Raymond E. Foster: From LAPD Cop to 10,000 Uber Rides
KEY MOMENTS
0:00 – Intro: Raymond E. Foster and Chasing the Surge
1:29 – Why cops are like professional wrestlers
2:27 – Growing up an Angeleno with an LAPD father
4:06 – Police officers as actors
4:56 – Movie security work, Halloween, and Batman
6:51 – Jungle boots and a slip on the first call
8:32 – Working the same shift as his father
11:24 – How police productivity was measured
13:52 – Bosch, The Wire, and Adam-12
17:08 – How policing changed in the 1980s
18:43 – Body cams and people in crisis
21:07 – From forcing solutions to Uber diplomacy
22:14 – Teaching, Caribbean consulting, and ageism
23:40 – Driving for Uber to learn fiction writing
25:08 – Air fresheners and the smell of passengers
27:50 – Why he drove for Uber without a gun
29:29 – Gang members, a gun, and a police car
31:06 – Handling rowdy passengers
33:37 – Rewriting the book in a film noir voice
36:49 – Uber Eats and selling books to passengers
38:45 – What a Netflix adaptation would need
40:24 – A naked shootout with car thieves
46:00 – What Hollywood gets wrong about gunfights
49:13 – Listening as a cop and an Uber driver
52:10 – Uber ride preferences and rider expectations
54:07 – What Freemasonry is and its symbols
57:43 – Life advice for younger men and wrap-up
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Former LAPD cop Raymond E. Foster, author of Chasing the Surge, joins Lou to talk about growing up with an LAPD father, how policing changed, his 10,000 Uber rides, and the question everybody wants to ask a cop: how many shootouts have you been in?
We also get into why cops are like professional wrestlers, movie security work, slipping on his first call, Bosch, The Wire, and Adam-12, body cams, driving for Uber to learn fiction writing, the smell of passengers, why he drove without a gun, handling rowdy riders, selling books to passengers, a naked shootout with car thieves, what Hollywood gets wrong about gunfights, and Freemasonry.