The Squad Room

In 45 years of policing, Bernard Melekian has done it all. Seriously. From being the first K9 handler in California, Melekian rose through the ranks at the Santa Monica Police Department to Assistant Chief, and then spent 13 years as Chief of the Pasadena Police Department. During that time he also served as Interim City Manager for a stint, and of all things, Acting Fire Chief. While in Pasadena, Melekian championed community-oriented policing initiatives and brought about a lot of positive changes in the department that was experiencing strained relations with minority communities. So, it wasn’t much surprise when then Attorney General Eric Holder tapped Melekian to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, better known as COPS. COPS promotes a community based approach to law enforcement, and it provides millions in funds to agencies around the United States. Melekian went into consulting after leaving the COPS office but felt unsettled. He liked having a home base. So, he signed on as Undersheriff of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. That’s how we met. While serving through the ranks, Melekian completed his bachelor’s degree in history, a Masters in Public Administration, and a doctoral program in Public Policy at the University of Southern California. As a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, he served two war time deployments – while he was chief! First in 1991 in Desert Storm and again in 2003 in the Pacific theater. He is a former president of the California Police Chiefs Association, and has served on the board of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). So, with that kind of resume, he’s exactly the guy I want to talk to about longevity, maintaining positivity, developing self-awareness and how to develop into a successful leader. Oh, full disclosure he’s also my boss. Well, more the boss of my boss’ boss. But still. Because he is my boss, I feel compelled to point out that his position has nothing to do with why I wanted him on the show. You’ll hear his sage advice and I think you’ll understand why. It’s my show, of course, so I could have easily avoided having him on and I have done that with others. But, he always has something to add to the conversation and I think you’ll enjoy his perspective.

U.S. Army Major (ret.) Josh Mantz, author of the new book, The Beauty of a Darker Soul: Overcoming Trauma Through the Power of Human Connection is our guest on this episode. A 2005 graduate of West Point, Josh was commissioned as an infantry officer and soon found himself fighting insurgents in Baghdad during “The Surge.” During a relatively routine patrol, Josh was shot and killed. That’s not a typo. Yes, he was killed. Josh was without a pulse for 15 minutes as medics and triage teams worked furiously to save him. After about 6 minutes, most people won’t survive and when they do, they lose the vast majority of their cognitive and physical functions. When Josh came back to life, not only did he keep all of his faculties but he has a near perfect recollection of the entire event – down to his last breath. He remembers taking it in, and being prepared to pass away. After only 5 months, Josh begged, pled and bargained to get back to his unit in Iraq and he completed the tour with his men. As an apparent poster boy of resilience, the military seized on Josh’s miraculous physical and mental recovery and they sent him out on a publicity tour. Josh spoke on national television, to veteran’s groups and any local morning show that would listen about his story and how he was strong and healthy after his shooting. The problem was, Josh wasn’t fine at all. Josh was falling apart inside and on the brink of suicide several times. So, how can a man who’s been given a second chance on life, a man who has literally died and come back be so desperate that he wants to do it again? The answer was something I’d never heard of before until I heard Josh’s story: moral wounds Not quite PTSD, though it can also be that but moral wounds are emotional traumas that result from a profound upending in our sense of right and wrong. When we’re exposed to something that is so offensive to our sense of righteousness and world order that it literally traumatizes us. So who, in addition to the military, experiences these types of morally traumatic events? We do. Child molestation, homicide, domestic violence, drug overdoses, violent assaults, rapes… I could type a paragraph of the stuff we see that makes us susceptible to these moral wounds but you get the idea. Josh used his journey to write his new book, and founded darkersouls.com. Please give him a follow. Here is Josh’s Tedx Talk  Josh’s book The Beauty of a Darker Soul: Overcoming Trauma Through the Power of Human Connection will be out later this year. We’ll keep you posted when it’s released.  

On December 17, 2016, Alabama police officer Shelby Luttrell was shot twice off-duty at his wife’s surprise birthday party while struggling for a suspect’s gun.  Shelby almost died en route to the hospital but he had the will to survive. Only 7 months later, he comes on The Squad Room to talk about that night, his recovery, and how he was motivated to start teaching others about the importance of fitness. Shelby is the founder of Bulletproof Fitness and he is a personal trainer and coach. Find him on Instagram at @bulletproof.fitness His recovery, and transformation after his shooting has been amazing, and to see his progress in such a short time leaves me (and you) with zero excuses about why you can’t get your act together.

Adam La Reau is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer. Adam spent 11 years in the teams before transitioning out, eventually earning a Master’s in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Adam wanted to scratch his entrepreneurial itch and along with other military veterans, he launched O2X, a human performance company devoted specifically to the needs of tactical athletes – us. Adam has a wealth of information to give and his seminar staff includes over 30 experts in areas as diverse as sleep, to nutrition, to strength and conditioning. Adam’s philosophy makes sense to me: everything is related to everything. Performance doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Your sleep affects your cognition, your strength affects your energy, your mental health affects, well, everything. Check out Adam’s work at www.o2x.com and see if there’s a seminar in your area. Follow them on the socials. Instagram: @o2xhumanperformance Twitter: @o2xhp Facebook: facebook.com/o2xhumanperformance    

Dr. Jay Nagdimon is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and is board certified in Police and Public Safety Psychology. For over the past decade, Dr. Nagdimon has been a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Behavioral Science Services Unit. It’s a unique idea and LAPD has invested into paying attention to the mental health of their officers. As Dr. Nagdimon says in this episode, psychological therapy for police is often more like performance enhancement and sports psychology than it is just something you have to do after a critical incident (i.e. “gotta go see the shrink”). Dr. Nagdimon works with in-service officers with marital problems, financial issues and all the other stressors that come with our lifestyle. In this episode, Dr. Nagdimon gives you the 6 R’s of Resilience. We also talk about cognitive distortions that prevent us from achieving our goals and living the most fulfilling life possible. He gives us tips on how to deal with these distortions, and how we should implement a path towards resilience. He also walks through the 3 most important things you need to be doing to perform, feel, and think at your best (hint: none of them are about getting therapy).  

It’s a simple question. Maybe one you haven’t asked yourself in a while. For some of you, maybe you’ve never asked it. So?

Ryan Michler is the founder and creator of Order of Man and the Order of Man Podcast. If you’re a guy, you need to be listening to this podcast. If you love a guy, listen to this podcast. We cover a lot of ground in this episode about the idea of manliness: what it is, and how it’s different than masculinity. We talk about how law enforcement, and how we gravitate to the Warrior archetype and if there’s still a place for that in our society, or should we be transitioning to a “gentler” idea of being a guardian. As part of this, we talk about the difference between being aggressive and being assertive. The motto of Order of Man is: Protect, Provide, and Preside. There’s a lot more to it that we get into. Protect and Provide for a lot of us are easy to understand but we dive deeper into Preside, and what that means (hint: it’s not sitting in the king’s chair or dragging your woman back to the cave by her hair). Ryan also encourages us to preside by following his 4 C’s: Condition, Calibrate, Connect, and Contribute. Both law enforcement and masculinity are under attack from outside sources. Ryan’s advice is actionable and immediate and it applies to our female partners as much as it does the men listening. Here are some of the specifics we talk about: Ryan’s suggested reading list: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin Resilience: Hard Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life by Eric Greitens Assertive Workbook: How to Express Your Ideas and Stand Up for Yourself in Work and Relationships by Randy Paterson Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman Ryan meditates daily as part of his morning practice. This is the headband, Muze, that he talks about on the show. I also recommend the Headspace app myself for beginners. He’s on Twitter and Instagram @orderofman.  

Tony Horton doesn’t need much of an introduction. As the creator of P90X he went from being a personal trainer to musicians like Tom Petty and Billy Idol to being a household name and face. A lot of cops, myself included, have done P90X and it’s really one of the first introductions most of us ever had to High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I think my love of CrossFit was an extension of the success I had with P90X. P90X is still around, as well as his new program “22 Minute Hard Corps” which pays tribute to our military personnel. Yet, despite selling over 1 BILLION dollars in P90X material, Tony continues to seek out ways to improve himself and his clients. In our connected world today, Tony’s client list potentially includes anyone with an internet connection. He really sees anyone who purchased P90X as a personal training client, not a couch potato who wanted a quick fix from an infomercial. He has a new course called “Living Large” that he did in conjunction with growth.com and Brendan Buchard. Tony is a huge supporter of law enforcement and it was an honor to have him on the show. Here are some links to the things we talk about in the show: Follow him on Instagram @tonyshorton P90X 22 Minute Hard Corps The book that changed Tony’s life: The Magic Lamp by Keith Ellis Tony’s book: The Big Picture: 11 Laws that Will Change Your Life Tony’s Website: Tonyhortonlife.com Tony’s Living Large course Follow The Squad Room podcast on Instagram at @thesquadroom.  

Scott Reitz is a retired member of LAPD’s elite Metropolitan Division or “Metro” where he served 10 years on their SWAT team. Scott is also the author of The Art of Modern Gunfighting: The Pistol Volume 1 and the owner and lead instructor for International Tactical Training Seminars. Scott was the lead firearms instructor for Metro Division and has taught courses to Tier 1 special operations teams and law enforcement agencies around the country. Scott is also a use of force expert and he spends a lot of his time in court defending officers in criminal and civil litigation. Having been involved in 5 officer-involved shootings (two within a week, and one during the LA Riots), Scott is uniquely qualified to talk about the dynamics of a gunfight, how to train to win, and how to win in court. In this episode we discuss: * What his own officer-involved shootings taught him about preparation. * His two “universal truths” of gunfights. * How competency and command presence prevented numerous shootings throughout his career. * Training for mental composure. * How to develop a Combat Mindset. * Drills you can take to the range to begin improving. * Why speed is often mistaken for competence, and why you should slow down when you shoot. Follow Scott on Instagram @internationaltactical and see his course listings at internationaltactical.com.    

Shaun O’Gorman is a retired police officer from Australia. He spent 13 years in service, most of it in the K9 unit. By all accounts, Shaun became a “cop’s cop” after he followed his dad into public service. He spent years racing 100 mph (well, 160 kilometers per hour) to calls, watching and experiencing some of the worst things the job has to offer. It didn’t take long on the job before Shaun’s previous bouts with depression returned and eventually devolved into PTSD and several nights of lying in bed with his service weapon in his hands trying to think of reasons not to kill himself. But Shaun recovered – and eventually began to thrive – and it’s his mission now with The Strong Life Project to teach resilience and a way out. He’s no longer a cop but it’s still in his blood and his goal in life is to be a resource for other cops and first responders who are hurting. Shaun’s podcast is here on iTunes website is TheStrongLifeProject.com Follow him on Instagram here or @shaunogorman. Follow The Squad Room @thesquadroom or on Facebook If you need help, there are resources for you. Safe Call Now is a 24-hour hotline for first responders at 206-459-3020  

Sgt. Wilson is the founder and the man behind the hugely popular Instagram page @policefitnessnutrition. His page has exploded over the last two years and has a following of 78,ooo followers as of this episode. We’ve been in touch since The Squad Room started and I’ve always wanted to have him on the show. Sgt. Wilson has always gone out of his way to promote our mutual goal of helping officers get healthy. He does it on Instagram and I do it here on the podcast. Sgt. Wilson has built a small but successful social media empire – a success he attributes to his PFN reps around the world. These reps aren’t just ambassadors of his brand, but they’re examples of fitness in law enforcement. What I like best is that the page is always filled with positive messages, inspiring people, and great health tips. I always love his posts. In this episode we cover: * The one call for service that caused him to start Police Fitness & Nutrition * His history in law enforcement * His department’s attitude towards his page. * His personal workout and nutrition routines * His supplementation routines * The differences between east and west coast sheriff’s departments. * Getting promoted to supervisor and being assigned to supervise your friends * …and more. It’s a fun conversation between two Sheriff’s Sergeants on opposite coasts If you don’t already follow Sgt. Wilson, do it here on Instagram and here on Facebook. You can follow us here on Instagram, and here on Facebook. If you liked this episode, please consider leaving a review on iTunes here.

Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman doesn’t need much of an introduction to law enforcement in the free world. The originator of the “sheepdog” mentality, Lt. Col. Grossman literally wrote the book on that theory. It’s part of his first book, “On Combat” which is a must read for LEOs. Click here for the excerpt from “On Combat” that explains the theory of Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs. Click here to buy On Combat (note: affiliate link) Grossman travels over 300 days a year speaking to law enforcement about the importance of the Bulletproof Mind, his version of resilience. If you haven’t seen him speak, I cannot recommend it enough. I attended his 8 hour class as a (much) younger officer and it changed how I train and go about my days. Even in this episode, I repeat stuff back to him that I learned in his class. Here are just some of the things we talk about: * What is the Bulletproof Mind * How do you build resilience. * What you should be doing daily to be prepared. * Why he agrees that we must “fight in the shade.” * The importance of sleep in resilience. * How controlling your breath can control the fight. * Why your hobbies should reinforce your training. * His ideas for the next generation of school security. * Where do we need to go with our training to address the newer threats to officer safety. Lt. Col. Grossman is always good for an interesting quote and we got quite a few. “Our product under stress is a direct result of our training.” “If you don’t have a hammer, nothing looks like a nail.” Lt. Col. Grossman mentions several companies and resources in this episode. Here’s the links: Hero911 App (iTunes link) Guard911.com  – The parent company of Hero911 with training for LEOs and others. Clear-Armor.com – Laminate adhesive for windows for added security and protection. Sheepdogknifeandgun.com – Dave’s own knife and gun business co-owned with his son Jon. Sabre Red Pepper Spray Gel (affiliate link) – Grossman recommends that every teacher carry this at all times. Makes sense. Templariss.com – Retinal scanner for gun safes that Grossman advocates keeping in each school. If you like what you heard, please consider sharing this episode with a friend, co-worker, or loved one. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @thesquadroom Thanks for listening. Stay safe and take care of each other.            

In this short Briefing Topic episode of The Squad Room, Garrett advocates that as professionals, we must follow the example set by an ancient warrior. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @thesquadroom. Thanks for listening.

Steve Pitts has over 30 years in law enforcement, retiring as the chief of Reno PD in Nevada. In Nevada, every first responder has to take an extensive physical every year that includes blood work and biomarkers. It’s mandatory. Chief Pitts saw the opportunity in this data to develop a wellness program based on science and actionable information to make his officers and his department more successful. I met Steve in January at a law enforcement wellness conference. He gave a presentation titled, “Resilience as a Path to Wellness.” In this episode, we talk about his career, his definition of resilience and how to manage a 30+ year career, how he implemented a wellness routine, his personal training regime and how it has changed through the years, goal setting, and much more.

Nick Frankus has been with the Portland Police Department for 18 years – many of them on the department’s SWAT Team. Nick is a very observant and introspective guy and he’s been documenting the lessons he’s learned along the way and he’s now sharing them in his own podcast Work on the Edge, which I highly recommend. It’s actually not about law enforcement, although his topics apply directly to the profession. It’s aimed at anyone who works in a high-stakes environment. Nick wrote a book and released a series of episodes on what he calls the “confidence/competence conundrum” in which he argues that confidence should come from courage and humility, not from competency. He shares a training scenario that he failed as a younger SWAT operator that sent his confidence spiraling, and how he’s a much better cop, husband, and human as a result of that learning experience. This graphic might not make much sense right now, but listen to the episode and refer back to it. We talk about it on the show and you can come back here to thesquadroom.net/episode59 to view if after you’ve listened. Nick articulates his position very well and I think anyone who listens will recognize times in their own lives where they pulled their confidence from their competence, and how that is a receipt for disaster. Another great book on this topic, and one I read to help me as a parent, is the Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”   This book is our audible.com choice of the month. You can get a free 30-day Audible trial and a free book by going to audibletrial.com/thesquadroom. Listen to Nick’s podcast Work on the Edge here on iTunes. Follow Nick on Instagram and Twitter @workontheedge Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @thesquadroom. Our website is thesquadroom.net