Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome back to a healthy shift podcast. My name is Roger Sutherland. I'm a veteran of 40 years in 24-7 shift work in policing. And today's episode is part two of number two. The last podcast that I did was The Cost of Silence in Policing and How Speaking Up Ends Careers. Today I want to actually go on to the next step. Today's episode is policing didn't break them, it actually let them down. Today's episode is not just about shift work, it's actually about policing. And more importantly, it's about what happens to police officers when the job stops caring back. And this is a conversation that needs to happen. Not just here, but worldwide. No matter where you're listening from, you will relate to this. And I want you to understand that you are seen. Because what I'm seeing, hearing, and working with is the same story over and over again worldwide. Police officers are not leaving the job. Policing is actually leaving them. And that difference matters. I want you to sit with that for a moment. Most people think officers quit because they can't handle it anymore. What they've done is they've burnt out. That they've just given up. But that's not how it works. People that swear into policing don't walk away from policing lightly. It has a massive impact. It's a huge decision. They walk away after years of giving more than what they were actually capable of giving. This is not a short-term decision. It's death by a thousand cuts. Miss birthdays, missed anniversaries, missed school plays, miss weekends that never come back. Marriages, relationships. It's explaining to your family why you're not at home again. It's canceling those plans again. It's promising that next time, and knowing deep down, there probably won't be a next time. And at the same time, you're carrying things that most people will never see. Trauma doesn't stay neatly at work, it comes home with you. But there's rarely a space to actually unload it. And you learn pretty quickly that silence feels safer than actually speaking up. That saying you're fine is actually just easier than being open and honest. That pushing on is rewarded. And struggling is noted. So you push on. And most police officers didn't join policing for the pay. Let's be totally honest about that. I know I certainly didn't. If money was the goal, policing would not even make the short list. People joined to serve, to help. They want to make a difference. They're passionate about it, they love it. They joined because they believed in something bigger than themselves. And that's why this hurts so much. Because when officers leave, it's not because they stopped caring, it's because caring came at too high of a cost. And the job stopped caring for them. Support became a slogan. It's a poster on the wall, it's a line in a policy. Well-being has become reactive instead of preventative. Oh, we'll deal with it once someone breaks. Not before, no one will break. It's fine. Oh my God, what are we going to do now? Leadership have become distant. They're not even visible. In fact, a lot of leadership, you couldn't even call them human. Sociopaths. And you know who you are. And slowly the gap between what policing says and what it does becomes impossible to ignore. Now, this is not just a retention issue. This is actually a human issue. And here's the part that doesn't get talked about enough. What happens after the badge comes off? What happens when you hand in your badge? Because for many officers, leaving the job doesn't bring relief. It actually brings silence. The uniform comes off, but the weight of it stays on. There's a loss that's really hard to explain if you haven't lived it. There's a loss of identity, there's a loss of structure in your life, and the loss of belonging is painful. Because for years, and for me, for 40 years, policing shaped everything. How I slept, how I ate, how I stayed alert, how I spoke, how I scanned rooms, where I sat in a restaurant, in a cafe, how I held my body. My nervous system adapted to it because the job just had to. Then one day, it's gone. There's no decompression. They don't give you any transition at all. There is no roadmap out. It's just quiet. The phone stops ringing. The team just moves on. The job just keeps on going on without you. And so many former cops tell me the same thing. The hardest part wasn't the job. It's what came after. And that loneliness can hit you really hard. You look around and realize that most people don't understand what you've seen or what you've carried or how you've been treated or why your body still reacts like danger is around every corner. You can be surrounded by people and just feel so incredibly alone. And here's where I want to be very clear. Retention is not a recruitment problem, it's a culture problem. And the same culture that pushes people out often leaves them unsupported once they're gone. And I know this only too well. Because policing keeps asking the wrong question. Why are officers leaving? That question puts the problem back on the individual as if they're weak, as if they failed, as if they could just couldn't handle it. And that's not the truth. Because the better question is this what are we giving them to stay for? And there's an even harder question, one that makes people incredibly uncomfortable. If you are in leadership, I want you to ask yourself this honestly. Would you work under you? Would you stay in the environment that you've actually created? Not the one that you describe on paper, not the one in the policy. Oh no, the one that your subordinates are actually living in. Now, culture is not built by statements, it's actually built by behaviors. Now, I want to speak directly to those of you who have already left. And if you're a former police officer listening to this and you're struggling, I want you to hear this clearly. Leaving was not a failure. You didn't leave because you were broken. You left because the system was. Choosing your health, your family, and your future is not a weakness. It's actually self-preservation. And if you are feeling lost right now, that doesn't mean that something's wrong with you. What it means is your nervous system spent years adapting to an environment that required constant vigilance, pressure, and control. Not only from externally, but from internally as well. And that's more prevalent in today's day and age. And you don't just switch that off. That adjustment takes time and it takes support and it takes honest conversations, not slogans, not posters, and not goddamn text messages from managers that just go nowhere. Real support. And this is where policing worldwide needs to listen. Because you cannot keep losing good people at the rate this is happening. And you cannot keep pretending that the damage stops when the badge is handed in because it doesn't. The impact of policing lives on in bodies, in relationships, and it lives long after service ends, and something has to change inside the job, the transition out of the job, and after it. And until it does, the least we can do is stop blaming the people who gave everything that they had. And we need to start listening to them instead. That is super important. Start listening to them instead. Why are they so bitter and twisted? Don't write them off as bitter and twisted. You made them that way. They're bitter and twisted because they weren't supported by you. Always remember that and keep that foremost in your mind. That's episode two of two. If this episode resonated with you, can you do me a favor and share it with someone who needs to hear it? Especially if you know someone who feels unseen right now. Because you are not alone, even when it feels like you are. And I want to say thank you to you for listening to this episode. Look at you, you are still going left right, left right, left right, and you're doing an amazing job of doing it. Please take care of yourself, and I'll catch you on the next one. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.