Investigations & Interrogations: Greg Kading, Retired LAPD Detective

Investigating for the hidden truth, putting the puzzle pieces together, building a strong case, leading with objectivity … you might be thinking of the responsibility of business leaders. But today, we’re exploring these same familiar elements from the perspective of a field where this holds greater weight. We’re speaking about investigations & interrogations with private investigator and retired LAPD detective, Greg Kading.

After 25 years working homicide in Los Angeles, Greg hasn’t taken off his detective hat, even after retiring. Instead turning to the PI world and storytelling, speaking about and writing of the cases he’s worked (and solved). Today, Greg is well known for writing Murder Rap, a recount of the cold case he and his task force took on to solve the Biggie Smalls case. A three year investigation that ultimately led to the discovery of Biggie and Tupac’s murders. It’s a case that’s thrust Greg into the spotlight, a shift from private case work that he’s taken easily, led by the resolution that the truth should be shared, wherever possible.

It's also given Greg an opportunity to shine a light on the real life challenges of a detective, past the glamourous portrayal in books, movies and TV. Greg underpins the patience required of a detective: not getting evidence analyzed instantaneously, answers not revealing themselves easily, sometimes needing to start at the beginning and retracing your steps to see what you missed. Police work is naturally full of departmental procedures and red tape, which makes it even more imperative not to rush into short cuts or false conclusions.

Maintaining objectivity and removing ego are two critical aspects of doing great police work. Greg stresses that sometimes we become entranced with an idea of what the truth is and lose sight of what the facts are actually telling us. The process for a detective is therefore quite scientific, in forming a hypothesis and working to disprove it. Instead of what most may imagine - working to prove a hunch. “Within reason, all things are possible” - Greg’s says this theory of openness is critical driving out bias in the investigative process.

But this all takes time. You don’t become a detective once you get the badge; you get there through experience, learning, and building your natural instincts. While that feels very familiar for those of us in the business world, who are often placed in role without learned experience, it’s also in Greg’s world rife with deception, after all, suspects have motive to lie and misdirect. It requires careful study of human psychology to spot the red flags that may point to that deception, and perhaps surprisingly, it also demands empathy.

While technology has advanced and will continue to progress the fields of forensics, profiling and surveillance, in his decades-long experience investigating crimes, Greg has been led by human psychology. He says it's important to marry various human insights and technological resources at your disposal in gathering evidence to form a hypothesis. And of course, then working to disprove it, in the search for the one truth.

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To look outside, Greg goes back into nature and spends time with the people close to him – without a phone or work on the mind.

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Greg Kading is an American author and former Los Angeles Police Department detective best known for working on a multi law-enforcement task force that investigated the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls in the mid-2000s.

• Read Murder Rap: the untold story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations.
• Listen to Off Limits podcast episode with Bryan Callen.
• Check out the New York Magazine and Rolling Stone articles featuring Greg.

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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.

Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.

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