Unbreakable: Lessons Learned from Real Cop Stories to Build Resiliency and Mental Toughness

By Nate Boggs

The emotional gravitude of societal events of 2020, combined with the anti-police rhetoric that swept across mainstream media and social media platforms, caused a ripple effect that directly impacted police officers who already have an extraordinarily stressful job. Police officers all over the Nation felt unfairly vilified for the actions of a few, and morale went to an all-time low. The author, Nate Boggs, understands the difficulty of the job and has dedicated his life to helping his brothers and sisters who have the courage to wear a badge.  The community generally doesn’t realize the daily challenges that police officers face, or the types of critical incidents that law enforcement officers deal with on a routine basis.   To illustrate this Nate has provided real stories from his career, raw personal experiences, and thoughtful lessons derived from each one to provide a better understanding of the intricacies of the modern law enforcement officer. Mental resilience is just as important as any other tool utilized in law enforcement. This book is designed to not only help the reader to understand the difficulties and realities of the profession of a law enforcement officer, but also provide a way for police officers to overcome these challenges to ultimately retire healthy with an intact family unit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638857860

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Cookie Guy

Today, we will live in the moment. Unless it’s unpleasant in which case we will eat a cookie.

—Cookie Monster

In the late ’90s, before I began my career in law enforcement, I worked part time at the Cincinnati airport (CVG) while I was in college. During my tenure, I met some of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege of working alongside. One such employee was a hard worker named Mark Jackson. Mark gave me a little wisdom that I’ve always remembered and, on occasion, shared with folks in my law enforcement career when given the opportunity.

In every workplace, regardless of the profession, there are some strange folks that don’t really seem to fit in with other employees. One such individual was a guy named Doug who worked at the airport as a baggage handler. Doug was a little different than most, and everyone did everything they could to avoid him. He frequently had nonsensical conversations with himself, and every morning when he parked his car, he had a strange ritual. He would walk around the car while mumbling to himself, knocking on the quarter panels, and putting his ear to the car, listening. In today’s day and age, this would’ve undoubtedly found its way onto the internet and garnered endless views, and folks would’ve marveled at Doug’s unusualness. I have no idea what mental disease Doug may have been diagnosed with, but he most certainly had some mental issues that were apparent to everyone. Doug was most certainly an outsider, and he didn’t have anyone that he ever associated with. Even on the train (people mover) that ran through the concourse, folks would move to the opposite end of the tram car from where Doug stood as he audibly laughed out loud to himself and mumbled under his breath. It just so happened that my friend Mark and I worked the same day shift as Doug, so we witnessed Doug’s morning ritual several times a week. Occasionally, we would come to work a little earlier than normal so we could sit at a restaurant, have a cup of coffee, and wake up before work. One such day, as I was walking into work with Mark, I noticed he was carrying a small brown paper bag. He didn’t mention the contents, and I just assumed he had packed his lunch for the day, which he normally didn’t do. We arrived at the concourse where we worked and sat down to have our morning coffee and cream cheese bagel. While sipping our cup of go juice, we conversed over sports as continuous streams of employees would pass by us to clock in for their shift. Without warning, Mark sprung up from his seat mid conversation and hurriedly carried the brown paper bag to Doug. I was too far away to overhear the conversation, but I was puzzled at what I was witnessing. I could see the conversation was mostly one sided as Doug only nodded to what Mark was saying while accepting the brown paper bag with a seemingly perplexed look on his face. Mark came back to the table and picked up the conversation where he left off as if nothing had happened. Completely dumbfounded, I interrupted Mark by asking him, Dude, what in the world did you give to Doug? I didn’t even know you knew that guy! Mark nonchalantly told me that he gave Doug a bag of cookies as he sipped his coffee. I, in turn, nearly spat out my coffee, responding with, What? Why would you do that? A serious look came over Mark’s face, and he leaned over the table as he enlightened me by saying, In any job you ever have, the first thing you should do is identify the craziest person in your workplace. I mean, the guy that is most likely to shoot the place up, then I bake that guy a batch of homemade cookies and give them to him. That way, the day that he hits his breaking point and shows up with a rifle and shoots employees in a fit of pent-up rage, as he turns his sights on me, he will stop shooting and lower the gun. In the midst of his murderous rampage, he will say to himself, ‘Oh hey, that’s the cookie guy,’ and he will leave me to live the rest of my life. Then, after sparing my life over sweet chocolaty treats, he will continue shooting the rest of you jerks. In the months to follow, about once a month, Mark would religiously bring in a batch of cookies for Doug. I thought this was hilarious at the time, but later in life, I would look back on Mark’s act of kindness and draw a distinct lesson from it. Perhaps if all of us, instead of avoidance, tried to connect with these folks, although their actions are strange to us, perhaps it could put them on the road to recovery. Mark boldly went against the flow, regardless of public perception, to make a difference in Doug’s life. Anyone who is suffering from mental illness sometimes just needs someone to care about them before they can seek help. So often in law enforcement, we are held to such a high standard, and cops generally are wary of being connected to anyone that could potentially put their job in jeopardy by association. Therefore, if anyone is having struggles in their life that potentially put their mental health in jeopardy, other cops will typically do everything they can to avoid them. It’s a hear no evil kind of response. This is exactly the mindset that we shouldn’t have. Instead, we should meet these folks with kindness and perhaps connect them to resources to put them on a track to wellness. Avoidance of these warning signs of mental illness literally could have life-and-death consequences. Studies have shown that typically, cops trust other cops more than the administration, psychiatrists, or in some cases even their family members. In retrospect of my career, I think of other cops who were struggling with alcoholism or struggling at work. In many cases, I would try to avoid them like they had a disease, or they would drag me down with them on their path to self-destruction. When warning signs show up in a coworker, don’t be afraid to be the cookie guy. Simple acts of kindness plant seeds that can grow over time. Years later, I’m not sure whatever happened to Doug, and I eventually lost touch with Mark. I heard a rumor after I left the airline that Doug had made his way into the company president’s office and threatened to blow up the airport for a certain set of demands. I heard Doug was arrested, and I’m not sure if he actually had an explosive in his possession, but I was left with one burning question: If Mark was the company president, would Doug have made threats to blow him up?

Chapter 2

Academy Advice

Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris: What the hell are you doing here?

Cadet Laverne Hooks: I wanna be a police officer.

Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris: What? I can’t hear you-u?

Cadet Laverne Hooks [whispering]: I wanna be a police officer.

Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris: Don’t unpack.

—Police Academy (1984)

Kim Colegrove writes in her book, Mindfulness for Warriors, Our first responders are very well trained, but their training does not prepare them for the mental and emotional impacts of the job. I couldn’t help but find a lot of truth in this statement. Through my entire training regimen as a young police officer, I received training in every single high-liability area, but literally none whatsoever in mental preparedness or development of good coping skills to endure a career in law enforcement.

Some kids grow up their whole life and want to be a cop; this wasn’t me. Admittedly, I grew up around my dad who was a Kentucky State Trooper, and I idolized him. I recognized that he was a real-life superhero and heard the legendary stories echoed from folks that worked with him and from my mom who worked for EMS. Admittedly, when I would play cops and robbers with neighborhood friends, I never wanted to be the bad