Richard A. "Bo" Dietl (born December 4, 1950) is an American media personality, actor, and political appointee. He is a member of
President Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
...
's
Homeland Security Advisory Council
The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was created by an Executive Order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United ...
. He has previously served as an
NYPD
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
police
detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
, and as a private investigator. Dietl has appeared in films, including as himself in ''
The Wolf of Wall Street'', and his autobiography was made into a movie.
Early life and police career
Dietl was born in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
on December 4, 1950, as the youngest of four siblings.
He was raised in
Richmond Hill and
Ozone Park, Queens
Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, New York (state), New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone ...
. After graduating
Richmond Hill High School, he worked as a unionized concrete laborer and iron worker, working on the original World Trade Center.
He later joined the
New York City Police Department
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
, where he worked for fifteen years. While on the force, he became a high profile detective, making over 1,400 felony arrests, and was awarded 62 medals by the department. He also became a decoy in which he was mugged over 500 times and had 30 line of duty injuries. He retired in 1985.
Dietl also served as head of security for
Jordan Belfort
Jordan Ross Belfort (; born July 9, 1962) is an American former stockbroker, financial criminal, and businessman who pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of ...
during the 1990s.
He is the founder and CEO of Beau Dietl & Associates and Beau Dietl Consulting Services.
Film, television, and radio
In 1998, Dietl's autobiography ''One Tough Cop: The Bo Dietl Story'' was made into the film ''
One Tough Cop'' starring
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July (film), Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse (1993 film), Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome (1994 ...
as Bo Dietl. The plot in
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara (; born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best ...
's crime drama ''
Bad Lieutenant
''Bad Lieutenant'' is a 1992 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Abel Ferrara, from a screenplay co-written with Zoë Lund. It stars Harvey Keitel as the title character "bad lieutenant", an unnamed and corrupt New York police off ...
'' is mainly inspired by Dietl's 1981 investigation of the rape of a young nun.
Dietl has appeared in three
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
films: as the detective who arrests
Henry Hill
Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testi ...
in ''
Goodfellas'' (1990), as himself in ''
The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and as labor leader and mob boss
Joseph Glimco in ''
The Irishman
''The Irishman'' (also known as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 book '' I Heard You Paint Houses'' by Charl ...
'' (2019).
An interview with Dietl is included in the documentary ''Fabled Enemies'' by Jason Bermas of ''
Loose Change
''Loose Change'' is a series of films released between 2005 and 2009 that argue in favor of certain conspiracy theories relating to the September 11 attacks. The films were written and directed by Dylan Avery and produced by Korey Rowe, Jason ...
'' fame. Dietl speaks about his relationship with FBI agent
John P. O'Neill who was the leading expert on
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
until his resignation from the FBI in August 2001 to become head of security at the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may also refer to:
Buildings
* World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...
, where he was killed in the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
.
Dietl was an
associate producer for ''
The Bone Collector
''The Bone Collector'' is a 1999 American crime thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. The film is based on the 1997 crime novel of the same name written by Jeffery Deaver. It focuses on a q ...
'' and
producer for the movie ''Table One''.
Dietl was a frequent guest of
Don Imus
John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...
on the ''
Imus in the Morning
''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio, before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octo ...
'' radio program on WABC radio. Until 2017,
he used to appear regularly on
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
shows, including ''
Hannity
''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...
'' and ''
Geraldo at Large''. He had also appeared on ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
'' with
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...
, ''
The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'', and had a guest role on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
crime drama ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
''.
Dietl is currently the host of One Tough Podcast.
Politics
Dietl was the
Republican and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
nominee for the
6th Congressional District in 1986.
In 1994, Governor
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...
appointed Dietl chairman of the New York State Security Guard Advisory Council.
He served as security consultant to the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
and as director of security for the New York State Republican Convention.
On December 6, 2010, Dietl joined Fox News contributors Joel Mowbray and
Bob Beckel in calling for the assassination of
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...
.
In 2014, Dietl announced his intention to run for
Mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...
in
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, initially intending to run in the Democratic primary against incumbent Mayor
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...
. In February 2017, Dietl announced he would no longer be challenging de Blasio in the primaries, running instead as an independent, due to a paperwork filing error.
He received approximately 1% of the total vote,
finishing in sixth place.
Dietl has worked as a private investigator on behalf of numerous high-profile conservative personalities, including
Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...
and
Don Imus
John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...
. On May 4, 2017, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' reported that Dietl said he was hired by Fox News network management to discredit the harassment claims by former anchor
Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist, writer, and television personality.
Carlson was born and raised in Minnesota. A talented youth violinist, Carlson competed in a number of music contests befor ...
and former producer
Andrea Mackris
William James O'Reilly Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American conservative commentator, journalist, author, and television host.
O'Reilly's broadcasting career began during the late 1970s and 1980s, when he reported for local televisio ...
against
Roger Ailes
Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republic ...
and
Bill O'Reilly. After this was reported, Dietl ceased to be a contributor to Fox News.
On April 17, 2025, President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
appointed Dietl as a member of the
Homeland Security Advisory Council
The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was created by an Executive Order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United ...
.
Personal life
He is currently engaged to Margo Urban, singer of
The Cover Girls
The Cover Girls are a New York City based American freestyle music girl group whose original line-up consisted of Angel Clivillés, Louise "Angel Clivilles" Sabater, Caroline Jackson, and Sunshine Wright. Formed in 1986, The Cover Girls peaked ...
.
He has a regular Thursday table at
Rao's
Rao's () is an Italian-American cuisine, Italian-American restaurant founded in 1896. It is located at 455 East 114th Street, on the corner of Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem (or Italian Harlem), New York City. Rao's has a sister restaurant in Los ...
.
References
External links
Beau Dietl & Associates*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietl, Bo
American radio personalities
New York City Police Department officers
Living people
1950 births
People from Queens, New York
New York (state) Republicans
American chief executives
New York (state) independents
New York (state) Democrats
Richmond Hill High School (Queens) alumni