It’s midday, and traffic is getting heavy when Deputy Sheriff Frank Sloup spots a sedan jumping off the side of the road in rural Pinal County, Ariz.
Sloup, a 21-year law enforcement veteran hits the flashing red and blue lights and sirens of his department-issued, unmarked, blue Dodge Charger, and pulls over the offending car, only to find a meek, thin teenager, looking lost in a cloud of recently burned marijuana.
The teenager doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to become part of Sloup’s YouTube channel, “Fridays With Frank”: a weekly compilation of funny, tough and often rousing deputies — “Cops” crossed with “Reno 911” for the YouTube era.
It shows the 45-year-old Sloup confronting, ticketing and arresting speeders, drunks, stoners, and other lawbreakers and miscreants with a mix of sarcasm — “you push the right pedal, you make go faster” — and compassion.
And it has made the deputy a star: Thanks to “Fridays with Frank,” the Pinal County Sheriff’s YouTube channel now has 245,000 subscribers, while Sloup’s own contributions regularly top 1 million viewers.
Unlike most traffic cops, Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Sloup has a cameraman-editor in the back of his Dodge Charger, helping produce the popular “Fridays With Frank” video on the department’s YouTube channel. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube Sloup, a Long Island-born bartender-turned-cop is a transplant to Arizona, where he stops unsafe drivers and makes things difficult as he’s taped for a mix of “Cops” and “Reno 911.” Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/ Youtube
His latest episode took just three days to reach more than 350,000 views, making him America’s most popular internet cop — with some unexpected insights into drugs.
“When was the last time you smoked weed?” Sloup slowly asked the teenager he had pulled over. “This morning,” answered the young man, his speech very slow.
“I can smell it,” the deputy said. “You know the other reason I stopped you?” he asked nicely. “Do you feel yourself driving on that road?
“Yes,” admitted the driver.
This teen’s stop results in him being arrested for driving under the influence, but it’s his Yeezy slides that give the episode its title: “Kanye Shoes.” Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube Sloup used the usual tool of his trade — a speed gun. , a powerful cruiser — and a combination of warmth and intelligence to deal with drivers who commit road violations. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube
After a roadside field sobriety test, where he jokingly commented that motorists were “shocking” the open-legged skating Yeezy, Sloup handcuffed the stoner, placing him under arrest for “being under the influence of marijuana.”
In the Grand Canyon state, the three-year-old Drug Prevention, Prevention and Control Act, and the Smart and Safe Arizona Act state that only those 21 and older can legally possess marijuana.
Anyone under that age can only buy weed if they have a medical marijuana ID card, which offenders don’t have, making it a reservation. And his Yeezys earned a YouTube episode a search-friendly title: “Kanye Shoes.”
You might think that when it comes to drugs, like the teenager’s penchant for weed, Sloup might be a hard-nosed, real-life Harry Callahan from the highway — the “Dirty Harry” character played by Clint Eastwood, who also takes unorthodox ways. policing methods.
Not so.
Stops like this are all material for “Friday With Frank” but also allow Sloup to deliver public safety information. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube Stops by deputies often feature drivers who know who they are. One said, “I was like, it’s Frank,” when he was pulled back. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube
To promote his YouTube channel and his work for the sheriff’s department, Sloup recently appeared for more than two hours on “Blue To Green,” a pro-pot podcast hosted by police outspoken AJ Jacobs, who wants to “bridge the gap between the world of marijuana and the world of law enforcement.”
The two share everything about drugs and law enforcement, except together. Sloup said he never smoked, not even a cigar. “I just don’t inhale the stuff.”
Sloup told him: “My sister was a giant weed user for years. He is really great. You can be a super pro-law enforcement and marijuana user.”
“Both of them can exist in the same plane. I talk about drugs all the time, and I say I love drugs. I don’t use it, but I definitely play with people who do.”
A quantity of marijuana is a common finding for deputies. Arizona law allows possession of no more than one ounce by anyone over 21 or under 21 with a medical marijuana card. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube Driving under the influence is also prohibited, which leads to statues like this one, pipes and supplies of marijuana. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube
Sloup emphasizes that when grass and age are legal, “I don’t step on rights. If you want to be burned, do it. My job is not just to put bad people in jail, but to make sure good people don’t become victims.”
The episode starring Sloup garnered 878 comments – all in support of Pinal County’s favorite cop.
Sloup, an easy-going native of Long Island, NY, was a bartender before he moved west and became a law enforcement officer two decades ago.
Pinal County, the size of Connecticut, but with a fraction of its population, is only 50 miles from the southern border. Dominated by desert, it was jokingly referred to by a local radio station as, “The country of dirty people.”
Sloup, a lifelong bachelor dating a police detective, rides Pinal County roads with a small microphone hidden under, or on, his armored tactical vest.
Pinal County is the size of Connecticut, with a fraction of the population, giving Deputy Sloup many miles of rural roads to patrol.Mapcreator.io/OSM.org; AW3D30 (JAXA) One of the recurring characters in “Fridays with Frank” is his mother, who comes to ride horses, gives her own insight into her son’s methods and becomes part of the show. In the background is Jack, the cameraman-producer who created the YouTube hit Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube
Also in the back seat of his cruiser is a professional cameraman-editor named Jack, and, occasionally, Sloup’s beaming, gray-haired mother riding shotgun.
He tends to criticize his often outlandish style of law enforcement, even suggesting who he should arrest, or put to rest. Sometimes he agrees. She called him, “a very good child.”
Before “Fridays With Frank” went viral, Sloup was happily doing his job anonymously. But now that he’s become a YouTube and social media sensation, with tens of thousands of avid followers, his life has changed drastically.
“I’m just a traffic monkey,” he said simply. “I wrote a ticket, and now I’m in a restaurant and people come up to me, ‘Can I take a selfie with you? My wife and I watch your videos all the time,’ and it blows my mind. To say that I humble myself is an understatement.”
So popular is the Deputy Sloup that a local Facebook group called “Find Frank” has sprung up, with people taking pictures when they’ve done it. Chito LZ/ Facebook Sloup is not only popular with drivers, he has younger fans including this Pinal County girl scout.
Frequent stops feature people who say they know him from “Fridays With Frank.” There’s even a local Facebook group called “Find Frank,” where kids dress up as him for Halloween.
But then there’s the dark side he faces with all the recognition.
“Death threats – detectives are making death threats against me. I’m a target now and I’m a bit wary.”
So how did Deputy Sloup become an internet star, who today traded Pinal County Sheriff’s Department uniform patches with other cops around the world watching “Friday With Frank” online?
Sloup’s YouTube channel was given the green light by his media-savvy boss, outspoken and controversial Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, 50, who has made himself a frequent cable news voice criticizing the Biden administration and previously Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Sheriff Mark Lamb’s boss and sometimes traveling companion is behind the YouTube fame for Sloup. The county sheriff is currently running for Senate. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube
Lamb, an occasional co-star, is now running for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat held by Democratic Independent Krysten Sinema.
Sloup, who serves on the regional SWAT team as an operator and sniper when needed, considers Lamb a “rock star” and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department an “island of awesomeness” where he gets to both do what he loves, and become YouTube famous. .
“In the beginning, people get into this job because they want to do something good… to get drugs off the streets, children from being victims,” he said.
“I want to stop speeders so they don’t hit innocent people. I really like traffic and SWAT. In the police world, I’m a little weird. But both allow me to help people. All that brings good.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
