S4 | E1: The Buffs of the Police Department

In the final episode of the season, we learn about the hardest jobs for ESU officers. (TRIGGER WARNING: This episode references self-harm.)

Trip Wires and Politics. Once the bombs are discovered, it’s the Bomb Squad’s turn to dispose of them. Meanwhile, the entry team reflects on what just happened.

Bomb Factory. In Part 3 of The Brooklyn Job, a six-man team prepares to enter the suspects’ apartment. If what the informant says is true, and there is a satchel full of bombs in the apartment, they have a 50/50 chance of making it out of the apartment alive.

No Win Situation. In Part 2 of The Brooklyn Job, an Arabic-speaking rookie cop is called in to help translate for the informant. ESU officers prepare for a raid at an apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where two men have been accused of building bombs.

On July 31, 1997, ESU officers get a tip that some people have built a bomb in their Brooklyn apartment, and they plan to detonate it on the subway the next morning. What happens next is known as The Brooklyn Job. In Part 1 of The Brooklyn Job, two MTA/Long Island Railroad cops are approached on the street by a man who doesn't speak English. He has an urgent message, and the word "bomb" does not get lost in translation.

On July 4, 2018, a woman climbed up the base of the Statue of Liberty to protest the detention of migrant children. There was no way for her to get down on her own.

Introducing the Emergency Service Unit. ESU’s rigorous training is nine months long and requires cross training in tactical, medical and rescue work. For its members, the key to success is knowing your equipment. Or as one officer says, "You gotta be somewhat of a buff to be in Emergency."

Break in the Case, Season 4: Stories from the Emergency Service Unit introduces some of the most highly-trained officers in the NYPD. They’re EMTs. Divers. Hostage Negotiators. SWAT. They put their own lives at risk in the service of others. In Season 4, go behind the scenes with the officers of Truck 1 for a rescue on the Statue of Liberty. Learn why ESU are known as the buffs of the police department and how they prepare both mentally and physically for the most stressful jobs. The season also features a white-knuckle narrative by the officers who stopped a suicide bomb plot from taking place on Brooklyn’s subways in 1997. Break in the Case is supported by the independent nonprofit New York City Police Foundation, and is written and produced by Jill Bauerle and Kenzie DeLaine II. The podcast’s narrator, retired Detective Sergeant Wally Zeins, served at the NYPD from 1973 to 2003.

The 75th Precinct was a hotbed of crime in the early 90s. In this special episode, officers talk about what it was like to work in East New York back then. We also hear from a present-day Youth Coordination Officer who is trying to improve lives in East New York.

After the Zodiac’s arraignment for three murders and one attempted murder in Queens, a Queens prosecutor must prepare to counter a psychiatric defense.