Popo

Nick began providing intelligence to law enforcement agencies as a volunteer in 2008. In 2010, he attended and graduated the Tarrant County College Law Enforcement Academy and began field training at the City of Dalworthington Gardens, TX Department of Public Safety under then-chief Bill Waybourn.

He served DWG as a volunteer reserve officer for three and a half years, during which time he responded to or self-initiated some 658 logged police calls, including 347 solo traffic stops (during which he made 26 arrests for offenses ranging from outstanding warrants to driving on suspended license); served 107 (mainly misdemeanor) arrest warrants, and served with or assisted in 24 felony arrest warrants with DWG officers as part of a task force; conducted two dozen criminal investigations including credit card theft, cyber crime, and fraud; wrote and served evidentiary search warrants, released and transported prisoners; responded and assisted at domestic disturbances, fights in progress (serving as primary or backup officer in 15 incidents involving a use of non-deadly force), vehicle fires, structure fires and a grassland-fire. All without incident or a single filed complaint.

And wrecked two police cars, and accidentally fired his TASER into a wall.

Nick is perhaps most proud of two things: convincing a mentally ill man in the midst of a crisis to seek treatment, and then driving him to the hospital and helping him check in; and assisting in the prosecution of, and testifying against, a police officer accused of abusing his authority.

In 2014, Nick was hired as a Detective-Investigator at the City of Midlothian, TX Police Department, where he worked until 2019, primarily on cyber crime (including Child Sexual Abuse Material) and organized retail crime cases. In one case, Nick made arrests that became the first felony convictions under the Texas Cyber Crime statutes.

In 2018, Nick was appointed Director of Cyber Intelligence & Investigations at the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau. There, Nick worked on a range of issues including creation and management of the pilot program to help the NYPD develop its strategy to combat Cyber Enabled Crime. The pilot was the feature of an NPR report Coaxing Cops To Tackle Cybercrime? There’s An App For That for which Martin Kaste was presented with an Edward R. Murrow Award for Radio Network: Feature Reporting). Nick spoke about the outcomes of the Pilot Program at the RSA Security Conference in 2020 in a presentation entitled, Tackling Cyber-Enabled Crime at Scale

In 2020, returning full-time to the private sector, Nick was recommissioned as a reserve officer by the City of DWG, where he continues to serve today under Chief Greg Petty.