I remember being a new sergeant and getting called into my lieutenant’s office. He had received a complaint about one of my officers after a scenario-based training session. The issue wasn’t that the officer performed poorly. It was how he reacted to feedback. He became defensive, aggressive, and argumentative with the training staff. We talked through the complaint and what my plan was. I told him I’d counsel the officer, document the conversation, and offer guidance. It was

In 2015, a friend of mine convinced me to try Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At the time, I was in great shape. I was lifting weights regularly, working in K9, and had boxed and trained Muay Thai before. I walked into Sergio Penha’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Las Vegas with confidence. I thought, “I’m strong, I’m fit, this won’t be too hard.” That confidence lasted right up until the first live roll. Sergio paired me with his son, Eduardo, who I outweighed by 75 pounds. I remember thinking

I remember a conversation with my dad when I was a young officer. We were talking about tough calls, and he was sharing stories from his 30 years in law enforcement. He told me about calls that stayed with him, and then he mentioned that he never shared any of it with my mom. He didn’t want her to carry the weight of the horrific things he had seen. That conversation stuck with me. I talked to other officers from his generation, and they all said the same thing: Don’t talk ab

I remember the first time I felt fear as a leader. Even though I was a police sergeant, the fear I felt didn’t come from a dangerous situation. It was about how I was going to lead my team. I was promoted to sergeant in 2009. I was 28 years old, the same age or younger than everyone on my newly assigned squad. I went back to patrol because we weren’t allowed to promote from officer to sergeant and stay in K9 or any specialized unit. On my first night, I showed up about an hou

A month ago, I released a podcast called Put the Same Effort into Your Relationships as You Do Your Career.  You can listen to it here . In it, I talk about how easy it is to give everything we have to our work, to show up early, stay late, take on more than we should, and then come home with nothing left for the people who matter most. That message hit home for a lot of people, including me. It’s something I’ve struggled with throughout my career. For years, I convinced myse

Confidence is one of the most important traits of a strong leader. The best leaders project calm assurance to their teams, even in the hardest moments. When I was new to leadership, I wanted that same kind of confidence, but I didn’t know how to build it. I eventually realized it started with having faith in myself, my abilities, and my own record of getting things done. At first, I had to fake it. That might sound counterintuitive, but pretending to be confident is often the

In 2005, I went to the K9 unit in Las Vegas for the first time. I had no idea that working a dog would literally change the course of my life. Before K9, my goal was to become an undercover officer. My father had spent years in Narcotics, and I grew up hearing stories about undercover deals, dangerous operations, and large amounts of drugs being taken off the streets. I took every class I could to prepare for that path and even became a Spanish interpreter to make myself a st

In my new book, The Courage to Live , I explore what fear really does to the mind and body, drawing on both past and current research....

Today is one of those rare milestones I’ll never forget.  After years of writing, wrestling with memories, and working through emotions I...

When I first sat down to write a book, I thought it would be simple. Open a Word document, outline a few chapters, and start typing out...

When I was a young officer, a sergeant once told our briefing room the story of the boiling frog. He said that if you drop a frog into...

I have wanted to write a book for a long time. It was one of those goals I started and stopped many times, usually because life’s...

On the way to teach a Police Resiliency Class in Missouri, a semi-truck passed me with a decal that read: “We Hire You to Retire You.”...

When we hear the word “courage,” most people picture police officers, firefighters, or soldiers. The image is usually someone in uniform...

Closing Gaps and Building Confidence with an Experience-Led Tabletop Exercise Josh leading a tabletotop in Oxford, Mississippi Each...

Right after I graduated from the police academy, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my dad. He had been a cop since 1975 and was...

Command presence isn’t a new concept in policing. In fact, it was one of the rating categories on my daily observation reports during...

After teaching a recent class, I was approached by the wellness director of a large police department that was starting a wellness...

The first time I attended a tabletop, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a new lieutenant tasked with being the incident commander for...

During my career in law enforcement, there are moments I still replay in my mind. Mistakes I made under pressure. Decisions I wish I...