The National Police Association Podcast with Guest, former Congressman Anthony D'Esposito, NYPD Det. (Ret)
You know, all over this country, we are seeing former first responders jump head first into politics. And, so one of the best out there, our next guest, I really wanted to bring him on to tell you why he would spend, all these years as a cop, then he went into the fire service, and then he decided to jump into politics. What motivates someone to continue to serve in the way that my next guest has? We're gonna find that out and so much more. Congressman Anthony D'Esposito, welcome
Anthony D'Esposito:to the show. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it very much.
Betsy Smith:So I'm gonna ask you what I ask every cop guest, and that is why the heck did you become a cop?
Anthony D'Esposito:Well, I, you know, I I grew up, on Long Island and, you know, in a in a small, blue collar community, lot of cops, lot of firemen. And, you know, here on Long Island, it's it's almost like, you know, you choose between the FDNY and the NYPD. And if you're truly blessed, you get called to come out to Nassau or Suffolk County and be, county cops. But, you know, at a at a pretty young age, I I loved, the work that law enforcement professionals do. And, you know, I I went to an all boys Catholic school and, went to Hofstra University.
Anthony D'Esposito:I graduated. I took the LSAT. LSAT was planning on going into law school, and then really just thought to myself that, you know, I I I was in school for the last 8 years, you know, and, as well as, growing up, and I just didn't know if I really had it in me to sit behind a desk anymore. So, I had taken the NYPD test, and they had called, and I figured out, let let's give it a shot. You know, there's so much opportunity in in law enforcement agencies.
Anthony D'Esposito:I think it's especially the bigger ones like the NYPD. I mean, I tell people all the time, especially kids when I go speak in classrooms, you know, if you wanna be a doctor, if you wanna be a lawyer, you wanna be an accountant, you wanna be a vet, you can be all of those things, and you can still be a law enforcement professional because there's so much opportunity, within within these agencies. So I, I joined the ranks of the NYPD, and, I got, started my career in a place called Brownsville, Brooklyn. It's probably the most, probably top five most violent square miles in the country. Definitely one of the the most violent in New York City.
Anthony D'Esposito:And here is this kid who, you know, grew up in, sort of somewhat of a sheltered life in a small village where it's one of those places where you walk down the main street, and if you, if you pick your nose, everybody knows that you're picking your nose. You know? It's like a small village like that. So, going to the NYPD, and I remember standing my first foot post on the corner of Rockaway Avenue and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville. And, you know, you quickly learn, and you you realize that, this is a very different world, and people live a very different way.
Anthony D'Esposito:And you learn that, people are are fighting to survive on the streets. And, unfortunately, far too often, they they turn to violence in order to survive on those streets. And, I had an an exceptional career. I mean, I was a very active, and proactive cop. I got promoted detective pretty early in my career and, focused, a lot on taking illegal guns and and illegal narcotics off the street and dismantling gangs.
Anthony D'Esposito:You know, my my I worked in a team based atmosphere for most of my career. So, really with the same group of guys, almost from the day I started to the day I left. And I think 2 or 3 of the years that we were together, we accounted for the most gun arrests in the city of New York. So we did a lot of great work, a lot of and brought a lot of new technology into the NYPD. We, were the I was the case detective in, what was called Operation Tidal Wave, which was the first, investigation in NYPD history where social media was used, to really, captivate, most of the intelligence that was used when we put it into the grand jury.
Anthony D'Esposito:And after about an 18 month investigation, we were able to dismantle 2 warring gangs, and lock up 43 individuals for conspiracy to commit murder. And it was really the first time, in the NYPD where, we were using Twitter and and Facebook and then Myspace, in order to really do surveillance. Instead of sitting on a corner in one of those surveillance vans and taking video, we were doing the surveillance right from our desks by being able to watch them on computers and and, electronic devices. So, doing cases like that really, I I believe, changed policing in in in this country. I mean, now, you know, there are units in almost every, major police department where their focus is to follow, violent individuals, on social media and and to, you know, capture what they're doing on an everyday basis.
Anthony D'Esposito:So, I love being, you know, a member of law enforcement. It was one of those things where people always say, you know, sometimes god gives you the gift to be really great at one thing in your life, and I think that that that one thing was definitely being an investigator and and part of the NYPD. And, I truly believe that, we need more law enforcement, more public servants, in in government and politics. I think far too often, you know, we were talking before we we got on the show. You know?
Anthony D'Esposito:Far too often, people get into this business because, I think that they think this the public is supposed to serve them. But in reality, it's about serving the public and going from from law enforcement or or public safety or being a first responder into the world of government and politics, and it it is such it gives you such a different mindset. You know? It's not someone like, growing up very often, people say, oh, you wanna go into politics? You should study political science or become a lawyer.
Anthony D'Esposito:And and this just proves that it's not the case. And I think that with the the the work that we do and the people that we talk to and everything we learn, it really is the best preparation. And I hope my parents don't listen to this, but being in the police department is a far better education than, you know, what you get behind a desk because you learn things that you can never learn anywhere else. And and those, those things that you learn that the, the opportunities and the experiences are really what prepare you, for government and politics. It gives you the ability to look at somebody in the eye and know that they're completely full of crap.
Anthony D'Esposito:It gives you the ability, to compromise. It gives you the ability to understand that you're not always gonna get what you want, but, there's a way to to to work together to find common ground. And I think in the world of politics right now, that's really what the American people are looking for. They're looking for, as president Trump says very often, they just want common sense. And I think when you when you talk to most law enforcement professionals, that's what their careers are based off of.
Anthony D'Esposito:They're based off of common sense, and going out there and doing good police work.
Betsy Smith:You know, I'm so glad you said that because I I often say in interviews because I I have been a government employee since I was 17 years old and was a police dispatcher. And, you know, nobody understands how government works and sometimes doesn't work like a law enforcement officer. Because we we don't just see the police department, but we see every other agency. We see the court system. We see elected officials, all of that.
Betsy Smith:That is all a part of our world, and, you know, most of us do it for decades decades. So we understand how government works, what can be fixed, what needs to be fixed, and things like that. Now now you, you know, when you left law enforcement, you got involved in, not just politics, but you spent some time in the fire service. Right?
Anthony D'Esposito:I did. So, actually, on Long Island, much of actually, all of our, fire protection is volunteer based. So from the city line out to the east end of Suffolk, both Nassau and and Suffolk County, we are protected by the volunteer fire service. So, at the, at the age of 18, I joined, the fire department here in in my hometown of Island Park, and, I was, elected chief in, 2009, and I served, from 2009 to 16 as chief. I led led my department as the incident commander both, in hurricane or tropical storm Irene and hurricane Sandy, which my community of of Vineland Park was probably, one of, if not the, one of the hardest hit communities, on, in New York, and probably the East Coast, during hurricane Sandy.
Anthony D'Esposito:Probably 99% of our buildings, our homes, our our businesses were underwater. And I remember the morning, after the storm had had hit, and I was, at the firehouse, and I we had 7 feet of water just in our firehouse. We lost, a few of our trucks, but, most of our equipment. But we really, we remained, vigilant, and, the next day we had work to do. And I remember coming downstairs from the 2nd floor of the firehouse, and seeing the destruction and the devastation and seeing individuals that I've known my whole life, you know, walking down our main street with literally everything that they had left, in their life, was in a basket on their head.
Anthony D'Esposito:And and and this isn't you know, we're we're a a middle class to upper middle class community. So, it was devastating. And now you're, you know, almost, 13 years later, we are we're still seeing, you know, houses being raised and and the mitigation efforts, continuing. But, the fire service and and being chief, especially, in a in a volunteer organization, I mean, it, it definitely, teaches you how to deal with personalities, egos, and, try to make everybody happy, you know. So, being in the in the fire service is is great.
Anthony D'Esposito:It's it's a real, family here on Long Island, and and it's one that has no doubt helped me in in my campaigns. You know, when you have fires fire departments representing every community, it is sort of a it's a it's a built in family that, will go out there and and really work hard for one of their own. So, being part of the fire service, you know, being able to serve your community and and still to this day, I mean, you know, it's, it's a big part of my life with with probably some of my closest friends, in my life were were created through that that volunteer fire service.
Betsy Smith:You know, and I know if if folks listening have not, you know, listened to some of your talks, you know, read some of your, writings, you know, you can see that no nonsense frame of mind combined with compassion. And I obviously, it's seeing you know, you see one thing as a cop, you know, and especially you working in, you know, in detectives and homicides and gun cases and this, that. But it's obvious with your time in the fire service and and your time, at at natural disasters like hurricane Sandy that you're able to combine that kinda caught mindset with that incredible compassion for how someone's life just changes in an instant, just like we're seeing with with the fires in LA and and, the hurricanes in the Carolinas. It's it's extraordinary.
Anthony D'Esposito:Yeah. And I I also think, you know, going to congress, one of the people always ask me, you know, what was one of the biggest surprises when you went to the house of representatives? And and, I always say that, you know, here on Long Island and and I would think, you know, similar to to Arizona and elsewhere, you know, republicans for the most part, you know, stick together. They handle their business as a family. And then when they go out, they try to be a unified front.
Anthony D'Esposito:And, when you when you go to to congress and you realize that you have members, of your own conference, that, you know, being a Republican is is not always fundamentally the same thing because they represent very different district. And and to be able to recognize that and respect that, and and and understand that someone that represents a a bright deep red district may be very different from the individual who represents a Long Island seat like mine or, you know, an Arizona seat like the one where you live in. And, you know, being able to really have conversations based on real life experiences help to build coalitions, whether it's talking about disaster aid. And and, you know, very often you get the argument, well, you know, we need to cut spending. We need to rein in our our our debt.
Anthony D'Esposito:We shouldn't be and when you are able to have conversations and talk about or share stories like I just did where you say, listen. These are communities that are that are not normally just living off of resources of the government. These are hardworking people that are getting crushed in a natural disaster, whether it was New York and hurricane Sandy, whether it's LA and the fires, whether it was North Carolina, in the hurricane. I mean, being able to have conversations from real life experiences and explain to your colleagues, not just in in your conference, but on on the other side of the aisle, what's app actually happening. Like, you know, this isn't all about a sound bite.
Anthony D'Esposito:It's not all about going to a a a committee hearing and getting your 5 minutes to, you know, cut up a a a sound bite and, you know, put it up on social media. This is these peep people's lives are are are dependent on the work that we do, and we really need to focus less on the rhetoric and and and more on cutting through the bureaucratic red tape so that we can deliver for the American people. And I I think that, you know, many of my colleagues would agree that, you know, it's one of the things that they they like from the especially, you know, the the rough, and fumbled New Yorkers, on on the Republican side because we say it how we tell it how it is. You know, we're not looking to have an hour long meeting to share pleasantries and and, talk about things that really are not important. We're looking to deliver the facts and and get things done.
Anthony D'Esposito:And and I think that we saw that, you know, it doesn't have to do with, with first responders. It doesn't have to do with natural disasters, but we've seen that over the last 2 years, and our work towards, you know, restoring the SALT deduction. You know, it's it's something that's critically important here in New York and some of the blue states that are very high taxed. And, you know, we we have been able to build coalitions with Republicans that historically would have said, listen. You know, you're on your own.
Anthony D'Esposito:You know, what you guys should focus on is changing your state government and bouncing out your, far progressive Democratic governor and Kathy Hochul. That's what's going to make life more affordable in New York. But when you have conversations and you share the stories and you're able to deliver the facts and and cut the BS out, you really get a lot further. And I think that that's one of the, you know, one of the things that, is critically important. And it and it also you you know, you you take away the government side and go to politics.
Anthony D'Esposito:I mean, it's the reason why, you know, in 2022, my district was in Democrat hands for almost 30 years. There's 75,000 more Democrats than Republicans, in my district, and and that's why we were able to flip it from blue to red. And and, you know, obviously, we entered the the 2024 election and, running in in this district with that much more democrats in a presidential turnout year is very difficult. But we still came within one point. And and more importantly, we we we helped shift this district from a Biden 16a half to a Harris 1.
Anthony D'Esposito:And that is momentum that we're going to keep moving forward. We're gonna keep electing, Republicans. I mean, in in Nassau County where I live, there's 1,400,000 residents in the county. There are a 120,000 more Democrats that live in this county. And right now, Republicans hold all 4 countywide seats.
Anthony D'Esposito:We control all three towns and both cities. And why? It goes back to what we talked about, you know, in the beginning of the of this talk, and and that is Republicans are the party of common sense. Republicans are the party that are saying girls should play with girls in sports and boys should play with boys. And Democrats and independents are saying, yeah.
Anthony D'Esposito:They're right. You know, Republicans are the ones that are saying we should be unmasking people, that are utilizing these masks to commit crimes. Seems pretty common sense, and that's why Democrats and independents are saying, yeah. The Republicans are right. You know, Republicans are the ones that are saying we need to secure our border at all costs, and we need to start deporting, starting with criminals and those who have been, arrested for crimes and and send them back to their place of origin.
Anthony D'Esposito:And while democrats are saying, well, they're trying to they're trying to create, havoc and and fear, You know, the the the common sense Democrats and common sense Independents are saying Republicans are right. And and that's why we are winning elections, not just here in New York and on Long Island, but across the country because of that common sense approach.
Betsy Smith:How big of an issue, you know, after you decide to run has the crime in this country and the the crime committed not just by illegal aliens, but gang crime, gun crime, violent crime, you know, woke prosecutors, all that. How big of a factor was that?
Anthony D'Esposito:I think it's a tremendous factor. I'll what I'll do I'll I'll sort of paint the picture. So, in 2021, we had an opportunity to take back Nassau County. And, on the ballot that year was our election for district attorney. And we had a gentleman running who was a state senator, who was the dean of the delegation from Long Island, a democrat, had about $3,000,000 in the bank, but, prided himself on being one of the architects of criminal justice reform and cashless bail.
Anthony D'Esposito:We ran as Republicans, again, in a county with a 130,000 more Democrats. We ran a career prosecutor who never ran for office. And with the exception of the people that knew her from work and her family in her house, she was a complete unknown. And she was able to, and again, in a county with a 130,000 more Democrats, she beat him on election day by 50,000 votes. Why?
Anthony D'Esposito:Because we focused that entire campaign on the progressive ideologies of New York Democrats. And the fact that whether it was Andrew Cuomo, whether it's a Kathy Hochul, the state legislature, they have put, law abiding citizens behind criminals. And, whether it's cashless bail or criminal justice reform, whether it is, you know, clean slate, whether it's taking away, the judge's ability to, to look back at cases and and make decisions based on this person's criminal history, that all is is still a top priority of voters today. I mean, you know, that was back in 2019. We you know, I'll just say 2021.
Anthony D'Esposito:And then in 2022, Lee Zeldin ran for governor and had some of the best numbers, that we've seen in in New York state for a Republican. We took back, more Republican seats in congress than we've had in probably 35 years. And then in 2023, we we kept the momentum going in in Nassau County. And, you know, you look at 2024, yeah, it was bittersweet. We lost, a couple of the very, very tough races that if you look back, you know, 5 years before, nobody thought we would have won anyway, but we came, within a point.
Anthony D'Esposito:But yet we increased our state senate delegation. We increased our state assembly delegation. We were able to, you know, have president Trump win Nassau County. That's the first time a republicans won Nassau County in a presidential race since Ronald Reagan. So he he turned helped turn, Long Island red.
Anthony D'Esposito:So the crime is a huge issue. And what is most mind boggling, especially here in New York, is that you have Kathy Hochul, who I would argue is probably the most inept, most disconnected elected official in this nation. Who, even when she's told that criminal justice reform and cashless bail needs to change. And it's not just set to her, but her colleagues in the Democratic party are losing their seats. They are losing I mean, they're where now Republicans are winning city council seats in places like the Bronx.
Anthony D'Esposito:President Trump came and rallied in the Bronx. Why? Because we are turning, Hispanics and and minorities are realizing that Republicans are that party of law and order. We are the party of common sense. And instead of saying, alright.
Anthony D'Esposito:We need to make a change here. New York Democrats continue to double down and say, no. This is exactly where we we belong. This is where we stand. I mean, Alvin Bragg in in in Manhattan is is is like the gift that keeps on giving for, Republicans here in New York state, whether it was his weaponization of of his office to to go after president Trump, what he did to to Danny Penny and and tried to, you know, put him in jail for for, defending himself and others on a on a New York City subway.
Anthony D'Esposito:I mean, the crime that we've seen recently, whether it's by migrants or not, I mean, people getting lit on fire while they're sleeping in a New York City subway, people getting thrown in front of trains, NYPD officers in uniform getting brutally beaten in midtown Manhattan. I mean, this is what New York has become. I remember campaigning in in 2022 on a Long Island Railroad platform, and a gentleman was coming up the escalator. And you could tell he was, he was had his hard hat, you know, strapped to his belt, and he was heading into work, to knock nails, definitely a union a union laborer. And as he came up the escalator, he said, are you a Republican or or a Democrat?
Anthony D'Esposito:And when you're campaigning on the on the railroad, you know, it's always 5050. You're you're afraid. I had to answer, but I said, you know, I'm a Republican. He said, well, I'm a lifelong Democrat. He said, I voted for, for Joe Biden.
Anthony D'Esposito:I voted for Barack Obama. I voted for Bill Clinton. And he said, I will never ever vote for a Democrat in New York state ever again. He said, my wife is a city school teacher, and she deals with this every single day. He said, I take, the the train and then the subway, to my worksite every day.
Anthony D'Esposito:I've gotten into physical altercations with people on the train. He said, I'm 62 years old. I don't need this. And and that's one of the things that's you know, on Long Island, we have so many people who travel in and out of New York City every day. So when we hear from our opposition saying, well, you know, all you do is focus on city crime.
Anthony D'Esposito:All you do is focus on, state issues. Well, the state issues has led to increased city crime, and our people, the people that we represent are going in and out of the city every day. Whether it's to, you know, be educated, whether it's to go to some of the most world renowned hospitals for medical care, or whether it's to go to work. My former congressional district has the biggest concentration of city cops and city firemen than any district in New York. These are people's, you know, city school teachers.
Anthony D'Esposito:I mean, we joke around all the time, but, you know, city school teachers, they marry city cops and city firemen, you know. And and that's the thing. They they are dealing with what's happening in the city every single day. So when they're seeing people get thrown in front of trains, when they're riding subway cars where people are getting lit on fire, when they see, their their wife or their husband's careers, being threatened by woke ideologies and by rogue DAs and and quite frankly, an attorney general, in New York state who has a bull's eye on law enforcement and law and order. Yeah.
Anthony D'Esposito:The the common sense, individual, the common sense voter, the people who left the 5 boroughs to come to Long Island for a better way of life, to be able to leave their doors open at night and have their kids play in the local park without having to worry about it. They are realizing if we continue to vote Democrat like we did when we were in New York City, we are never ever ever going to be any safer.
Betsy Smith:That is incredibly well said. And do you think that this push because, you know, 20 years ago, cops, especially union cops, I was a union cop in the Chicago area, They they voted largely Democrat, and and we know that's changing. Do you think more people are gonna come back to our profession?
Anthony D'Esposito:I do. I I really do. And I think that that's one of the reasons as to why, you know, president Trump is is assembling, an administration that, people are excited for. I think that you you look at, whether it's the Department of Defense and and Pete Hegseth. I mean, seeing a guy like that who, has fought for this country, who is a true patriot, who really is, you know, the the what we strive to be, Younger people are gonna look at his path to to success, his path to leadership, and say, I don't I don't have to be a general in order to one day lead the Department of Defense.
Anthony D'Esposito:You know what? I wanna put I wanna put the uniform on. I wanna defend this country. When you have leaders, you know, like, that are like, Kash Patel, who are going to be leading the FBI, and is not someone who has spent his career in in the the bureaucratic red tape, but is coming into the FBI in order to, give the agents the ability to do the job that they're supposed to do, instead of being led around by, so called leadership who's only use using their post, to fight political adversaries. I mean, you have somebody like Kristi Noem who's going to lead Homeland Security, and her only purpose is to secure the homeland and to every single day, from the moment she wakes up to the moment she lays her head on our pillow, defend our borders and to make this country safe.
Anthony D'Esposito:I mean, it it's insane that we need to be celebrating that because quite frankly, that's what every homeland security secretary should have been doing. But you had somebody like Alejandro Mayorkas who was completely disconnected from real life, who just followed, the blind path of of Biden and Harris and, you know, was impeached for doing so. And quite frankly, one of the biggest failures I mean, there's many failures of the senate in the 118th congress, but one of them is the fact that they didn't even take up the impeachment of of Mayorkas. I mean, we've allowed 15,000,000 people to come into this country under Joe Biden illegally, and that was all at the hands of Alejandro Mayorkas. And the fact that he completely ignored his oath, he was impeached by the house.
Anthony D'Esposito:He should have been been impeached by the senate, and he should have been taken out of office. But now we have a new day. And my point being, there are people who are are going to lead these, law enforcement federal law enforcement agencies, whether it's a guy like Tom Homan, who who came up through the ranks, was a cop, was never a a huge boss in any of these big police departments, but is now leading efforts to coordinate, and liaise between local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies to do the work that president Trump promised. And that is starting with the criminals, start deporting them to make this country safe again.
Betsy Smith:I I do truly believe that we are gonna see we are gonna continue to see a trickle down from exactly what you're talking about. And and I think even and we're seeing it here locally in Arizona and in Chicago suburbs where people are saying, hey. I wanna be back. I wanna be a part of government. I wanna be a part of keeping my community safe.
Betsy Smith:And, and you're absolutely right. I think we're gonna see I think it's gonna be an amazing not just an amazing 4 years, but I think it's gonna be an amazing decade for this country. Congressman, it
Anthony D'Esposito:was week, and he's only he's been in less than a week.
Betsy Smith:I know. I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted watching the guy. Congressman, where can people find you? Where can they follow you?
Anthony D'Esposito:Sure. So I'm on I'm on Facebook, Anthony D'Esposito on, x, at Anthony Despo. Instagram, I still have my d s at d'Esposito for congress and at Anthony d Anthony Despo, and also on truth social at Anthony Despo.
Betsy Smith:Well, I tell you what, we can't thank you, enough for spending time with us today. You've been incredibly enlightening. And if you would like more information about the National Police Association, visit us at nationalpolice.org.
Narrator:Every day, the brave men and women of law enforcement put their lives on the line to keep us safe. But they need our help to continue their mission. Activist politicians, progressive prosecutors, the ACLU, and the rest of the anti police forces, receive millions in donations from extremist pro criminal elements like George Soros and Woke corporations. The National Police Association is fighting them in courts around the country, including the United States Supreme Court, defending officers who are being attacked for doing their jobs. Additionally, the National Police Association works year round to pass tough on crime legislation to put and keep criminals behind bars.
Narrator:Consider going to nationalpolice.org and donating to keep us in the fight. Together, we can win. That is nationalpolice.org.
