Bridget Truxillo, CEO and founder of Protective Wellness, is a former law enforcement officer from Florida and the first woman on the SWAT for her department. She shares her struggles and her triumphs. A brave soul, and a sincere soul to want to give back by providing help to LEOs through her wellness program at myprotectivewellness.com. Bridget is also licensed to practice law as a lawyer in Florida, New York and Texas. She will help you with legal issues and wants to empower LEOs with sound legal advice. She can be found on her social media platforms, Instagram @protectivewelness and @bbtruxillo. An honor and privilege to have her as my guest. Thank you Bridget! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Lead Instructor for Calibre Press, Kelly DeVoll joins me on this episode. Kelly’s Law Enforcement career is impressive but more importantly his passion to better the profession through his training and instructing is more impressive. Kelly is a 30 plus year retired Lieutenant and has held various positions from patrolman, to swat supervisor , to command staff level program supervisor. Kelly has taught and instructed innumerable Law Enforcement officers across the United Stated and Canada, and has been instructing since 1992. Wisdom oozes off of this seasoned veteran of law enforcement, and he delves into his training topics, and gets honest with the failures of the profession as well ( yes! He gives possible solutions to the failures). A truly enjoyable and insightful conversation and I’m honored as always. You can find Kelly at https://calibrepress.com/instructor-home-page-2022/00-lt-kelly-devoll-2022/ , and I highly recommend taking training from Calibre Press ( https://calibrepress.com/ ). --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Jimmie Wright, a 28 year Law Enforcement veteran, joins me on this episode. Jimmie has unique skill sets that come from being on a unique and elite unit, SWAT Team Lead for NASA, for over 16 years. Jimmie delves into many topics: his own life; his SWAT career, and issues with younger Law Enforcement Officers in modern day policing. Jimmie is also an entrepreneur and weapons designer. He holds three patents on accessories for rifles, and also is the creator and founder of Cicada Tactical (https://cicadatactical.com/ ). Go check Jimmie out on Instagram under Cicada Tactical or @jimmiewright. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Brian Gaydos, a recently retired Lieutenant from a Metropolitan DC area police department joins me on this episode. I’m honored to have him back on the podcast and honored to call him a brother and friend. True leadership in my opinion is shown through innate actions and rarely have I seen leadership taught. In working with Brian in my own career I admired his leadership capabilities therefore why I chose to speak about Col. Glover John’s Principles of Soldiering , which equates to leadership. We tackle all 15 principles and the application or lack of application of the leadership points by anecdotes from our own lives and careers. Lieutenant Brian Gaydos has served in many roles in his career and truly is a leader that’s made up of the principles talked about in this podcast. Reference: Book by Glover Johns “The Clay Pigeons of St Lo”. As a leader of any rank in any department or agency , or private sector , or your own household, I challenge you to take an honest look at yourself as you listen to the leadership points brought up in this episode. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Ken Frownfelter, a 15 year Police Officer who’s held positions as a Patrol Officer, Traffic Officer, SWAT operator, Crime prevention Officer (public education), Field Training Officer, DT instructor, Use of Force instructor, Citizen Police Academy Intsructor, and has recently accepted the position of School Resource Officer; joins me on this episode. Ken gets vulnerable on his life and his career; and the motivation to start his own podcast called “The What’s Hero Podcast”. It can be heard on all major streaming platforms. What is your definition of a hero and why? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Andrew Einstein , a Marine Corps Veteran and a 14 year Law Enforcement Officer in the great state of New Jersey joins me on this episode. Andrew talks about his critical incident while on deployment and how coming back to “regular” life he struggled mightily, to the point of planning his own suicide. We talk about how a dog can save your life, which in Andrew’s case his dog Gunner did. Andrew is sharing his story to help others who may be in the same headspace or situation as he once was. Take a listen and reach out if you or someone you know is in need of help. Check out Andrew’s story on https://jerseymanmagazine.com/surviving-until-tuesday/ . We also talk about the book “Tribe” written by Sebastian Junger. This book is an amazing read that delves into the importance of community and how the community becomes stronger in the times of crisis and/or war. (Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging https://www.amazon.com/dp/1455566381/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_RV0KFNKYDXP39QBBD560 ) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Bill Woolf (Can be found on LinkedIn) a proven expert in all facets of criminal justice with specific focus on gangs and human trafficking. Bill talks about his earlier motivations on becoming a police officer and delves into his career. Bill has seen the horrors of gangs, specifically MS13 , and how they recruit and traffic young girls. We also talk about human trafficking and what the myths and reality are about it. Bill’s resume is impressive and shows his passion for helping human trafficking victims and combating those criminal elements who traffic humans. Bill has been in the Law Enforcement profession for over 15 years, as a patrolman, to a gang detective , Federal Task Force Officer, and an adjunct professor. Most importantly, Bill has worked in high levels of the federal government in relation to combating human trafficking and also has his own non profit organization, Anti-Trafficking International (ATI) (preventht.org). He is also the CEO and founder of The Woolf Group (thewoolfgroup.com). Bill is truly an expert and I was honored to have this conversation with him. If you or someone you know may be the victim of human trafficking please contact me, or get in touch with Bill Woolf for help. Most importantly please call 911 before anything ! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

“Bitch! Get up!” Is what one brave and resilient officer told herself during her own officer involved shooting. Lindsay McCall Long, a 17 year veteran of Law Enforcement, Retired Police Officer, a mother , a wife , and a daughter talks about her critical incident. She bravely talks about the incident itself, and how it affected her mentally, physically and her family life. Lindsay was medically retired , but continues to provide peer support to those LEOs in need. She’s also a public speaker and shares her story of resilience and courage at Law Enforcement National conferences. A must listen and an example of great fortitude. Thank you Lindsay! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Logan Campbell, of @littlehollowlife and @thedoubleedgedlife on Instagram joins me on this episode. Logan is no stranger to law enforcement. He grew up in a law enforcement family and he himself sacrificed his life to serve the community as well. With over 30 years of family and personal experience in law enforcement, Logan talks about his reasons for leaving the Law Enforcement profession and going into the private sector. He also shedded light on the meaning of the quote, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”- by Maya Angelou. Logan is authentic and steadfast in leaving a profession that at times holds vulnerability as weakness. Logan is a strong advocate for mental health and explains how therapy helped him immediately after a critical incident. I was honored (as I am with all my guests ) to have Logan on. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Father and daughter, Michael and Katherine Boyle join me on this episode . Katherine is the daughter of a retired Law Enforcement Lieutenant. Katherine started a support group and online community to help LEOs find a positive outlet and support network. The influences of how successful her father was in work/life balance was an inspiration for the development of her online community, The Courageous One’s. Michael Boyle is a 30- year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, having spent 25 years in the Detective Bureau and 20 years with the Special Victims Unit (SVU). He retired from the Philadelphia Police Department as a lieutenant in charge of the child abuse section of the SVU. He has personally overseen and supervised thousands of sexual assault investigations and was instrumental in developing a collaborative relationship between police and advocacy groups, including Women Organized Against Rape, the Women's Law Project and the Philadelphia Children's Alliance. He graduated from Hahnemann Medical College, School of Allied Health Professions with a Bachelor of Science degree in mental health technology in 1974. Katherine and “The Courageous Ones” can be found and followed on Instagram @thecourageousones. The dynamic of having father and daughter on the show was awesome and I’m so thankful for the opportunity. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support

Brendan Gardiner, a Marine Corps and Law Enforcement Veteran joins me on this episode. He’s served in many roles throughout his career ; from being a big city police officer with the San Francisco PD to now being a Federal Law Enforcement Instructor training the future officers/agents of law enforcement. Brendan presents his view of the problem with leadership in local agencies and also delves into the leadership qualities he admires most. Brendan is a leader himself by training new recruits but trains in the most humble way. With his decorated career he presents his own personal life openly which lends great to engaging with those he trains. Thank you for sharing your story and voice Brendan Gardiner. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brownieinblue/support