Skip to content Sheepdog and Shepherd: Chief Rich Jessup and the Day He Quit Being A Cop Mar 1 · 37 min ...more
Sheepdog and Shepherd: Chief Rich Jessup and the Day He Quit Being A Cop
March 1, 2026 · 37 min
God calls you to serve even amidst challenges. Embrace your divine appointment with courage.... just like Chief Jessup was willing to.
Series Sheepdog and Shepherd: Season One March 1, 2026 · 37 min · Sheepdog and Shepherd: Season One
God calls you to serve even amidst challenges. Embrace your divine appointment with courage.... just like Chief Jessup was willing to. ...more Show the full description Show less God calls you to serve even amidst challenges. Embrace your divine appointment with courage.... just like Chief Jessup was willing to.
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From Athlete to Chief: God's Appointed Path 0:00 Went in on patrol, was on patrol 8 months, was back in detectives, was there for about a year, and had been through 5 chiefs in my department. And I was, like, going, what in the world did I just0:11 do? You know, this is crazy. And the mayor came and said, we need you as a chief. And I was, like, no way. Because I knew that, man, I'm gonna be the next guy 3 months down the road.0:21 Sure.0:21 And he finally just said, no. We need for you to do it. I said, I'll take it under 1 condition if you let me do what needs to be done. Because I had learned at that particular point, there was corruption in the0:30 department, both criminally, and other ways administratively. And I knew that there was corruption in the government city government. And I was like, oh, man, do I really want a piece of this? And God says, this is the0:41 appointed time. This is what I have you on planet Earth for.1:23 Down to the river.1:27 You know, I was really looking forward to this episode because my brother was flying out from the great state of Arizona. And last we spoke, he told me that he had just hunted some elk and had some elk meat for1:39 me, and I don't see any elk meat.1:43 You know, you gotta come to Arizona, bring your cooler brother, and I will fill it up. I even got some salmon for you too if you want that too.1:49 I'm just gonna bring my salt and pepper, man. Just fill my belly up right there.1:52 Bring it. I got a 4 bedroom house. Come on over. We'll barbecue it out there and go. But the wintertime is the better time to come because it's get awfully hot in Arizona.2:00 Yeah, man. It's it's pretty toasty out there. You know, I've been in Arizona in in the dead heat, and I flew out with 1 of our old cinematographers, this guy Sean, and I said, brother, make sure you drink a lot of water.2:10 Like, we're going to Costco Costco sized water while we're out there. He's like, I'm a big boy, man. I know what to do. Don't tell me what to do. I was like, dude, you're gonna dehydrate. He was like, I'm not gonna2:19 dehydrate. So we're doing a lot of hiking on the border, and the next day, we I'm chugging water the whole time. The next day, we wake up, and he's bro, I got the worst headache in the world. I said, it's because you're2:29 dehydrated. He was like, I'm gonna dehydrate it. I didn't even sweat. I'm like, that's Arizona, man. It's gone before you even know what hit you. So anyway, for, people who have never watched this series before, it's2:40 called Sheepdog and Shepherd. We talk all about God's hand in law enforcement. I'm Kyle.2:44 My name is Greg. I'm a pastor at the Church of 11 22 and a chaplain with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.2:49 Where are we?2:50 We're in Woodbine, Georgia at the Church of 11 20 two's retreat center.2:54 So we're super grateful and blessed that these guys opened up, this retreat center so we could film a few really powerful, impactful episodes while we're out here. My wife and I had the opportunity to come out when we3:05 started attending Church of 11 22 and just fell in love with this location. So, whether people hunt or they just love spending time watching the sunrise with the cross out back there and talking to Jesus is the3:17 place to do it. Bibles everywhere. You've got such a rustic authentic feels. The oldest hunting club in the US. Right?3:25 That's right. Yeah. We've had, this place used to be the hunting camp for president Coolidge. Had several presidents come through here at 1 point.3:34 And and, yeah, I wanna give a big shout out to the church of 11 22. My wife and I were raised Catholic. We were raising our kids Catholic, and we are now what pastor Joby would refer to as recovering Catholics because we3:46 we discovered and are daily deepening relationship with Jesus Christ as a result3:52 Yeah.3:52 Of, my best friend Eli Crane having told us about 11 22 years ago. So Yeah. Now, I guess, we should probably tell everybody who you are.4:01 Well, Rich Jessup, former chief of police down in the the great city of San Luis, which is the largest border city in Arizona, with a wall. So about 40000 on our side, half 1000000 on the other4:12 side. So everything that you have seen in the news over the last 8 to 10 years, that would probably be 1 of my city's big claims to fame. So when we talk about drug tunnels, when we talk about4:24 cartel, when we talk about illegal immigration, when we talk about all of those types of things, that is my city. So4:30 So we've actually, spent some time driving through your city. We were down filming on the border with a good friend of mine, board member of law enforcement today, Art Del Cueto, the national vice president and national4:36 spokesman for the today, Art Del Cueto, the national vice president and national spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council. And I think we spent more time on the border looking for tacos de perro than we did4:47 filming. What are you familiar with these dog tacos?4:50 Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. You can go to any street corner and get them. Especially from your Mexico side, you can find them all the time. Yeah. And they're quite sure what the meat is.4:57 Apparently, you can only find them on the Mexico side, man, because he was asking5:01 because they're made with dog. I'm telling you.5:03 It's disgusting.5:04 But you gotta watch out for the cat taco. He he5:06 swears they're not, though.5:07 Oh, but the shrimp tacos on our side and their side,5:13 they're killer. Art Art did a, a radio show at 1 point shortly after we left him, and he made fun of me for, not wanting to eat the dog tacos.5:21 I don't wanna eat the dog. I don't trust Art anymore. I love him to death. Art art is like family. But the very first time that we were out there, we spent days filming on the border, right, in, like, the worst sections.5:32 And he goes, bros, you guys want some, like, authentic Mexican? Now Art is originally from Mexico. Art is 1 of my closest friends. And so he said, yeah. Of course, we want authentic Mexican. He goes, okay. I'm gonna5:44 bring you to this place. It's on the wall. I don't know. There might be a tunnel underneath. We kinda just pretend that there's not because the Mexican food is that good. It's that authentic. So we go in there. Now my5:53 first clue should have been the fact that the most expensive item on the menu was, like, 7 dollars. Right? But I can't read the menu. I mean, I took up the Spanish 3, and my last name is Reyes. I can't speak Spanish to6:04 save my life. So he goes, bros, don't worry. I'm gonna order for us. So we've got a few of us. So he does his thing and then this giant bowl comes out first. So what's that? It's an appetizer. Everybody grab a spoon.6:16 So we all grab a spoon and we taste it. Now, I had never met a food I didn't like. This wasn't food, bro. This was like sewage meets the ocean meets death. Right?6:28 Satanic ritual in a bowl. I don't know what it was. I've never spit food out. I spit that food out. I said, what is that? He goes, bro, what are you doing? That's menudo. I said, what's menudo? I said, what's what's that6:39 meat floating in there? He goes, it's like all the parts. What do you mean all the parts? Like tripe and brains and eyeballs and Yep. I don't know. He said, how do you not like this? This is authentic Mexican food. I6:50 said, no wonder why you're trying to get out of Mexico as fast as you people can. So, anyway, love him to death. Let's go back to to how we met. And by the way, I wanna point out this place truly is rustic. Like, we've7:02 got the flickering lights and everything, so it'll it'll add to the ambiance. So we might have to start telling some ghost stories.7:08 Hey. Just the holy spirit. I Just that's all it is.7:11 I agree, man. Don't7:12 even worry about it.7:14 We met on a TV show that you were on.7:16 We did. We came to Florida. Actually, it was Bonnie from law enforcement specials. She asked me to tag along, and so we went down there and, you know, we kinda did our thing. And that's where you and I met, and it was7:26 like going, you know, instant, like, brotherhood right at the time. Although I know you'll forgive me for not bringing your elk, but still, you know, at some point, you're gonna get it.7:35 So You just gotta buy my tag when we go out there. It's like7:37 Come on now. I've got you covered, bro.7:39 So the show's called Boom America with Kevin Harrington. Kevin is the original shark from Shark Tank. The show is like, Bar Rescue meets Shark Tank. Right? Every episode, there are 6 different businesses that come on, on7:50 his marketing shark. He calls us a team or whatever. We work with those businesses to transform the businesses. But what's really cool, man, is that there are there are a number of people who work on that show who are8:02 Scientologists, which was very bizarre to me because it's just not my thing. But I'm also unafraid to tell everybody who I am and what I believe in. And so I'll have conversations with8:13 people all day long because at the end of the day we're we're meant to be the light of Christ. We're we're meant to share the gospel with others. But what that means is you can also smell it on others. Right? I knew I8:25 knew right away. I saw him, and I was like, that brother's a Christian. And so within minutes, we were talking about God and and same thing with Bonnie from law enforcement specialists, and it's just so cool how God8:37 uses different situations and scenarios that that you would think conventional wisdom or or secular world says this has nothing to do with God. And yet, it's our job to to find other people Yeah.8:49 And to link shields and to help drive people to Jesus. So why don't you tell everybody about your background?8:55 And there's no such thing as accidents, only divine appointments in the kingdom8:58 of God. Amen. You know,8:59 and and who would have known that when we met then, we would have been sitting down 3 years later sitting here9:05 In Georgia.9:05 Discussing things about the kingdom of God and law enforcement. Yeah. You know, from a completely different perspective, you9:11 know. Totally.9:12 And even though we may not say a word to people about our faith, they should be able to see our faith just by the way in which we walk.9:18 Yeah.9:18 So But No, man. Law enforcement, it was like, 1 of the things I wanted to do when I I, you know, grew up in life, and and I had the greatest role models in my life. My mom and my dad were my9:30 role models. And when it came to all of the athletic adventures, you know, from high school to college to, you know, traveling around the world playing the game of basketball, which I loved. You know, my mom and dad were9:41 always right there, always and they were never pushing me. It was always like, you know, Rich, you've got the talent and the giftedness to do that. And so but my dad said something to me. He says, your education will9:51 take you further in your athletic career. And I was like, okay. And it was, you know, when we look at the word, it says study to show yourself approved. You know, that workman that handles the truth and and and10:03 gives it to people. And I knew that through my athletic career that I was always going to be witnessing for the Lord. And I wanted people to see my relationship with the Lord. And so I got out of athletics and got into10:15 actually, as a youth pastor. And a buddy of mine came and said, man, you you need to go into law enforcement too. And I was like going, oh, okay. You know, that's 1 of the things I wanted to do. And and so I said, okay.10:26 So here I was, athlete, youth pastor, law enforcement, all combined into 1 and later became education, which now by the age of 25, it fulfilled really the 4 things that10:38 I really felt in my heart. That's what the Lord wanted me to do, to make a difference and influence people's lives for the kingdom of God. And for really from that point on, it just law enforcement just became10:50 bigger and bigger and bigger, you know. And and I never really got into it thinking, well, I'm just gonna go from patrol. Love detectives. If I could go back into anything again, detectives would be a go. But never11:01 really thought that I would be a chief of police, you know, never was really the goal that I had in life, but God has such a unique sense of humor Mhmm. To say11:13 there's an appointed time and there are things that are kinda come, you know, because I actually left law enforcement, to go to Erie, Pennsylvania, help a a friend build a sports park, work with players in the NBA at11:25 that particular point for 10 years, and then all of a sudden get back into law enforcement thinking that I would never go there again. And came back, a buddy of mine was the chief, and said, you need to come help me. And11:35 I said, no. And he said, you need to come help me. And I said, no. And finally, I gave in, Went in on patrol, was on patrol 8 months, was back in detectives, was there for about a year, and had been through 5 chiefs11:47 in my department. And I was, like, going, what in the world did I just do? You know, this is crazy. And the mayor came and said, we need you as a chief. And I was, like, no way. Because I knew that, man, I'm gonna11:59 be the next guy 3 months down the road. Sure. And he finally just said, no. We need for you to do it. I said, I'll take it under 1 condition if you let me do what needs to be done. Because I had learned at that12:08 particular point, there was corruption in the department, both criminally, and other ways administratively. And I knew that there was corruption in the government city government. And I was like, oh, man, do I really12:19 want a piece of this? And God says, this is the appointed time. This is what I have you on planet Earth for, is to make a difference. And you're gonna do these types of things. I said, Lord, this is not gonna12:31 be popular. And he goes, they didn't call you to be popular. I called you to do what was right. Mhmm. And you're gonna change the department. And I was like, wow. And so, man, if you wanna talk about a blessedFaith Amid Border Challenges and Cultural Faith 12:42 life for those 10 years, man, God exploded doors open that I never knew existed. You know, obviously, getting to meet with president Trump simply because of we have the wall12:54 forever down there, and that became the prototype. And and working with the administrations and stuff on the issues that we face with the drug tunnels and all the illegal immigration and13:06 human and sex trafficking. And the governor appointed me to that task force and then the violence against women commission. And it it just exploded in my you know, not even in my wildest expectations did I believe that.13:18 But God kept reiterating to me such time as this. You are the person that I need to affect change, and when you leave, it'll be okay. And, man, it13:30 was I'm telling you what, I have been so blessed. But it was the lives that I got to influence as a chief for the kingdom of God, that I'm most proud of.13:42 You know, Arizona and Texas are very interesting to me because every time we're down there on the border, especially Arizona, we're having that disgusting menu, though, and they had a massive parade coming down the road.13:54 It was Dia de los Muertes. Mhmm. And so it's a very old school Catholic population out there.14:01 Yeah.14:01 But there's a lot of love and respect for Jesus. From Catholicism, from people who claim to be Catholics. I mean, you see a lot of the the some of the worst gang bangers14:13 in the world. It's very bizarre to me, but they will have tattoos of Mary on on their arm and of Jesus. And they will talk to you about, like, they'll they'll check the14:25 murders and the rapes and the horrific things that they're doing over here and almost, like, pretend it doesn't happen to talk to you about their faith. And and I've always kind of struggled to understand that or or to14:36 reconcile how you could truly be of such deep faith and deep like, you could see it. Right? You can read it on them, but then do these horrific things or protect these14:47 horrific people. As a Christian, I've I've never been able to wrap my head around that because we know how salvation comes.14:56 Mhmm.14:56 Right? And we're taught that salvation comes from accepting Jesus. And so how do we, again, maybe you guys with your faith background can help educate me on this a little15:08 bit more because I'm sure people have this question. How can you on 1 hand say and and truly believe that you've accepted Jesus, but on the other hand, protect and cover or or do these horrible things to people?15:20 I just don't know. I can't understand it. When you talk about salvation,15:25 the word repentance, which leads to salvation, the definition of it is a turning away from a former life. And so without that repentance and without that turning away,15:36 salvation doesn't truly happen. It's not just an acceptance of Jesus. It's actually an acceptance of his sacrifice and our turning away from our former life to follow after him. And15:48 so when you when you ask the question, how do you how do you profess Jesus and still act out in the ways that you formerly acted out16:00 in. The question is, are you truly saved? I think so. You you have to you have to really look at the question of is a16:12 person truly saved if they're still continuing to act out in the manner that they're acting out in. When you look at the gang bangers that with all the tattoos of Mary and Jesus on their arms and, yeah, they're out16:23 murdering and drugging and gang banging, a lot of that is a cultural thing, in my opinion. You know, when you look at Central and South American Catholicism, it's,16:36 a lot of it is rooted in idolatry and a spirit of religion. It's16:41 part of their identity more than it is part of their faith.16:44 For sure. For sure. And I think, I think when you look at where their culture comes from, it's it's more of a cultural thing than a than a spirituality.16:53 Did you find working on the border that, faith was more prevalent than it is in other parts of the country, like, say, the People's Republic of Connecticut, New York, California? Is it is it easier17:05 to share your faith down there, do you think?17:08 You know, and I've I've I've worked obviously in California as a law enforcement officer and and in Arizona as well. And for me, there was really no distinction between states in different. Where where we come from, and17:19 it's what you guys have mentioned, it it is a very heavy Hispanic, Mexican population, and Catholicism and Catholics are predominant.17:30 Yeah.17:31 And and and, man, pastor, I can I I know exactly what it is? We actually had any kind of an interesting story that actually backs up that cultural, you know, identity17:43 was we had a murder suspect, and we interviewed him as detectives. And the guy that was interviewing him, 1 of my detectives, took a a little picture and statue of the mother17:54 Mary off the shelf and stuck it down on the table and said, listen, there are 2 people that you won't lie to. You won't lie to your mother and you will not lie to the the the the mother Mary. Yeah.18:07 And all of a sudden, the guy just breaks and confesses the murder. And I was just, like, stunned as a Christian sitting there going,18:16 hey. Keep 1 of these in my pocket.18:19 You know, I I'm just sitting there going, and this guy just yeah. I didn't think he was dead, but I stabbed him, you know, 60 times. And I and we're just I'm just sitting there just in awe of this guy just pouring it18:29 down on the table, you know, and again, illegal immigrant that had crossed over and drugs and everything else that goes along with it. And he did it. But I found it easy to share18:41 my faith and even within my department. The city hall knew it. It it wasn't I came up. 1 of the things that they asked me to do was, hey, Rich. We know that you're a Christian. We know that18:53 you have pastor's kind of a background, but as a chief but would you pray in before our city council meetings? And I'm like, absolutely. Sign me up. I'll do it. And I began to pray, and our city attorney came and19:05 says, Rich, you you can't pray in Jesus' name. And I said, then I'm not the 1 to pray.19:12 Good for you.19:13 And so I told the mayor, I said, mayor, if if if the city attorney doesn't want me to say in Jesus' name, then I can't do it. And he said, I'll have a conversation. 5 and a half years, I19:25 prayed in city council and got to say in Jesus name. And so everybody recognized I would not and because of things I had to do, because people when I first took over got fired or19:37 they resigned in lieu of termination, and then we had 2 several ballot harvesting cases of city council members that were the first in the United States.19:46 I remember that.19:47 And then we had other things. I had to turn those things over to attorney general because those are things that are just a conflict of interest for us. But everybody knew where I stand scripturally. And I I would always19:57 make my decisions based on what I believe scripturally was right, and that that character and integrity always would carry me. And I knew that I was there because, you know,20:09 nobody's gonna take you out until the Lord says it's time for you. Your time's up. It's time for you to go. You know, whatever door God opens, no man can shut. And whatever door God20:21 shuts, no man can open. So I knew that I was gonna be there for whatever time he needed me there for to affect the change that needed to take place. When it came to the department, they would even come in and say, hey,20:32 chief. Would you pray over the Thanksgiving meal? Would you would you pray? I mean, my staff would come in and go, nope. We're not even eating till chief gets here and he prays.20:40 Love it.20:41 And so in the community going out, the the relationships that I have in the churches was like, man, we got we got a Christian chief in place, and he'll come. And I'm not afraid20:53 to go to the church and and pray. I'm not afraid to step out there and go, nope. My faith and and stuff. And and nobody called me to the carpet on it other than the 1 time, and that got solved.21:05 So I love that you had the courage to do that. So we asked, Greg to to pray at the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame induction. The first thing that he said to me didn't hesitate. He21:16 goes, I pray in Jesus' name. That's okay. Right? He was like, yeah. Of course. So if you play this out, I can understand on the surface their arguments about praying in the name of21:28 Jesus, which their argument is, well, that discriminates against Jews or against Muslims. But if you really play it out, think about it. So you're okay with me praying to God.21:40 Right? Well, what about people who don't believe in God? What about people who who believe that we were created by a pile of spaghetti or by witches or what have you? So if you really play out21:52 that argument, then the concept of praying to God, which is acceptable to them because it's very generic, really wouldn't be generic enough to satisfy the demands22:04 of people who just have a problem with faith because there's something broken in their hearts. And the reality is that there's something broken in every single 1 of us, which is why we need Jesus in the first place. But22:14 if you, you know, really play out that argument, so I I really, commend you on standing strong in that. And far too often, men and women who are believers in this day and age will22:26 say, yeah. You know what? I'm I'm gonna tone it down. I'm just gonna pray to God instead. I've seen it at huge law enforcement events. We're putting on the largest single most influential22:38 law enforcement event ever at Mar a Lago, and we have made sure that we will be praying in Jesus' name there. And we don't care what anybody says because for all I care, and, you know, I'm sure there are people who are22:48 going to disagree with me on this, But we could spend an hour in worship and prayer in this event, and I'm still totally good with it because at the end of the day, it's all his money. It's all for his glory.22:58 Amen. So And there's no compromise. It it it disses that particular point. I mean, and I've even had at a as an athlete, I was in California, and I was speaking at schools during the DARE era where, you know, government23:09 had given the schools a lot of money for anti drug and alcohol programs for for students, and we did from a leadership perspective. And it was called a game plan for success and and shoot for your goals. And 1 of the23:19 principals comes up and says, Rich, I know you're a Christian, but you can't really talk about that. Well, what they had done was put a strategic student in that place because she knew that23:31 if anybody asked the question, I was free to answer that question. And so that student said, hey. I got a question for you. And I said, oh, sure. Go ahead. She says, well, you know, during this entire talk, how did23:42 obviously, you had to have faith in something to say no to drugs and alcohol all of your life. And I said, man, that's a great question. I said, you know what? You're right. I do have a faith. I believe that Jesus Christ23:54 died for me, and I was a sinner, and I'm not perfect. And it's by his stripes. I've been made whole, and that's the reason why I get to do what I get to24:06 do. Great question. Thank you so much. And I left it at that. I could have gone on for days.24:11 Yeah.24:11 And the principal knew that as long as she asked the question, I'm at free and liberty to discuss it.24:17 Love it.24:17 And so I shut it down right there. I got my word across, didn't alienate the principal, and she came back and she said, you know, you could have run with that all day long. I said, I know. But I also24:29 know, and I believe you because you have a set of rules that you think that you have to go by. And I wanted to be sensitive to you, but I got my message across. She turned around and said, you can come back to my school24:40 every single year for the rest of your life.24:41 That's awesome. I said, yep. Was there 1 defining memory that you have in law enforcement about how faith in your life played a huge role or had a massive impact?Show more In this video 0:00 From Athlete to Chief: God's Appointed Path12:35 Faith Amid Border Challenges and Cultural Faith24:52 Divine Interventions and Ministry Calling32:06 Empowering Law Enforcement Through Biblical Leadership
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