{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Murphy's Law","title":"\"If You Come For My Troopers, I'm Coming For You\" A Conversation With Matthew Packard","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3290,"description":"In this episode of Murphy's Law, host Murphy Robinson sits down with one of his closest friends and a leader who's shaped policing far beyond Colorado's borders: Colonel Matt Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol since 2017. Murphy opens by calling him one of the best friends he has in the world, and the conversation that follows moves from Packard's own origin story — a childhood fascination with the FBI that led to an accounting degree and, eventually, a patrol car — through the full scope of what the State Patrol actually does, the culture that makes Colorado troopers a national standard, and a hard, emotional conversation about the two troopers shot in the line of duty just weeks before this recording.\nPackard traces his path back to his mother's job at a museum that shared a building with the Golden police department, a family friend in the FBI, and a high school tour of the Denver FBI office that hooked him. He earned an accounting degree from the University of Northern Colorado — a deliberate, marketable path toward federal law enforcement — before deciding he wanted to drive a patrol car first. Twenty-six years later, he's still at it, having risen from state trooper to captain overseeing the hazmat section, to major, to colonel of the entire agency. Murphy and Packard spend real time on the Patrol's less-visible work: its hazardous materials response team, its aircraft fleet (which flies enforcement missions, ferries the governor, and transports hospital staff for time-sensitive medical procedures), and the two distinct roles Capitol-based troopers now play — uniformed security and, increasingly, dignitary protection and threat investigation for elected officials.\nSome of the most striking material comes from Packard's account of leadership under pressure. He and Murphy first worked closely together during 2020, coordinating COVID-19 staffing and response alongside the George Floyd protests, and Packard credits that shared crisis with cementing...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/i5VidaAPwui-mkO5QFXggyZtb0zIlg4YR2_FNHsGhxQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82ZWZm/YzczODJhMjE0Mjhl/ZWUzYTE0YTI3MGUz/OGVjZS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}