methods they learn in grooming and their ability to anonymize themselves in a lot of ways to where that they can use fake accounts and all these different methods to try stuff out and see what works, what doesn't. And a lot of these guys, when you get into figuring out what makes them tick, this sexual act that they're trying to have is kind of the finish line, and what I mean by that is the rest of it to them is extremely exciting. Once they hit the finish line, it's over the stimulation that they get across the board in learning what works, what doesn't work. And oh, she won't talk to me anymore, I'll try it again. And now it worked. It's much different than it was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 10 years ago and that quick, just didn't burn.
Speaker 2:Our guest tonight is PhotonikSteve81. You can find him on social media. Do you feel like this is the new version of a serial killer? Because you know, growing up in the 80s, 70s was I wasn't, I was a 78 kid. You know that's pretty my time.
Speaker 2:But watching the news, understanding and watching ted bundy and how he really worked, you know it's interesting because I worked with a guy in the radio business who was on a ted bundy special where he and his friends were having as teenagers were at lake sammamish getting ice cream.
Speaker 2:They saw ted bundy and he to this day feels extremely bad that he didn't. They were making fun of ted because he was his arm was in a sling, he looked like he stuck out like a sore thumb because he had, you know, the sling on he was wearing. You know he was not wearing like everyone else, wearing shorts and everything else. They were making fun of him and he says that he feels like a some responsibility that he didn't. They didn't go and tease ted to like wart him off from the area they want. They were going to go over there and pick on him and say how you look funny with your sling on, blah, blah, and he felt bad, but do you feel like this is the new version of a serial killer, because there's so much of it happening? In like the 80s and 70s there seemed to be predominantly serial killers, but I don't know that sex trafficking was really going on then, and if it was, it sure wasn't talked about.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that and the more that I've studied people in this, it's a progression. Even people who just get and I don't want to demonize the adult sex trade particularly, but there's a lot who start there, sure, and that in itself is already kind of a threshold. Maybe they haven't done that before and they didn't know what that was going to be like. And then they did it and they got an excitement out of it that they hadn't experienced because it is illegal, it's, it's there's, you know, the whole layer to it. And then that initial excitement wears off. So what's next?
Speaker 3:And a lot of these guys I found this one in particular, as well as the one that you brought up earlier they both said, well, yeah, it started out that I was cause the one that they killed. That wasn't his first time getting hooked up, he'd been hooked up before. And there, there, he had um, gone through these evaluations where they figure out what type of recidivism rate they may have, and so on. And so did this guy, and a lot of them say, well, yeah, I started out, it was, it was prostitution, and and then I started younger, and then what was the next thrill? What was the next thrill?
Speaker 3:And it takes time, it takes years, but you'll find out a lot of serial killers. They started out early on where you know they were toward the they were torturing animals, sure, and then it it continues on. Or you get people who start out with just you know gore porn and I said that more of a loaded term, um, but you know the type of stuff, where they're, they're being stimulated by that and then it continues, yeah, and so I think there's a lot of similarities. I think, coming back to you, you can cause a lot of irreversible mental harm, emotional harm, physical harm on somebody. That I think is hard to can totally calculate, but you can do it at a scale that I don't know, that a lot of serial killers could and get away with when you say that it it's.
Speaker 2:It's frightening to think that you know in in a case like I I, because this is the pacific northwest, I really go back to ted and and to, uh, gary ridgeway. And let's be, you know folks, gary Ridgway was killing teenagers, some were underage. So I mean, we're talking about crimes that were committed Very, very dark, a very dark time within the Pacific Northwest's history to have these types of serial killers. You know there's a ton of them. These are two prolific ones. There's, honestly, wesley Allen Dodd. That was a whole other situation and he said, if they didn't execute him, he said he was going to break out of jail and he was going to kill again and he knew he was sick.
Speaker 2:Steve, do you think that in this case, in these cases in regards to offending, re-offending, if and this is going to be really crazy? So we'll see how you answer this question this is something that came up with if they made sex workers like if there was a strip in like sodo or uh, maybe north bend somewhere, and they legalized it and and had a commission and had it like to be able to, uh, just like they do in carson, nevada, where it is commissioned, these girls are sanctioned. They have licenses, just that they get tested, these types of things. Do you think these types of crimes go down?
Speaker 3:I don't think that you would have child sex trafficking go down. I don't think those types of things would go down. I think you would see a fundamental change in other types of street level crime that happened from this, because there's a lot of things that connect to that and, as I said earlier, I don't want to villainize that entire industry, but there's a lot of collateral things that come along with that that become a challenge. So if you're somebody who's going to lead into pedophilia or anything like that, I don't think anything in the sex trade or sex business is going to deter you from that.
Speaker 3:But I do think areas like aurora and spots that would fundamentally change if you, if you, created a legal industry and maybe that would, maybe that would be the perfect strip for that, you know, I mean look at las vegas, I mean that that's a an area where that type of work thrives and yet when you walk around out there, it doesn't have the feel like it does on aurora or anything like that so I think, yeah, I mean, well, obviously ve Vegas has really pushed a narrative to really clean those streets up, and still knowing that it's illegal in the city of Las Vegas to be doing anything like that.
Speaker 2:So you kind of got to go outside the city to have that type of fun.
Speaker 3:Now with that little bit of inconvenience, though it did help a lot with what was happening right and it's so crazy.
Speaker 2:You know, you see these, these stories, or I, and I think that I don't remember. I think it was como that I saw the story that the pimp was driving down one of the streets actively shooting at another car and chasing it down because maybe it was a territory push.
Speaker 3:I'm the one who sold him that video. I know that went up there up a hundred. And third, yeah, yeah, where you get? You get other things once you've already kind of crossed the threshold into things that are not legal. I mean, you could maybe even draw some conclusions, some of the other things we're talking about. You start one thing and then it becomes something else and become something else. Something else and become something else once you've already kind of entered into that realm. So you know, I think there's a lot of conversation, and valid conversation, debate, to be had about possibly legalizing it.
Speaker 3:It's easy to say no, because it would need to be a thought out, broad plan, right Just to the point of Vegas. It's not down on the strip. You can't just say, okay, cool, in this hotel over here it's legal. It's got to be much more thought, it's got to be zoned properly. There's a lot that has to go in it. What we found, though, like other things, if you try to just make it illegal these things human nature, whatever you want to call it we've got thousands of years to realize people are going to do certain things. So you can do certain things to limit it. You can do certain things to try and keep it to a level of acceptable control, but these are things that seem to be ingrained in human beings.
Speaker 2:It has been going on, as you said, for such a long time. Now. If this was something that was, you know, like it was zoned for, like an aurora and maybe that area, that changes how that's presented and you know, then you're not having these, these crimes of maybe a territory war, as that could have allegedly been. Where the guy shooting is hey, this is my street, you know this is my zone shooting and say, hey, this is my street, you know, I, this is my you know zone, it's interesting and I, I don't want, I'm not putting the those workers down because you know they, they want to make a living and that's how they make their living. Look, I'm, I stay in my lane, they're staying in theirs. Have I driven down the roar and and like taking some stuff to get fixed at at one of the uh audio shops up there? Sure, I have, but it's interesting, they'll wave at you. I was like, wow, these girls are aggressive, they're like they are like out here and and it is, it is out there broad daylight noon.
Speaker 3:If you go there for lunch, they'll come up, knock on your window at a red light. I mean it's, it's changed a lot, it's not.
Speaker 2:It's not back alley stuff anymore no, I mean you go to burger master, you're getting burger and some boobies. You know it's just it is. It is out there and it's out there in, like what's crazy. And I'm really surprised. And no disrespect to the seattle police, I know they're doing their best to, you know, to work it, but it just it's not. It's not working. Those cameras aren't working anymore. You know the deterrent, deterrent of what was on Aurora with the cameras and things of that nature. It's. They just moved to a different area, they just moved up, pushed it up. So I know that there's cameras there, but I don't think they care. I don't think they really care. I mean, I know they don't.
Speaker 3:The cops will drive on by and they'll wave at the cops. It's just kind of, you know, it's a certain level of accepted. It's it's a challenge because, because there are other components to it. There's, there's certain people up there who are hey, this is what I am, I'm of age, I'm this, I'm that, and then there is a lot of other components.
Speaker 2:You know, there's underage girls working up there, sure, um, you know, there's just a lot of other things that go into it and and the thing that really goes back to the whole, uh, the situation, in talking about the, the, the guy that killed, you know, I don't want to call it like some some love story, but uh, you know this tragic story of this young lady who was, you know, someone who was a dancer and then ended up losing her life because some selfish individual who had a situation.
Speaker 2:What do we know about that case so far, I mean, other than we know that he was arrested, and at this point, yeah, a little fair amount.
Speaker 3:I broke that case and that was another one of those experiences where it's just do the work. The reason I actually knew about that the day before I put it out but I was waiting on corroborating it. I needed paperwork and because he had self-harmed he ended up in the hospital and didn't get booked. So basic rundown is James McNeil, a former Bothell City Council member, apparently had had a long-standing relationship with this one woman and he had met her through a dance club. There's been an insinuation that she might have been an escort of one time. Friends around her and her family dispute that it sounded like she really just danced for a while and he had met her Apparently. He had these kind of extramarital affairs frequently for years. He took he hadn't met her Apparently.
Speaker 3:He had these kinds of extramarital affairs frequently for years. He took a particular interest in her and at one point says I don't want you to keep working like this. I'll, I'll pay all your bills, you don't have to, and agreed to pay her somewhere in the realm of eight or $10,000 a month and their age spread. There was dollars a month and their age spread. There was he's in his mid, maybe late, 50s and she is 20 years old. When she passed away so large age, age spread and for her, you know, she's living a semi-comfortable life. She, she was living in Seattle. He's paying a lot of the bills, but he expected certain things in exchange. He felt it was you know, I'm giving you this money, I want. He expected certain things in exchange. He felt it was you know, I'm giving you this money, I want access and certain things. And he was a very controlling person from all accounts and as she is 20 years old and in this thing and starting to feel apparently a lot of level of control, I've read messages she sent to friends and talked to family members that there was a concern that she got in over her head and at a certain point he continues. He's coming to the house all the time now uninvited, wanting in, demanding, in banging on the door. I've talked to neighbors today. We come out here, bang on the door for hours, go sit in his car, come back, bang on it again until she'd let him in. Wow, and it's easy to say, well, why did she let him in? I mean, we've all been heard these stories. Right, you have two people who are not functioning as they should, who probably have other bits of trauma and there's layers to this thing. The final time he ends up being let in, he says he didn't do anything, that she passed away on her own.
Speaker 3:Here's what we have from an evidence standpoint. At some point she passes away. Now the medical examiner says she passed away from strangulation and not suffocation strangulation. There's a difference. She's naked in bed and he calls.
Speaker 3:He gets online, I guess, looks for an attorney. The attorney he calls he'd never worked with before contacts. That attorney says I'm James McNeil. Here's who I am. I am in a place with a dead girl and we need to call the authorities. He also had attempted suicide during this time. He had slashed his wrists and so the picture that I got where he's covered in blood, it's actually his blood, and so the picture that I got where he's covered in blood, it's actually his blood.
Speaker 3:The attorney pulls up out front of the house, doesn't go in the house, doesn't make contact, but calls 911, says I'm an attorney, I represent this man. He says there's a body inside and he wants to surrender. They ask some questions back and forth. It's pretty clear, based off the transcripts that I've gone through, that they had never worked together before he barely even knew who the guy was, but police come and show up. She had already been experiencing rigor, which is indicative of somebody who's been passed away for a certain amount of time. At the stage that she was at, the idea that he did not play a role is preposterous. The evidence shows he played a role. Now he again. He will have his day in court, and that's what court is for.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:I'm not sure what has him, based on everything I know, deciding to go down this path. It may be delusional. It may be at some point he realizes, hey, this is whatever last bit of money that maybe I could leave for my kids doesn't need to all just go to lawyer bills, but that's where he's at right now. After she passed away and more evidence came out, it was pretty clear he was a very controlling individual and used to getting his way.
Speaker 3:You also have a female who and this is where I get frustrated with me, you know it's easy to villainize her too, and one independent journalist posted a voice message that she had left a friend, that she had left in confidence, and it's clear she's on some level working the guy right, he's paying. Nobody just gives $10,000 for nothing. But I think that's indicative of a dysfunctional relationship more than was. Is she the bad guy or not? In the end, I don't care what some woman does to me, how disrespected I may feel, I'm not going to then kill her. Once you cross that threshold, I don't think we then have to figure out well, what'd she do? What did she do to push them there?
Speaker 2:Right, right, I think my biggest piece in regards to these is like connecting all the dots is these are avoidable crime. This could be avoided, for, you know, if she was in such hard times and I don't know her situation. It's unfortunate this young lady is now no longer with us. The piece that really gets to me, and like how much crime is actually going on without people understanding, like the levels of stuff that are going on around the city shootings, sex trafficking, you know and I'm like again, I'm not trying to villainize any of these sex workers look it, it happens, it's, it's, it's a day and age. You know, people think men rule the world. It's not the trail, women rule the world. Okay, we, you know, guys want to be around the most attractive women, things of that nature, and maybe people aren't attracted to women. Whatever, whatever you're, you're, however you feel, whatever what we're saying here is is there a possibility to reduce these crimes by putting in place some type of if it's a, if it's a, uh, like a, like crispy cream, I shouldn't even say that but maybe like some type of district, a sex district, where you can see ladies of the night and and go and, you know, dance to your favorite. You know song and you can. You can see ladies of the night and and go and you know dance to your favorite. You know song and you can. You can have companionship, you know where maybe companionship isn't there for you. Where you go to this place, you have this transaction where you then you meet this young lady or or whoever the lady who is of age that you're able to spend this time with, and then maybe these crimes go down. Maybe they don't happen, maybe it's still a thing. I don't know because I'm not an expert in that, but I would say, if I would assume, crimes of these types of sex worker crimes would come down, because now they don't have to go to a pimp, they're not working for some dude, they're they're their own entity, they're doing their own entity, they're doing their own thing, they're. You know, it's kind of, it's still not sexy, it's it. I mean, they do their own thing. It's not my lane, but it's just something that I always thought that if I was going to voice my opinion about it, there's got to be something out there. If Carson City can exist, these can exist in other cities that may be predominantly like in a little district that say okay, this is where it's going to be, that's it.
Speaker 2:Just like legalized marijuana I don't use it, not for me. You want to smoke, cool, do your thing. Marijuana I don't use it, not for me. You want to smoke, cool, do your thing, I don't. I don't smoke cigarettes either. You want to smoke, do your thing. You want to go a strip club, do your thing. You know what I mean. Like if for me, it's just not my thing.
Speaker 2:Now, I just I don't want to see more news stories of young ladies becoming victim to someone's selfish needs or a case of love story gone wrong and I'm not saying that he loved her or she loved him, but a tragic story altogether because of a transactional action, that someone wasn't fulfilling the agreement, and it's. It's unfortunate and it's. You know, I'm not, I don't want to victimize or villainize the young lady and I you know this this gentleman will, you know, get his day in court and the outcome will come, but this young lady will never come back. And so when we talk about these things, I want them to be predominantly out there. Maybe you've seen something, maybe you have a case, maybe you've seen something and you've not ever said a damn thing to anybody out there. You gotta say something.
Speaker 3:Call somebody, you know, steve, steve, you get hundreds of tips yeah, you know, for those watching who are thinking of sending a tip and provide this word of caution I'm always interested in everything going on out there. As I said earlier, if your story is somebody very close to you and again I my hesitation is I don't want to do a story that then outs the victim because we're not going to. We generally try to not mention the victim's name, especially if they're underage, and so there's tips that I get that we don't work with and I don't want people to think that means that their story is not valid, not worthy, that they're not truly a victim. There's a level of responsibility that goes in informing the public and making sure that that victim will not, six months, a year later, go man, I wish I hadn't done that so publicly and it's unfortunate that you have to worry about that as a victim, but it's something we try and keep in mind here If we go down this path.
Speaker 3:These are the things you should be worried about when, when I get people like the guy I just talked about, when they're meeting an undercover or something like that, it's very easy to do those stories because the victim we know there's other victims, but the victim that they're getting hooked on didn't actually exist in the first place. So it's easy to then say, let's put this on blast right, let's do this. So just think about that. If you're sending tips in, I'm always looking for these, but we're always going to weigh what are the ramifications to those affected.
Speaker 2:In these cases, when you're talking about people sending in tips, what do you typically do? You then take the tip and then give it to other authorities if need be, or do you work the case? How do you? Maybe I shouldn't ask because I don't want to tip somebody off Is this even a question I should be asking? So we're not tipping others. That may you know.
Speaker 3:I think what I would say is this If you have not involved law enforcement, if you think you're coming here to me to expose somebody who has not even been in the legal system, I'm probably not the place for that, because I'm a small little shop. I don't have. You know, there's people who go out on the Internet and try and orchestrate these things. I don't have those kind of resources. I generally get involved in situations where professional investigative agencies have already engaged, have put together. You know, I got behind that laptop here. I have stacks of probable cause docs and all kinds of stuff in here. That's going to be one of my main tools. Now, that doesn't mean don't reach out. If you're looking for help and need resources, I'm here to help you with that. But I'm going to give you that to get you to people who can help you through that process. That's not my role is to not help you.
Speaker 2:You're not. You know, steve Hansen. Hey, what was the one? You know where you're like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, catch your predator. There's part. I've thought about doing that type of stuff, but there's a lot that goes into that and I do not have the infrastructure resources to do that yet. So, by all means, if somebody reaches out to me who doesn't fit the mold of what I'm doing and clearly needs help and resources, yeah, I'm going to make sure that they get that help and resources. But most of where I'm able to produce a story for public consumption is when there's already been a professional investigative agency gotten involved and that case is kind of going down the line right.
Speaker 2:So when we, uh, when we see faux stock photog steve to catch, you know, the northwest predators, I mean it does. I mean that that show was like what we all, what people saw was not, was just a snippet of what actually went into, you know, into that. You have. You know law enforcement involved with that, those cases, right, you know massive liability cost to know that.
Speaker 3:It's all you have you know, law enforcement involved with those cases, right, Massive liability costs too. Now that it's all about business. But you have to figure out a way to at least get the revenue. You know, let's say it's a passion, which to me, this is a passion. I'm not in this for the money, but I do need to at least pay the bills. When you start adding in those types of levels of liability, you would be blown away at the type of income you need to make to just break even and say it's a passion project of mine, right?
Speaker 2:so big sponsor cialis, whatever you know she's just like you know it's. It's crazy because, yeah, you're right, it's the footprint of what people don't understand is like it's much larger. You know what you see in this little tv box there are hundreds of other people that are working on this piece along with you. Steve that, you know, said to to to put something like that together. So what do you want to?
Speaker 3:let's say I did go out and I wanted these guys who go out and do these uh busts you know they'll get on create a persona right and their goal is to make a piece of content and maybe an investigative piece. I don't want to minimize it, but are you, are you creating something for views and engagement? Are you creating something that's going to be a prosecutable case? If you are going rogue on your own and not working with law enforcement so they can ultimately prosecute, I don't know what you're doing, except making sure that that predator may one not be able to be prosecuted and two may be smarter for it and be able to be more effective in their deviance the next time around, because you just showed them what that looks like.
Speaker 3:So, for all those reasons I mean the idea of outing child molesters hey, I'm all for it, man, but I I want to actually see convictions and prosecutions, and I don't know that there are very many independent groups out there that can do that without being hand in hand with law enforcement.
Speaker 2:For sure, Steve. As we get close to wrapping things up, anything that you're working on that we should be keeping an eye on for you in the future.
Speaker 3:So I'm going to continue down this path. From the trafficking side there's going to be another one coming out soon, another doctor. I found this interesting flaw now in Department of Health, where they're showing these guys is still available and valid to work. And I think if they go and apply to a large agency, a large hospital, something like that, those places will find these things through the vetting process. But I'm concerned that if they went to a small doctor's office, maybe a little bit out of town, or they tried to start their own practice, that they would not be actually be, it wouldn't be obvious. So I'm going to try and continue to go down that because part of my goal not only do I want to expose people, I'd like to find the flaws in the system, and there are a number in these types of things.
Speaker 3:I think you're going to start seeing more offenders being arrested in their workplace, not only because one is there a tactical advantage for the arresting agency, but also the workplace can't not know them. Because what I have found in some of these this Coons guy specifically know. Then, because what I have found in some of these this Coons guy specifically, he was arrested in a motel and his workplace didn't find out for some time and as soon as they did he had to go. His license is still in good standing, but he had to leave that workplace and so I think you're going to start seeing that I want to start showing that trend, but we're going to continue down that I'll still always do the hyper local crime stuff. That's kind of what I like to do and I.
Speaker 3:But we're going to continue down that I'll still always do the hyper local crime stuff. That's kind of what I like to do and I think we're going to start trying to we've been talking about it for a while but trying to do more human interest pieces where we try and do some positive stuff. I kind of thrive off this dark, gritty stuff and I don't realize until I get some feedback from viewers going I love your stuff, but sometimes you come up and I go I just can't handle it right now, like I got to scroll on because I can't. I can't take another dark story. So we want to give some positivity mixed in there as well.
Speaker 2:It's funny, you know I start thinking of like stories that you know you could work on. You know, maybe, maybe you'll, maybe you'll, we'll see you on the streets trying to find a UFO, or, you know, the elusive Bigfoot Sasquatch. You know it's so interesting and I have to praise you for what. I think people don't realize how much work goes into what you do and to put out as much content that you do. And especially last weekend, with all the shootings that had happened around the puget sound area, you didn't even go to bed that evening because you were working. I mean, there were shootings that happened that that you went back to the location. It's now morning and you're like filming the. Here's the story you know, like yeah that's your your fame.
Speaker 2:Like here's the story. And then it's like you know you filming the here's the story. You know like, yeah, that's your your fame. Like here's the story. And then it's like you know you do the, the vo, the voiceover, and you know you tell the story. It goes without saying, like you continue to do what you do.
Speaker 2:I think that for those who are looking for good content and news, you gotta've got to follow Photog Steve. You've got stuff all over the place and I hope I don't spend a lot of time on YouTube, but I hope that that eventually will get you to a mark where you hit that threshold of a million viewers and you get some type of revenue from that. I hope to see that what you do as a local, hyper-local guy and squad and team because I'm sure there are other female there's you know people that are part of the team that are not just dudes, but that you guys continue to do what you do successfully without getting harmed and being able to, you know, tell a story so that, when a local news story isn't covering the case, tell a story so that, when a local news story isn't covering the case that we as citizens of the area are in the know of what's going on when we go to sleep and we wake up in the morning and there's been seven shootings around the Puget Sound area and we're like, oh, it's not like. Well, guess what? Everyone? It's summertime in Seattle, we got Seafair and we got this on and this is what's happening. Yay and look, I'm all for that. I love a good hydro race, I love the Blue Angels.
Speaker 2:We just need to be informed of what's going on at night. We don't need I want to call them walking females or whatever that guy was, and it's not stupid. I know the guy, dressed up, got whatever his thing was back in 2007 or whatever the the phoenix river, whatever the stupid dude's name was that, dressed up in the wannabe batman suit, you know, whatever this is like, we don't need that. We don't need. We need people to collectively be like old school neighbors, like, hey, steve, how you doing good to see you. Did you hear about the shooting down the street? Oh, did you hear about felma? Oh yeah, she was hanging out with louise and they went and you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know that type of thing we need to. We need to do the old school phone tree to be able to like the local blogs which they try to do their best to to, can you know, to convey a story.
Speaker 2:But sometimes, like, even when I was like I'm like what's going on? I've seen like that one day, when I was like, steve, something's going on here in west seattle I'm not sure, and I hadn't paid attention to the west seattle blog, nor do I, you know, and it wasn't until later, it wasn't in the feed, it was like deep somewhere in the feed. But sure enough, there was the vice president coming to West Seattle. I was like going after my workout and I'm like state patrol undercover. I was like, wow, either there's someone died over here or something's going on. And then that's when you finally was like, hey, vp's in town. I was like, oh, makes sense. So we, you know you finally was like hey, vp's in town, like, oh, it makes sense. So, yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:Again, I, I appreciate everything you've done for us to come on and you know to, to continue to, to continue to share these stories, but to continue to pound the pavement. Steve, do what you do. Don't let the naysayers out here try to drive some narrative. Just continue to do you, and that's the one thing that has you be the new dan, rather the, walter cronkite, the, uh, the, the young peter jennings. Where these guys were out there, they're in the streets with their.
Speaker 2:Obviously there was war zones, but I think you there was some footage of you in in like in press gear, that with the kevlar vests and and and worn torn areas. So we know that you've covered other national stories, but just continue doing what you do best. Don't let these other narratives try to push you out, and there's plenty of room for everybody, and so I'm excited to continue to watch and to see what happens. So if there's anything you need from us, let us know. We'd love to have you back on and you know, just keep, keep pounding the pavement and we'll continue to watch these stories as they develop and hopefully these stories will become less, and that you're going to have to start working a new, a new chapter, steve's, you know little steve's, little heroes or something of that nature, where you you know you're presenting you know feel good stories and we're, like, damn steve's, doing another feel good story. This because there's nothing.
Speaker 2:There's nothing to cover anymore, and and I hope that we can get to a day and age where that might be happening, but until then, um, continue what you're doing, man. Uh, they can follow you anywhere, right on at photog, steve 81 and some of these other people that you have tagged in your partnership with Northwest. These are people that you're working with that are a part of your group now that we're starting to see in your feed, right?
Speaker 3:That's right. So they get tagged on stories that they were also on, whether they got there to join me or got there ahead of me. They're people who are part of the organization that then feed to the stations and so usually if they're being tagged it's specifically because they played a part in filming it or it was just a big story and they helped with the research. But both of them are photographers, photogs as well, and they go out and cover these things all the time and then part of it is they get the sale if the TV buys it, and then I help, try to help them boost.
Speaker 3:You know we don't do gatekeeping over here. If this is something you wanted to do and you wanted to come be a photographer in this kind of thing A big thing that I do I don't. We're not going to put you under a non-compete. We're not going to do. You know we're here to try and get information out. We will help you build your social media. Following Every story I do is available to TV news, so it's not like I took it or kept it from them. And I do the same thing with the people I work around. We are here to grow information, grow it through the community and make sure that it gets out. What I'm after is information going out. If I can beat the others, even better, but I'm not here to keep it from the others.
Speaker 2:Sure Well, steve, again as we wrap things up here in the Pacific Northwest, what an evening to talk about so many different things that have gone on in the city, what is still transactionally happening behind the dark web with predators and things of that nature. I hope that these stories will start to minimize that. We're not seeing you do more stories about, you know, sex trafficking and predators who are. I hope that becomes less and and I hope that these task force continue to put a dent to reduce this from happening even further because, look, everyone has a daughter, everyone has a friend, everyone is connected to somebody. Our part to ask citizens to say, hey, look, don't this. We need to do our part and, however that is, steve, make aware of everything. Let's make it uncomfortable for others that may be around us. People talk. These things are not secrets but, as you said, steve, I don't know how these guys function, so I don't know if they're just like. They just keep to themselves like a like a Ted Bundy where we present. They present as such were in Ted's case, where he just clean cut, looked like he was a lawyer, pretended, acted like, you know, an attorney and even in Ted's case, even the judge says man, I wish you never went down this road. I would have had a great time working with you as an attorney. It's sad to see someone, such a young man, you know waste his life to such a you know a bad you know a bad situation in regards to, you know killing women. That that's the case where your due diligence and hopefully other news agencies start to make a light to this, to help these agencies reduce the footprint of what they're doing, so that maybe these cops can actually do different types of work where they're not part of some special task force to minimize sex trafficking and these underage crimes and things of that nature. So on that note, steve, it's always a pleasure From the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 2:As we wrap things up, I want to thank our guest tonight, steve Fotog, Steve81. If you want to follow him, please do so. His content is fantastic and, as we conclude, tonight's voyage of what we would say is not ordinary. It's definitely extraordinary because these crimes are happening around us and they're predominantly happening while we sleep. So people like steve and other photographers out there doing their due diligence to share this information, be sure to follow them and to I don't want to say like the content, but like them and go, follow them so that you're aware of what's going on.
Speaker 2:It is my greatest gratitude that you, the listeners of US Phenomena, who take the time to listen to the show, to watch the show. Without your unwavering curiosity and passion, who knows where I would be? This is obviously a journey for me. Where I would be, this is obviously a journey for me and through the cosmos, in the corners of this world. I always have to thank my daughter because she's the beacon of my life and the inspiration and joy of my life. So I always have to thank my daughter because, at the end of the day, she is my greatest gift in this so-called planet. For the rest of you, I thank you very much To all of our affiliates across the radio stations. I thank you very much To all of our affiliates across the radio stations. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:If you don't follow the show, please go and like and subscribe to the podcast. You can find it on my website on airmariocom, or you can go to your favorite podcasting platform and just search US Phenomenon with Mario Magana as your host. I leave you with this. Keep your eyes gazed fixed to the stars, your mind open to the endless possibilities. May the question we've pondered tonight spark conversations, inspire dreams and remind us all that we're all part of the grand mystery of the phenomenon Good night, stay curious. Of the phenomenon Good night, stay curious and remember To it never ends here. Your questions Will keep the discovery alive, so good night.
