I want to dive deeper into something that sits at the core of policing, training, and the human experience—but rarely gets the airtime it deserves: Emotional regulation is one of the most powerful forms of crime prevention we have. Not technology. Not policies. Not equipment. Human regulation. Human capacity. Human control. Because when you strip away all the noise, most of what law enforcement deals with is emotion without direction: People who never learned to pause. People who never learned to sit with discomfort. People who never learned to name a feeling before acting on it. People who were raised in environments where chaos was the norm and regulation didn’t exist. Every cop knows this pattern: Somebody can’t handle anger → becomes an assault Somebody can’t handle shame → becomes a lie, a cover-up, or avoidance Somebody can’t handle fear → becomes violence or self-destruction Somebody can’t handle stress → becomes addiction Somebody can’t handle grief → becomes isolation or suicide And this isn’t just individuals. This is generational. This is cultural. This is systemic. If we taught people how to regulate emotions early on: We would see fewer: • Domestic incidents • Fights • Road rage • Juvenile crimes • Relapses • Overdoses • Suicides • Mental health crises • Officer-involved uses of force • Broken relationships and broken families This isn’t hypothetical — it’s observable reality on every shift. Emotional regulation isn’t soft. It’s tactical. It’s the ability to: – Stay stable under pressure – Recognize the difference between a feeling and a fact – Think while the nervous system is screaming – Decelerate when everything inside wants to accelerate – Not weaponize emotion in conflict – Recognize when you’re escalating someone else without realizing it – Use calm as a strategy, not a luxury This is the same skill that makes elite operators effective in combat. It’s the same skill that makes high-level negotiators successful. It’s the same skill that keeps officers alive during critical incidents.

Figured I’d share my thanksgiving thoughts with y’all. It’s all about mindset.

Coolsys posted me in a We Fight Monsters "Be a Badass, Save a kid" shirt. The company I work for celebrates November as a month of giving. I submitted multiple pics of volunteer work but was pleasantly surprised when they picked the lower right hand pic to post throughout the company. I told Ben Owen once that I didnt feel comfortable wearing that shirt because it implies I am a badass, which I don't consider myself as such but I love the message so much that I now wear it often. It's all about spreading the message to support the mission and what a great mission it is!!

Sitting in the waiting room at the hospital while wife undergoes shoulder surgery reading We Fight Monsters book again. I highly recommend this book, its my second read but suspect won't be the last. My personal goal is to purchase 1,000 copies to send to recovery centers across the US. It may take me a minute to get there but thats my plan.

Many will experience a picture perfect holiday seasons where others will struggle with depression and loneliness. Be sure to check on family, friends and co-workers to let them know you care and are thinking about them.