The Squad Room: Police Health | Development | Leadership

This is a unique episode because we're turning the tables on Traver as he becomes the subject of the episode. This episode is also going to require that you keep an open mind. But more on that later. Almost a year ago to the day of this release , I came to Traver with the idea of starting this podcast to dive into the issues of health and wellness that affect first responders, using myself as a ph...

In this episode, we recap 2015 and my plans going in to 2016. Traver joins me again to talk about all the gritty personal stuff we haven't covered with recent guests. Some highlights: 2015 was my year of getting waaaaay strong. Like scary strong – at least for me. But, I'm still too big. 2016 is the year to banish the extra body weight. But can I do it without losing the strength I've gained? New...

Our guest for this episode is Clint Bruce. I'm not sure where to start with Clint's resume. U.S. Naval Academy graduate NFL football player Navy SEAL officer (SEAL Team 5, BUD/S class 217) Veteran and first responder advocate. And frankly, that just scratches the surface. I had the fortune to hear Clint speak on Marcus Lutrell's Patriot Tour this past fall. I cornered him in the lobby and he agree...

We made it to 20 episodes!  That's at least more than that stupid  Ferris Bueller's Day Off  television sit-com from the 90's. But it's still not as much as Matt LeBlanc's post-friends spin-off " Joey. " That made it to 22 episodes  so I guess we have to keep going. Andy Petranek is our guest on this episode . Andy isn't a cop but he's very understanding of the challenges we face. Andy has an inte...

Freddy Camacho is a couple things:   A complete badass A laid back guy with zero ego. That's a hard combination to come by, even in law enforcement Freddy is a newly-promoted sergeant for  Union City PD , a good-sized city in the Bay Area and it's a hoping area. He's also a sergeant on their  sniper team  and has been on the SWAT team for quite some time. Freddy came to law enforcement later than...

There is an old parable, attributed to the Cherokee Indians of the Two Wolves. An old Cherokee Chief sit with his grandson and tells him, "A terrible fight is going on inside me." "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, sorrow, hate, greed, self-pity, lies and ego. As his grandson looks on, the Chief continues. "The other is good," he says. He is love, comp...

Mikal Vega  is an interesting guy who has led an amazing life. Unlike the last few guests, he's not in law enforcement though he is certainly a supporter of our profession. If his face looks familiar, it's because you might have seen him on TV or in movies.  He's actually a professional actor , and he's been in movies like  Transformers 3 and 4, G.I. Joe: Retaliation , and TV shows like  Dallas  a...

I first met today's guest several years ago, in the way that we seem to meet people these days – by email. Scott McGee is a well-known police officer in CrossFit and is definitely one of the O.G.s in getting CrossFit adopted by law enforcement agencies. Scott is a member of the Santa Monica PD SWAT team and he was instrumental in getting CrossFit adopted as their team's methodology. In fact, the q...

I have 24 hours in a day . Anyone have anything different? Any secret advantage? Nope, didn't think so. Here are all the things that Bryan Wadkins and I have in common: We're both fathers We're both sergeants, and veteran police officers (deputy sheriff in my case) We both live in California That's about it. Well…we both  "do"  CrossFit for our exercise but….um, yeah… Bryan Wadkins is a sergeant f...

There's a saying,  "abs are made in the kitchen."  If that's true, I'd better get cooking! Lucky for me , this episode's guest is  Joel Chapman , professional chef, crossfitter, and all-around good guy. These days, Joel makes food for several thousand people a day as part of a catering team for the University of California at Santa Barbara. When a guy cooks for that many people,  he knows how to p...

Dr. Steve Politis  has more acronyms after his name than anyone else I think I've ever met. So, you know he's smart. But don't just take it from me. Here they are: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Fellow of Applied Functional Science (FAFS) Fellow of American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists (FAAOMPT) Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner (CKTP) Certified Strength and Conditioning...

Change is hard…duh, right?  But when you're trying to change a lot at the same time,  I think it's easy to get down on yourself  for not seeing progress in all areas instantaneously. Even as a relatively sane and independent thinker, I think I'm subconsciously persuaded by all the marketing that I should have succeeded by now. I haven't. Not by a long shot. I want 6 minute abs …but it isn't going...

Thanks for supporting the show. Please, stop what you're doing, open another tab in your browser and  give us a review on iTunes.  Just search for The Squad Room and you can leave a review on our landing page. If you subscribe to the show, you won't be able to do it from your "My Podcasts" page. I don't know about you, but I love talking to retired LEOs. I like hearing the stories of how it used t...

If this episode doesn't  scare the crap out of you , I haven't done a very good job. I hate night shift.  That should've been made abundantly clear in the last few episodes. I used to love it – when I was a young buck without kids and a lot of disposable income. But I'm not that guy anymore. I'm still a bit conflicted. I love the lack of traffic, the cooler temperatures, and the heightened activit...

In this episode, Traver gives me strict instructions to  punch myself in the crotch.  But more on that in a second… In law enforcement, we have a lot of variables that are  beyond our control.  – Do you know  what calls you'll handle  when you get to your next shift? – Do you know that the next car you stop has a  parolee with a gun?  – Can you control how your  spouse is feeling , alone at home w...

When I was recovering from a t-12 compression fracture in my vertebrae in 2011-2012, I was dealing with chronic pain in my thoracic spine. My back muscles were overcompensating and in constant spasm. That created a real problem, because I needed a strong back to prevent overcompensation, but I couldn't develop that because I was in spasms which didn't allow me to lift which kept me weak. The vest...

This episode is awesome , if I do say so myself. And because I write this blog and ask the questions, I can say that. The problem is, it's not a fun episode, but  it's an important episode . We don't talk about "gainz" or any of the fun stuff like me pissing myself (see episode 1). We talk about the hard stuff, and the mental side of police work –  the side of police work all of us wish didn't exi...

Welcome back for episode 6 of The Squad Room. We're taking a little turn into the realm that is going to make some of you squirm in your patrol car seat as you listen. Today we're talking about the "M" word – that's right. We're going to try and get you to meditate. But it's not just me that thinks there's some value in this. Top performers in the military, high finance, famous artists, and even o...

If you work in  police work or corrections  and you haven't thrown out your back at work, you might consider yourself lucky. If you happen to do that, and then immediately suffer a serious bout of the stomach flu, then you might be me. It's been a long month… Traver Boehm  from  Gravitas Life  and  CrossFit Pacific Coast  joins me again for this recap of my first 30 days following his advice – plu...

As Greg Amundson talked about in episode 3,  you and I are professional warrior athletes .  Listen to the podcast  for his explanation but I believe it. We wear the gear and uniform that marks us as part of the team. There is no arguing that what we do is physically demanding, and the salty vets hunched and limping around the halls of my station that look like a NFL Hall of Famer prove that. I don...

A few weeks ago I traveled up to Santa Cruz, California, the birthplace of CrossFit. I wasn't there to interview the father of "The Sport of Fitness" Greg Glassman. Instead, I wanted an audience with one of his students; a guy that I've followed for years and have watched from a distance. Greg Amundson started CrossFit in 2001 at Glassman's original gym in Santa Cruz. Greg quickly made a name for...

Fortune favors the bold, but strength favors us all. — Traver Boehm Welcome back for episode 2 of The Squad Room Podcast! We made it through episode 1 unscathed. Here in episode 2 we pick up the conversation with Traver Boehm, my coach. In this episode you'll learn: The importance of congruity and why I'll never do cocaine How I found my congruity in law enforcement Why my relationships, work, and...

Today's guest in this inaugural episode is Traver Boehm. Traver will be a frequent guest on the show and contributer to the entire project. He is my "coach" for this project. He's not just a personal trainer, and more than a "life coach" – because I really hate that term. "Life coach" ugh. But think equal parts Tony Robbins, Tony Horton (the P90x guy) and George St.-Pierre (he even looks like him)...