TOM MORRIS JUNIOR:
I'm your host Tom Morris Junior, crime
analyst on A&E Network's police documentary show, "Live PD."
If you watch "Live PD," you're going
to know the person I'm interviewing today
on "PD Stories."
It's Sergeant Denver Leverett of the Jeffersonville,
Indiana Police Department.
Everyone who's watched you do your job in Jeffersonville,
on "Live PD," knows one thing about Sgt. Denver Leverett.
That you are a master field Inquisitor of the people
that you pull over. You--
DENVER LEVERETT: Right.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: --have an ability to almost Jedi mind
trick people into admitting that they've got heroin hidden when
they were really denying it.
Explain your-- your interviews questioning style.
DENVER LEVERETT: You know, some people say it's trickery.
I don't believe in that.
And I-- this is all I do is interdiction work.
And the main aspect of interdiction
is the art of conversation.
And what I find is when you're talking to someone,
if you treat them as an individual, an equal--
you don't talk down to them or belittle them,
and you set the gun and the badge aside--
people, if you keep them talking,
you don't let them think, and you stay persistent,
you can get them to crack.
And they'll incriminate themself.
And you saw the--
the incidents on the show where the guy said "monkey
can't sell bananas."
And after they admit to dealing methamphetamine
and post Miranda Warning, they're like, "why
did I just say that?"
And it's-- it's all how you talk to people.
And you have to stay persistent.
That's the key.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: My favorite encounter
that I watched you do was the lady who kept lying and lying.
DENVER LEVERETT: Mhm.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: And you knew she had heroin the whole time.
And eventually, you got her to the point where she told you.
I think you said, "let me guess, it's in your bra?"
DENVER LEVERETT: Right.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: And then you said, "let me guess which side.
Left side." And you were right.
And we were just like, whoa.
He's a savant.
I mean, my God.
How did you know this?
DENVER LEVERETT: And-- and part of that was luck.
If-- based off my training and experience,
if a female is going to conceal narcotics,
it's going to be one of two places.
So there's a 50% chance I'm going
to get it right on which place.
So I guessed right.
But what a lot of people didn't pick up on
is while I'm talking to this female,
and she's retrieving her documents,
she's handing it to me with her right hand.
So I assume that she's right handed-dominant.
So if she's going to conceal something on her body,
in her bra, she's going to use her right hand, which is
going to go to her left side.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Wow.
DENVER LEVERETT: So then I just guessed at that side.
So it was luck.
But based off some indicators, is
what we say, when I'm speaking to her in conversation,
those are a couple of things that I picked up on.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: That's really interesting.
Speaking of narcotics, we've seen a lot of overdoses
in Jeffersonville and the other jurisdictions
that we're covering and following around the country
on "Live PD."
When did it really start to get this bad
that you began to realize it?
DENVER LEVERETT: I would say my first 10
years of law enforcement, I never saw meth or heroin.
This last seven, eight years, it's all I see.
I do all narcotics.
And I also do cases on a federal level.
And you can now purchase an ounce of methamphetamine
for cheaper than you can purchase high grade
marijuana-- an ounce of marijuana.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Really?
DENVER LEVERETT: Yeah.
It's-- if I had to guesstimate-- now,
of course, I target certain areas of town
that have high crime rates.
And I focus on a lot of indicators.
But I would say 7 out of the 10 cars
I stop are either going to have a meth pipe,
a syringe, meth, or heroin.
And it's a-- it's an epidemic, now.
It's sad.
And like I said, I've had my own family members
suffer from this addiction.
It's a deadly addiction.
And you know, I continue to fight the battle
and do my part.
Because at the end of the day, the ones who suffer the most
are the kids.
And the calls where I go on and mother
and father overdosed in the vehicle, and the kids
are in the car seat--
vehicle not running, and it's 80 degrees outside.
And they're sweating-- it breaks my heart.
And I try to do everything I can to make a difference
in their life and to help them.
And you know-- and there's another thing.
When you see me on the show, I try not to lock up everybody
I come in contact with.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: I've noticed that, yes.
DENVER LEVERETT: Because the individuals that are possessing
drugs, they have an addiction.
And if I can help them out and get-- get them
treatment and solve the issue in another way,
then I try to do that to keep the family structure together.
But it's a battle that we fight on a daily basis.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: "Live PD" viewers are always fascinated
by how many people are pulled over that do not have
a license, do not have insurance,
do not have any documentation even as to who they are.
DENVER LEVERETT: And-- and that's
going back to the criminal indicators
that we focus on during traffic stops.
If I asked for a--
a driver's license or a photo identification,
and they don't have one, there's my first red flag.
OK, when I attempt to identify them,
and they don't know their social security number,
there is a second red flag.
If they're on probation or parole,
there's a third red flag.
So when I'm speaking to individuals in conversation,
trying to identify them, I'm looking
at eye contact, breathing rates, whether they're perspiring
or not.
And when they don't know who they are,
or if you see me sometimes, and then I'll go back to how much,
you know, do you weigh, and--
and I'll-- and I'll jump around.
And if their age doesn't match their date of birth given,
then I know they're lying.
And you just gotta keep people talking.
You got to keep them rolling.
And that's the most difficult thing is trying
to identify people, sometimes.
Because they'll memorize other people's date of births.
And they may have a twin brother.
And that's half the battle is identifying somebody.
There are some people you'll stop, and you'll ask them,
you know, do you have any heroin in the car?
No.
Any methamphetamine? No.
Any cocaine?
Cocaine?
And their skin will just go pale white.
And they'll look to the glove box.
Well, that's where the dope's at.
They look like they're going to faint.
I've had some people actually throw
up on the side of the road.
They get so nervous.
You know, you're-- you're going to get decent at what you do.
But this is all I do.
You know, they-- they kid me at work.
And they say, you couldn't find a drunk in a bar.
And I'm like, yeah, you're right.
But that's not my passion.
My passion is narcotics work.
And that's what I love to train to do.
And you know-- but it hits me personally.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Police work, on a daily basis,
is an exercise in expecting the unexpected.
DENVER LEVERETT: Mhm.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: What is the most bizarre thing that you--
that you've seen?
DENVER LEVERETT: Oh, man.
[sighing] I would say some of the places
that I have found narcotics to be concealed.
And I'll let your imagination go to work.
But--
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: The personal locker?
DENVER LEVERETT: Yeah, the personal locker or the jail
locker, as we call it.
And I'll even tell them, like, look.
If you take this into the jail, you're
subject to being charged with trafficking with an inmate.
We have a body scanner down there.
Nope, don't have anything.
And we'll get all the way to a--
a strip search, based off policy.
Don't have anything on me.
And-- and male subjects will, you know,
put it in body cavities that--
And it's like, oh, man.
How can you do that?
Just-- just give it up.
And-- and-- but the-- the worst part is, when I think about it,
is they remove it from that body cavity before every drug deal
to sell to somebody.
So that person that's buying it--
I mean, just ew.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Well, inside prison, they don't care
how the drugs get in there. DENVER LEVERETT: No, they don't.
They just don't want to be caught.
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Yeah.
We see so many people that are pulled over in traffic stops.
And they don't have a license, because they've already gotten
tickets they could not pay.
And as an officer, you do see people
sometimes that you know this person
is economically disadvantaged.
Or they're a single mom with three kids in the back.
And she's working as a waitress in a restaurant.
And a $400 ticket is more than maybe two weeks salary for her.
Do you ever take those things into consideration when
you're dealing with people?
DENVER LEVERETT: We never police for profit.
We don't have any quotas.
And if you review all of the videotapes,
I never write tickets, unless I arrest you.
And I have to document the reason why I stopped
you for the criminal arrest.
The way I look at it is I--
I'm going to look at how you treat me.
So as long as you're treating me with respect, and--
TOM MORRIS JUNIOR: Not endangering the public.
DENVER LEVERETT: Yeah, not endangering the public.
And I can give you a verbal warning, why not do that?
Typically, when you write somebody a ticket,
and it's a $100, $200 fine, just to write it,
you could now escalate the situation,
verbally, to maybe into an incident to where
you may have to use force.
And I don't want to do that.
You know, talk to them.
Tell them what they did wrong.
And try to educate them, you know,
about the dangers of speeding or not using their turn signal.
Give them a verbal warning.
And this is all based on community policing.
And if I can develop a stronger bond with the community,
in addition to the minority population,
my-- my wife is a minority.
And if I can strengthen that relationship with a minority
population, bring us together, then
that is better than writing somebody a ticket
and causing friction to the situation.
I would rather build a bond and--
and gain their trust.
Because that person that you stop for failing to signal
a lane change-- if you decide to write them a ticket,
now, they're-- they could be adversarial.
But if you don't, and you-- and you're, you
know, nice with them and give them a verbal warning,
they may be that witness to an armed robbery or a homicide
five years down the road.
And they may think back.
You know what, you never wrote me a ticket.
I have information on this crime.
And you treated with respect.
And now, I'm going to treat you with respect.
I try to look at the big picture.