PODCAST: “Helping Police Officers stay alive and thriving” with Scott Medlin | THE INTERVIEW ROOM | Episode 045
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“Helping Police Officers stay alive and thriving” with Scott Medlin | THE INTERVIEW ROOM | Episode 045
Meet this Weeks Guest: Scott Medlin
Scott Medlin is a United States Marine Corps veteran who went on to a career of nearly fifteen years in law enforcement. In 2020, Scott began his journey to inspire and encourage police officers to be fulfilled, and excel, by focusing on their personal wellbeing in order to survive the career and better serve the public.
Scott has spoken openly about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and depression. Scott is a relatable and dynamic speaker, author, and content creator, and has presented at numerous first responder conferences and police academies. His work has also been featured on major platforms including Police1, Law Enforcement Today, top ranked police podcasts, and much more. You can follow Scott on the YouTube channel, The 10 Code Mindset.
Show Notes from This Episode
The On The Blue Line Podcast and Community has the mission of Empowering Cops in their personal lives and educating the public on the realities of law enforcement. This law enforcement podcast is focused on providing concepts, ideas, and actionable steps that can make a difference in your life. The morning roll call is a weekly monologue show with Wayne Mulder. The Interview Room podcast is an interview style format hosted by Wayne Mulder.
Go Deeper:
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Step 3: Join the On The Blue Line Community on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onthebluelinecommunity
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Topics we discuss:
Mindset.
Meditation
Mental Health
Physical Health
Total Health
Post-Traumatic Stress
Trauma
Trauma Response
CONNECT with Scott:
WEBSITE: https://thescottmedlin.com
YOUTUBE: The10CodeMindset
TWITTER: @ScottMedlin13
LINKEDIN: Scott-Medlin
BOOKS by Scott:
Mental Health Fight of the Heroes in Blue by Scott Medlin.
101 Useful Tips for Rookie Police Officers: Be safe, stay healthy, perform great by Scott Medlin.
Truths beyond the Police Academy by Scott Medlin.
RESOURCES mentioned:
· MOVIE: Wrist Lock: The Martial Arts’ Influence on Police Use of Force.
· BOOK: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth by T. Harv Eker.
· BOOK: Millionaire Success Habits: The Gateway to Wealth and Prosperity by Dean Graziosi
· APPS | Meditation: https://www.pauseapp.com
· APPS | Meditation: https://www.balanceapp.com
· APPS | Meditation: https://www.calm.com/
· APPS | Meditation: https://www.headspace.com
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On The Blue Line was founded and is operated by active-duty law enforcement to fulfill the mission of providing guidance, resources and community for law enforcement officers, first responders, and military personal in their off-duty lives.
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TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE. Please note this is a new service we are offering and there will be spelling, grammar and accuracy issues. This transcription is offered as a convenience to our listeners, but at this time it is not guaranteed to be accurate.
00:00:12:23 - 00:00:30:16
Wayne Mulder
Welcome everybody to the On the Blue Line podcast. I am your host, Wayne Mulder, and I'm excited to be back with you again this week in another exciting The Interview room in here, I get to sit down with different guests from all walks of life, and this week is no different. Let me tell you just a little bit about this week's guest, Scott Medlin.
00:00:30:16 - 00:00:58:10
Wayne Mulder
He was in the United States Marine Corps. He then spent 15 years in law enforcement. And in 2020, he began his journey to inspire and encourage police officers to be fulfilled and excel by focusing on their personal well-being in order to survive the career and better serve the public. You know, that's exactly what the goal of On the Blue Line is essentially as well, which is so awesome that there's so many people out there doing exactly this kind of thing to help our law enforcement officers out there on the front lines each and every day.
00:00:58:10 - 00:01:17:09
Wayne Mulder
So I don't want to take too much more time. He's been on a lot of major platforms. It really go check out his YouTube channel. It is ten code mindset and I guarantee you that you're going to enjoy it. So without taking any more time, here's this week's guest, Scott, the well. Scott, welcome to the show.
00:01:18:04 - 00:01:19:23
Scott Medlin
Oh, it's my honor to be here, Wayne. Thank you.
00:01:20:05 - 00:01:28:03
Wayne Mulder
I'm so glad we could make this happen. I've had the privilege of watching some of the stuff you've been putting out on social media, so I'm excited to have this conversation out.
00:01:28:05 - 00:01:33:09
Scott Medlin
Well, thank you. And I mean a lot. You've been watching the stuff I've put on social media and hopefully you find it inspirational as well.
00:01:33:18 - 00:01:43:16
Wayne Mulder
I certainly do. And I know the listeners will as well. But. Right, look, let me start with the easy questions, right? These are the softballs I got to throw out in the beginning. So is it coffee or tea, sir?
00:01:43:22 - 00:01:45:06
Scott Medlin
Coffee.
00:01:45:06 - 00:01:49:01
Wayne Mulder
That is the right answer, in my opinion. I'm amazed how many.
00:01:49:10 - 00:01:54:18
Scott Medlin
People say I'm drinking tea. I'm drinking green tea right now, but I always start the day with coffee.
00:01:54:18 - 00:02:07:05
Wayne Mulder
That's awesome. Actually, I don't think anyone has actually said coffee while drinking tea before, so that's great. Do you have a favorite place to have that drink? Like a place that just kind of gives you a little respite and a place to start the day?
00:02:07:13 - 00:02:32:03
Scott Medlin
Oh yeah. And I highly value a morning routine to prime my mind and body and get away from all distractions so that I can set myself up to have a better day or at least read a lot better. So long answer to your short question. There is a yeah in the guest bedroom in my house. I'll, I'll, I'll wake up early, make the coffee, bring it upstairs after having one big glass of water and then sip away while reading and stuff like that.
00:02:32:03 - 00:02:36:11
Wayne Mulder
And I find that's true with most coffee drinkers there. They like that routine in the morning, so.
00:02:36:18 - 00:02:38:05
Scott Medlin
Oh, absolutely, yeah. Yeah.
00:02:38:18 - 00:02:40:18
Wayne Mulder
Do you have a best or worst travel story?
00:02:41:05 - 00:03:04:18
Scott Medlin
What comes to mind first is surprisingly good. I actually won a sweepstakes back in 2011. I was on patrol, I was working day shift and I heard on Ryan Seacrest radio, hey, call in this number and you can win a chance to see U2 in concert any any location in the country, two locations for any two concerts. And I call my wife and I said I said, hey, hey, enter this sweepstakes for me.
00:03:04:18 - 00:03:24:08
Scott Medlin
She's like, you're not going to win it. So she called reluctantly, and then two weeks later, I get a call saying, Hey, you, you're the winner. So yeah, in June of 2011, I got to travel for free and get in, do two concerts for free from California to Baltimore. And I it was great. That was the best travel story.
00:03:24:13 - 00:03:29:04
Scott Medlin
Hopefully I can do more of that in the future. But that that was a lifelong memory right there.
00:03:29:13 - 00:03:50:22
Wayne Mulder
That is awesome. Yeah, we it's funny you say that. I'd actually my wife when we lived in Indiana, went through a stage where I don't know if if it was just where we were in the phone lines. Of course, this is pre self. I mean, cell phones existed, but nobody owned them. But, you know, it was during that era and we got fortunate to that's how we saw Clapton in one of the major cities nearby.
00:03:51:00 - 00:03:52:12
Wayne Mulder
Yeah. So that's that's awesome.
00:03:52:22 - 00:03:53:15
Scott Medlin
Outstanding.
00:03:54:15 - 00:03:58:17
Wayne Mulder
Do you have a favorite nonfiction, modern book nonfiction?
00:03:58:17 - 00:04:00:09
Scott Medlin
This is me repeating your question.
00:04:00:09 - 00:04:01:17
Wayne Mulder
Given my brain. Well, and I know I think.
00:04:01:17 - 00:04:02:10
Scott Medlin
About which one.
00:04:03:12 - 00:04:06:20
Wayne Mulder
Yeah. So to clarify as to that question, I understand that.
00:04:07:02 - 00:04:22:14
Scott Medlin
Right, right. No, I do. I've read over the last four years, I've really made it a point to read a lot more in life because I find that it helps us be more adaptable and flexible to stressors that come our way. But one book that stood out and it's hard for me to read actually, I get distracted really easily.
00:04:22:14 - 00:04:37:23
Scott Medlin
But one book that kept my attention and I have read it at least three times is Millionaire Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by TR Vicar Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by TR Becker. An absolute game changer, and I have never looked at life the same ever since reading that book.
00:04:38:04 - 00:04:41:01
Wayne Mulder
Yeah, definitely. Check that out. That's one I actually haven't heard of before.
00:04:41:13 - 00:04:57:20
Scott Medlin
So let me I just sent it to a friend of mine who's kind of going through some challenges in life, and he he's right in it like he is. He is very much enjoying it. It's it's a terrific book. I recommend all police officers, anybody read that book because it can just shift your perspective and you focus on solutions, not problems.
00:04:57:20 - 00:05:06:09
Scott Medlin
And then as well as learn about finances, but not in a very confusing, overwhelming way. But it all starts with what's between the ears and he goes over it perfectly.
00:05:06:16 - 00:05:22:04
Wayne Mulder
Okay. Yeah, and you're right. Mindset is everything when it comes to what so many of us face in this career. So I will definitely link that up in the show notes for the listeners as well. So the last of these questions, what is that place that brings you the most peace kind of that favorite spot to stop, breathe and enjoy life.
00:05:23:05 - 00:05:45:24
Scott Medlin
Anywhere I can just get away from some noise and pray. I mean, it can be anywhere. I mean, I have found even when I was in Iraq in oh three and oh five, I would find quiet places even being over there just to pray. So that's that's where I can find peace. If I can drown out the temptations of the world, the distractions, the noise and negativity, and just pray I'm good no matter where it is.
00:05:46:16 - 00:06:03:13
Wayne Mulder
That's awesome. Yeah. And so important as well, which we'll get more into as we go through your story. So let's use that. You mentioned Iraq, but let's go ahead and start time with your origin story. It's my you served in the military, but wherever you want to start, maybe just tell us a little about a little bit about you and then what led you towards law enforcement?
00:06:03:24 - 00:06:25:09
Scott Medlin
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So a week after I graduated high school, I went to Paris Island, South Carolina, for boot camp, I mean, a week. So I joke around that my senior week was at the beach, but I didn't get to vacation at all. It was a Parris Island. So anyway, the plan was to go reserves and then do officer candidate school and then after college become a commissioned officer and go active in the Marines.
00:06:25:09 - 00:06:48:02
Scott Medlin
Well, my first day reporting back to the Marines after graduating from boot camp was September 11th, 2001, believe it or not. So we got off the bus at Camp Lejeune, and that was right after the first plane had hit the Trade Center. And I just remember thinking, like, I'm going to war somewhere anyway. So long story short, 23, 25 Iraq deployments.
00:06:48:02 - 00:07:02:19
Scott Medlin
And I and I kept law enforcement in my heart because I did I did an internship my senior year in high school with the hometown police department where I grew up. And I enjoyed it so much. And I mean, after the first ride along, I was hooked.
00:07:03:00 - 00:07:03:09
Wayne Mulder
Right.
00:07:03:23 - 00:07:21:12
Scott Medlin
After the deployments to Iraq. I also started dating my girlfriend, who is now my wife. And we've been married since 2010, but I didn't want to go through with the Marines, I wanted to go through with law enforcement. So I got at once the Reserves contract was done, I got out. Plus they were talking about maybe us going back a third time.
00:07:21:12 - 00:07:35:00
Scott Medlin
I was like and my, you know, my wife now girlfriend then said, I don't know if I can handle you being on a deployment. I said, okay, I'll get out. And then I graduated college and I went into law enforcement and my first I got sworn in and 27.
00:07:35:07 - 00:07:39:04
Wayne Mulder
Now was this PD or an S.O. or what kind of law enforcement.
00:07:39:04 - 00:07:58:08
Scott Medlin
Police department, police department of about 80,000 people at the time in the city. And then the department was about 170 something sworn. I mean, they're getting close to 200 now. So I work there for most of my law enforcement career and enjoyed it very much. Did did a regular patrol K-9 and school resource officer.
00:07:58:17 - 00:08:06:20
Wayne Mulder
Okay. How many years did you do SRO? That's what I was going to ask is, well, maybe what you kind of specialize in, because we all seemed to find a path at some point, right?
00:08:07:02 - 00:08:31:17
Scott Medlin
SRO was excellent. They totally I guess by accident is the phrase you could say I was working canine and that was what I felt. My calling was. That's what I felt drawn to. And that was a dream come true to get that assignment. But unfortunately, Wayne, I let it become my identity. And I was I was becoming the canine officer and I was not a president, husband nor father at home because the job was me.
00:08:32:06 - 00:08:51:08
Scott Medlin
And anyway, my wife, my wife said like, you either have me or you pick this job and I'm not going to lose her over a career. Forget it. So I went to the administration. I said, I'm in a tough spot. And they said, Well, you can work in the schools. We have an opening. So I did that for oh, pretty much I think like three years.
00:08:51:08 - 00:08:57:12
Scott Medlin
Yeah. I was in the schools as a middle school, high school, and then I did the alternative school for about a year and a half.
00:08:57:22 - 00:09:05:01
Wayne Mulder
Wow. Was it the hours and the training portion of K nine that kind of created the home struggle?
00:09:05:01 - 00:09:27:15
Scott Medlin
Or it was the hours, it was the fact that I felt more purpose in life doing Kanan and not so much the husband and father thing. There's really damaging, really bad mentality, but also the obviously when when there would potentially be a violent incident or they needed to find someone who was high risk fugitive or whatever the case is.
00:09:27:15 - 00:09:46:23
Scott Medlin
Obviously, you call the Kanan and don't get me wrong, I enjoyed that stuff. Right. But the frustration and the adrenaline dampened the emotions and the thoughts and the memories were just coming home with me. And I would get bitter, I would get angry. I wouldn't be present at all when I was home and she had had enough of it and the signs were there.
00:09:46:23 - 00:09:59:22
Scott Medlin
Looking back, the signs were there. But you know, me and a lot of other police officers, we're fine, we're good. And we believe that and we're not doing good. And so anyway, that was that's how that transpired.
00:09:59:22 - 00:10:20:15
Wayne Mulder
Well, I like one of the things that you're very open about is speaking about trauma and some of the things and how they really bothered you when you were out there. And I think sometimes I know with myself and with other officers that I talked to, I've been doing this about 11 years. And when I talk to other law enforcement officers, this is one of the things, as you know, you go to these things, you see different things.
00:10:21:06 - 00:10:31:02
Wayne Mulder
But like you said, you just want to say you're fine or you're like, well, this can't bother me because if so, then I'm not doing my job correctly. Yeah, but you feel very candidly about that. Could you take us there?
00:10:31:15 - 00:10:58:06
Scott Medlin
Well, you feel like it's a character flaw or you're weak. I get it. I've been there. I'm not on the job anymore. For now, who knows what the future holds? But when I was going through it, death was what bothered me the most, particularly when I would see successful suicides. And we know how it is. We get the images or the events in our heads and then it plays on repeat over and over and over again too, which do not fight that.
00:10:58:06 - 00:11:26:10
Scott Medlin
That is a human reaction and we are all human. What I didn't know and what I wish would have been taught, told to me or taught in the police academy when I first started, was you have these thoughts and these thoughts when you particularly think about them, first person are going to create an emotion. Now, obviously a negative thought will create a negative emotion and emotions essentially form who you are because you act a lot.
00:11:26:10 - 00:11:47:24
Scott Medlin
A lot of what we do is act out of emotion. And then our emotions have results and they're not always good, right? So basically, we have to understand the power of our thoughts. We can't be thinking about a traumatic incident that we encountered on the job and be happy and grateful. They don't coexist. They just don't. So it's a matter of getting control of our thoughts.
00:11:47:24 - 00:12:04:08
Scott Medlin
It's a matter of of being active and coping and admitting that we're human. I always say when I speak or when I teach, I say we have to acknowledge and we have to be aware and then we have to take massive action, because if we don't, this job can suck us in, chew us up and spit us right back out.
00:12:05:05 - 00:12:16:07
Scott Medlin
And we're changed in a bad way or bad things have happened to us in our lives because of the decisions we made, all because we didn't actively cope with the negative thoughts and emotions that come from the job.
00:12:16:23 - 00:12:33:20
Wayne Mulder
Yeah. No, that's super important. I was going to get to it a little bit later, but when you talk about massive action, like does it always one of the pushbacks you get when you get in these kind of conversations with law enforcement is, well, there's this thing, I have to go talk to somebody. Does this mean I have to you know what?
00:12:34:02 - 00:12:44:21
Wayne Mulder
Can you unpack that a little bit? And some of the concerns that we get when people talk about when you talk about massive action, are we talking, hey, you've got to go into therapy and talk to somebody or is this something the individual can do on their own?
00:12:45:24 - 00:13:01:15
Scott Medlin
Just speaking for my experience and trust me, I'm not a know it all. I'm just someone who never thought I would have to be treated for depression and addiction. Post-Traumatic stress disorder as well as I never thought I'd be that person or that husband that had to hear my wife say, it's either me or the job like all that.
00:13:01:15 - 00:13:31:23
Scott Medlin
None of this was on purpose. And I know there's no cops to become alcoholics on purpose, none of this. So when I say take action, it depends on a case by case situation, where if you go ahead and implement good habits of mental and physical priming and and spiritual priming in your lives during the job, and you consistently seek to grow as a person and not just take on this survival, get through life mentality, then, yeah, you stand a better chance of coming out all right in the end.
00:13:32:08 - 00:13:51:20
Scott Medlin
But if you are reacting to something and it's bothering you in such a bad way that none of the morning routines or working out or hanging out with friends outside of law enforcement is helping. Then there's nothing wrong with getting help. I can tell you right now I got help all throughout my lows, throughout my career. And it wasn't weakness.
00:13:51:20 - 00:13:57:23
Scott Medlin
It was a good decision. And some people say, well, why can't you just suck it up and deal with it? That was me dealing with it. I was reaching out for help.
00:13:58:08 - 00:13:59:16
Wayne Mulder
So that is.
00:13:59:16 - 00:14:16:22
Scott Medlin
Also what the good thing is. I have reached out for help on my own. The department never knew about it, but I also reached out for help because I didn't want the department to get to know about it because I was acting malignant or belligerent or emotional in a bad way that could affect my job performance, thus in turn hurt the public.
00:14:16:22 - 00:14:43:10
Scott Medlin
So I recommend if something's bothering you and you're on, that you got that hamster wheel effect going on where you're running and running and running mentally and you're just emotionally exhausted. Yeah. Go get assistance. Research, research, good therapists. And I say do good research because I had one that was like she didn't even know my name. When the appointment started, I said, This person clearly is just out of it, but any other time I got it, it just felt good.
00:14:43:17 - 00:14:58:23
Scott Medlin
Like it felt great. I walked out the door at the end of the appointment and I had a little less weight on my shoulders and more clarity in my mind to think a lot better. So I it's a case by case thing, but if you need to go get the professional assistance, it's worth it. All of it.
00:14:59:16 - 00:15:20:05
Wayne Mulder
I'm so glad you said that. I was actually just involved in a meeting yesterday and it went down these lines that we weren't specifically discussing mental health. We were going down the road of other vices and stuff that come along, such as like alcoholism and so forth. Yeah. But in that conversation, this was exactly kind of what we were talking about and almost exactly what you said.
00:15:20:05 - 00:15:40:18
Wayne Mulder
Where what do we do to make sure people are seeking help before this affects their job, before it becomes a problem? And we kind of went through a laundry list of people that we knew that were tragic stories, that if if they would have went down the road that was open to them, either seeking help on their own or through, you know, an agency or something.
00:15:41:07 - 00:16:04:19
Wayne Mulder
We could have avoided what ended up being a tragic story of them losing their career or losing whatever. So that's so important that I think sometimes there's a stigma associated with, well, if I can seek out help that I'm weak, but would you? That's not true. But would you rather at that point be known for, Hey, I sought help or be the person who ends up being the subject of, you know, well, this person is no longer here because of that.
00:16:05:04 - 00:16:21:22
Scott Medlin
Leadership's got to step up. I mean, I in my opinion, leadership has got to step up. It has got to be a thing. We're in roll call. You talk about here's a resource. We know you, you men and women here are affected by what you see. You're human. We see things our brains are not innately wired to say.
00:16:22:02 - 00:16:41:04
Scott Medlin
So here, here are some resources. And then they can. And then they need to open up personally about how they're doing. I'm not saying they need to put themselves in a position where they're at lose like a credibility, I guess. But come on. I think if a leader came in and said, I'm not going to lie. Last year I was seen because we went to this call and that critical incident and it affected me.
00:16:41:04 - 00:16:56:10
Scott Medlin
So I went and got help. I can't tell you how much it helped me and I encourage each and every one of you do the same. I'm here for you to support you. If you decide to go get such help, leadership's just got to shift the conversation like bottom line, because it starts there and then it can roll downhill and it doesn't have to be crap.
00:16:58:05 - 00:17:17:07
Wayne Mulder
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. Then the good thing is, of course, it's a lot of retired guys, but the conversations I'm having with people in coming out of the law enforcement profession, I'm hearing more and more these things. So I'm hoping that it starts to because I'm still currently employed, hoping to stay that way and it's always a goal.
00:17:17:07 - 00:17:17:22
Wayne Mulder
Right. You know.
00:17:19:14 - 00:17:20:03
Scott Medlin
I don't have.
00:17:20:03 - 00:17:36:05
Wayne Mulder
A lot of goals right now, but that's one of them. But in all seriousness, I'm starting to have more and more of this conversation and this is awesome that more and more people are seeing that when you left law enforcement, was it then to start what you're doing now or what was that transition like for you?
00:17:36:19 - 00:18:01:00
Scott Medlin
No, I was still on the job 2017, 2018, when I when I was out of all I mean, I was just out alone mentally. That's right. After I gave up K-9 and, you know, it was an identity crisis. So I sank, completely sank. But then November of 2018, after a year of just being in the pit mentally, I read a book, Millionaire Success Habits by Degrassi O.C. because I was like, I just can't keep this going.
00:18:01:00 - 00:18:27:24
Scott Medlin
I mean, just because I gave up K9 doesn't mean my marriage was starting to flourish. Heck, no. We were we were still struggling because I hadn't found who I was, you know. And so anyway, I read that book and the light bulb just came on. I said, we have this mentality in law enforcement of go to work, survive the shift, go home, raise a family, and when you retire, that's when you can be that's when you can live in the in the prosperous land.
00:18:28:01 - 00:18:53:09
Scott Medlin
You know, that's when you can be happier. I'll be happy when I'll be happy with wrong mentality. Yeah. We need to overall work on growth mindset as people and trust me, I mean, we're going to have ups and downs. I'm not perfect by any means. I make mistakes, but I think the mentality has to shift from a survival mindset to growth and as well as knock off the tough guy, tough gal schtick.
00:18:53:09 - 00:19:13:23
Scott Medlin
I mean, we're human, just knock it off. So I started that my later years in law enforcement and then this this year back in the spring, I had to let go of the job completely because we were we moved to another state. And my wife and I agree that it'd be better if I just stay at home and and eventually I will start working again somewhere.
00:19:14:09 - 00:19:31:23
Scott Medlin
But for right now, I'm a stay at home dad if I'm not out teaching and speaking to cops. And that seems to be working right now for our family and always put the family first. So many cops say they don't do it. I'm encouraging you. It's always worth it because your family's there. When you leave the department, they're not going to follow up with you, but your family will be right there with you.
00:19:31:23 - 00:19:55:12
Wayne Mulder
It's so true. And yeah, I love how you're talking about that mindset of waiting until later. In fact, it's ironic that I literally had this conversation as part of the broader conversation I was alluding to yesterday, and that was one of the things I talked about, because on a recent morning roll call, I spoke about this whole idea of waiting until retirement when depending on when they come into the career, the statistics are not on your side.
00:19:55:12 - 00:20:07:05
Wayne Mulder
Now, granted, we hope that between health and so forth, but I believe it's 12 years law enforcement is 12 years less than the general population of life expectancy, which I'm sure that started a little bit.
00:20:07:05 - 00:20:27:09
Scott Medlin
But yep, and I'll give a plug or shout out whatever to my friend Jason Harney, a retired Las Vegas police sergeant. He just released a documentary, Wristlock, in which we have to re-imagine the culture for health and wellness, but also defensive tactics. But they put that statistic up there that the average life expectancy of a police officer who does a full career is 57 years old.
00:20:27:20 - 00:20:36:13
Scott Medlin
And the average life expectancy of just a normal citizen who's not in our line of work, 77 years old, that's 20 years. That's insane.
00:20:36:18 - 00:21:01:04
Wayne Mulder
It is. And it's something that has to change. So one of the things you do, you have a YouTube Channel ten called Mindset, and you talk about one of the things that I really like about it is some of the practical advice that you give. So what kind of get you going down that road? And so like you talk about things as simple as police reports or the comfortable boots or, you know, why do these things matter and why do you can't go down that road?
00:21:01:11 - 00:21:16:22
Scott Medlin
Two years prior to leaving law enforcement, I kind of knew it was coming just because it was going to work out better for one of us, either me or my wife, to be home with the boys. And since it doesn't take much to earn more money than a cop, she was the one earning more money. I stayed home.
00:21:16:22 - 00:21:40:08
Scott Medlin
But anyway, so. But I wanted to continue to work with law enforcement. And I. I figured, you know what? Let me take what I've learned and put it out there on YouTube for as many to find out. Now, I don't obviously say everything. I mean, there are some things that like certain tactics, we need to be trained in house, but practical information for those who want to get in the profession, those who are in the profession.
00:21:40:20 - 00:21:56:00
Scott Medlin
Yeah, I like the YouTube channel because I give practical stuff so far as police topics, but also what I've learned through experience and writing my books about mental and physical wellness. And it's been it's been one heck of a journey, I can say.
00:21:56:04 - 00:22:14:10
Wayne Mulder
Yeah, I would definitely encourage any of the listeners. I have a quite a few that are either in the academy or coming into the profession early on, and I would encourage you to check out everything will be in the show notes, of course, but ten code mindset on YouTube because there's practical advice. It's huge and there's even little things you can learn for those of us who've been in the career for a period of time.
00:22:14:10 - 00:22:25:14
Wayne Mulder
So it's definitely pretty neat and you kind of touched on it earlier, but you use this term warrior socialization as something that is kind of a negative context. What what is that? And how do we combat it?
00:22:25:20 - 00:22:42:11
Scott Medlin
There's a time and place to be that warrior mindset when you're in the fight for your life with some suspect who decided to jump on a traffic stop. I get it. You got to have that warrior mentality. But this warrior mentality of I'm unfazed. I'm not human. I'm tough, tough, superman, superwoman, whatever. We got to let that go.
00:22:42:14 - 00:23:04:05
Scott Medlin
We have to acknowledge we're human and and we're affected by what we see because our brains seek protection. It's going to look for the negatives. Like that's the brains job. All in an effort to protect you is to seek the negative. So darn, that stinks for cops because we're already exposed to more negative than the average person will ever be exposed to.
00:23:04:09 - 00:23:23:13
Scott Medlin
And then you have this brain of ours that is still wired for the caveman days where it's seeking protection all the darn time the warrior mentality gets in the way, where we don't want to acknowledge that human aspect. And I'm speaking from experience, it damaged me to a point where my career took a huge turn and not in a good way.
00:23:24:02 - 00:23:44:01
Scott Medlin
I just don't want other cops to get this thing where I'm fine. I'm tough. It's tough. Really even exist innately. I mean, it's a good question. Question I posed in Mental Health Fight to the Heroes in Blue, my very first book. So that's that's kind of it in a nutshell which then obviously expand on it in the book that I wrote back in 2020.
00:23:44:21 - 00:23:56:13
Wayne Mulder
And I'm glad you touched on that because you've got actually four different books, right? So the first one is the mental health fight of the Heroes in Blue. So is that one essentially it goes down a little bit further down this path that we're talking about.
00:23:57:06 - 00:24:27:05
Scott Medlin
It does. I wrote that book because I didn't know until I was 12 years on the job that more cops were dying by suicide. Now that that bothered me. Now I know this is not some new phenomenon. It's been going on for years. But why 12 years into the job and not know it and then I, I mean I'm 12 years on and that's when I learned for the first time like it that enraged me and I said, well, if it's obviously an undermined under mentioned threat to which that was two years ago, I think that a lot of cops, a lot more cops know about it now.
00:24:27:16 - 00:24:48:15
Scott Medlin
But do we take it that seriously? I don't think so. So it's it's one of those where I was like, I got to do my part to help bring this number down. It's like, God slap me in the back of the head, said, write a book. I just I just said, Well, I will take what I've learned through years of going through the the psychologist office and then also do some research and write a book.
00:24:48:15 - 00:24:49:20
Scott Medlin
And that's that's what started that.
00:24:50:01 - 00:25:16:02
Wayne Mulder
So glad you did. And yeah you're right it even coming this year myself, even right up to starting this podcast in 2019, I had no idea that, you know, you hear these statistics, you see them online or whatever. Maybe you follow someone on LinkedIn and you see what they post. But I didn't even really realize for a month after I started the podcast and then it hit close to home and we lost an officer in my actual district to suicide that I realized.
00:25:16:02 - 00:25:33:04
Wayne Mulder
And then that kind of became the why for this podcast that really anyone who's heard the whole story, that's a lot of why we do what we do. And since then, unfortunately, the agency's lost another officer to suicide. So this is something we're quite I'm quite passionate about. And it's something that is absolutely so needed, is when we talk about officers and mental health.
00:25:33:04 - 00:25:46:08
Wayne Mulder
The other thing you said that I think it's so funny, it's kind of like the old cliche when the pastor when when you go to the pastor and you're like, hey, someone needs to do this. And he's like, okay, God's calling you. That's kind of the way it was with your story. You're writing this book. It's like, Hey, someone needs to do this.
00:25:46:08 - 00:25:48:24
Wayne Mulder
Well, thank you. You're the right man for the job.
00:25:49:23 - 00:25:54:08
Scott Medlin
Yeah, that's a good way to put it. And heard that.
00:25:54:08 - 00:26:04:18
Wayne Mulder
So you got three other books. Tell us a little bit about those 101 health tips, truth beyond and Useful Tips. So can you walk us through kind of what the readers and listeners can expect if they come across those books?
00:26:05:02 - 00:26:26:11
Scott Medlin
Absolutely. Let me just back up just a little bit. Mental health. A lot of the heroes in blue talks more about how our brain reacts to the trauma. And then I presented a few solutions as to how we can go about helping ourselves. But after I got done writing that first book, I thought, You know what? There are a ton more solutions out there for us to optimize our mental, physical, spiritual and social well-being.
00:26:26:11 - 00:26:50:03
Scott Medlin
So I wrote 101 health tips for police officers, and obviously it goes well beyond police officers, but it's more geared towards law enforcement in the sense of shift work and being exposed to toxicity within the workplace and how you can essentially even exercise to help your mindset. I mean, a lot of people think about physical benefits of exercising.
00:26:50:03 - 00:27:11:02
Scott Medlin
No, it actually releases chemicals that help battled depression. So that's another reason why we should do it. And I wrote that book and it has been very well received that there was a bulk order done earlier this month and I was like, Wow. And through Amazon, I don't know who made the order, but it was like, Wow. So that book's been very well-received.
00:27:11:02 - 00:27:31:12
Scott Medlin
Awesome. And then and then I wrote Troops Beyond the Police Academy, where I just wish there were certain things told to me at the academy that weren't said. So I wrote that book for the person going through the academy, or one who just got out of it and saying, Look, you need to know more about teamwork. You need to know more about telling someone if you don't like the way they're doing something.
00:27:31:12 - 00:27:50:24
Scott Medlin
And a lot of that book is written from Mistakes I made. Yeah, so, but, but hey, there's people that make mistakes and keep on making them. And then there's people that make mistakes, learn from them, and do their best not to make them again. And then the most recent book, 101, Useful Tips for Rookie Police Officers. I mean, obviously, the title speaks for itself.
00:27:50:24 - 00:28:11:03
Scott Medlin
It's a very challenging time to work in law enforcement right now, and I miss working in law enforcement. So I figured I might as well still be a training officer as best I can be in some form or fashion. And I put that book out there. It's a quick read, but it's packed. And I already know of a patrol supervisor who bought it for his team or at least the newer officers.
00:28:11:03 - 00:28:34:01
Scott Medlin
And there's a chief who buys it for his new hires that he gets at his department. So it's helpful. But it's not just a reading. It's there's actual practical applications in the back where you can write down and through and become better through self-awareness and writing down what you learned and what you can do better. And also writing down things you're grateful for which can helps keep you in a positive mindset.
00:28:34:15 - 00:28:38:04
Scott Medlin
We're in an environment we're going to be exposed to plenty of negativity.
00:28:38:10 - 00:29:04:00
Wayne Mulder
Well, and I love even the point that you're bringing up there, how important gratitude is when it comes to mindset, because I think that's something that gets lost. In fact, I've been working on a Thanksgiving special, and that's kind of one of the key things that I'm talking about is how important this concept of gratitude is, why, when it comes to practical application, do you have I know you mentioned like a morning routine.
00:29:04:00 - 00:29:08:19
Wayne Mulder
Do you have any sort of quote unquote, gratitude practice? I know that's kind of a catch phrase. You hear these days.
00:29:09:10 - 00:29:26:14
Scott Medlin
Yeah, it's a very common practice. So write down things you're grateful for. When I got treated for depression, the psychologist said, Scott, you've been coming to me for months and I mean, he was quite honest when he said, I can only do so much for you. You are the one that's going to have to eventually change. And here's this exercise for you.
00:29:26:15 - 00:29:43:17
Scott Medlin
I don't know if you're ready for it, but I'm going to tell you to do it anyway. And he told me to write down 3 to 5 things that I was grateful for. At the end of the day, he said, You can't think about them. You can't say them. You have to write them down. And when you write it down, it it it in your mind that much more.
00:29:44:05 - 00:30:08:23
Scott Medlin
And after 30 days I started this think a lot better, more clear. And it really was the catapulting out of depression. And I continue to do that. Now I'm going to give another plug for another friend. I've got the rise of journal right here by my friend Casey Millington, and you can write what you're grateful for, but you can also write down what your intentions are for the day and what you're struggling with, what you're succeeding with.
00:30:09:12 - 00:30:28:07
Scott Medlin
And it's all self-awareness that can really help gain clarity in your mind and instill that sense of gratitude. Because overall in law enforcement, unfortunately, we get sucked in to so much negative, there's no gratitude. You can I've heard the phrase, you can hand a cop $1,000,000. No complain. It's not $1,000,001.
00:30:29:10 - 00:30:30:13
Wayne Mulder
There's a lot of truth to that.
00:30:31:00 - 00:30:50:21
Scott Medlin
Yeah. I mean, I don't like to bash this, but our mentalities are all wrong. I mean, and we and unfortunately, we get sucked into the I'll be happy win. I'll be happy when you have so much to be thankful for already and use the gratitude to open up the pathways for more blessings you can feel even more grateful for.
00:30:51:00 - 00:31:07:11
Scott Medlin
Because I remember thinking I'll be happy when I get when I get a better police car. Don't get me wrong, I needed a better police car. But I'll be happy when I get a better but. Come on now. I mean, was life that bad? So. Yeah. And then I got the car. It had 28 miles on it. It was brand new.
00:31:07:11 - 00:31:14:13
Scott Medlin
I loved it. But of course. What do you think happened after the newness wore off? Oh, there was something else to complain about because I was every.
00:31:14:13 - 00:31:14:19
Wayne Mulder
Time.
00:31:15:06 - 00:31:32:23
Scott Medlin
I was not practicing gratitude. This stuff is just like working out. You can't go to the gym once and be in the best shape of your life. You can't do it. You have to keep working out. Yup, gratitude is no different. If you don't take the time to implement it, then it's going to slip away. Remember, our brains seek out the negative.
00:31:32:23 - 00:31:40:01
Scott Medlin
I just wish we were taught this way more than what we are is if we are. And it would help a lot. Oh.
00:31:40:11 - 00:32:18:14
Wayne Mulder
It absolutely would. And it's so important. That's why what I love and what I was going through your stuff and preparing for this conversation today is I love the simplicity of it. Now, simple doesn't mean people are going to do it right, because that's the reason we as humans do too often don't do the very simple things that would help us, whether we're talking health and fitness, which again, the the combination or the link to that to mindset I talked about as well just in my own personal struggles and battle when it comes to it's a huge difference from where I am actively engaging in physical activity and my mental mindset with everything going on.
00:32:18:14 - 00:32:44:13
Wayne Mulder
So I think that's awesome. But you know, that's kind of the thing is these aren't, you know, earth shattering crazy concepts that no one's heard before. It's just being willing to take those daily actions that get us to the next step. And we see this cynicism in this career when you talk about introducing habits and strategies as a strong defense against trauma and other stressors, can you maybe give us one or two strategies that are actionable?
00:32:44:13 - 00:32:52:00
Wayne Mulder
I know we've talked about gratitude and we've talked about some other things, but is there like a hierarchy to these like you would say, this is the one I would start there.
00:32:52:05 - 00:33:21:22
Scott Medlin
I don't necessarily know about a hierarchy. I would say change your way of thinking because we've become what we think about. That's a that's a quote from Earl Knight. And Earl Nightingale. We become what we think about. So if you're going through an addiction, if you're going through alcoholism, if you're going through a bad marriage, if you're going through I mean, bad experience with coworkers, like how can you change your thinking to help you if you have a goal you want to achieve, how can your thinking change so that you can get closer to that goal?
00:33:21:22 - 00:33:45:21
Scott Medlin
How can your thinking help? Because our thoughts are so powerful. I didn't know this pretty much all throughout the career. I really didn't. And I know I talked about in the beginning the thoughts generate emotions. But seriously, if you put a thought towards working towards something, your brain actually has a filter called the reticular activating system. It will filter in sensory information that helps you be aware of what you want to put your focus on.
00:33:46:09 - 00:34:00:01
Scott Medlin
So if you want to focus on negative, oh, your brain is going to go to work for you, let me tell you and it'll pick up everything. But it can also work on the flip side of that and it can focus on what you want to what you want to earn, what you want to work towards to earn it.
00:34:00:10 - 00:34:33:01
Scott Medlin
So so the thoughts, the thoughts, the thoughts, the thoughts cannot say it enough. And when you have a thought of it. Well, let me let me back up. What helps with those thoughts? What has helped me with my thoughts was stop bashing it and get over my ego. And I started doing yoga and meditation really, and meditating. Meditating in particular, I found that there was more clarity, like I was thinking about things I wanted to do that I would never have thought about before because it's just this limited survival mindset.
00:34:33:01 - 00:35:00:19
Scott Medlin
But we're built on this earth to continuously grow. And not just get through. So have high goals that scare you, have, you know, think about things that scare the crap out of you and be, as David Goggins says, be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And meditation can help also reduce stress, help your sleep, help with the gratitude thing, reduce depression, all these things.
00:35:01:08 - 00:35:21:11
Scott Medlin
So I would recommend it now. I know, I know I hear cops all the time. I doing that crap, not doing it. Trust me. I was there, I was there, I was there. But after being in enough pain mentally, I had to do something. And just speaking from experience and many others, the greatest athletes that that we watch, they meditate.
00:35:22:01 - 00:35:43:17
Scott Medlin
They need clarity in their mind. And how many of them, when they take the winning shot, say, I saw that I saw myself doing that. You can see yourself doing things in your brain, goes to work to help you do it. I can't recommend meditation enough. So, so afford the time to meditate. And I'm not saying you have to do Chris sit criss cross applesauce for an hour, an hour and a half.
00:35:43:17 - 00:35:52:09
Scott Medlin
Heck, no. Start with a minute of just sitting with your eyes closed without any distractions around you. Just sit for a minute and it's going to feel like forever.
00:35:52:17 - 00:35:54:23
Wayne Mulder
Yeah. You're going to struggle with that first minute, by the way.
00:35:55:08 - 00:36:12:20
Scott Medlin
Yeah, you're going to. Oh, my God, you're going to struggle so much. But then just build from there. Just like going to the gym, you got to build your way into it. And then you kind of, you know, if you don't meditate in the morning, you'll get to that point where you don't know where you where you'll get to that point where you are like, I didn't meditate this morning.
00:36:12:20 - 00:36:28:20
Scott Medlin
Something's off it. It's amazing. It really is. Now, don't get me wrong, I could go on and on. I have a whole for our class where I talk about different ways we can cope with the trauma. But meditation is one of those that sticks out that I know a lot of police officers don't do right.
00:36:28:20 - 00:36:45:21
Wayne Mulder
And they all we always want to kick back. Even myself, before I started doing it, I would have people on the show like the yoga cop and some others that have been on the show. And we talk about this and there's always like this. Yeah, but I'm not really a yoga guy or I'm not really a meditation guy or, you know, whatever it is.
00:36:46:02 - 00:37:05:10
Wayne Mulder
And then, of course, being cops, we always go to the fire extreme too. It's like, Well, if I can't go sit on a mountain in Tibet, then you know, that's not what I'm going to do. So it's like, well, yeah, then that's probably never going to happen. That being said though, do you have a particular app or anything like that that you use or do you just kind of sit there in silence or what is your routine?
00:37:06:06 - 00:37:19:13
Scott Medlin
I just go on YouTube and I look up, you're meditation for calmness, meditation for anxiety, meditation for success, and there's plenty on there, plenty. And if I don't like one, I stop it immediately and go on to the next one.
00:37:20:02 - 00:37:27:24
Wayne Mulder
Perfect. Yep, yep, yep, yep. That's. And I've done the same with YouTube. And then there some good ones coming out as well as far as different apps. So I'll put some of those in the show.
00:37:27:24 - 00:37:36:00
Scott Medlin
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean I think a guy I know right now, he's using the calm app that there's headspace or something like that.
00:37:36:11 - 00:37:58:15
Wayne Mulder
But there's Headspace was the one that got a lot of traction really through the podcasting community because some of the bigger names in the podcasting world had pushed it out. And balance is a good one and there's actually ran some heart ministries has one for people that are interested in something, you know, that's more biblically based and oh, okay, it's called the Pause App, so I'll link those up for the listeners in the show notes.
00:37:58:19 - 00:38:12:09
Wayne Mulder
Well, Scott, I really appreciate it. Tell us a little bit about what you got going on. And so we talked about the books and you've alluded to the fact that you do some speaking is that I'm assuming at different agencies and so forth. Just walk us through kind of what you're doing so the listeners can know where to find you and so forth.
00:38:12:20 - 00:38:25:02
Scott Medlin
Oh yeah. Departments, police, academy classes in November. I look forward to I'm not sure when this is airing, but November of this year, 2022, I will be one of the closing keynote speakers for the National Cops Conference.
00:38:25:11 - 00:38:26:22
Wayne Mulder
Where is the National Cops Conference?
00:38:27:08 - 00:38:49:11
Scott Medlin
Dallas, Texas. Okay. So I look forward to that and I will continue to work on the YouTube channel and the podcast, the ten code mindset, and everyone can find me there and, and you can go to my website theScottMedlin.com. And there's a quick guide that you can get for free so far as just how you can work on your mental and physical wellbeing and maintain it really, really quick.
00:38:49:11 - 00:38:52:14
Scott Medlin
Guide But you can also contact me there all through my website.
00:38:53:04 - 00:39:12:12
Wayne Mulder
Very good. Yeah, I will make sure to link all that up and the Scott Medlin. Okay. And it's really great resources and I really like the YouTube channel. I know I've kind of asked you this question in three different ways, but I always ask it at the end of every show. So I have to ask you again, and you can either give me the mindset again as being the answer or you can give us another little tidbit.
00:39:12:12 - 00:39:21:19
Wayne Mulder
But what is the one take away? The one thing that all law enforcement officers can do that's going to make a difference in their personal lives? So what's that one thing they can do today that's going to make a difference?
00:39:22:08 - 00:39:39:00
Scott Medlin
Have have goals for yourself and your family outside of the career. The career is not who you are. It does not define your life. I know it's a big part of it. I know it's passion. I know it's a calling. I get that. I get it. But there will be a day when you're no longer a police officer, and that happens for everyone.
00:39:39:09 - 00:40:02:22
Scott Medlin
And when it when that day comes, you really are going to be in a better place. If you worked on you and worked on you, being around the people that matter most, it's a career. I, I, I cannot stress that enough. It's a career. And I can tell you right now, I mean, I have no spite towards the department where I work for a long time.
00:40:03:03 - 00:40:22:01
Scott Medlin
But do you think I hear from a lot of those people? No, absolutely not. I'm just saying the department will move on. You're not a big deal in crime. We'll continue. Even though you left. Yeah. So, so, so work. Work on you each and every day. And the thing is, I know people are like, oh, my gosh, this sounds so cliche, and I just can't do it because it sounds overwhelming.
00:40:22:01 - 00:40:42:14
Scott Medlin
But one of the best quotes I heard was if you commit to being 1% better each and every day a year from that day, you made that promise you'll be 365% better. Yeah. And I can tell you right now, when I heard that quote four years ago, I did my best to implement it. I'm doing things in my life I never thought possible.
00:40:42:14 - 00:40:49:21
Scott Medlin
So don't give up. But it's it's you work on you and that can make you that much better for the people who need you in their lives, like your family and your and your good friends.
00:40:50:16 - 00:41:00:12
Wayne Mulder
That's awesome. That is such great advice. Scott, I think we're going to leave it right there. Everyone can find everything out about you at theScottMedlin.com. Go to the show notes. Scott, thank you so much for coming on.
00:41:00:24 - 00:41:02:07
Scott Medlin
It's been my honor and you.
00:41:02:22 - 00:41:16:23
Wayne Mulder
Thanks. And that does it for this week's The Interview Room. I hope you really enjoyed it. Another great guest will be with us again next week. We have a great line up for you here over the next few weeks and I'm through the rest of the year, so you're definitely not going to want to miss a single episode.
00:41:17:10 - 00:41:35:18
Wayne Mulder
We also have Morning Roll Call, which typically comes out on Monday mornings. However, I may change my mind and who knows? It could come out different day of the week, but morning roll call, check that out as well. That's just me talking to you and it gives us a few minutes to go over something, anything from news or something actionable that matters, hopefully to you.
00:41:36:03 - 00:41:55:22
Wayne Mulder
One last favor, please, please, please. Whatever service you are looking at or whatever service you are watching this on, you're listening to this on, please leave us a rating and review five stars. That would be the appropriate number of stars if for some reason it's not five stars, in your opinion, or if it is, tell us why we would love to hear it.
00:41:55:22 - 00:42:09:18
Wayne Mulder
I would love to get your feedback. In fact, I'm going to start reading some of these reviews on the air. I been looking at some of the ones on Apple Podcasts and thank you, thank you, thank you for the phenomenal reviews and thank you all for taking the time to listen to this. I hope you're really enjoying it.
00:42:09:24 - 00:42:31:08
Wayne Mulder
You all have a safe week out there and I will see you next week in the interview room. I will see you next week in the morning roll call. But in the meantime, I'll see you On The Blue Line.