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Two Cops One Donut

Sgt. Erik Lavigne

Two Cops One Donut is where policing, criminal justice, accountability, and public safety get discussed without the usual echo chamber.

Hosted by Erik Lavigne, a working police sergeant with 20 years of law enforcement experience, TCOD brings together cops, attorneys, criminal justice professionals, critics, content creators, and people with firsthand experience to have the conversations that don't fit into a 30-second clip.

We talk police accountability, use of force, constitutional rights, police technology, training, criminal justice reform, court decisions, controversial encounters, and the policies shaping modern law enforcement.

The goal isn't to defend cops at all costs, and it isn't to bash them either.

When police get it right, we'll say so. When they get it wrong, we'll talk about that too. And when an issue lives somewhere in the gray area, that's usually where the best conversation begins.

You don't have to agree with the host or the guests to have a seat at the table.

Two Cops One Donut exists to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the communities they serve through honest conversation, transparency, accountability, and perspectives you don't normally hear together.

New interviews, discussions, and livestream conversations explore the issues affecting policing and the criminal justice system today.

Listen. Challenge us. Join the conversation. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent their respective employers or organizations.

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  • 45 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 49 min
  • English

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Episodes 45

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  • S4 · E6
    June 29 · 1 hr 57 min

    Long Island Audit Sean Reyes Live! Arrested By A PBA President?

    A police union headquarters. A journalist with a camera. A simple request for comment. Then a trespass arrest happens while the person is still walking away. That’s where our conversation with Sean Paul Reyes, aka Long Island Audit, starts and it gets uncomfortable fast in the way accountability conversations often do. We’re two law enforcement voices, one active and one retired, and we’re not here to run a police echo chamber. We want the facts, the footage, and the lessons that actually prevent the next bad arrest. We dig into why Sean targeted the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association in the first place: union political power, claims of backroom misconduct deals that cost taxpayers, and ongoing fights over transparency laws and public recording rights. We break down the private property question, what “continuous effort” to leave means in a real trespass situation, and why walking backward while filming can be both practical and lawful. Then we talk about the real driver we see too often: ego and unmet expectations flipping a contact from rational to emotional. From there we go deeper on the “process is the punishment” problem: tight handcuffs, cameras shut off, hours in processing, towing and impound costs, attorney fees, and how public narratives can get shaped before evidence gets seen. We also talk training gaps, constitutional policing, and what departments can do now to stop arresting people for legally recording in 2026. If you care about First Amendment rights, police accountability, and practical reform that helps both the public and good cops, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review with your take on what should change first. send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com Support the show Please see our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoCopsOneDonut Join our Discord!! https://discord.gg/BdjeTEAc *Send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🔗 Visit us at TwoCopsOneDonut.com & https://www.thedonut.tv/ 📧 Contact us at twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🎧 Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music at “2 Cops 1 Donut” Donate Here: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocopsonedonut 🔔 *Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful discussions on law enforcement and community safety!* 💬 *Join the conversation in the comments below!* #TwoCopsOneDonut #PublicSafety #ErikLavigne #firtsresponders Our partners: Ghost Patch: tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you and get free shipping on Flex Shield orders! GhostPatchCustoms.com Insight LPR license plate recognition technology provides 24/7 real-time insight for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Protect what matters most! Visit https://insightlpr.com/ Retro Rifle: Official Clothing of Two Cops One Donut. Hawaiian Shirts, Guns, and Pop-Culture! head to Retro-Rifle.com tell them we sent ya!

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  • S4 · E5
    June 23 · 2 hr 36 min

    TCOD x Southern Drawl Law: Senatobia Case Breakdown

    A diaper shoplifting allegation should never end with a one-year-old dead, but that is exactly why we felt we had to talk about Senatobia, Mississippi. We sit down with James White from Southern Draw Law, a former cop and attorney who has spent years breaking down police accountability cases with receipts, legal context, and zero patience for excuses. Together, we walk through what is known so far, what the public still has not been shown, and why official statements that sound like “trust the process” often deepen suspicion instead of building trust. We zoom out from the headlines to the mechanics that create disasters: the culture inside a department, the incentive to protect the institution, and the training gaps that leave officers improvising constitutional law under stress. We dig into why shooting into moving vehicles is almost never tactically sound, how “unmet expectations” can trigger ego and emotional escalation, and why supervisors matter more than most people want to admit. James also explains key concepts like constitutional sequencing and what legally counts as a seizure, plus how civil exposure and Monell claims can reveal patterns that leadership tries to ignore. We end with a hard but necessary message: policing has to be built on the Constitution, humility, and real consequences, not slogans or feelings. If you want more conversations like this, subscribe, share this with someone who cares about better policing, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com Support the show Please see our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoCopsOneDonut Join our Discord!! https://discord.gg/BdjeTEAc *Send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🔗 Visit us at TwoCopsOneDonut.com & https://www.thedonut.tv/ 📧 Contact us at twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🎧 Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music at “2 Cops 1 Donut” Donate Here: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocopsonedonut 🔔 *Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful discussions on law enforcement and community safety!* 💬 *Join the conversation in the comments below!* #TwoCopsOneDonut #PublicSafety #ErikLavigne #firtsresponders Our partners: Ghost Patch: tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you and get free shipping on Flex Shield orders! GhostPatchCustoms.com Insight LPR license plate recognition technology provides 24/7 real-time insight for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Protect what matters most! Visit https://insightlpr.com/ Retro Rifle: Official Clothing of Two Cops One Donut. Hawaiian Shirts, Guns, and Pop-Culture! head to Retro-Rifle.com tell them we sent ya!

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  • S1 · E4
    June 19 · 17 min

    Did Defunding the Police Actually Work? | The Gray Area

    We ask whether “defund the police” improved public safety and land on a tougher answer: the slogan fails as a plan but succeeds as a warning sign about trust and broken systems. We argue that America keeps treating police as the default response to every social crisis, then blames them when the rest of the system collapses. • defund as a signal of lost public trust rather than simple anti-cop hatred • communities feeling over-policed for small issues and under-policed for serious violence • police as a catch-all tool for mental health, homelessness, addiction, family conflict, and more • the contradiction of demanding better policing while assuming less funding will deliver it • why training, hiring, supervision, body cameras, and accountability systems cost money • the difference between thoughtful proactive policing and harmful harassment • officer pullback, why it happens, and why it cannot become a punishment to the public • alternatives to policing, what has to be true for them to work at 3 a.m. • the core claim that policing is downstream of a broader systems problem Drop your thoughts in the comments, but keep it respectful. This topic deserves more than slogans. #TheGrayArea #TwoCopsOneDonut #PoliceReform send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com Support the show Please see our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoCopsOneDonut Join our Discord!! https://discord.gg/BdjeTEAc *Send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🔗 Visit us at TwoCopsOneDonut.com & https://www.thedonut.tv/ 📧 Contact us at twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🎧 Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music at “2 Cops 1 Donut” Donate Here: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocopsonedonut 🔔 *Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful discussions on law enforcement and community safety!* 💬 *Join the conversation in the comments below!* #TwoCopsOneDonut #PublicSafety #ErikLavigne #firtsresponders Our partners: Peregrine.io: Turn your worst detectives into Sherlock Holmes, head to Peregrine.io tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you or direct message me and I'll get you directly connected and skip the salesmen. Ghost Patch: tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you and get free shipping on Flex Shield orders! GhostPatchCustoms.com Insight LPR license plate recognition technology provides 24/7 real-time insight for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Protect what matters most! Visit https://insightlpr.com/ Retro Rifle: Official Clothing of Two Cops One Donut. Hawaiian Shirts, Guns, and Pop-Culture! head to Retro-Rifle.com tell them we sent ya!

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  • S1 · E3
    June 18 · 11 min

    Officer Safety Isn’t a Blank Check | The Gray Area

    Officer safety is real, but it cannot be used as a catch-all excuse to control people, skip professionalism, or erase constitutional rights. We lay out what “specific facts” should look like in the real world and why the biggest skill is knowing the difference between danger and discomfort. • officer safety as a legitimate concern without becoming a blank check • how vague “I felt unsafe” explanations damage public trust • articulation as the standard: behavior, context, and observable facts • the difference between safety decisions and control decisions • lawful carry during traffic stops and why honesty should not be punished • recording, questions, and refusal of consent as lawful behavior • professionalism under pressure: tactically aware without emotional reactivity • practical self-check questions before escalating an encounter So I'm curious, what do you think? Where's the line? Where does officer safety justify extra caution? When does it become overreach? And for the cops watching this, what facts do you think should be required before pushing an encounter further? To civilians watching this, what officer safety concerns do you think are legitimate? Where do you draw the line between legitimate officer safety and overreach? #TheGrayArea #TwoCopsOneDonut #OfficerSafety #PoliceAccountability #LawEnforcement send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com Support the show Please see our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoCopsOneDonut Join our Discord!! https://discord.gg/BdjeTEAc *Send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🔗 Visit us at TwoCopsOneDonut.com & https://www.thedonut.tv/ 📧 Contact us at twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🎧 Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music at “2 Cops 1 Donut” Donate Here: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocopsonedonut 🔔 *Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful discussions on law enforcement and community safety!* 💬 *Join the conversation in the comments below!* #TwoCopsOneDonut #PublicSafety #ErikLavigne #firtsresponders Our partners: Peregrine.io: Turn your worst detectives into Sherlock Holmes, head to Peregrine.io tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you or direct message me and I'll get you directly connected and skip the salesmen. Ghost Patch: tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you and get free shipping on Flex Shield orders! GhostPatchCustoms.com Insight LPR license plate recognition technology provides 24/7 real-time insight for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Protect what matters most! Visit https://insightlpr.com/ Retro Rifle: Official Clothing of Two Cops One Donut. Hawaiian Shirts, Guns, and Pop-Culture! head to Retro-Rifle.com tell them we sent ya!

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  • S4 · E3
    June 17 · 1 hr 12 min

    Modern Policing Reality Check

    A lot of people talk about “how policing has changed,” but we get specific, from the pre-body-cam days to the modern reality where every call can turn into a viral clip and every mistake gets replayed in slow motion. I walk through what the job looked like when I started, why body-worn cameras reshaped police culture, and how new technology like drones can genuinely make scenes safer when used the right way. The problem is the same one I keep seeing everywhere: the public wants expert-level results while agencies often fund and train at a beginner level. Then we dig into a real-world style scenario that keeps popping up across the country: a person filming a bank from a public sidewalk. What can police actually enforce, what’s just a complaint, and where do First Amendment rights and property lines collide? We break down civil trespass vs criminal trespass, why “reasonable expectation of privacy” matters, and why it’s a red flag when an officer tries to talk their way into authority they don’t have. You’ll also hear why calling a supervisor can be the smartest move a newer officer makes, even if the first explanation comes out messy. We also talk about the practical side of police work that rarely gets explained well online: how to de-escalate when you know a business is angry, why “check your stuff” saves careers, and how ego turns fixable mistakes into complaints, lawsuits, and mistrust. Plus, I share updates on the Gray Area monologues, how I’m using AI as an organizing tool without letting it speak for me, and a teaser about an upcoming guest the community helped connect. If you care about law enforcement training, police accountability, civil rights, and what good policing looks like when cameras are rolling, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who argues about cops online, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next. send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com Support the show Please see our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoCopsOneDonut Join our Discord!! https://discord.gg/BdjeTEAc *Send us a message! twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🔗 Visit us at TwoCopsOneDonut.com & https://www.thedonut.tv/ 📧 Contact us at twocopsonedonut@yahoo.com 🎧 Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music at “2 Cops 1 Donut” Donate Here: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocopsonedonut 🔔 *Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful discussions on law enforcement and community safety!* 💬 *Join the conversation in the comments below!* #TwoCopsOneDonut #PublicSafety #ErikLavigne #firtsresponders Our partners: Peregrine.io: Turn your worst detectives into Sherlock Holmes, head to Peregrine.io tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you or direct message me and I'll get you directly connected and skip the salesmen. Ghost Patch: tell them Two Cops One Donut sent you and get free shipping on Flex Shield orders! GhostPatchCustoms.com Insight LPR license plate recognition technology provides 24/7 real-time insight for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Protect what matters most! Visit https://insightlpr.com/ Retro Rifle: Official Clothing of Two Cops One Donut. Hawaiian Shirts, Guns, and Pop-Culture! head to Retro-Rifle.com tell them we sent ya!

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Showing 41–45 of 45 episodes