On Being a Police Officer Abby Ellsworth

Ep. 55 - Scott Medlin found his calling as a police officer, a career he wanted since high school. After his deployment with the Marine Corps in 2003 and 2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Scott fulfilled his dream and joined a police department in North Carolina. His most thrilling role was as K9 handler; he loved tracking and “the adrenaline rush of running in, not knowing what you're going to come up on.” But his commitment to the job was overtaking his life and taking its toll on his family. He decided to leave the streets to become a School Resource Officer (SRO), another role Scott came to love. While he missed being on patrol, he loved the kids and the impact he could have on their lives and theirs on his. Even that role was not helping reduce Scott’s stress.
Ultimately, after 15 years in law enforcement, Scott chose to leave the profession in 2020 when his PTSD, addiction and depression became too much. It was at this time he learned that more officers were dying by suicide than in the line of duty. That meant other officers were suffering, too.
As Scott says, “I basically thought to myself, you mean all these mental health struggles I've had, I was not alone? Because I thought I was. I just said, I've got to step up. If I can talk about the struggles I went through, maybe it can help someone.”
And that’s exactly what he did. Scott embarked on a journey to inspire and encourage police officers to focus on their personal wellbeing in order to survive the career and better serve the public. He has become a national speaker, author of five books and content creator on social media platforms. He has presented at numerous first responder conferences and police academies.  
In this episode, you’ll hear the stories of all Scott went through, the sacrifices he made for the job, the sacrifice he made to give up the job, and how he has used his own pain and personal growth to help others including LE, first responders and veterans. If you’ve seen Scott on social media or on his 10 Code Mindset channel on YouTube, you know how dynamic, relatable and inspiring he is. 
Here’s where you can find Scott. Really, all you have to do is Google him or 10 Code Mindset and you’ll find him!
His website:
https://thescottmedlin.com/
The 10 Code Mindset YouTube Channel and Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmNfLYoIkm0
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/the10codemindset/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/The10CodeMindset
X:
@10CodeMindset
https://twitter.com/10CodeMindset
LinkedIn
His fifth book The Power in...

Ep. 54 Det. Matt Pitcher (Ret.) on working long-term deep undercover: creating and maintaining an identity; going years without spending time with family knowing that one slip could cost him the case – or his life.    
Matt and I connected on Instagram when he posted photos from his two long-term deep undercover cases. The visual instantly conveyed, more than words ever could, what it was like to risk his life for years as those two people. The stories are both fascinating and haunting, and they show the commitment and sacrifice that officers and agents like Matt make doing this work. 
Matt started his 22-year law enforcement career with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) and later lateraled to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office in Florida. We talk about working patrol and the devastating line-of-duty ambush murders of his friends and squad mates, Officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton. We also look at how Matt went from street level undercover to the two long-term cases which involved drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. He received the Medal of Valor for his work on the second case during which he infiltrated a dangerous criminal network to expose and thwart their plans. In addition to his undercover work, Matt handled numerous investigations including rape, human trafficking and homicide and helped crack the case of a serial killer.  Due to complications from a lung infection, Matt was forced to medically retire in late 2022. He is however actively sharing his story and is in fact now working on a book. 
Follow Matt on his Instagtram @ret_det_mattpitcher  to see the photos from Matt’s time in deep undercover and to get updates on his book.  
Also tune in! Matt will be featured in the season finale of A&E’s “Undercover: Caught On Tape,” a true crime series featuring the real stories of undercover agents and detectives. His episode will air Thurs. March 14, 2024 at 10 pm ET. Based our conversation, I am sure it will be riveting.
Thank you, Matt!
I want to honor the officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department who were shot and killed in an ambush attack. 
Officer Sean Robert Clark
Officer Jeff Shelton
Date of Incident: Saturday, March 31, 2007
E.O.W. Sunday, April 1, 2007
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©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 53 Officer Mike from a mid-sized agency in the Mid-Atlantic has been in law enforcement for seven years. He wrote to me saying, “I want to discuss the mental health aspect of the job and juggling it with family life. I've been married for about five years. We have two daughters who are four and almost two. I've gone through times when I see things at work that hit me in a way that I can't keep bottled up. Calls with children are what hit home the most. I tend to be pretty open with my family about what I experience, which helps a lot.”
Mike’s goal in coming on the podcast is to share these challenges so that other officers know they are not alone in experiencing the stress of the job and the impact on family. He wants to encourage all LEOs to have someone they can talk to and not be afraid to ask for help.
Our conversation includes what it’s like coming home with adrenaline coursing through your veins; wanting to talk about some things and not others; wanting to be present for your family, but not always being able to; and the challenge of shift schedules that leave little time for family – or sleep.
We revisit hitting the streets after field training, those first calls where he felt a level of uncertainty. We talk about the critical incidents that “shook” him and how even the “smaller” incidents come back to haunt him. He says there were times early on when he wished someone would have asked how he was doing after a call – not just minutes after, but days or weeks later. He also says he unaware of the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM ) team in his area, a team he has since joined to help other officers following a critical incident.   
Recently, I’ve interviewed officers who are newly retired reflecting back on this very part of their lives and career. I thought it was important to talk to someone who's relatively new on the job and working patrol. The message from all is the same: don’t be reluctant to speak up. Whether you’re two years on or 22, you’ll relate to Mike’s experiences on and off the job.
Thanks for being on the show, Mike!
In the episode, I mention The LT’s Daughter Katherine Boyle and the programs she is creating for officers looking to connect or reconnect with family. You can learn more in the interview I did with her in episode 46 and through this link on her programs.
Event List Sign Up:
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/647f698cdfd04634e9976771
Katherine’s IG:
https://www.instagram.com/theltsdaughter/
I also mention NYPD Cold Case Detective Jason Palamara (Ret.) from Ep. 50. He works as a crisis counselor, keynote speaker and life coach. He recently published a book with coauthor Barbara Rubel available on Amazon called “Living Blue: Helping Law Enforcement Officers and Their Families Survive and Thrive from Recruitment to Retirement.”  You can find him on his website https://jasonpalamara.org/ and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
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a...

Ep. 52  Lt. Jared Ross of the Arlington TX Police Department contacted me to discuss the public's misperceptions of police ethics, training, accountability, use of force and more. Jared has been with the department for 18 years and is currently Patrol Commander. He also is the department’s primary instructor for Ethics & Professionalism.
He says, “whenever I hear the media or members of the public allude to the fact that we're undertrained or that we don't care about training, we don't value education or professional development, it's completely not true. And that's one of the things I wanted to be able to shed some light on, because that's one of my passions in my career.”  
We do exactly that and talk about the remarkable feats of interpersonal communication, negotiation, de-escalation, and problem solving that officers do every day, a critical part of the narrative that gets lost.
We also cover Jared’s professional journey including his work as a field training supervisor, a hostage negotiator, a detective in the Domestic Violence Unit, and an Internal Affairs investigator. We discuss why he got into law enforcement and the passion he continues to have for the profession. 
I want to honor the life, service, commitment and sacrifice of Officer Darrin McMichael of the Arlington Police Department whose line of duty death occurred shortly before I interviewed Jared and which he mentions in the episode.
Officer Darrin McMichael
E.O.W Thursday, September 21, 2023
https://www.odmp.org/officer/26786-police-officer-darrin-mcmichael

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©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 51 Joining me is Eric Hofstein who was in law enforcement for 27 years and recently retired in 2021. After working as an EMT, he made the switch to law enforcement working with agencies in CA and FL before becoming a transit officer for BART, The Bay Area Rapid Transit System. We cover two of the most defining moments in his career. The first as a deputy with the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office, responding to the line-of-duty shooting death of California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom, an incident that, as Eric says, was the final straw for him emotionally and forever changed his desire to be a street cop.
The second was his resulting decision to join BART thinking he’d be leaving the stress and trauma of traditional law enforcement behind. That was not at all the case. The job presented unique challenges including reacting to thousands of commuters filling the train platform as often as every three minutes during rush hour, fights and open drug use on subway cars, and more.
On top of that, Eric found a world he’d never seen before – people who were homeless, drug addicted, and mentally ill – strewn about and suffering in the subway halls and trains. He could not understand or make sense of it. Why was it happening? We talk about how his thinking gradually shifted from one of judgement to one of empathy; how he became the person who would give everything of himself to try to save every single one of these people – at his own expense and the expense of his family. And how he learned what true “harm reduction” is. It’s a story he tells in his book, “What Doesn't Kill You. One Cop's Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addiction” which he co-authored with his wife, Mary Beth Haile.
We do cover his time in law enforcement working for San Jose PD, Palm Beach Sheriff's Office in Florida, then the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office in California including several very close calls, and that traffic stop, the one where he trusted his sixth sense, that inner voice that saved his life.
Also unique to Eric’s career was working the jails for five years as a deputy with Contra Costa. He says it was one of the best training grounds for working patrol.
We also get into his post-law enforcement career and the challenges of retirement which he writes about in the book. “Everything bubbles up,” as he says. It wasn't until after he was retired that he was diagnosed with complex PTSD.  He shares his learnings and insights for others experiencing the same feelings.
You can find the book on Amazon both in paperback and Kindle and on Audible. Here is a link to Amazon. 
“What Doesn't Kill You. One Cop's Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addiction.”  
I want to honor the life, service, commitment and sacrifice of California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom.
E.O.W. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012
https://www.odmp.org/officer/21381-officer-kenyon-marc-youngstrom
Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.
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©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, production done by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org

Ep. 50 – NYPD Cold Case Det. Jason Palamara (Ret.) was with the department for 20 years and recently retired in 2020. Prior, he served in the U.S. Navy for three years. I've long wanted to interview a homicide or cold case detective about the challenges of their work and because of what I see as the public’s misperceptions of their commitment.
We start with the inauspicious beginning to his law enforcement career. He writes on his LinkedIn page, “I became a cop on July 2, 2001. Two months later, I would respond to Ground Zero.” We discuss his memories of that day and of his time deployed as a recruit. I also lived in New York during 9/11, so we discuss that shared experience. I once again get to thank an NYPD officer as I did in Ep. 45 with Det. Knocko Nolan for his service during that difficult time.
In 2006, Jason joined the Detective Bureau with the 84th Precinct Detective Squad in downtown Brooklyn and then in 2015, was assigned to the Cold Case Homicide Squad. As stated, I've long wanted to show how dedicated homicide and cold case detectives are they are to solving their cases. You will hear in our conversation how deeply personal these cases were to Jason, and the impact the investigations had on him, both the rewards and the challenges.
During his time with Cold Case, Jason became a peer support member with the NYPD Health and Wellness section. Since retiring, he has remained committed to health and wellness for veterans and law enforcement. He works as a crisis counselor, keynote speaker and life coach. He has an upcoming book with coauthor Barbara Rubel called “Living Blue: Helping Law Enforcement Officers and Their Families Survive and Thrive from Recruitment to Retirement.” We take the time to talk about the emotional challenges of retirement for LEOs, a subject I don’t often hear discussed. 
I close with my favorite line from his website:
“I find there to be no greater mission than of giving your fellow human being the hope that tomorrow is worthwhile destination.”
Here is the link to his website:
https://jasonpalamara.org/
You can also find him on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you, Jason. 
Thanks for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.
Find me on my social or email me your thoughts:
Instagram: on_being_a_police_officer
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Abby@Ellsworthproductions.com
©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, and production by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org