Ashlie: (00:17)
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.

Clint:

And I'm your co-host Clint Walton. 

Ashlie:

In today's episode, we're going to talk about how sometimes the people that you work with unexpectedly wind up being your best friends. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Clint, you've been pretty fortunate to build some really sustainable relationships with the people that you've worked with throughout the years. And I have to say that I too have become pretty close with a lot of the people that you work with. And I want to talk a little bit about how much we genuinely cherish those friendships and how, I don't think there's anything wrong with building friendships with the people that you work with.

Clint: (01:09)
You know, for me, I've always been one to really want to separate, you know, home life and work life. But you can't. It's near impossible to do that in our line of work. You know, everyone we work with is a brother, a sister, a family member per se. But over the years, I've worked with a select few number of guys that I've just grown very fond of and they've become some of my really close friends. We still hang out on a regular basis. I mean, pretty soon we're going to be going to Universal Studios with one of my partners and his girlfriend. We went last year with him and it was a lot of fun. With him specifically, I worked with him for a couple of years and you know, we rode two man units for the special detail that we're in and he's a very stern individual. And what I mean by that is everyone always asks him why he's mad all the time. We just, of course say it's his resting bitch face, but it's something where he's really not. He's really a jolly guy and he's always that friend that you can kind of lean on if you needed it. And a lot of people see him that way.

Clint: (02:42)
Him and I don't always agree on our approaches in instances. And one of my other friends, actually, him and I had a safe word. We pretty much to tell each other to fuck off. We would say, ‘hey big guy, come here.’ And so to this day when I see them, I go, ‘what's up big guy?’ And he says the same to me. And that's us kind of just telling each other to fuck off in a friendly way.

Ashlie: (03:12)
And Clint, you had said that we tried to separate your work life from our personal life and in retrospect that stemmed from a situation that we dealt with really early on in your career as a police officer by trying to hang out with another couple to where both of them were police officers and it turned out in a really unexpected and healthy way. So as you listen, Clint, if you could just take the listener through the story of what happened.

Clint: (03:47)
So this guy, him and I went to the academy together and we just hit it off. We were close. His girlfriend at the time was a deputy and we just all got along very well. Over the course of the academy as those who went through it know, you form a certain type of bond with the people you actually went to the academy with. And him and I just clicked. So we decided to go out to Sushi with him and his girlfriend and we really liked hanging out with him. We were going to plan on more kind of double dates or just going out and doing things together over time. When we went to our station and got on to patrol, we were both in the same phases. We were going through the whole FTO program and we were both in phase three and then all of a sudden one day he was gone.

Clint: (04:54)
We hadn't worked together for most of our training, just how it worked out. So I started asking around what happened. Come to find out, he assaulted his girlfriend and did things that I won't even go into further details on. That was vary uncalled for, unprofessional and illegal. He was going to face his own criminal battle now. And like I said, his girlfriend was a deputy. She didn't show up for work and her friends were worried about her. I never would have thought that this guy would have done something to that nature and I was completely shocked. And when I told Ashlie, I know she was completely shocked as well.

Ashlie: (05:50)
Just so that we don't want to get into too much detail because a lot of it of course was never made public but did have something to do with domestic violence. Once you have a charge of domestic violence as a police officer…

Clint: (06:06)
You're done. You can't work anymore because if you're charged with felony domestic violence, you'll get arrested for that felony and you can no longer carry your firearm. And as we learned what occurred, I actually called him and found out what happened and he kind of skated around it and didn't really tell me the details in it. But he still kind of brought up wanting to hang out again. But I'm now to this point, I'm like, I don't want to hang out with you anymore. I'm doing good in my career. I want to make sure that I keep my career going. So to this day, I haven't talked to him but maybe one or two times after that incident specifically.

Ashlie: (07:00)
Yeah. And that was early on in your career and of course any red flag is one red flag to many. And that started to set the stage for us to completely disassociate any kind of interaction that we had with people that would invite us to go out as it pertained to anyone that you worked with.

Clint: (07:22)
Yeah. And I think another factor involved with it is, you know, when cops get together they normally get together to go out to drink. And that's just not our scene either. And for you listening, if that is your scene and you enjoy going out and having a few beers with a buddy, more power to you. That's just not what I like to do or what we like to do together. But in looking at these friendships that I've formed with my partners and one specifically…he has gone fishing with me numerous times and him and I have been really close for years. I really look at the value I get from each of them. I mean, my old sergeant…him and I are really close as well. He just always trying to give me advice, tries to help through any situation and share his knowledge that he's taken on through the years.

Ashlie: (08:32)
How would you say, Clint, that having those relationships with the people that you work with plays a role in your relationship together being a partner and when you're at work?

Clint: (08:44)
It's kind of funny. It's, there's that old mindset of when you're out at work, you talk about home. When you're at home, you talk about work. And I think that's the reason why I've always wanted to kind of exclude myself from that. Because I don't like talking about work at home. But when we're together on duty, I know how they're going to react. They know how I'm going react and I can trust one of them. And when we're off, I know it's the same thing. If we go into an environment where we could lower our guards a little bit because we are sharing the burden of scanning everything all the time. We know how to be on such high alert it seems like, but we're able to disconnect and just have fun as well. One of the guys I am specifically talking about, he loves being a police officer. So much to where he talks about it a lot. But that's him. That's what he enjoys. That's what he lives for and that's okay. But when we go somewhere with him and his girlfriend or we just hang out with him, it's not a ‘whose dick is bigger show.’ It's just us hanging out and having fun. No strings attached and we know we don't have to worry about one another and we don't have to share stories nonstop all the time.

Ashlie: (10:19)
Yeah, and I think another thing to point out is that in having these friendships with people who also understand and live this lifestyle behind the badge, they know what it's like. They know how it is to have such few opportunities to even have those times to connect outside of the workplace. They understand the scheduling struggle. They understand the fatigue. They understand all of the dynamics that go into living in a home with a first responder or being a first responder and there's no judgment and it's this completely open platform of understanding and acceptance. You use the word trust and that's really key when it comes to anybody that we introduce into our inner circle.

Ashlie: (11:12)
The truth as you listen is that our tribe isn't very big and it's that way on purpose because we are so detail oriented when it comes to how much slack we're willing to give to other people before we let them in that close. Close enough to certainly invite someone into our home. Close enough to take someone out in the middle of the ocean, for example. It's not easy to do that with just anybody. When you understand the reality of how people are in the real world, the things that they carry, the things do behind closed doors, their habits, their negative lifestyle. And this is no judgment. If that's you as you sit there or if you know somebody who's into any of those things that maybe you yourself don't like, it's okay to be choosy with what you do and do not want around you.

Ashlie: (12:14)
And generally speaking, when you're around a first responder, they've all gone through such vigorous background checks. They know what's at stake if they turn the table and they get into a bad path. So it's not very likely that you would come across a partner and then get to know them very well and then later find out, wow, I wouldn't have wanted to be around that person if I knew that about them. And that's why there is this sense of comfort when you have a friendship that's built stemming from the people that you work with in your line of work. Even for me, as the spouse of a police officer, I'm very vigilant, be it a male or a female. Be it your partners are their spouses or friends or siblings. It's very important for me to know who's around us. And the other side of that is it's such a privilege for me to get to know the people that you work so closely with on a day to day basis because I know that they do have your back and I know that you have theirs.

Ashlie: (13:24)
And when it comes time to truly meeting somebody in a dire situation, especially in a very highly active city like the one that you work in, it brings me a lot of peace and comfort to know that you're genuinely working around such amazing people. And then to get to know somebody at work versus getting to know them outside of the workplace. Sure you bring some work with you when you go and do things independently and outside of the community that you serve. But some of that persona, some of that, that armor that you guys carry all of the time is let down. And then it allows you to truly see who they are and then incorporating pieces of that into your work life. You know, having that camaraderie with one another and having that sense of humor that just helps as another driving force to build that bond and to build that brother and sisterhood.

Ashlie: (14:22)
And I don't think it really matters what profession you're in because the dynamics of that are pretty universal. When you're able to incorporate a friendship into a working relationship with your colleagues, it all around just makes the functionality smoother and it allows the teamwork, which every employee that works with somebody else has some level of teamwork working so much more unison. It's okay for you to be a little bit more harsh, let's say if one isn't picking up enough slack or you know, just having that open communication that starts to blossom. Whereas if you're not that close with somebody that you work with, it makes it difficult. And even some animosity might start to build up when somebody isn't picking up the slack per se. And I think when you're open to be able to building those relationships and extending them outside of the workplace, and then have those friendships and carry them with you and to see how they transform over time, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

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Ashlie: (00:19) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton

Clint:

And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Ashlie:

In today's episode, we're going to talk about a lot of the back pain that police officers experience and some of the remedies that Clint has found throughout the years that have really helped him. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. As an officer's wife, I can recall many times when Clint's come home and his back starts to hurt and it's never been like a one and done. It's usually the symptoms will start and then his back pain would last for upwards of like two weeks at a time. Clint nor myself are proponents of medication, narcotics in particular. So we've had to be a little crafty when it comes to investigating some of the ways that we can use home remedies or research online some home equipment to be able to really ease the back pain. Ashlie: (01:32) And I remember we've even tried things like inversion tables, which for some people work great. Clint hated that. The truth is that Clint's a pretty big guy. He's pretty tall and I don't think that those were well-constructed four relatively tall, bigger people in general. And I'm pretty sure that's why it just, it didn't work well for him. It seemed to cause pain in other places as opposed to just alleviating the back pain. Clint: (02:05) I know a lot of people say those things work wonders, but yeah, I felt like my head was going to explode every time I got on that thing. Ashlie: (02:13) Yeah, there's definitely a technique when it comes to like proper placement and, and how you align your body with your head and your positioning. And there are many components that go into that. I would say you gave it a good shot for about six months and we ended up selling it at a yard sale that we had before we moved. Ashlie: (02:35) Clint is going to go over a lot of the things that have really helped him throughout the years and some of the reasons why they've helped. But I want to point out that one of the biggest things that I believe has helped in alleviating his back pain has really been losing weight and increasing his physical fitness. And that comes from a place of me understanding how in the recent year or so when you've really taken your health into serious consideration, that you haven't complained about having back pain apart from maybe one time. And that was a pinched nerve that I think happened because of improperly lifting when we were working out one day. Clint: (03:19) Yeah. And it wasn't even my typical spot that I hurt in. You know, over the years, ne of the things is that I knew when I came home from work and my back was starting to hurt was Icy Hot patches. I would put that on my lower back and just lay there for hours and it would sooth the pain, but it didn't you know, it didn't fix anything. You know, wearing our belts on a daily basis. All the weight that we carry getting in and out of the units or just getting up and down. It's sometimes I feel like I'm a pregnant lady trying to just get out of a car because my back's hurting and I know of a lot of partners who have the same problem. I mean, it's a common thing for police officers. Another really good tool is I've always used the lumbar supports. Clint: (04:15) That's something that I found just alleviates the pressure on my spine when I'm driving. You know, I remember before I ever had back issues, I would try the lumbar support out and just see how it felt and it was so uncomfortable. But now, I can't drive without it. It's important. I pair that with a seat cushion that I bought off Amazon that I take everywhere with me. When we're taking long flights to one of the countries that we're traveling to or sitting at the kitchen table for any extended amount of time…I'm sitting on that pad and it completely takes all the pressure off of my tailbone and doesn't compress my spine. So that alleviates all that pressure that comes up with it. You know, the biggest factor is most definitely losing weight and getting more fit surrounding my body. Clint: (05:13) That I can't say enough how impactful that has been. You know, now that I've been working out a lot more, I started getting the tension or the upper back pain just from working out more and the things that really helped with that are the Shiatsu Russell roller balls. I don't know if you've ever seen those but there like a fish hook and it has a ball on the end. You just can reach around your back and really dig in on those knots. And that's always been a tool that I've absolutely loved to use. And it's funny, I think there was a story where I gave one of my partners a whole lot of shit over having of those, talking about it was a device not used for massaging but used for extra-curricular activities by females and…it is what it is. But he, he didn't think that and he loved it. And now that I use it, I love it too because it really can dig deep in through your tissue and muscles to get those knots out. Ashlie: (06:27) Where can I buy one of these? Clint: (06:31) Ouch. You know, the foam rollers. Where they're like yoga rollers. You lay that on the ground and really lay yourself out on top of it and let out your air as you roll back and forth on it all the way up and down your spine and it really cracks your back. But also it massages the muscles and shifts your spine to kind of push it up. It feels like, I don't know medically if it does that or not. Ashlie: (07:00) Yeah, doing it on a regular basis is definitely decompressing a lot of the tension that's building up. Very comparable to what happens when you get a massage. And if you've never laid on a foam roller before, especially doing it for the first time or even when you're doing it in one of your most dire elements of pain, it is not a comfortable experience. So that's why I would recommend incorporating it as more of a maintenance and doing it on a regular basis as opposed to just doing it in those times when you're starting to feel the discomfort. I think it helps regardless of whether you're a first responder or you're into physical fitness or your ass even starts to hurt. It's a simple tool. It's very inexpensive and it works great. Clint: (07:48) You know, my favorite remedy for my back pain is when I asked you to massage my back. You know, it's great. It really digs in deep and my lower back is something that, it's always been hard for me to get the areas that I really need to and you help with having someone get into those deep areas to help alleviate that pain. Now, there's been times where I felt like I've thrown out my back and all I could do is just rest. And there are those times. There will be those times. And that's kind of one of those things you have to know when not to over-do it because your back especially is something that affects your nerves. And your legs and I know in the past I've had mine go out and my legs felt weak afterwards. Ashlie: (08:48) And I really liked that you brought up the point of having your spouse just give you a massage. It reminds me of when we were dating and we put forth so much effort into the person that we're trying to attract by doing things like giving them massages and then over time, especially as you sit there, if you've been married long enough, some of those things can easily start to slip away and you're not very cognizant of putting forth the effort to do those things anymore. But whether you're having back pain or not, the amount of physical touch that is required, even just doing a massage, I mean taking the intimacy out of it, although a massage between spouses is very intimate, but without having any expectations and taking sex out of the equation and just having that physical contact with one another, it's just one more step and building the relationship. Ashlie: (09:47) And if you can sit on the couch and watch TV together, then I can guarantee you that you guys could take turns giving one another massages. But especially if one of you is seeking the help and you know really the aid because you're in pain. It's important to still have that in a relationship and if you haven't given your spouse a massage in a long time, I know how weird reintroducing those types of things can be, especially in a marriage when you've been together for so long. And I found with working with my clients, one of the easy ways to get over a hurdle like that is by simply saying like, 'this is going to be uncomfortable for me to talk to you about but we haven't given one another a massage in who knows how long. Although it's strange to talk about it, I was just thinking about how important it is to have that physical connection with one another.' And who wouldn't want a massage? Ashlie: (10:48) 'So is it okay if maybe tonight when the kids go to sleep or when we have some time to ourselves' and even not…If your kids are laying on the floor watching TV and you guys are there as a family, like why can't you still give one another and massage. Like sit in front of the other one and take turns giving massages. Make it a family event. Everybody can make a train out of giving each other massages on their shoulders. I remember being younger. One pivotal bonding moment between my mom and I… She would pay me $5 to scratch her back for 20 minutes and she would lay on the floor. That was the only time in my entire life that my mom would ever lay on the floor. And that was her moment of just pampering and just enjoying having her back scratched. Ashlie: (11:37) And I didn't realize it at the time, but in retrospect, it was really such a sweet bonding moment between us because I mean, I did that for as long as I could remember. And then as I got older, we would by nature just walk up behind her and then just start scratching her back because that was us showing affection because we knew that she liked it. And I think that by having those moments and just knowing if you're a first responder, especially if you're suffering from back pain, so many officers become medically retired because of issues that are stemmed from back pain. And the earlier that you can start to incorporate simple things that you can do every day. Like go on Amazon, purchase a $15 roller ball and that will probably last you for 10 years. Those things are literally indestructible…and start using that as maintenance. Ashlie: (12:35) And if you're accustomed to hopping on the couch when you get home, put the roller ball right next to you so that you remember to incorporate it into your everyday. It's something so small and convenient that you could even take it to the station with you and put it in your locker to use before you start the day at all. Like, loosen things up and get ready, just like you would stretch before you work out. And I think that by having these simple tools incorporated into your life before you take the big step, which I believe is very big in seeking out narcotics as a way to remedy it and understanding that that's simply putting a Band-Aid on things. And of course we're not medical professionals and there are people that are far extended past the point of being able to just use simple remedies. But by having that maintenance and realizing that there's things that you can do before it gets to that point, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics.

Hit that subscribe button so that you don't miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly.

Let's Connect!

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Email: [email protected]

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Website: www.leowarriors.com

Free Training: www.leowarrior.com

Ashlie: (00:19)
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton

Clint:

And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Ashlie:

In today's episode, we're going to talk about a lot of the back pain that police officers experience and some of the remedies that Clint has found throughout the years that have really helped him. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. As an officer's wife, I can recall many times when Clint’s come home and his back starts to hurt and it's never been like a one and done. It's usually the symptoms will start and then his back pain would last for upwards of like two weeks at a time. Clint nor myself are proponents of medication, narcotics in particular. So we've had to be a little crafty when it comes to investigating some of the ways that we can use home remedies or research online some home equipment to be able to really ease the back pain.

Ashlie: (01:32)
And I remember we've even tried things like inversion tables, which for some people work great. Clint hated that. The truth is that Clint’s a pretty big guy. He's pretty tall and I don't think that those were well-constructed four relatively tall, bigger people in general. And I'm pretty sure that's why it just, it didn't work well for him. It seemed to cause pain in other places as opposed to just alleviating the back pain.

Clint: (02:05)
I know a lot of people say those things work wonders, but yeah, I felt like my head was going to explode every time I got on that thing.

Ashlie: (02:13)
Yeah, there's definitely a technique when it comes to like proper placement and, and how you align your body with your head and your positioning. And there are many components that go into that. I would say you gave it a good shot for about six months and we ended up selling it at a yard sale that we had before we moved.

Ashlie: (02:35)
Clint is going to go over a lot of the things that have really helped him throughout the years and some of the reasons why they've helped. But I want to point out that one of the biggest things that I believe has helped in alleviating his back pain has really been losing weight and increasing his physical fitness. And that comes from a place of me understanding how in the recent year or so when you've really taken your health into serious consideration, that you haven't complained about having back pain apart from maybe one time. And that was a pinched nerve that I think happened because of improperly lifting when we were working out one day.

Clint: (03:19)
Yeah. And it wasn't even my typical spot that I hurt in. You know, over the years, ne of the things is that I knew when I came home from work and my back was starting to hurt was Icy Hot patches. I would put that on my lower back and just lay there for hours and it would sooth the pain, but it didn't you know, it didn't fix anything. You know, wearing our belts on a daily basis. All the weight that we carry getting in and out of the units or just getting up and down. It's sometimes I feel like I'm a pregnant lady trying to just get out of a car because my back's hurting and I know of a lot of partners who have the same problem. I mean, it's a common thing for police officers. Another really good tool is I've always used the lumbar supports.

Clint: (04:15)
That's something that I found just alleviates the pressure on my spine when I'm driving. You know, I remember before I ever had back issues, I would try the lumbar support out and just see how it felt and it was so uncomfortable. But now, I can't drive without it. It's important. I pair that with a seat cushion that I bought off Amazon that I take everywhere with me. When we're taking long flights to one of the countries that we're traveling to or sitting at the kitchen table for any extended amount of time…I'm sitting on that pad and it completely takes all the pressure off of my tailbone and doesn't compress my spine. So that alleviates all that pressure that comes up with it. You know, the biggest factor is most definitely losing weight and getting more fit surrounding my body.

Clint: (05:13)
That I can't say enough how impactful that has been. You know, now that I've been working out a lot more, I started getting the tension or the upper back pain just from working out more and the things that really helped with that are the Shiatsu Russell roller balls. I don't know if you've ever seen those but there like a fish hook and it has a ball on the end. You just can reach around your back and really dig in on those knots. And that's always been a tool that I've absolutely loved to use. And it's funny, I think there was a story where I gave one of my partners a whole lot of shit over having of those, talking about it was a device not used for massaging but used for extra-curricular activities by females and…it is what it is. But he, he didn't think that and he loved it. And now that I use it, I love it too because it really can dig deep in through your tissue and muscles to get those knots out.

Ashlie: (06:27)
Where can I buy one of these?

Clint: (06:31)
Ouch. You know, the foam rollers. Where they're like yoga rollers. You lay that on the ground and really lay yourself out on top of it and let out your air as you roll back and forth on it all the way up and down your spine and it really cracks your back. But also it massages the muscles and shifts your spine to kind of push it up. It feels like, I don't know medically if it does that or not.

Ashlie: (07:00)
Yeah, doing it on a regular basis is definitely decompressing a lot of the tension that's building up. Very comparable to what happens when you get a massage. And if you've never laid on a foam roller before, especially doing it for the first time or even when you're doing it in one of your most dire elements of pain, it is not a comfortable experience. So that's why I would recommend incorporating it as more of a maintenance and doing it on a regular basis as opposed to just doing it in those times when you're starting to feel the discomfort. I think it helps regardless of whether you're a first responder or you're into physical fitness or your ass even starts to hurt. It's a simple tool. It's very inexpensive and it works great.

Clint: (07:48)
You know, my favorite remedy for my back pain is when I asked you to massage my back. You know, it's great. It really digs in deep and my lower back is something that, it's always been hard for me to get the areas that I really need to and you help with having someone get into those deep areas to help alleviate that pain. Now, there's been times where I felt like I've thrown out my back and all I could do is just rest. And there are those times. There will be those times. And that's kind of one of those things you have to know when not to over-do it because your back especially is something that affects your nerves. And your legs and I know in the past I've had mine go out and my legs felt weak afterwards.

Ashlie: (08:48)
And I really liked that you brought up the point of having your spouse just give you a massage. It reminds me of when we were dating and we put forth so much effort into the person that we're trying to attract by doing things like giving them massages and then over time, especially as you sit there, if you've been married long enough, some of those things can easily start to slip away and you're not very cognizant of putting forth the effort to do those things anymore. But whether you're having back pain or not, the amount of physical touch that is required, even just doing a massage, I mean taking the intimacy out of it, although a massage between spouses is very intimate, but without having any expectations and taking sex out of the equation and just having that physical contact with one another, it's just one more step and building the relationship.

Ashlie: (09:47)
And if you can sit on the couch and watch TV together, then I can guarantee you that you guys could take turns giving one another massages. But especially if one of you is seeking the help and you know really the aid because you're in pain. It's important to still have that in a relationship and if you haven't given your spouse a massage in a long time, I know how weird reintroducing those types of things can be, especially in a marriage when you've been together for so long. And I found with working with my clients, one of the easy ways to get over a hurdle like that is by simply saying like, ‘this is going to be uncomfortable for me to talk to you about but we haven't given one another a massage in who knows how long. Although it's strange to talk about it, I was just thinking about how important it is to have that physical connection with one another.’ And who wouldn't want a massage?

Ashlie: (10:48)
‘So is it okay if maybe tonight when the kids go to sleep or when we have some time to ourselves’ and even not…If your kids are laying on the floor watching TV and you guys are there as a family, like why can't you still give one another and massage. Like sit in front of the other one and take turns giving massages. Make it a family event. Everybody can make a train out of giving each other massages on their shoulders. I remember being younger. One pivotal bonding moment between my mom and I… She would pay me $5 to scratch her back for 20 minutes and she would lay on the floor. That was the only time in my entire life that my mom would ever lay on the floor. And that was her moment of just pampering and just enjoying having her back scratched.

Ashlie: (11:37)
And I didn't realize it at the time, but in retrospect, it was really such a sweet bonding moment between us because I mean, I did that for as long as I could remember. And then as I got older, we would by nature just walk up behind her and then just start scratching her back because that was us showing affection because we knew that she liked it. And I think that by having those moments and just knowing if you're a first responder, especially if you're suffering from back pain, so many officers become medically retired because of issues that are stemmed from back pain. And the earlier that you can start to incorporate simple things that you can do every day. Like go on Amazon, purchase a $15 roller ball and that will probably last you for 10 years. Those things are literally indestructible…and start using that as maintenance.

Ashlie: (12:35)
And if you're accustomed to hopping on the couch when you get home, put the roller ball right next to you so that you remember to incorporate it into your everyday. It's something so small and convenient that you could even take it to the station with you and put it in your locker to use before you start the day at all. Like, loosen things up and get ready, just like you would stretch before you work out. And I think that by having these simple tools incorporated into your life before you take the big step, which I believe is very big in seeking out narcotics as a way to remedy it and understanding that that's simply putting a Band-Aid on things. And of course we're not medical professionals and there are people that are far extended past the point of being able to just use simple remedies. But by having that maintenance and realizing that there's things that you can do before it gets to that point, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

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Ashlie: (00:17) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton. Clint: (00:23) And I'm your co-host Clint Walton. Ashlie: (00:25) In today's episode, we're going to talk about just how much cash first responders spend out of their pocket and how much we wish they didn't have to. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Ashlie: (00:42) If you're listening and you're a first responder or you're in a relationship with a first responder, you might know just how rare it is to get times together to do the simple things in life such as going to the grocery store. I say that because Clint and I got to go to Target today where we split kind of the household essentials mixed with some of the grocery shopping combined in one trip. While we were there, he ran into the mom of one of his high school friends. Clint started to share with her how he does a lot of work in the mounted unit at his department. He loves it. He loves riding a horse. He loves the time commitments because he gets to work a lot of overtime when he rides mounted. Ashlie: (01:33) But the only downside to that is just how much cash is spent out of his pocket by doing something that's a hobby but that is also work related. Clint, talk to me about a little bit of the expenses that the mounted unit goes through personally and how much of the actual assets are applied towards work when you guys are riding mounted. Clint: (02:04) You know for us in our department, our mounted unit is completely voluntary where if we have a horse and we want to get involved in it, then we can. Other agencies actually provide everything they would need surrounding the mounted unit, which is not very many, but those that do are great. They have great tools and asset. But I think that also deters from the relationship that you have with your partner or the horse. For us, I mean figuring in the feed, the shooing, the saddle, the vet, the vet bill is nuts… where money really racks up, but also the clothes. I mean I have to buy new pairs of jeans all the time. They just get so dirty you just don't want to wear them again. And also the cowboy hats. There's just the list goes on and on and on. And this is all money that we have to spend out of pocket in reference to it. I think I have five different uniform shirts cause they couldn't make up their mind on which one they necessarily wanted us to wear once they finally agreed on one. It's the one with that we can wear on a normal day to day basis. Clint: (03:34) But that's, it's something that we all love to do. We enjoy doing it. So for us it's worth it. You know, we do have a few bonuses in reference to being on the mounted unit like when we work the special events, like the raves or the fairs or anything like that. It's all paid overtime for us. But they're very long nights. I mean you figure 12-13 hours actually in the saddle… it wears on your body. The, the monetary value that comes from just being a police officer in general is high for our agency as well. I know there's other agencies that provide a lot of the tools and equipment, but for us we have to buy a big majority of our equipment.

Ashlie: (04:31) Apart from the mounted unit, I know we've had these discussions in great depth when tax season comes around, but for the listener, what are some of the things that you can think of that as a police officer you have to fund out of your own pocket that you used as a necessity or as an asset in your day to day work? Clint: (04:53) You know, for us, before certain instances that occurred in our city, we had to provide our own plate carriers to protect us for from rifle rounds or higher caliber weapons as well as our rifle. We had to provide our own on our duty belt. They provide us a leather, Sam Brown and other, you know, our duty weapon, our Taser, things that we can't necessarily buy on our own. But if we wanted to carry an expandable baton and we had to purchase that ourselves and the money just adds up. We do get a uniform allowance, but that is like a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of dollars that we've spent over the years towards my uniforms, towards the equipment, towards every necessity that is there. And not necessarily a necessity, but some are conveniences as well, and I know it stacks up time and time again, but for safety, that's probably the most important concern and that's why we've purchased those items. Ashlie: (06:11) Absolutely. And I know that from talking to a lot of people online, there are even agencies that still exist today where it is not mandatory to wear your bulletproof vest. Sometimes they're not issued and sometimes these officers have to pay out of pocket for them. And having said that, there's also some foundations that have been created to help to aid because that should go without question, just like your duty weapon is to have a bulletproof vest to wear every day for your safety. Clint: (06:46) Yeah. And I'm fortunate that our department does provide us with the updated bulletproof vest every five years or so and, and you know, that's a very expensive cost. If we want to upgraded, we can pay to have it upgraded. But the cost in a bulletproof vest, you're looking $600 to $1,000 easy and they need to be replaced about every five years. Ashlie: (07:17) Yeah. And it's, it's just crazy to me how there, I mean, you're fortunate to work in a department where you get paid, well certainly not as well as some other agencies, but for Clint, they judge their pay increases based on like a medium, right? They take an average. Clint: (07:37) Yeah. It's based off of, I'm going to say 10 different departments within the Southern California area and they put us right in the middle of their average pay. Ashlie: (07:51) But there are a lot of departments where these officers are getting paid just cents above minimum wage. And it blows my mind that to, to be in a profession where it's so high risk and you're having to fund so much out of your pocket based on convenience. Sure, but based on safety concerns, most importantly that the salary is, it's just nothing when it comes down to what you actually take home as an officer, there's so many additional fees when you take into account… the union dues, the insurance, you know, if you have any additional pension plans and things like that. That the dollar amount that you see deposited into the bank account is far less than what that, that rate per hour is. And I just wish that there was, uh, a better calculation when it comes to the reimbursements and just how much money out of pocket first responders have to spend for the duty equipment that they use every single day to make life easier for them and then to make their job safer. Ashlie: (09:00) It's just too bad because in corporate jobs, for example, or even a job at McDonald's, like the employees have the assets for everything that they would need in order to do their job proficiently and to be most effective. And any good employer, any good boss would want their employees to have every asset that they need to feel comfortable, to feel safe and to be most effective and productive when they're at work. That helps to build the relationship. And this is coming from an entrepreneur coming from somebody with a business background and degree. It's still important to have that in a relationship with the employer and the employee. And when you're a first responder, there's this distance because many times you'll work for the state, the city or the county. And it's not like you, you can go to the higher ups at your station and complain about having to pay for something because it doesn't usually work that way. Clint: (10:03) Well, we could complain all we want. You just would never give it to us. Ashlie: (10:08) And I think it's so cool that there are a lot of organizations that do help to fund those that really can't afford it because most first responders have families that they're also trying to support while serving the community that they work for. And it's not easy to decide whether or not you're going buy your son cleats for soccer or if you're going to buy yourself, you know, uh, a new, a new belt because your back is starting to hurt from having to get in and out of the car so many times throughout the day. Clint: (10:49) There's so many tools out there that go from especially talking about the, the belt that we wear and how we can reduce the back pain surrounding that. And there's new and updated versions of things like back plates or suspenders or there's chest, chest carrying devices where you carry your, instead of wearing a belt, you carry it all on your, your shoulders. Some departments allowed others don't, but most of the time the officers have to buy it themselves cause that's a considered like a luxury item. It's like, you know, you go on an airplane and you pay for your ticket and then they give you peanuts and some water. But if you want to buy the meal you can buy more or the TV, you can pay even more money for that. Ashlie: (11:41) And it's funny because coming from a medical background, I think of how circumcisions are considered cosmetic and so you have to pay cash to have a circumcision done in most instances. Like it's just ass backwards. In my opinion though, what it boils down to is that when you're a first responder, the willingness to do the job that you've taken an oath to do far outweighs all of the other crap, all of the other things that you have to deal with. So much so that a majority of first responders, especially police officers, they sign on until they retire and it goes without saying that they know that this is what they're committed to doing for the rest of their career and they know what the financial obligations going to be and it's nice to be able to vent about it, right? It's nice to be able to have it, to have an outlet and people that can understand and relate to the fact that there are a lot of expenses and it drives me crazy when I hear people from the community make comments like, oh, will I pay your salary? Clint: (12:53) And that makes me laugh because the community I work for doesn't have a lot of taxpayers within it. And I love it when they say that to me because I can completely counter that. And they go, well, I pay a sales tax…well, with with your welfare. Ashlie: (13:16) And so what it boils down to as you're listening, it's not just first responders. I think that there are a lot of professions where individuals will choose to support a lot of things independently. I can think of teachers, for example, because it helps to further expand on their career and ultimately serve the higher purpose of what it is that they signed on for in the first place. And when you have that mindset and you know that if you are having to shell out money out of your own pocket, but it's for the greater good of what it is that you're living your purpose in every single day, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics.

Hit that subscribe button so that you don't miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly.

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Ashlie: (00:17)
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.

Clint: (00:23)
And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Ashlie: (00:25)
In today's episode, we're going to talk about just how much cash first responders spend out of their pocket and how much we wish they didn't have to. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content.

Ashlie: (00:42)
If you're listening and you're a first responder or you're in a relationship with a first responder, you might know just how rare it is to get times together to do the simple things in life such as going to the grocery store. I say that because Clint and I got to go to Target today where we split kind of the household essentials mixed with some of the grocery shopping combined in one trip. While we were there, he ran into the mom of one of his high school friends. Clint started to share with her how he does a lot of work in the mounted unit at his department. He loves it. He loves riding a horse. He loves the time commitments because he gets to work a lot of overtime when he rides mounted.

Ashlie: (01:33)
But the only downside to that is just how much cash is spent out of his pocket by doing something that's a hobby but that is also work related. Clint, talk to me about a little bit of the expenses that the mounted unit goes through personally and how much of the actual assets are applied towards work when you guys are riding mounted.

Clint: (02:04)
You know for us in our department, our mounted unit is completely voluntary where if we have a horse and we want to get involved in it, then we can. Other agencies actually provide everything they would need surrounding the mounted unit, which is not very many, but those that do are great. They have great tools and asset. But I think that also deters from the relationship that you have with your partner or the horse. For us, I mean figuring in the feed, the shooing, the saddle, the vet, the vet bill is nuts… where money really racks up, but also the clothes. I mean I have to buy new pairs of jeans all the time. They just get so dirty you just don't want to wear them again. And also the cowboy hats. There's just the list goes on and on and on. And this is all money that we have to spend out of pocket in reference to it. I think I have five different uniform shirts cause they couldn't make up their mind on which one they necessarily wanted us to wear once they finally agreed on one. It's the one with that we can wear on a normal day to day basis.

Clint: (03:34)
But that's, it's something that we all love to do. We enjoy doing it. So for us it's worth it. You know, we do have a few bonuses in reference to being on the mounted unit like when we work the special events, like the raves or the fairs or anything like that. It's all paid overtime for us. But they're very long nights. I mean you figure 12-13 hours actually in the saddle… it wears on your body. The, the monetary value that comes from just being a police officer in general is high for our agency as well. I know there's other agencies that provide a lot of the tools and equipment, but for us we have to buy a big majority of our equipment.

Ashlie: (04:31)
Apart from the mounted unit, I know we've had these discussions in great depth when tax season comes around, but for the listener, what are some of the things that you can think of that as a police officer you have to fund out of your own pocket that you used as a necessity or as an asset in your day to day work?

Clint: (04:53)
You know, for us, before certain instances that occurred in our city, we had to provide our own plate carriers to protect us for from rifle rounds or higher caliber weapons as well as our rifle. We had to provide our own on our duty belt. They provide us a leather, Sam Brown and other, you know, our duty weapon, our Taser, things that we can't necessarily buy on our own. But if we wanted to carry an expandable baton and we had to purchase that ourselves and the money just adds up. We do get a uniform allowance, but that is like a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of dollars that we've spent over the years towards my uniforms, towards the equipment, towards every necessity that is there. And not necessarily a necessity, but some are conveniences as well, and I know it stacks up time and time again, but for safety, that's probably the most important concern and that's why we've purchased those items.

Ashlie: (06:11)
Absolutely. And I know that from talking to a lot of people online, there are even agencies that still exist today where it is not mandatory to wear your bulletproof vest. Sometimes they're not issued and sometimes these officers have to pay out of pocket for them. And having said that, there's also some foundations that have been created to help to aid because that should go without question, just like your duty weapon is to have a bulletproof vest to wear every day for your safety.

Clint: (06:46)
Yeah. And I'm fortunate that our department does provide us with the updated bulletproof vest every five years or so and, and you know, that's a very expensive cost. If we want to upgraded, we can pay to have it upgraded. But the cost in a bulletproof vest, you're looking $600 to $1,000 easy and they need to be replaced about every five years.

Ashlie: (07:17)
Yeah. And it's, it's just crazy to me how there, I mean, you're fortunate to work in a department where you get paid, well certainly not as well as some other agencies, but for Clint, they judge their pay increases based on like a medium, right? They take an average.

Clint: (07:37)
Yeah. It's based off of, I'm going to say 10 different departments within the Southern California area and they put us right in the middle of their average pay.

Ashlie: (07:51)
But there are a lot of departments where these officers are getting paid just cents above minimum wage. And it blows my mind that to, to be in a profession where it's so high risk and you're having to fund so much out of your pocket based on convenience. Sure, but based on safety concerns, most importantly that the salary is, it's just nothing when it comes down to what you actually take home as an officer, there's so many additional fees when you take into account… the union dues, the insurance, you know, if you have any additional pension plans and things like that. That the dollar amount that you see deposited into the bank account is far less than what that, that rate per hour is. And I just wish that there was, uh, a better calculation when it comes to the reimbursements and just how much money out of pocket first responders have to spend for the duty equipment that they use every single day to make life easier for them and then to make their job safer.

Ashlie: (09:00)
It's just too bad because in corporate jobs, for example, or even a job at McDonald's, like the employees have the assets for everything that they would need in order to do their job proficiently and to be most effective. And any good employer, any good boss would want their employees to have every asset that they need to feel comfortable, to feel safe and to be most effective and productive when they're at work. That helps to build the relationship. And this is coming from an entrepreneur coming from somebody with a business background and degree. It's still important to have that in a relationship with the employer and the employee. And when you're a first responder, there's this distance because many times you'll work for the state, the city or the county. And it's not like you, you can go to the higher ups at your station and complain about having to pay for something because it doesn't usually work that way.

Clint: (10:03)
Well, we could complain all we want. You just would never give it to us.

Ashlie: (10:08)
And I think it's so cool that there are a lot of organizations that do help to fund those that really can't afford it because most first responders have families that they're also trying to support while serving the community that they work for. And it's not easy to decide whether or not you're going buy your son cleats for soccer or if you're going to buy yourself, you know, uh, a new, a new belt because your back is starting to hurt from having to get in and out of the car so many times throughout the day.

Clint: (10:49)
There's so many tools out there that go from especially talking about the, the belt that we wear and how we can reduce the back pain surrounding that. And there's new and updated versions of things like back plates or suspenders or there's chest, chest carrying devices where you carry your, instead of wearing a belt, you carry it all on your, your shoulders. Some departments allowed others don’t, but most of the time the officers have to buy it themselves cause that's a considered like a luxury item. It's like, you know, you go on an airplane and you pay for your ticket and then they give you peanuts and some water. But if you want to buy the meal you can buy more or the TV, you can pay even more money for that.

Ashlie: (11:41)
And it's funny because coming from a medical background, I think of how circumcisions are considered cosmetic and so you have to pay cash to have a circumcision done in most instances. Like it's just ass backwards. In my opinion though, what it boils down to is that when you're a first responder, the willingness to do the job that you've taken an oath to do far outweighs all of the other crap, all of the other things that you have to deal with. So much so that a majority of first responders, especially police officers, they sign on until they retire and it goes without saying that they know that this is what they're committed to doing for the rest of their career and they know what the financial obligations going to be and it's nice to be able to vent about it, right? It's nice to be able to have it, to have an outlet and people that can understand and relate to the fact that there are a lot of expenses and it drives me crazy when I hear people from the community make comments like, oh, will I pay your salary?

Clint: (12:53)
And that makes me laugh because the community I work for doesn't have a lot of taxpayers within it. And I love it when they say that to me because I can completely counter that. And they go, well, I pay a sales tax…well, with with your welfare.

Ashlie: (13:16)
And so what it boils down to as you're listening, it's not just first responders. I think that there are a lot of professions where individuals will choose to support a lot of things independently. I can think of teachers, for example, because it helps to further expand on their career and ultimately serve the higher purpose of what it is that they signed on for in the first place. And when you have that mindset and you know that if you are having to shell out money out of your own pocket, but it's for the greater good of what it is that you're living your purpose in every single day, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics. 

Hit that subscribe button so that you don’t miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly. 

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Ashlie: (00:17) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.

Clint:

And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Ashlie:

In today's episode, we're going to share with you how watching the movie A Dog's Purpose really instilled the fact that our own dogs truly have a purpose and a place in our world. And as you listen, I'm certain if you have a dog that you can also relate. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Ashlie: (00:49) Clint and I don't get out to the movie theater very often. Maybe once or twice a year at best, and that's on purpose. We much prefer the comfort of our own home, on our own couch, watching movies on Clint's 80-inch television with our dogs wrapped up all with us. Last weekend, we had an opportunity to watch the movie A Dog's Purpose. And as you sit there, if you've seen that movie…you know the emotion I'm about to discuss. Clint: (01:25) Yeah. Ashlie: (01:27) My husband is so sweet. It seemed that as soon as we started watching that movie and I started to ugly cry, I look over at him and he's handing me a hanky that he's so generously prepared before we sat down to watch this, fully knowing that it would just be the first of many bouts at these ugly tears that I would cry throughout the duration of the movie. And I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately. Ashlie: (01:55) There's some changes going on in my dad's home and I'm sure that that is sparked a lot of it for me. Ashlie: (02:02) But in watching this movie, what it reminded me of was the night that my mom died and the relation with our dog Bella. Ashlie: (02:13) We've had Bella now for 12 years. Ashlie: (02:19) When we got her, I remember it perfectly because we actually bought her from one of my old employees. We went over to her house to pick the dog up. I remember we had spent about $400 in supplies for this dog. Clint and I were having a house renovated and saying with my folks for a couple months and my mom made it very clear that we were not allowed to keep the dog there whatsoever. So I made arrangements with a friend, bought everything…I went over to his house. I set up the pin that night Clint and I went to go pick her up. Speaker 3: (02:56) Yeah. Ashlie: (02:58) And as soon as went there, the mother dog had these heinous black eyebrows drawn on her face with a black sharpie. She was a cream colored Pomeranian. And I just remember shaking my head thinking like, thank goodness we're taking this puppy out of this home.

Clint:

Like, if you could realize…if you know who Groucho Marx is and just realize this dog with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. It was a spitting image. It was hilarious. Ashlie: (03:28) Clint and I are from different times so I have no idea who that is. But we pick the dog up. We take her over to my parent's house. It might've been the next day, because I remember when we drove home it was dark out. So we took her to go meet my parents. My mom, for whatever reason, was out in the front yard when we got there. And I remember pulling this little puppy out from my side and handing it to my mom and she instantly looked at her, looked at me and said, 'you can keep her here under one condition.' Ashlie: (04:07) And I look at her, like completely in shock because it was crystal clear that we were not allowed to have a dog at the house, especially if it was going to be a puppy. And that came out of left field. I don't know if the dog just stole my mom's heart instantly or what the deal was with that. But I said, what is, what is the condition? And she said, 'I have to name her.' And I said, okay, what are you going to name her? My mom's Italian. And she decided to name her Bella. So we go to my friend's house, pick up all of Bella's things and go home. We were sharing my old bedroom at the time, so we set up her crate. Everything was great. My mom took care of her all day while Clint and I were at work. She crate trained her, although we later found out that she actually snuck her out of the crate all day and let her roam around the house…meaning that my mom really didn't mind taking care of this puppy. She was happy to do it. And how that relates to watching this movie and how Bella reacted that night that my mom passed away… It was something unexpected. It was unexpected because, and this isn't to, as you sit there, my intention is not to bring down the mood, but it's just to set the precedents for how I remember that night. The coroner had left after taking my mom away and we sat on the front porch. I told Clint, I just needed to sit there. Ashlie: (05:49) And maybe a good 20 minutes had gone by. And Clint I owned at the time, both homes on either side of my mom and we lived in one of them. We've since sold one of them. And so we, we walked to the side of my parent's house. We had a little cutout in the gate. So we had easy access to our front door and we went home. And I remember as soon as we walk in the door, Bella was standing at the top of the couch and the way she acted was so strange. Her ears were back and she was smelling me and she was just looking up. I mean, I told Clint right away, I remember saying that to you…like, she knows my mom died…like she could smell it on me. Clint: (06:34) Yeah. And, and Bella has a completly different reaction every time we come home. She's always the excited dog to see us and she's always so energetic and just so happy all the time. And to see her that way. Just when we walked through the door immediately. Ashlie: (06:54) It was just a shock to both of us. Yeah. It really was. And my mom loved Bella and throughout the time, even as Bella grew in age, before my mom passed away, we would take Bella over to my mom and dad's house because we lived right next door and they would often watch Bella. So my mom had company while my dad was gone at work and Bella wasn't home alone. We didn't have any other dogs at that time. We only had Bella for a majority of our marriage. I know, I just thought that was something I had never expected was for a dog to sense something like that. And it made me feel like I wasn't alone. My good friend, Mike Demo, he just ran an episode about his own dog, Elvis. Ashlie: (07:50) And that's another thing that drew me to want to talk about my own relationship with our oldest dog was really. That seemed like a couple of times that the universe was tugging at me to bring forth this topic. And what I want to discuss is how important it is for us to just stop some times and realize the purpose of our dogs and their purpose can be whatever we want it to be. And most importantly, it's whatever we allow it to be. Clint and I have since gotten two other Pomeranians and they're our world. We don't have any children. Our dogs are literally our kids. I couldn't imagine something happening to them. Ashlie: (08:43) And I'm just so grateful that we have them in our lives to share a space with, to share memories with, and to really be able to enjoy life with. Think about all of the happy times that you have in your own life. If you have a dog or if you've had a dog, I'm sure thinking back on all of those moments, you can remember that dog in the picture. You can remember Christmas time with the dog sitting around the tree. Maybe you can remember a time in your life where you just broke down sobbing and maybe the only thing, the only person, the only fur person that was there was your dog and in your allowance for opening up and allowing them to be there and having this pacifier, this ability to just pet a dog, to hold a dog, to even talk to a dog. It's so therapeutic whether we realize it or not, and maybe as you sit there, it's not a dog for you. Maybe it's a different kind of pet. I get that. Ashlie: (09:57) We've had other pets before. It just so happens that none of them have withstanding the duration of, you know, moving in life the way that our dogs have. Ashlie: (10:10) It's just another beautiful asset of the world that we live in Ashlie: (10:16) And it's another ability for us to hold on to. And I say that because traveling to countries like Thailand, there's some of the most beautiful dogs and they're just ageing for attention and they're just like trash on the side of the road. And that's because in that culture they wouldn't dare perceive their dogs the way that we do in America. And there's a lot of backstory and reasons behind that, but I think that by living in the country that we do, in embracing dogs the way that we have, and first of all not eating them… it's a beautiful thing to have that relationship with a pet. And as you sit there, it's just my hope that maybe we spend a little bit more time with our dogs. We give them a little bit more attention and most importantly we give them credit for being there regardless. Ashlie: (11:17) There are companions through every life event and they don't have a choice, but they wouldn't have in any other way. And when you understand that, when you have a relationship with your pet and you choose to embrace that, and you as you're sitting there, if you have a dog, especially, I know how much you care about your dog, and that relationship is so special. And the more relationships we can have like that, be it with a pet or be it with another human, that's what the world is all about. And when you understand that and you're open to having those relationships, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics.

Hit that subscribe button so that you don't miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly.

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Ashlie: (00:17)
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.

Clint:

And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Ashlie:

In today's episode, we're going to share with you how watching the movie A Dog's Purpose really instilled the fact that our own dogs truly have a purpose and a place in our world. And as you listen, I'm certain if you have a dog that you can also relate. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content.

Ashlie: (00:49)
Clint and I don't get out to the movie theater very often. Maybe once or twice a year at best, and that's on purpose. We much prefer the comfort of our own home, on our own couch, watching movies on Clint’s 80-inch television with our dogs wrapped up all with us. Last weekend, we had an opportunity to watch the movie A Dog's Purpose. And as you sit there, if you've seen that movie…you know the emotion I'm about to discuss.

Clint: (01:25)
Yeah.

Ashlie: (01:27)
My husband is so sweet. It seemed that as soon as we started watching that movie and I started to ugly cry, I look over at him and he's handing me a hanky that he's so generously prepared before we sat down to watch this, fully knowing that it would just be the first of many bouts at these ugly tears that I would cry throughout the duration of the movie. And I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately.

Ashlie: (01:55)
There's some changes going on in my dad's home and I'm sure that that is sparked a lot of it for me.

Ashlie: (02:02)
But in watching this movie, what it reminded me of was the night that my mom died and the relation with our dog Bella.

Ashlie: (02:13)
We've had Bella now for 12 years.

Ashlie: (02:19)
When we got her, I remember it perfectly because we actually bought her from one of my old employees. We went over to her house to pick the dog up. I remember we had spent about $400 in supplies for this dog. Clint and I were having a house renovated and saying with my folks for a couple months and my mom made it very clear that we were not allowed to keep the dog there whatsoever. So I made arrangements with a friend, bought everything…I went over to his house. I set up the pin that night Clint and I went to go pick her up.

Speaker 3: (02:56)
Yeah.

Ashlie: (02:58)
And as soon as went there, the mother dog had these heinous black eyebrows drawn on her face with a black sharpie. She was a cream colored Pomeranian. And I just remember shaking my head thinking like, thank goodness we're taking this puppy out of this home.

Clint:

Like, if you could realize…if you know who Groucho Marx is and just realize this dog with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. It was a spitting image. It was hilarious.

Ashlie: (03:28)
Clint and I are from different times so I have no idea who that is. But we pick the dog up. We take her over to my parent’s house. It might've been the next day, because I remember when we drove home it was dark out. So we took her to go meet my parents. My mom, for whatever reason, was out in the front yard when we got there. And I remember pulling this little puppy out from my side and handing it to my mom and she instantly looked at her, looked at me and said, ‘you can keep her here under one condition.’

Ashlie: (04:07)
And I look at her, like completely in shock because it was crystal clear that we were not allowed to have a dog at the house, especially if it was going to be a puppy. And that came out of left field. I don't know if the dog just stole my mom's heart instantly or what the deal was with that. But I said, what is, what is the condition? And she said, ‘I have to name her.’ And I said, okay, what are you going to name her? My mom's Italian. And she decided to name her Bella. So we go to my friend's house, pick up all of Bella's things and go home. We were sharing my old bedroom at the time, so we set up her crate. Everything was great. My mom took care of her all day while Clint and I were at work. She crate trained her, although we later found out that she actually snuck her out of the crate all day and let her roam around the house…meaning that my mom really didn't mind taking care of this puppy. She was happy to do it. And how that relates to watching this movie and how Bella reacted that night that my mom passed away… It was something unexpected. It was unexpected because, and this isn't to, as you sit there, my intention is not to bring down the mood, but it's just to set the precedents for how I remember that night. The coroner had left after taking my mom away and we sat on the front porch. I told Clint, I just needed to sit there.

Ashlie: (05:49)
And maybe a good 20 minutes had gone by. And Clint I owned at the time, both homes on either side of my mom and we lived in one of them. We've since sold one of them. And so we, we walked to the side of my parent’s house. We had a little cutout in the gate. So we had easy access to our front door and we went home. And I remember as soon as we walk in the door, Bella was standing at the top of the couch and the way she acted was so strange. Her ears were back and she was smelling me and she was just looking up. I mean, I told Clint right away, I remember saying that to you…like, she knows my mom died…like she could smell it on me.

Clint: (06:34)
Yeah. And, and Bella has a completly different reaction every time we come home. She's always the excited dog to see us and she's always so energetic and just so happy all the time. And to see her that way. Just when we walked through the door immediately.

Ashlie: (06:54)
It was just a shock to both of us. Yeah. It really was. And my mom loved Bella and throughout the time, even as Bella grew in age, before my mom passed away, we would take Bella over to my mom and dad's house because we lived right next door and they would often watch Bella. So my mom had company while my dad was gone at work and Bella wasn't home alone. We didn't have any other dogs at that time. We only had Bella for a majority of our marriage. I know, I just thought that was something I had never expected was for a dog to sense something like that. And it made me feel like I wasn't alone. My good friend, Mike Demo, he just ran an episode about his own dog, Elvis.

Ashlie: (07:50)
And that's another thing that drew me to want to talk about my own relationship with our oldest dog was really. That seemed like a couple of times that the universe was tugging at me to bring forth this topic. And what I want to discuss is how important it is for us to just stop some times and realize the purpose of our dogs and their purpose can be whatever we want it to be. And most importantly, it's whatever we allow it to be. Clint and I have since gotten two other Pomeranians and they're our world. We don't have any children. Our dogs are literally our kids. I couldn't imagine something happening to them.

Ashlie: (08:43)
And I'm just so grateful that we have them in our lives to share a space with, to share memories with, and to really be able to enjoy life with. Think about all of the happy times that you have in your own life. If you have a dog or if you've had a dog, I'm sure thinking back on all of those moments, you can remember that dog in the picture. You can remember Christmas time with the dog sitting around the tree. Maybe you can remember a time in your life where you just broke down sobbing and maybe the only thing, the only person, the only fur person that was there was your dog and in your allowance for opening up and allowing them to be there and having this pacifier, this ability to just pet a dog, to hold a dog, to even talk to a dog. It's so therapeutic whether we realize it or not, and maybe as you sit there, it's not a dog for you. Maybe it's a different kind of pet. I get that.

Ashlie: (09:57)
We've had other pets before. It just so happens that none of them have withstanding the duration of, you know, moving in life the way that our dogs have.

Ashlie: (10:10)
It's just another beautiful asset of the world that we live in

Ashlie: (10:16)
And it's another ability for us to hold on to. And I say that because traveling to countries like Thailand, there's some of the most beautiful dogs and they're just ageing for attention and they're just like trash on the side of the road. And that's because in that culture they wouldn't dare perceive their dogs the way that we do in America. And there's a lot of backstory and reasons behind that, but I think that by living in the country that we do, in embracing dogs the way that we have, and first of all not eating them… it's a beautiful thing to have that relationship with a pet. And as you sit there, it's just my hope that maybe we spend a little bit more time with our dogs. We give them a little bit more attention and most importantly we give them credit for being there regardless.

Ashlie: (11:17)
There are companions through every life event and they don't have a choice, but they wouldn't have in any other way. And when you understand that, when you have a relationship with your pet and you choose to embrace that, and you as you're sitting there, if you have a dog, especially, I know how much you care about your dog, and that relationship is so special. And the more relationships we can have like that, be it with a pet or be it with another human, that's what the world is all about. And when you understand that and you're open to having those relationships, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

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Speaker 2: (00:18) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by the LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton. Speaker 3: (00:23) And I'm your co-host Clint Walton. Speaker 2: (00:26) In today's episode, we're going to talk about why police officers have such a pet peeve with CHP. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Now I can't help but bring this up and it's because I feel like this is a topic that keeps presenting itself to me two times in the past week. So I feel the need to talk about it. The first time was when we were on our fishing trip. We went on a two and a half day charter trip with a boat full of police officers and one firefighter and me. And then this past week I had training at the sheriff's station and this topic came up again only when this topic came up again at the sheriff's station. It was just like they were going and going and going. So Clint, I wonder if you can talk a little bit about what is that stigma, what is that relationship between police officers and CHP? Speaker 3: (01:29) Well, first off, for those of you who don't know who CHP is, it's a California highway patrol. So most of the time you can include state troopers or just highway patrol in general. And there's a stigma between us because one highway patrol, they don't really investigate crimes. The, in our mindset I should say, because they only deal with traffic related incidents for the most part, if there's an actual crime that occurs on the highway, they call their local sheriff's Department or Police Department. But in turn, I know a lot of sheriff's departments call Highway Patrol to investigate their collisions or do I relate it investigations if they can as well. So I think the stigma that comes from is we all live the life behind the badge and we look at one another almost as an animosity in some instances because you wish you had a job that easy, but their job really isn't that easy. Speaker 2: (02:42) And if I remember correctly, I feel like the pay scale for CHP is a little bit higher than most sheriff's in most police departments. Speaker 3: (02:52) We call him the states babies because they're, they've always been taken care of and always make the jokes cause they only write tickets all the time that they're creating such a revenue source for the state government to pay for their own salaries, which isn't true. And, and, and my hats off to these guys who work the highways and the freeways because it drives me insane. If I'm on the freeway having to investigate something and I have cars driving my by me at 80 miles per hour, it's, it's very dangerous. And a lot of the CHP and highway patrolmen had been killed just based off of drunk drivers or negligent drivers performing their duties. Speaker 2: (03:40) And I think for the most part, there's, there's a certain element of like collaborate of humor when it comes to that sort of bantering between officers and c h p I would suspect that CHP does exactly the same thing. Speaker 3: (03:57) You would think so, but they're scared to, they, they know that we can take them on in the fight if they wanted to bring it. Speaker 2: (04:04) Let's see that that's exactly what I'm talking about. Speaker 3: (04:07) Yeah. And it is true. I mean we call them chippies, you know, AAA with the badge and I'm sure they have their names for us as well. But what it all comes down to, it's still a brotherhood. It's still law enforcement. We're still police officers and we're here to effectively do the same job and assist each other no matter what the cause or case. Speaker 2: (04:36) Yeah. And I know one CHP officer comes to mind in particular, I would love to bring him on this show because I would really like to get their viewpoint on what defines them as an officer and really how they feel about that stigma. Because I would imagine that for the most part, I think CHB has their own academy, but the dynamics of the academy is pretty comparable to what most officers go through. Is that right? Speaker 3: (05:00) It's, it's a little bit more focused into traffic related things. Um, they're driving their investigations in relation to a traffic collisions and everything like that is more refined. They don't have the criminal investigative techniques that we necessarily do or experience behind it. And that's normally why we have to investigate them. Speaker 2: (05:27) So what are those parameters then for CHP? Like is there any off limits for them in comparison to just like sheriffs or police officers? Speaker 3: (05:37) Not that I'm aware of, but I think their own policy kinda dictates what happens. You know, they're a state agency and everything is based off of, you're not notoriety, but you're standing within the government. So you have city police, sheriff's county, Sheriff's department, State Corrections, and, and state highway patrol. Then you have even further up of like Federal Bureau of Investigation, CIA, stuff like that where it's almost a level. So the federal government outweighs state government and state government outweighs local government, if that makes sense. Speaker 2: (06:16) It does. And what comes to mind for me is it's, it's yet another facet of the entire circle, the circle of humanity, the way that the working world works. And we can joke about like people flipping burgers at McDonald's, but the truth is that so many people go to McDonald's to buy those burgers. And I think that no matter what, of course, I'm not comparing CHP to, you know, flipping burgers at McDonald's, but they're, there is that stigma that exists no matter what the profession is. And it doesn't matter where you sit on the totem pole or where you arrive in that circle, it continuously flows. And I say that because in comparing CHP with police officers, I mean, I consider CHP police officers just as much. So Andy, what comes to mind is when I see a pursuit, let's say on TV and the pursuit started out local and then it hits the freeway, you know, then it turns into this collaborative effort between whatever city or county agency was dealing with it. And then it's handed off to CHP. And often times the collaboration goes back and forth, back and forth, depending on where the suspect is and where he decides to go. Speaker 3: (07:37) Yeah. And they do that just to, who knows the streets better than the officers who work the streets and who knows the highways and freeways better than the CHP officers who work. And it's really funny that you've brought this episode in today. It's, there's mutual, I don't know, I'm like animosity, animosity towards every agency, the sheriff's department and Police Departments, uh, CHP and, and police departments and shares too, like fire departments of course. I mean that is never ending and never will and, but no matter what agency you work for, whether you're a police officer, a sheriff's department there, they call us blue bellies and we make fun of the colors they wear as well. And it's just kinda rounding around and it's a, just a fun thing that we do with one another. Speaker 2: (08:36) It's funny you mentioned that because when I went to the sheriff's station this past week and I'm looking at their uniforms the whole time, I'm like, man, my husband looks so much better in his uniform. Not that I'm checking out another officer, although I might have been, but in the way that their uniforms are versus the way that you look your, it's just so much more professional and I just feel like Speaker 3: (09:00) a baby threw up on the car. Speaker 2: (09:02) No, no. It just reminds me of like park rangers when I see a sheriff. And then when I see you or any of the officers at your department, they dress all in like deep, deep navy blue. I'm just like, wow. Like you look so handsome in your uniform. Speaker 3: (09:19) Thank you. [inaudible]. Speaker 2: (09:21) So in getting back to the topic of, of CHP, do you think that there's any line that's drawn as you go up, let's say the rankings of any, any sort of really dialed in methodology I guess, of of police work? Like whether it's CIA, FBI, like does that commodity continue or does that bantering stop at like CHP, Speaker 3: (09:45) the, the banter's still there all the way around. I've worked with different agencies from federal to state level and, and that banter is always there where you have the FBI, they, they had to have a, I think a minimum of a bachelor's degree to be a FBI agent. And so they already think that they're a step above everyone else where most agencies don't require their college degree. So I think no matter what agency you work for, there's always this banter that goes around and it's kind of redundant in most ways. We're not very creative and thinking of new things, but it's, it's great just to have that, but it also forms more of a brotherhood between all of us. There are some issues in relation to this though, because sometimes you work with agencies who might not have the experience in surrounding say, building clearing or apprehension, assessed specs or interviewing. Um, it could, the list goes on and on and you just have to be mindful of that. Speaker 2: (10:59) Yeah, for sure. And I think that having that collaboration, and I know for you where, where you work because your city is so inundated and close knit with a lot of the other agencies that I would imagine there's, there's an abundance of time when the agencies come together and then it's probably pretty obvious for you guys to be able to identify what the strong points are and what the weak points are amongst yourselves. So when that happens, is it pretty straight forward with a delegation of authority for like your superiors to be able to set forth who's doing what Speaker 3: (11:34) in those instances? Normally it kind of falls back onto while it's your city and you guys are in charge or it's your investigation, you guys are in charge where support for you. Cause then we're not opening ourselves up to not only liability but the concerns of safety relation to how they may do things. Cause overall we all generally do things the same way. But over years you develop different tactics, different skills, different techniques on maybe building clearing. I use that because that's super important to me where I might have them stand outside and all bring my partners who I know and trust to go in. Speaker 2: (12:19) Yeah, absolutely. And as it pertains to CHP, like there is this new once of, of that bantering and like name saying and things like that. But the truth is that anytime that I've seen you in the presence of a CHP officer, it's never something to where you have any genuine negative feelings towards them. I think it's all in, in good fun. And I think that's one of the things that helps to lessen some of the stress of your job. Of course it doesn't make your job less stressful, but it's just one little entity that helps to just like put a smile on someone's face by, you know, spitting out that joke here and there and it doesn't change the relationship of that brother and sisterhood amongst, amongst who you guys are being that you all live behind the badge. And I think that's important to point out because that, that, that um, that humor is still very much present and very much needed in any sort of high stress, you know, high intensity level profession. Speaker 2: (13:27) And I think that's important to point out that yes, there might be a variation in what the job analysis is amongst police officers, sheriff's CHP, but in the long run that doesn't change that solid line that's created inadvertently amongst all of you. And having that strong line, I think just further supports that someone else, someone additional how's your back and in the way that society has squeezed your profession as a police officer, that couldn't be any more important than it is right now. And I think by having that relationship and knowing that no matter what the variance is in job title, that you guys are still one unit. And at the end of the day you have the ability to collaborate and to work amongst yourselves and with one another to get the job done, to stay safe and to come home to your families. And when you're able to recognize that and you're able to know that you can still have fun while still knowing that that division only lasts on the onset and it has nothing to do with the true tendencies of what that Brotherhood is, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics.

Hit that subscribe button so that you don't miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly.

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Speaker 2: (00:18)
Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by the LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.

Speaker 3: (00:23)
And I'm your co-host Clint Walton.

Speaker 2: (00:26)
In today's episode, we're going to talk about why police officers have such a pet peeve with CHP. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Now I can't help but bring this up and it's because I feel like this is a topic that keeps presenting itself to me two times in the past week. So I feel the need to talk about it. The first time was when we were on our fishing trip. We went on a two and a half day charter trip with a boat full of police officers and one firefighter and me. And then this past week I had training at the sheriff's station and this topic came up again only when this topic came up again at the sheriff's station. It was just like they were going and going and going. So Clint, I wonder if you can talk a little bit about what is that stigma, what is that relationship between police officers and CHP?

Speaker 3: (01:29)
Well, first off, for those of you who don't know who CHP is, it's a California highway patrol. So most of the time you can include state troopers or just highway patrol in general. And there's a stigma between us because one highway patrol, they don't really investigate crimes. The, in our mindset I should say, because they only deal with traffic related incidents for the most part, if there's an actual crime that occurs on the highway, they call their local sheriff's Department or Police Department. But in turn, I know a lot of sheriff's departments call Highway Patrol to investigate their collisions or do I relate it investigations if they can as well. So I think the stigma that comes from is we all live the life behind the badge and we look at one another almost as an animosity in some instances because you wish you had a job that easy, but their job really isn't that easy.

Speaker 2: (02:42)
And if I remember correctly, I feel like the pay scale for CHP is a little bit higher than most sheriff's in most police departments.

Speaker 3: (02:52)
We call him the states babies because they're, they've always been taken care of and always make the jokes cause they only write tickets all the time that they're creating such a revenue source for the state government to pay for their own salaries, which isn't true. And, and, and my hats off to these guys who work the highways and the freeways because it drives me insane. If I'm on the freeway having to investigate something and I have cars driving my by me at 80 miles per hour, it's, it's very dangerous. And a lot of the CHP and highway patrolmen had been killed just based off of drunk drivers or negligent drivers performing their duties.

Speaker 2: (03:40)
And I think for the most part, there's, there's a certain element of like collaborate of humor when it comes to that sort of bantering between officers and c h p I would suspect that CHP does exactly the same thing.

Speaker 3: (03:57)
You would think so, but they're scared to, they, they know that we can take them on in the fight if they wanted to bring it.

Speaker 2: (04:04)
Let's see that that's exactly what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3: (04:07)
Yeah. And it is true. I mean we call them chippies, you know, AAA with the badge and I'm sure they have their names for us as well. But what it all comes down to, it's still a brotherhood. It's still law enforcement. We're still police officers and we're here to effectively do the same job and assist each other no matter what the cause or case.

Speaker 2: (04:36)
Yeah. And I know one CHP officer comes to mind in particular, I would love to bring him on this show because I would really like to get their viewpoint on what defines them as an officer and really how they feel about that stigma. Because I would imagine that for the most part, I think CHB has their own academy, but the dynamics of the academy is pretty comparable to what most officers go through. Is that right?

Speaker 3: (05:00)
It's, it's a little bit more focused into traffic related things. Um, they're driving their investigations in relation to a traffic collisions and everything like that is more refined. They don't have the criminal investigative techniques that we necessarily do or experience behind it. And that's normally why we have to investigate them.

Speaker 2: (05:27)
So what are those parameters then for CHP? Like is there any off limits for them in comparison to just like sheriffs or police officers?

Speaker 3: (05:37)
Not that I'm aware of, but I think their own policy kinda dictates what happens. You know, they're a state agency and everything is based off of, you're not notoriety, but you're standing within the government. So you have city police, sheriff's county, Sheriff's department, State Corrections, and, and state highway patrol. Then you have even further up of like Federal Bureau of Investigation, CIA, stuff like that where it's almost a level. So the federal government outweighs state government and state government outweighs local government, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2: (06:16)
It does. And what comes to mind for me is it's, it's yet another facet of the entire circle, the circle of humanity, the way that the working world works. And we can joke about like people flipping burgers at McDonald's, but the truth is that so many people go to McDonald's to buy those burgers. And I think that no matter what, of course, I'm not comparing CHP to, you know, flipping burgers at McDonald's, but they're, there is that stigma that exists no matter what the profession is. And it doesn't matter where you sit on the totem pole or where you arrive in that circle, it continuously flows. And I say that because in comparing CHP with police officers, I mean, I consider CHP police officers just as much. So Andy, what comes to mind is when I see a pursuit, let's say on TV and the pursuit started out local and then it hits the freeway, you know, then it turns into this collaborative effort between whatever city or county agency was dealing with it. And then it's handed off to CHP. And often times the collaboration goes back and forth, back and forth, depending on where the suspect is and where he decides to go.

Speaker 3: (07:37)
Yeah. And they do that just to, who knows the streets better than the officers who work the streets and who knows the highways and freeways better than the CHP officers who work. And it's really funny that you've brought this episode in today. It's, there's mutual, I don't know, I'm like animosity, animosity towards every agency, the sheriff's department and Police Departments, uh, CHP and, and police departments and shares too, like fire departments of course. I mean that is never ending and never will and, but no matter what agency you work for, whether you're a police officer, a sheriff's department there, they call us blue bellies and we make fun of the colors they wear as well. And it's just kinda rounding around and it's a, just a fun thing that we do with one another.

Speaker 2: (08:36)
It's funny you mentioned that because when I went to the sheriff's station this past week and I'm looking at their uniforms the whole time, I'm like, man, my husband looks so much better in his uniform. Not that I'm checking out another officer, although I might have been, but in the way that their uniforms are versus the way that you look your, it's just so much more professional and I just feel like

Speaker 3: (09:00)
a baby threw up on the car.

Speaker 2: (09:02)
No, no. It just reminds me of like park rangers when I see a sheriff. And then when I see you or any of the officers at your department, they dress all in like deep, deep navy blue. I'm just like, wow. Like you look so handsome in your uniform.

Speaker 3: (09:19)
Thank you. [inaudible].

Speaker 2: (09:21)
So in getting back to the topic of, of CHP, do you think that there's any line that's drawn as you go up, let's say the rankings of any, any sort of really dialed in methodology I guess, of of police work? Like whether it's CIA, FBI, like does that commodity continue or does that bantering stop at like CHP,

Speaker 3: (09:45)
the, the banter's still there all the way around. I've worked with different agencies from federal to state level and, and that banter is always there where you have the FBI, they, they had to have a, I think a minimum of a bachelor's degree to be a FBI agent. And so they already think that they're a step above everyone else where most agencies don't require their college degree. So I think no matter what agency you work for, there's always this banter that goes around and it's kind of redundant in most ways. We're not very creative and thinking of new things, but it's, it's great just to have that, but it also forms more of a brotherhood between all of us. There are some issues in relation to this though, because sometimes you work with agencies who might not have the experience in surrounding say, building clearing or apprehension, assessed specs or interviewing. Um, it could, the list goes on and on and you just have to be mindful of that.

Speaker 2: (10:59)
Yeah, for sure. And I think that having that collaboration, and I know for you where, where you work because your city is so inundated and close knit with a lot of the other agencies that I would imagine there's, there's an abundance of time when the agencies come together and then it's probably pretty obvious for you guys to be able to identify what the strong points are and what the weak points are amongst yourselves. So when that happens, is it pretty straight forward with a delegation of authority for like your superiors to be able to set forth who's doing what

Speaker 3: (11:34)
in those instances? Normally it kind of falls back onto while it's your city and you guys are in charge or it's your investigation, you guys are in charge where support for you. Cause then we're not opening ourselves up to not only liability but the concerns of safety relation to how they may do things. Cause overall we all generally do things the same way. But over years you develop different tactics, different skills, different techniques on maybe building clearing. I use that because that's super important to me where I might have them stand outside and all bring my partners who I know and trust to go in.

Speaker 2: (12:19)
Yeah, absolutely. And as it pertains to CHP, like there is this new once of, of that bantering and like name saying and things like that. But the truth is that anytime that I've seen you in the presence of a CHP officer, it's never something to where you have any genuine negative feelings towards them. I think it's all in, in good fun. And I think that's one of the things that helps to lessen some of the stress of your job. Of course it doesn't make your job less stressful, but it's just one little entity that helps to just like put a smile on someone's face by, you know, spitting out that joke here and there and it doesn't change the relationship of that brother and sisterhood amongst, amongst who you guys are being that you all live behind the badge. And I think that's important to point out because that, that, that um, that humor is still very much present and very much needed in any sort of high stress, you know, high intensity level profession.

Speaker 2: (13:27)
And I think that's important to point out that yes, there might be a variation in what the job analysis is amongst police officers, sheriff's CHP, but in the long run that doesn't change that solid line that's created inadvertently amongst all of you. And having that strong line, I think just further supports that someone else, someone additional how's your back and in the way that society has squeezed your profession as a police officer, that couldn't be any more important than it is right now. And I think by having that relationship and knowing that no matter what the variance is in job title, that you guys are still one unit. And at the end of the day you have the ability to collaborate and to work amongst yourselves and with one another to get the job done, to stay safe and to come home to your families. And when you're able to recognize that and you're able to know that you can still have fun while still knowing that that division only lasts on the onset and it has nothing to do with the true tendencies of what that Brotherhood is, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

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Ashlie: (00:18) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton. Clint: (00:23) And I'm your co-host Clint Walton. Ashlie: (00:26) In today's episode, we're going to talk about how having a cognitive awareness and intent with serving the community that you serve as a police officer or an any job responsibility that you are responsible for could really make all the difference on the individuals and how that can transpire into something bigger. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content. Clint has worked very close with a lot of the members in his community based on a special detail that he's been in in one form or another for well over five years. Now. In doing that and meeting some of the community members, I've been fortunate enough to attend several events where I've gotten to meet a lot of them as well. There's one woman in particular that comes to mind and she comes to mind because of a story that clinch shared with me as it pertains to taking the extra step and going the extra mile in serving a need that she had. Clint, I wonder if you could just talk a little bit to the listener about what that was. Clint: (01:46) In my experience around community policing, it's been eye-opening in so many levels and I really hope you as the listener can incorporate or adopt this in whatever you do. And my story with this lady started for about four years ago and she came to a lot of our community meetings. She is really involved with the police department and the community in general. So over the years I've gotten to know her and she's, she's such a sweet lady. Every time she sees an officer she buys a gift card wherever we're at and gives, gives a gift card to whatever officer may be there. She's always tried to give me one and I've always taken it and then I hide it back in her purse later and she calls me a stinker because I've never actually taken one from her. But about three years ago she asked for some help in reference to her neighborhood. Clint: (02:52) She had a neighbor that just wasn't playing with the rules. And I think all of us have had that neighbor where they play loud music at night. They parked their vehicles on their lawns, they do anything and everything, and it just eats at you every day you come home, you take such pride in your own house and what you do to take care of your own property and you see a renter next door just thrashing the house, which not only brings the market value of your house down, but it really is an eyesore for you. So she asked me to give her a hand with this neighbor that was causing so many problems for her and I really didn't do much. I wouldn't ask the neighbor to knock their stuff off or I'm gonna sit code enforcement on them, or I'm going to find other issues in relation to the property and I would truly address it. Clint: (04:00) About a month later, I hadn't seen her for a while and she came up to me and gave me the biggest hug of all what? What was that for? And she goes, my neighbors moved out. They were tired of dealing with me next door and she's all, and I know you had something to do with it. And I'm like, no, I didn't do anything. She's all, I just, I just know that you took care of the problem for me. And from there it just stemmed on to where she had started calling me on a regular basis for other issues on our street. And, and I'll tell you if you're a police officer, you know sometimes it gets kind of daunting, especially when you have citizens that have your cell phone number and call you for every little thing. But when I shifted my mindset as to not looking at it as, oh man, it's not her again or it's not this person again, trying to just use me to fix their problems, but really adapted the mindset of if this look next door to me, I would want this fixed too. Clint: (05:24) And really focusing in on that. It gave me pleasure doing anything and everything I could for any community member who came to me with a problem. And that really pushed me in, drove me to go over and above for any anybody in any person that I could. And so recently I actually went to this lady's house and she, I got an email from my boss with about eight items and there were all complaints from her. So I go, you know, I told my partner, I go, you know, it's going to be easier. Let's just go there and talk to her. Let's figure out what their problems are and we'll really see what we can do to help her. Cause a lot of times just going and actually talking with them, the problems that work themselves out. So we drove to her house when inside her house, I sat on her couch, her dog jumped on my lap and we'd spent a good 30 45 minutes just talking with her. She called one of her neighbors over and she expressed her concerns to us as well. And a simple, okay, I'll look into it. They were more pleased with just that response then anything that I could ever do. Ashlie: (06:50) That's one thing I love about you because it showcases your personality. And how you really are outside of the workplace and a lot of times I don't think that people understand that they have the ability to pull in those attributes that make them who they are in order to make themselves a better worker, a better community member, a better friend, a better employee. And the thing with you is, I know that when you told her I'm going to look into it, the reason she was so appeased by the situation was because she knew based on your own past encounters with her that you're not just saying that to shine her on and to shutter up for the day. You said that from a place of genuinely knowing that you're going to follow through with what her concerns are and I know that she knew that too. When Clint, I were talking about this particular situation being that I have had the opportunity to meet her a couple of times. He was sharing with me how her cocker Spaniel guy is uniform, so full of fur and we were just discussing the whole, the whole thing surrounding the situation. And what I told him was how important it is to build those relationships with the community members that feel the need to voice their opinions the most Clint: (08:17) And something came from this that is so absolutely amazing and, and I can't even explain what a small world it is. This lady is actually, I'm going to say it's her, his, it's her brother in law is actually my second and third grade teacher who was my absolute favorite teacher through all my years in school. And I had a really close relationship with him and my mom was the homeroom mom for those classes. She was close with him and it was just like what a small world this is for this to happen. And she actually called him after the fact and gave me his number and I still need to call him, but just to reconnect and go to lunch or something. And it's just amazing to see what has transpired over the years since I was in second and third grade to where I am now. And to be able to share that with someone who really mentored me and really was big in who I am as a care, as in my character as an adult. Ashlie: (09:39) It's my true belief that nothing like that happens by chance and I believe that is a little bit of the universe just showcasing a gift to you because you were open to receiving it and a lot of us turn the cheek. It's easy for us to shine on the complaints, but you don't have the ability to do that. It is literally in your job analysis to help solve people's problems and deal with them. You call them, call after call, but in essence it's complaint after complaint Ashlie: (10:19) and it's the way that you decide to articulate, to reframe your mind in a way to where you're going to decide how you want to approach it and more importantly, what your cognitive response is going to be to the whole nature of the situation and also to the outlook on what really impacts your entire career. If you're constantly going to calls dreading the way that you're going to feel when you encounter maybe the same people complaining constantly, then you're going to dread your job. But to be able to reframe your mind and to look at it in a way to where you know that you're doing a service to somebody who really needs it, I don't believe that she would be calling so frequently with any sort of concerns had they had no, no genuine basis behind them, and of course there are guidelines and discipline and things like that in place. If you do have somebody abusing the system and no doubt there are those people. Luckily this isn't one of those situations, but having the ability to showcase what you can do for other people builds this trust and in stating that there are community members that voice their opinions much louder than others. Clinton, I talked about how a lot of times it's so easy for members of the community or members of society as a whole to complain. It's very easy for them to speak when things don't go their way Ashlie: (11:56) But I paid witness to many times when she and many other members of the community that you've worked with personally have spoken up on the positive nature of what you do for them and how it impacts their lives. And I want to say that again, it impacts their lives to make a difference in someone's Day can ultimately lead to a difference in their own train of thought, a difference in the way that they perceive you and a difference of the way that they perceive your profession. Ashlie: (12:34) I would imagine that if you didn't follow through on the things that you told her you were going to say are going to do or any other member of the community that you responded to and simply said, I'm going to look into it. If you didn't do the things that you promised, those people are going to turn against you. They're going to have bad things to say about your moral character, your work ethic, what your duties are, the things that you're capable of. But instead you get to experience the other side of the spectrum and it's pleasant. It makes your day a little bit easier. Having people like that to further build on the community that you serve as the whole reason why you're doing this in the first place. Ashlie: (13:22) And as you sit there and your own profession in your own day with any interactions that you're having with people that you maybe aren't comfortable with facing or that you've never even encountered before. How could you shift your train of thought anytime that it gets uncomfortable? Anytime that you're being asked to face something that you don't want to do necessarily. Ashlie: (13:49) Could you be of service to them? Could you do something a little extra? Could you show them a piece of who you really are and not just who the badge says you are or the uniform says you are? And I believe that by showcasing the truths about who you really are and what your abilities are and the way that your morals and your ethics and your own code of conduct plays into your day to day is really what it's all about. And when you can practice that and you really embody who you are and you mesh it in with what you do for a living, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.

Balance. Optimize. Tactics.

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