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Your career and reputation can be taken away from you without a guilty verdict, without a complaint, and without evidence. If you find that shocking, you don't understand the state of law enforcement leadership today and you've never heard of Deputy Chief of Police Arthur Myers.

He wrote a book to tell his story called "Tattered: When the Blue Line Frays" and he discusses it with Travis Yates with the emotion of a man they tried to break but they lost.

This conversation goes deeper than cowards coming after a decorated officer. We talk first responder mental health, cumulative trauma and PTSD, self-medication, and the moment Myers realizes he’s checking every box on the warning list. He also shares what helped him survive: specialized counseling, a small circle of friends who refused to walk away, and a faith that didn’t feel pretty at first but became real over time. We close with the hard lesson that forgiveness isn’t for the people who hurt you, it’s for your own healing.

If this story hits home, share it with a leader who needs to hear it, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, and leave a review to help more people find Courageous Leadership.

Our show sponsor, Telegenix, offers a 37% discount on all wellness resources for first responders and their spouses.

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In this special episode, we talk with Doug Larsen about why police staffing shortages keep getting worse even when agencies spend big on recruitment marketing.

Doug has spent the last 5 years solving law enforcement recruiting for countless agencies and his raw, authentic truth, is something that every leader must hear. Here are just some of the topics we discussed:

• separating marketing metrics from police recruitment outcomes
• why we call it a leadership decision crisis, not a recruiting crisis
• Doug’s path from trucking recruiting to building a law enforcement recruiting system
• the mindset shift agencies need to make when applicants no longer “just show up”
• how small departments can compete with limited budget and limited manpower
• the most common internal roadblocks, including HR friction and recruiter skepticism
• why automation and applicant tracking systems protect recruiters from being overwhelmed
• cutting drop-off by removing account registration and early high-friction steps
• re-engaging warm leads over time to convert interest into applications
• real examples from departments like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Larimer County

Watch The Webinar mentioned in the episode

Contact Doug Larsen for a free consultation

Our show sponsor, Telegenix, offers a 37% discount on all wellness resources for first responders and their spouses.

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Accreditation in law enforcement can feel like a four-letter word, especially when you’ve only experienced it as paperwork dumped on patrol. We talk with Kevin Rhea, co-founder and executive director of the National Association for Accreditation Leadership, to make the case that accreditation can be a leadership tool, not a compliance treadmill, when it’s used to build systems that protect officers and earn community trust.

We get practical about what “best practices” actually means, who sets those standards through CALEA and state programs, and why local community expectations still matter. Kevin explains how strong policy is meant to define acceptable behavior and reduce legal exposure, and why inconsistent policy enforcement is where agencies get into trouble. We also discuss the post-2020 policy climate, how DOJ grant incentives can shape use of force decisions, and why optics can drive outcomes even when officers are using trained techniques.

Then we go where most conversations avoid: DOJ pattern and practice investigations and federal consent decrees. Kevin shares what he saw as Phoenix worked through accreditation during an ongoing investigation, and we break down the costly incentives that can keep consent decree monitoring alive for years. We close with why the accreditation manager role deserves to be professionalized, how better report writing and driver training can lower risk and even reduce costs, and where accreditation is headed next, including emerging standards like AI use in policing.

If you want smarter conversations about police leadership, public safety standards, and accountable policing, subscribe, share this with a leader in your agency, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part of accreditation do you think helps most, and what part needs to change?

Our show sponsor, Telegenix, offers a 37% discount on all wellness resources for first responders and their spouses.

Join Our Tribe of Courageous Leaders:

Get The Book
Get Weekly Articles by Travis Yates
Join Us At Our Website
Get Our 'Courageous Leadership' Training
Join The Courageous Police Leadership Alliance