From Badge to Business: Colin Whittington's Guide to Post-Law Enforcement Success

Season 6 - Episode 137

Unlock the secrets to post-law enforcement career success with our special guest, Colin Whittington, a former sergeant turned tech entrepreneur and bestselling author. Colin's journey from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office to the private sector is inspiring. He shares intimate stories of his time in law enforcement, his rapid ascent to sergeant, and his crucial role in recruitment during trying times. Colin's transition to the tech industry and his subsequent entrepreneurial success provide a blueprint for others looking to pivot their careers.

Discover how to translate your law enforcement skills into valuable assets in the private sector. We break down the essential steps of articulating your abilities on resumes to resonate with hiring managers and algorithms. Colin offers deep insights into cybersecurity, compliance, legal, and risk management, explaining how proactive planning and acquiring relevant certifications can make all the difference. This episode is packed with actionable advice for those considering a career transition and highlights the importance of forward-thinking and lifelong learning.

LinkedIn isn't just another social media platform—it's a powerful tool for career transformation. Colin shares anecdotes about how LinkedIn was instrumental in his career transitions and company growth. We emphasize the importance of building a professional network early and leveraging it to access new opportunities. From aiding veterans and first responders in their career transitions to addressing the law enforcement vacancy crisis, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to chart a new path. Join us for a conversation filled with foresight, preparation, and transformative insights on this episode of The CopDoc Podcast.

Read Colin's new book Beyond the Thin Blue Line.  Find on Amazon at the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Thin-Blue-Line-Enforcement/dp/B0D8BWB9TD

Contact us: copdoc.podcast@gmail.com

Website: www.copdocpodcast.com

If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at stephen.morreale@gmail.com

Chapters

• 0:02 Transitioning Beyond Law Enforcement
• 6:37 Translating Law Enforcement Skills for Jobs
• 17:01 Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn
• 24:09 Planning for a Post-Law Enforcement Career
• 33:19 Navigating Post-Law Enforcement Career Strategies

Transcript

Intro/Outro Announcement

00:02

Welcome to The CopDoc Podcast. This podcast explores police leadership issues and innovative ideas. The CopDoc shares thoughts and ideas as he talks with leaders in policing communities, academia and other government agencies. And now please join Dr. Steve Morreale and industry thought leaders as they share their insights and experience on The CopDoc Podcast. 

Steve Morreale Host

00:33

Hi there everybody, Steve Morreale coming to you again on The CopDoc Podcast from Boston, and today we go to Northern Virginia and we chat with a fella named Colin Whittington and he is a former sergeant for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and has written a book Beyond the Thin Blue Line Career Strategies for Law Enforcement Officers, and I found this very fascinating, jumped on the phone with him and he inspired me by what he's doing and what is going on is going on, and I thought this was a very important topic for those of you out there who are in the business getting ready to retire or thinking about walking away and trying to figure out how the hell can I transfer these skills. That's the reason that I asked Colin to join us. So, after that lengthy intro, I want to say hello, Colin. 

Colin Whittington Guest

01:22

Hey, Steve, thanks so much for having me on the show. It's great to be here and such an important topic that we want to talk about today as well, so I'm very happy to be here. 

Steve Morreale Host

01:29

So am I. So let's talk about your past and your time in policing and then sort of your transition from policing and into writing a book and what that has done for you. 

Colin Whittington Guest

01:41

Yeah, it's been an unbelievable journey for me. I joined the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office as a patrol deputy in 2015. Just knew for my whole life I wanted to get into something where I would make a difference, so going back and forth between the military or law enforcement and I ended up going the law enforcement route and loved it. I did seven and a half years in the Sheriff's Office in Loudoun we were right outside DC, pretty safe area, but still a number of crimes as well, of course. Spent time on troll working day shift, night shift throughout the county, was then moved to the community policing unit where I got to see the real impact of community policing what we can do to build bridges with our community. In 2019, I was named deputy sheriff of the year for the whole state of Virginia, which was a huge honor for me and my agency and it was pretty, pretty cool. I was then, shortly after that, promoted to sergeant pretty quick in my career. 

02:27

Only about four and a half years in, I promoted to sergeant and was put in charge of the employment services section of the sheriff's office, which is where I really fell in love with recruiting. Fell in love with the idea of connecting people with opportunities, and I was in that position during the start of COVID, during everything that happened with George Floyd and the crisis that followed, and dealing with law enforcement recruiting during that difficult time and you know, while most agencies were really struggling with recruiting and vacancies were skyrocketing, we actually got our down to the lowest level in our agency's history. We were down to like two or 3% at the end of 2020, which was pretty cool. But after about seven and a half years I knew I wanted something different with my life. You know, I knew I had done my law enforcement time and I wanted to see what else was out there. So I ended up getting recruited into the tech industry as a recruiter and I enjoyed my time there as well. 

03:10

It wasn't the same mission, didn't have the same purpose for what I do or what I did in law enforcement, but anyone who follows me on LinkedIn knows I'm pretty active on LinkedIn and have a decent following there, and within a few short days of leaving law enforcement, I started getting messages from law enforcement officers, veterans, other first responders from all over the country, people I've never met before, never spoken to before and they all just wanted to know hey, Colin, how can you help me with my transition to the private sector and that inspired my business, which is Recruiting Heroes, and what we do is we work with veterans and first responders, trying to find them a career outside of law enforcement or the military, and that's kind of what inspired the book as well, and we can go into that too. It's been. It's been an amazing journey, it's all. I only left. 

03:47

In September. September 10th, it'll be two years since I left law enforcement. The changes in two years have been unbelievable. The fact that I went from being an employee in the tech industry to now being an entrepreneur, a bestselling author, traveling internationally to speak as well it's just been an unbelievable journey. 

Steve Morreale Host

04:01

So, as I've said to you before, we're talking to Colin Whittington and he wrote the book Beyond the Thin Blue Line and we'll talk a little bit about that. But when I read it and I talked to him, he pissed me off. And when I say he pissed me off, I simply mean that I was almost I don't want to say envious, but I was quite inspired by what you did. By taking that chance and I believe that's how I wrote to you you took a leap of faith and look at what has happened and that, I'm ashamed to say but I'm proud to say, motivated me to get off my ass and finish the book on leadership. And so you know I have named it Choosing to Lead and I'm aiming to have it out by the end of the year. 

04:37

But I wanna talk about what's in this book. The first thing you talk about is the thin blue line and what that means, what the policing is, and about you leaving law enforcement, how you prepared for the transition and how you would suggest to others, the resume and the difference for the civilian world. I'm looking at your chapters the power of LinkedIn and networking, navigating the search process and from service to success, and you've got a couple of stories of people who have made the plunge and taken the leap and life beyond the thin blue line. So I know that you're looking not only at police but at fire and military, although your main focus and function is for policing. So, as you wrote the book, what were you doing? As you were thinking about what you want to convey to others. 

Colin Whittington Guest

05:19

I really first started thinking about what was the most challenging parts of the transition for me. Where did I really struggle whether it be with the resume, with just dealing with the fact that I was no longer in law enforcement, and then also just starting to think back on my last two years of conversations with law enforcement officers, veterans, first responders and the questions that they were having and the concerns that they had. And you know the feeling that a lot of them expressed that they felt they couldn't be a good fit for any job in the private industry, a private sector, and I wanted this book to really both be an instructional guide for people but also be an inspiration as well to show them there's so much after life in uniform that you can pursue and do so well at we as first responders or military veterans, we come with an incredible amount of background that companies in the private sector are just dying to have, and it's all about trying to articulate your skill set and show it to the right people at the right time. And that's really what I was thinking is how could this book really benefit someone? 

06:12

And a lot of self-help books oftentimes are very vague and very general with their advice. I didn't want that at all. I mean, literally, if you read through the book, you'll start seeing their step-by-step instructions. It says do this first, then do this, then do this. It's based off of my experience and working with candidates as well, so I wanted to be very, very helpful and very it didn't leave anything up to interpretation with very much this is exactly what I recommend you doing. 

Steve Morreale Host

06:37

I think what happens and my own experience is working with DEA and DEA agents and I remember sitting in an office one day in Newark, new Jersey, and there was an old timer there saying, steve, what does somebody want with some dried up narc? I said, john, do you understand what it is that you have had to do? Do you understand the mission orientation? You know, getting things done. Getting things done without a lot of help, without a lot of money, and still moving forward and, more importantly, that you or you, colin, all of us have had to adjust the way we interact with people from lower socioeconomic status to the C-suite, which is really important right. 

Colin Whittington Guest

07:13

Absolutely, a hundred percent. You know, the skills we learn in law enforcement are just, and any first responder or military, the skills we learn there just translate so incredibly well. I think we as especially in law enforcement that's obviously my background, so that's why I focus on more but we as officers, you know we don't do a great job selling each other. 

Steve Morreale Host

07:30

We don't sell our agencies very well either. 

Colin Whittington Guest

07:32

Right, yeah, we really struggle with that, for whatever reason it is, and we're slow to change. And a lot of the skills that we learned we just don't know, even know how they could possibly make sense in the private sector. But they really do. You know, I always give the example of a field training officer, an FTO. People would think, oh, why would this be helpful? You know, if I train a rookie officer, you know why is that helpful? 

07:50

But you just started thinking about everything that you did in that process. You know we don't really use the term project management and law enforcement, but that's really what you were doing. You were assigned articulate things. You had to document deficiencies, you had to come up with ways to improve performance. You had to do all kinds of things that are just so sought after in the private sector as well. And it's just this book, I think, does a really good job in showing you how to articulate those skills. So you're not just saying on your resume I was an FTO, right, Because Jane Doe, who's never been in law enforcement, when she reads the resume she'll have no idea what goes into being an FTO. She probably won't even know what it means. Yeah, Well, I think you understand. 

Steve Morreale Host

08:28

I don't mean to interrupt, but I think you understand that very often what happens is, when these come in, that it's an algorithm, it is computer generated reading that is sorting these out. So the right words, the keywords, become extremely important. Exactly what you said about articulating. Think about police and what we have been trained to do. We write the report. Sometimes they're mundane report. I went there, I sorted it out, we pushed the cars to the side, we exchanged papers and that's it. 

08:54

But when you get into something more serious, you have to be very specific about what happened. What did you see when you got there Then? What happened? Who did you talk to? What are the things that seem to be pointing to a particular individual for causing that particular crime? So it's articulating the same way. I just want to read them in one of your chapters, and you gave a couple of examples. I know that here's what I believe After writing the book. There's also a bunch of stuff that you haven't put in there, that you wish you had right. Oh yeah, fair statement so it's already growing. 

09:22

But you talk about jobs that others can have. I know so many in policing think well, I just be security, that's all I, that's what I can do, that's what I, and I couldn't be further from the truth. You put in cybersecurity, which is a major growing problem in the country. Private security, obviously, corporate security and risk management, risk management alone, very important compliance, big Legal and compliance, and you said project management, emergency management, investigations in forensics, human resource and OD, organizational development and training and education are some of the areas you're saying to start going fishing for jobs. 

Colin Whittington Guest

09:57

So talk about that, right. Another reason I wrote the book and I hope that is not just being read by people who are actively trying to leave like leaving law enforcement tomorrow, right, because what I say in this book, too, is there are so many industries that you could be a great fit for, but they are steps that you will have to take to make yourself really competitive in those industries, right? So if you want to go into cybersecurity, that's great, awesome field you can get into. But if you have no background in it besides being in law enforcement, it might be a little challenging to get to a certain level right at the gate, right. But what you could do is, let's say, you read my book, you decide okay, I want to get into cybersecurity. Going on to job boards like LinkedIn, indeed, other places, and start looking up the cybersecurity jobs that are in your region. It doesn't really matter who the company is, what the salary is, all you need to start looking at is look at what these companies are looking for in their candidates, right? 

10:42

So let's say they're looking for somebody who has a CompTIA Security Plus certification. That's a certification that's very common in cybersecurity, right? If you find this out the day before you retire, that knowledge won't really help you a whole lot, right? But let's say you read this book and did that step three years beforehand. Now you have three years to know. Okay, in the next three years before I retire or leave law enforcement, I have to get this certification so you can start doing research and say, oh, this certification takes about three months to get. Let's just say, Then you can start making that step. So now that, when you are approaching retirement, you've already taken that certification test, you can put it on your resume saying you already have it. So that's definitely a part of the book as well. It's not just you're a great fit when you leave. 

Steve Morreale Host

11:18

No matter what you do, you have to make steps to make yourself be ready to be a good I see some of the things that you write here and you offer about the certifications everything from certified emergency management to a PMP project management professional. I think that's interesting, and it's I want to say also what I find interesting. When I was teaching criminal investigations Worcester State University, it was my responsibility as the chair to kind of mix things up a little bit and I came back to the faculty and said I don't want it to be called criminal investigations, I want it to be called principles of investigations. 

11:49

And here's why Every single organization in America conducts investigations some with very little training, and so there is a process by which you take statements, document, have more than one person in the room. Those kinds of things that we learn. We don't think those are transferable or translatable to the private sector, and yet they absolutely are. Speak to that. 

Colin Whittington Guest

12:12

That's why I talk to officers all the time. I just don't fully understand that there's so many of our skills that really do translate well. You know you talk about. You know investigations. How many companies have investigative roles, and they're not all criminal related. 

Steve Morreale Host

12:28

You know, some are internal things, some are insurance things, some are just complaints. You have a complaint against one person, against another. 

Colin Whittington Guest

12:31

You've got to investigate it Exactly, and that's where a big thing is. What I always try to stress, with my candidates too, is with your resume. Your resume shouldn't be something you create once and then you're done with it forever. Your resume is a living, breathing document and it should constantly be evolving and should honestly be evolving for each application that you do. Let's say you're applying. Someone is open to anything. He wants to apply to a security manager job, also wants to apply to a recruiting job. Those are two vastly different industries, vastly different jobs. So the idea of using one resume, for both of them the same resume, it's not going to get you to where you want to go, because each one is going to look for something different. 

13:04

So what I want you to do next time you apply for a job is really read through the job encryption, look at what these companies are looking for and if you have the skill that they're looking for and it's not currently on your resume, make sure you put it in your resume. Make sure you put it in your resume Because, like you said earlier, these companies now are using they're called applicant tracking systems basically software, ai, whatever you want to call it and they're scoring your resume based off of how closely it aligns to the job that you're applying for. So if I have a system myself, when candidates apply, it'll literally put a percentage score next to their name saying this person is a 51% fit for this job. I make the effort to read through every resume, regardless of what the system tells me, because the system makes plenty of mistakes. But a lot of these big companies aren't doing that. 

13:42

They get a hundred resumes for one job. The system says these are our top 10. They'll read the top 10 and that's it. So the other 90 will never be viewed by human eyes. So that's where you have to make the effort I know it's a pain and just submit every resume to the same and the same resume to every job. You will honestly just be dumping your resume into a black hole at that point and spinning your wheels. Take the time to articulate your skillset and use the word that they have in the job description. You might want to say it this way, but if they're describing it slightly different, you know you're trying to get a job with their company. Make sure you're describing your skills that fit their job description. 

Steve Morreale Host

14:19

Can I offer? I go back to dealing with people who are in the field, but also young people who are students, both at the undergrad and grad level, and I teach a capstone course and one of the things I'll say is you know, you need to have three or four different resumes for three or four different things. And but let's talk about AI, not AI being used by the company, but AI used by the individual. I have been using AI for probably a year and it is extremely valuable for not for writing for me, but for creating ideas, and so I would suggest tell me if I'm wrong I would suggest, if you're looking through this job description, to take some of the guts of that job description and dump it into AI, and you can even you know how you can do it you can even dump your resume in there and say look for relationships, look for similarities here, and basically tell me which words need to be added, or add them, that kind of stuff. Your thoughts about the use of AI. 

Colin Whittington Guest

15:11

Absolutely. I think I've been using it heavily since this really came out in the last two years or so, since it's been more publicly accessible. I always told myself I didn't want to be like my parents' generation. You know that were slow to keep up with the technology age. 

Steve Morreale Host

15:24

Right, You're an early adopter. 

Colin Whittington Guest

15:25

That's right. Exactly, I knew I'm assuming AI is going to be around for quite a while. We have no idea how it'll look 10 years from now, but I'm sure it'll still be a part of our life. So I want to make sure I'm constantly evolving with it and learning with it and, like you said, it's a great resource. It's also one to be used carefully as well. It's not something where you should just say make me a resume and then never look at it again. Cut and paste. 

Steve Morreale Host

15:44

It needs human intervention. 

Colin Whittington Guest

15:45

Right, exactly, yeah, if you just if you just take it at what it spits out, it's probably going to be pretty obvious it was written by AI. 

15:50

But if you like you said you can put a job, a whole job description, into AI and say what are the 10 key phrases or keywords this company is looking for, and it'll spit those 10 out to you and then you can make sure those 10 are in your resume. Another thing I like to use with AI too is, let's say, you get past the first round of them looking at your resume and they invite you to interview. Now you're probably thinking, man, what are they going to ask me? Put that same job description into AI and say what are 10 possible questions they can ask me, and they'll put up 10 questions, and the questions are usually phenomenal and at least it makes you think about it a little bit more. And more times than not, a lot of those questions actually do come up in the interview process. And then they're not the first time that you've seen or heard of them. You've already had a chance to answer them yourself at your home, with your friends or family or yourself. 

Steve Morreale Host

16:28

You know I use it. I use that as an advisor, in other words, ai, and as an assistant in a lot of ways, and so I think that's great. I want to talk about LinkedIn. So we've been chatting with Colin Whittington. He is the author of Beyond the Thin Blue Line Career Strategies for Law Enforcement Officers, a book that is just recently out on Amazon. Interestingly, when I talked to you, colin, I ordered this that afternoon and I got it in my hand the next day. My wife said you just talked to him yesterday, so the book is actually printed on demand and came to me very quickly. So I'm very impressed with the way this has happened. 

17:01

But I want to talk to you about LinkedIn, the value of LinkedIn. But I want to say first, I was just doing a command training down at Liberty University two weeks ago, asking people who are mid to high rankers in policing if they had a LinkedIn profile, and many of them said I don't use social media, and I think that's a mistake. In a lot of ways. It can be very valuable, and what I suggested to them is if what you're doing is trying to figure out leadership or become a better leader, start following leaders, start following leadership related people, and you'll get an awful lot of stuff. You don't have to post too much there, but it becomes a feeder for you. So let's talk about your use of LinkedIn and how it has. It's how we connected, but how it has benefited you and how it might benefit others to jump on. 

Colin Whittington Guest

17:48

LinkedIn, for me, has been. It's it's the reason I got my job out of law enforcement. It's honestly the reason why I started my company and it's the reason why my company and now my book have done as well as they have and I think for candidates as well. I know law enforcement is usually pretty reserved when it comes to social media. I totally understand that. For the longest time I kept my social media my first and middle name. I didn't use my last name just because I didn't want any person I arrested to find me. 

18:11

But LinkedIn is different LinkedIn. If you're not using it currently, I highly recommend you go on there tomorrow and make yourself an account Again. You don't have to post every single day, but it's great to connect with people you meet throughout your career. You know if you go to a conference you meet someone from the other parts of the country. Connect with them. You never know when down the road you might need him or her or vice versa. For me it's been unbelievable. Again, I used it, I got. That's where I started getting interest from candidates about my business. That's where companies started finding me as well to hire me, to find them candidates and I published my book. It did so well that I was actually invited by a gentleman in Ireland to come and speak to him and his conference. So I'm going to Ireland in September. Then I was contacted by the head of public safety by Samsung to go with him and his company Samsung, one of the biggest companies in the world. Right, I'm going with them to the IACP conference in Boston in October. 

18:56

And these are all opportunities that came through LinkedIn. That wouldn't have happened if I wasn't there. And then for candidates, especially nowadays. You know recruiters are spending 95% of their time on LinkedIn At least I am. I spend almost all my time on LinkedIn to find candidates and if you're not on there it's going to make you so much harder to find. And I know a lot of officers think, oh, I'm still five years away from retirement or whatever. 

19:16

Building a LinkedIn network takes time, it takes effort and you have to grow it slowly. So if you start trying to make a LinkedIn a week before you retire, it's going to be less effective in doing what it can do. But if you start building it now, slowly, it's going to be a game changer for you. And oftentimes in this current pretty terrible job market, who you know is more important than what you know, and having a connection could be massive. Let's say, you and I we've met. Now we've connected on LinkedIn. Three years from now you might need a job for whatever reason. Now that connection that we built through our connection on LinkedIn could help me find you a role, or vice versa. You know if I needed you for something as well, and it's just a powerful tool I really recommend. 

Steve Morreale Host

19:51

So that's a new twist. So, as much as you're talking about candidates and helping candidates, you're actually helping people find potential candidates for companies, is that right? 

Colin Whittington Guest

20:01

Yeah, yeah. So my business really has three parts to it. The first part, which is one which I really started it on, was helping veterans and first responders with their transition. But now I also work with companies around the country that want to hire talent, and these companies are ones that want to hire veterans and first responders. They all hire me and my company to find them a candidate, let's say, a network engineer for Microsoft. I'll go out there and try to find someone with that background and the effort of trying to find a veteran or a first responder and then basically play matchmaker between the two of them. So that's the second thing we do. 

20:28

And now, just recently, the last thing we just added within the last two months is that we're now helping to try to address the law enforcement vacancy crisis. So I'm actually helping law enforcement agencies with their recruiting. Now I spend so much time with my agency and recruiting. I know local government has so much red tape and so much bureaucracy that it makes recruiting incredibly challenging. So now I'm working with agencies, especially in the DC region, but honestly all over the whole of the country, and I'm helping them. I'm making their LinkedIn profiles for their agencies. I'm getting their job posted on 30 different job boards. That way it's getting wider exposure and using our software to help find them candidates as well. So LinkedIn has just been amazing in all those realms, gotcha. 

Steve Morreale Host

21:05

Well, colin Whittington really continues to piss me off, and what I mean by that is not in the negative, but that you inspire by me and others that you took the leap and it has worked. It's not going to work for everybody, I understand. You took the leap and it has worked. It's not going to work for everybody, I understand, but I do understand the use of LinkedIn and the value of LinkedIn and the connections with LinkedIn, and I'll explain my view. 

21:26

I find an awful lot of people who I will interview and I reach out to them almost immediately. The first thing you do is connect with somebody and when you connect, you send a little message saying hey, I'd like, I'd like to chat with you with about and this is how we connected about the possibility of jumping on for an interview with the cop talk podcast. But I'd like to chat first, because the reality is that I don't want to have a boring guest and I don't want to bore people who will listen, so I really have to call and see is this guy or gal capable of keeping pace in a conversation. Number one, number two, but another example is the chief constable in the UK was posting some things that drew my attention. It was very positive. This is what we're doing, this is what we're thinking. And I want to say this about him and said Steve, I want to talk to you. 

22:07

I was still with the Drug Enforcement Administration and he said I'm thinking about starting a training institute for police and corrections. I want you to help me with the leadership. And I said really, and he said, Steve, what you have to understand and I say this to Colin and everybody else nobody knows you exist until you raise your periscope. And you'll be surprised, once you raise your periscope, at how especially if you're positive in this, about how valuable that can be for your future. I'm seeing you shake your head, so respond to that, colin. 

Colin Whittington Guest

22:43

Yeah, absolutely, you know. Again, for me, I built my network on LinkedIn when I was in the recruiting and background investigation unit and that's honestly how I found I was recruited out of law enforcement. A tech company reached out to me and said, hey, Colin, we love what you're doing. We think you could do the same thing in the private sector, Would you be interested? And that's ended up what drew me there. And then again, for me, I post a lot, so you don't have to be as aggressive as I am, but for me it's just. I would probably guess at least 75% of my business for my company, both from the candidate side, company side and law enforcement agency sides comes through LinkedIn, or that's at least where they hear about me first. I always make sure I ask candidates and companies how they heard about me when they reach out and almost all of them say LinkedIn. And that will be the same for you as well. 

23:16

As you grow your own personal network, you’ll never know what connection can make a difference in your life. It really is truly incredible. A lot of times it's who you know, not what you know and who you are connected with, that can make a whole difference. You know you talk about these companies that were started. I think I read somewhere that the gentleman who started Microsoft with Bill Gates just happened to be in the dorm next door to him in college. You know, that's how they connected and then they became two of the richest men of all time. You know, it's just that. Connection is what it does. Obviously, they're both brilliant in their own ways that being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right person at the right time can make a huge difference. And, on a much smaller scale, it's also possible for all of you as candidates too, as you know, and you get invited to an interview, versus you just being one of you know 200 resumes that might get lost in the shuffle. 

Steve Morreale Host

24:07

You know you're making me think back. I remember having some foresight, and I think that's important, as the people who are listening are five years away, as you just said, three years away. It's time to start thinking and plotting. And before that office up in Vermont, I show up there and I said, guys, I'm getting ready to leave, you're not leaving, Steve, you've got seven more years. Okay, don't let me surprise you because I'm leaving. And what are you going to do? I said, well, I'm going to go and teach, like no, you're not leaving. It was that kind of stuff. So having that foresight becomes very, very important. 

24:37

And, by the way, I think, seeing a smirk on your face, you can't be a one trick pony. You can't think about just going in one little niche To me. You have to think about. Here's four or five areas that I could potentially blossom in and start focusing on that, which goes back to what you said. Don't be one dimensional and work on your resume. Maybe get in touch with a guy like you. Help me frame my resume for security, for cybersecurity, for risk management, for compliance. Compliance is huge today and you can use your law enforcement skills to help companies make sure that they're in compliance with federal or state regulations right. 

Colin Whittington Guest

25:18

Right, absolutely, and that's why I always trust every candidate I talk to and it's the idea of starting early. You know, don't wait until it's too late. A lot of officers I talk to unfortunately tell me the whole I'm retiring next month or in a few weeks or whatever else, and of course I'll help anybody who calls, anyone who comes to me. I'll help you out as much as I can. But you definitely put yourself in a tougher position when you say that you only have a few weeks left until you retire. 

25:49

I love hearing from people-day course and I always tell agencies. I guess it's for your retiring people for sure, but honestly it'd be great for people that are in the middle level of their career. I'm not trying to convince anyone to leave law enforcement, but just start preparing for life after law enforcement because the time will come when your career is done, whether it be by your own choice, injury, anything else. For the most part most officers will need a second career or third career, depending on what you did before. You know very few are in the financial position or the desire to just be done working. 

Steve Morreale Host

26:16

Plus, so many law enforcement officers don't have to retire at 65. They can do it at 45, 50, 55, and you still have some life in you right, Absolutely. 

Colin Whittington Guest

26:25

Yeah, and I mean some people in my agency started at 21 years old and Virginia. If you do 20 years, you know you could retire 20 years. So some of these people are in their young forties. You know when they're done with the law enforcement you have a whole, nother life left of you. You know you can still do another 30 years, another career if you wanted to, and just start thinking just into law enforcement. You know they'll just take law enforcement related courses. They'll get a criminal justice master's or whatever else, which is great. That's perfect if you want that, but later on decide they want to go somewhere else, something completely outside of law enforcement. Well, your entire background, entire education, all your certifications are really tied to this one rear. Like you said, be looking out, look out, look, look and see what else is out there and see what else might interest you, because you might surprise yourself, there are roles out there I never even thought of before until you started looking on LinkedIn and it's pretty cool. 

Steve Morreale Host

27:13

Well, I think, if you are able to leave law enforcement, you've kept your nose clean, got integrity coming with you, which is important. You've got the ability to be mission oriented, you've got the ability to deal with very difficult issues, make order out of chaos, and all of those are transferable and translatable skills. I think what you're saying and what we're talking about is finding a way to reinvent yourself. 

Colin Whittington Guest

27:35

Absolutely yeah, like, don't just view yourself as a cop. You know, yeah, we're all cops and we love talking to other cops, but see what else you can offer the world. And it's when you start doing it that way it's pretty exciting. You know, just two years ago I was still in law enforcement and then, within the last two years, I've really reinvented myself. I've never in my life taken a business class, so I've started a business without ever having a single class on the subject. 

27:55

I did basic English classes in high school probably the one in college that I had to do, but no other writing classes, and I became a bestselling author. You know, there's things that you can do that you don't have to have a background in, and it's really just that's what I think we spoke about last week as well is just taking a little small steps at the top. Yes, the idea of writing a book when you look at it like you just think about writing a book and publishing a book that's overwhelmingly a massive amount of work to do, right? But then I was like you know what? I want? To write 500 words. So every single day. To this day, even now, I'm writing 500 to a thousand words every single day, and it's amazing how quick those 500 to a thousand words will be. 

Steve Morreale Host

28:32

I want to say about. 

28:33

I want to say that because I'm doing exactly the same thing and the inspiration you give me and hopefully we are able to give some others, uh is is this when I'm talking, I have the luxury of being in a classroom 200 days a year and talking to young minds and saying to them I'll give you an idea, capstone. 

28:49

Okay, we have a capstone. They owe me a 30 to 40 page paper at the end and I tell them right from the beginning it's going to be a lot of writing, but it's iterative and what that means is, every day you walk in here, I'm going to pose a question, I'm going to give you time to write, I'm going to get you time to reflect, and part of what we're asking our police and first responder friends is to reflect, reflect on what you're good at. But my point is one, and I know you'll catch this One phrase becomes a sentence, one sentence becomes a paragraph, four paragraphs becomes a page and the next thing you know you've got hundreds of words and you've got to sort that out later, but that, I think, has propelled you to become an author and a business entrepreneur and helping others, right. 

Colin Whittington Guest

29:28

Yeah, absolutely, and you don't have to go out there and start a business or write a book. But the same principles can be used for other things that you have goals for. You know I'm a big believer. You should always have something you're striving for Right. This past year was really trying to finish this book and publish this book. That was what I was working towards when I published it on July 2nd. You, this book, that was what I was working towards when I published it on july 2nd. You know, I enjoyed it for a few days, but then I immediately started thinking, all right, what's next? 

29:50

It's good to always have something you're striving for and start thinking about what that is in your life and then start every day, even if it's just a few minutes of time, put 10 minutes towards it. You know people spend so much time working on their job. They don't spend enough time working on themselves, especially so that's really true for people who are employees. You know you're working for somebody else, you know, whether it be in law enforcement, the private sector and, of course, give your best, you know, do the best you can at all times, but when you get home, you know, spend a few minutes trying to think what do I want with my life? Where do I want to go Whether it be a business or write a book, or run a marathon or whatever it is and then every day put a little effort towards reaching that goal. 

30:22

You don't have to see your whole way through the forest. If you see your first step, take that step and the next day take your next step, and it's amazing how quick those steps or those sentences, those pages, how they all start adding up and all of a sudden you've done something that you never dreamt of. Like, I never thought about being an author until you know, the past 12 months maybe, and at first, again, it seems super overwhelming. But now I look back and that really wasn't that bad, you know, yeah, I worked hard for it, for sure, but when you break it up in little, sizable chunks, it comes together much quicker than you would think it would, and it's pretty amazing. And living that way in general, I think it's a good way to inspire yourself and to give you something to work towards, which I think makes life just so much more fun. If you're just on autopilot, going to your nine to five every day, with no boring way to live, you know, have something that really inspires you and puts a fire under your butt. 

Steve Morreale Host

31:06

It's the same with law enforcement. We become so myopic and we do our job and we become involved in it. It becomes our everything, and I think work-life balance is so important. It's one of the things I'd be talking about in the book, and that is, if you're a leader, you have to make sure that your people brand new people. I understand you come in, you got the gun, the badge, you've got the siren, and so all of a sudden you've got this authority and you just can't wait to use it, but pretty soon. Like you said, it's a marathon. Relax, kid. You don't have to make 300 car stops today. You can spread those out, right, and so it's the same thing that you have to have something else to do besides just that job. Because you know, and certainly I know, when you leave a job as important as policing, come back two years later, the front desk doesn't know who the hell you are, because they're new and the people who are on the front line on midnights and days are people they've never met you Right? So I know, because you walk around like I got to see somebody. I know it's that kind of stuff. The job sort of casts you away when you're done and you have to find some way to be of value and of significance to yourself and to others, and it starts while you're on the job exactly what you're saying. 

32:12

I want to say one thing I see an awful lot of people now that are looking down the road and they're going back for education. So many people will call me, say I really want to work on my doctorate. Okay, that's great. Are you sure that's what you want to do? Is you sure you want to give four or five years a dissertation that might take a year or two, being pushed and cajoled and harassed by a chair for what you want to teach? Because you may not be able to get a full-time teach. You can teach, but what I'm seeing people do is to go into clinical work and MSW, which is what policing is in a lot of ways. So I'm seeing people reinvent themselves that way. 

Colin Whittington Guest

32:47

Fair statement, absolutely. Yeah, I think you know my generation. I think we were really pushed into the idea of college, you know. I think college in a lot of ways has great opportunities for some. But again, I think that when I was in high school, it was pretty much schools were ranked on how many other kids went to college. If it was low, there was a terrible school. You know, and I think it's slowly changing because, again, college isn't for everybody. 

33:06

If you know you want to be a lawyer or want to be a doctor or have a real set plan for what your degree is going to do, that's fantastic. Just going to college to go to college, then I don't know how much use that will really be to you. And that's why, in the book too, I mentioned, yeah, college is great. Look at these certifications as well that are really specialized. Right, you know you want to go into cyber. Look at these five certifications. First of all, it's gonna be way cheaper than college. It's gonna be way quicker than college and you'll be doing exactly what you're trying to do in your profession. Versus a college, education can be very broad depending on what you're doing. The certs can be incredibly focused on what you want to get to and, honestly, almost mean more nowadays to some employers. They mean some of them still want the college, but there's some of the certs where you're going to be learning the exact job that you're going to be doing. On these companies I can stand up as well. 

Steve Morreale Host

33:52

Yeah, so we're talking to Colin Whittington. He wrote Beyond the Thin Blue Line, available on Amazon, and I'm thinking that I'm a pseudo career counselor myself as a faculty member, and one of the things I'll say is if not everybody goes to CJ to be a cop, there's so many other things they can do. But I forced them to find magazines and I'm going to suggest to people exactly the same way, and it might be in your next book Find a magazine, find a website, find a blog in the area you're interested in. If you're interested in cybersecurity, go to CIO Magazine. Read through that, take a look at what they're talking about, what are the articles talking about, what are some of the acronyms? And all of a sudden you begin to immerse yourself and understand more about that industry, and so I have students. Go and do that. Find an article and tell me what they're talking about, tell me what they're saying, tell me what is the next in compliance in risk management, because now you become conversant in that particular domain. 

Colin Whittington Guest

34:51

You're shaking your head, I do. I'm obviously millennial so I'm looking at more on the videos and podcasts side of things, but basically the same idea. So I started a thing right after I left law enforcement and for me it was life changing. Anytime I get into a car when I drive if I'm driving by myself, usually you know, or my wife, if I'm driving by myself, usually you know, or my wife when I'm driving by myself put on a podcast or a video. 

35:09

I don't watch the video, I have the audio going on a topic that I'm trying to learn about. So, whether it be you know, starting a recruiting business, in the last 12 months I've listened to a ton of podcasts and videos from authors talking about the idea of self-publishing and what you have to do, and I got so much knowledge from that that just without that, this book wouldn't have come together the way it has. It wouldn't be a bestseller. It wouldn't be hitting the number of people that it's reaching, because I've learned so many skills during those, even if it's just a 10-minute car ride, you take a, you get a nugget from each one. 

35:37

Yeah, exactly. And so instead of just listening to music you know, listening to Taylor, listening to it on their car ride, and getting some information that might be useful, and all you need is one or two things that really changes your life and really changed your career, and it's for me that little change of making my car, my car rides, an educational moment. 

Steve Morreale Host

35:56

Yeah, so using your time is good and I'll tell you what. I'm no millennial, I'm a baby boomer. 

36:01

but I do exactly the same thing. I was out on a walk the other day and I said writing a nonfiction book, and one of the first things they say I'm just telling you what I learned. One of the nuggets I took away is forget 10 and 12 word titles, get three words. And that caused me to change. It was gonna be ingredients for leading police organizations to choosing to lead. That's the title and it is so simplified. And then I did exactly the same thing that you do. 

36:29

I was on a drive, I had to drive, the flight was canceled but I had to drive down to Virginia, so I had 12 hours. In the first few hours I was listening to music and I thought and I started putting on videos. I mean I just dictate to the phone and say find a video on writing a book, find a video on publishing whatever it was, and I'm here to tell you. And I had a pad beside me. I'm driving 70 miles an hour. I had a pad beside me, I got so many ideas and so hopefully the people listening will consider the same thing. It's interesting that we both do the same thing, for lifelong learning. 

Colin Whittington Guest

37:00

It's awesome. Honestly, you probably can get as close to college education on YouTube as you can sitting in the classroom. College is why you hate me saying it, but it's true. You can learn a lot of the same skills and take your knowledge to a whole other level and then use that to propel your career, whether it be again as an employee or an entrepreneur or whatever. Whatever have you. It's pretty incredible what you can do with it and take the time to always learn. You know, never be satisfied. I'm a bestselling author now, which is pretty cool. I can say that forever, but I know I'm no expert on this subject, so I'm still listening to podcasts and videos by authors, so you never know what else you can learn. And again, if you listen to an hour long podcast, but you get one piece of information that really can transform your life, it's worth it. 

Steve Morreale Host

37:37

You know, as I have the opportunity to stand in front of people and ask them questions and get them to think and get them to reflect, I'll tell you what goes on in my mind. There's something for the book. There's something for the book I just said that it's so for me, inspiring. We're talking to Colin Whittington and we're going to begin to wind down. We're talking about the transition and the consideration of those who are in law enforcement or as veterans or first responders, to think about work after policing, work after fire, work, after emergency services, whatever it is. And so we're talking to Colin Whittington, and he is an author, bestselling author on Amazon and other places, with a book entitled Beyond the Thin Blue Line Career Strategies for Law Enforcement Officers, available on Amazon. As we wind down, colin, let's say that you are sitting in a room or standing in a room with a group of officers because their association called you in. What's the message? 

Colin Whittington Guest

38:34

My message to any officer I always talk to is you can become so much more than you ever you can ever dream of Done so much in your career as an officer or deputy or federal agent you name it and you've served your community and your country. You know some of you for 20, 30 years. Now it's a great time to start thinking about yourself and what you really value, what you want to see for your future career, and start taking the steps that I discuss today here and as well as in the book taking the steps to make sure that you set yourself up for a wonderful second career or third career and take the bull by the horns and see where you can go with it. You know it's for me it's been an unbelievable journey and I think it can be just as fantastic for you, and it doesn't have to be as an author or as an entrepreneur. You can do fantastic things in the private sector. You can go to the highest levels of organizations. Again, one gentleman I talked about in the book was a police officer in Hawaii and that he left law enforcement for 20 years and became the chief security officer for Microsoft. So he was the head of security for probably the second or third largest corporation in the world. And again, he was just a police officer. I say just, but he was just a police officer and that is possible for you as well. 

39:40

Take the steps that I discuss here and on the book. Reach out to me at any time, even if it's just a conversation. If you don't want to pay for my services, that doesn't bother me at all. If you just want to talk about what you're going through, what you want to do next, just know I'm here to talk to you. I'm here to give you any advice I can, and there's a lot of other people there that have been through the same things you're going through now and just know that there is more and there's life beyond the thin blue line. It's something very special and I hope you consider getting my book here. I don't know if you've shown it yet, but this is my actual book right here. I think it's something that you will really get a lot of, a lot out of and even if you're five, 10 years away from retiring, consider getting the book early. Read through it. That way you set yourself up for success from the time it comes. 

Steve Morreale Host

40:18

How do people get in touch with you? 

Colin Whittington Guest

40:32

Besides LinkedIn, LinkedIn, right, yeah, of course, of course. So you can go on LinkedIn, of course. I'm very active there. I also have two websites. My business is recruitingheroesllc.com, and then my author or speaking website is whittingtonbooks.com. So those are probably the three best places to reach me. You can also email me at colinwhittington@recruitingheroesllc.com, or you can give me a call, but you can find out on my website the number as well. 

Steve Morreale Host

40:45

Great. So we have been talking to Colin Whittington and his suggestion is for first responders to consider beginning to think about life after, and his book beyond the thin blue line is available and can help you as you begin to frame the next step, the second chapter in your life. I want to thank you so much for joining me, colin, and you have the last word in terms of police officers and their underestimation of their value. 

Colin Whittington Guest

41:14

I think officers the ones I speak to again so many of them think that they can't possibly be a good fit for any role in the private sector. I want you all to know that is 100% incorrect. You can achieve so much beyond your wildest dreams in life after law enforcement. It just takes a little bit of effort, a little bit of tweaking of your resume, of the way you sell yourself, and then the sky is the limit for all of us Leos. And just know that the brotherhood and sisterhood of law enforcement transcends time and space. And even though I left law enforcement two years ago, you will still always be my brother and sister in blue and I'll always be there to have, support you, and so will every other member of the Thin Blue Line as well. And just know that a lot is possible for you and I can't wait to see what you all do next. 

Steve Morreale Host

41:52

Yeah, colin, I'll leave you with this. You know I've been able to travel all over the world when I was with DEA and after I got involved in higher education, and no matter where I go, I am attracted to a person in uniform. When I tell them what I have done, it's just amazing how the barriers get broken down and everybody wants to know a cop and so many people in the private sector. I'll say one more thing. We were getting ready to end, but I want to say one more thing. Officers moving on have to realize that there is a different culture in the private sector. Some of our little grab-assing that goes on at the station is not necessarily well tolerated. So you have to understand that. You have to adapt to the custom. Is that a fair assessment? 

Colin Whittington Guest

42:36

Absolutely. Yeah, the private sector is definitely very different. You deal with people from all walks of life and they're not going to be quite as the brotherhood, sister mentality. But we can pretty much say or do anything together because we all know it's all in good fun. But at the same time, us as law enforcement, we've had to adapt and go into unknown situations all the time and we've always come through fantastically well. And that'll be the same thing for you in the private sector as well. It'll be an adjustment. It'll be scary at first but, like any other call for service, you'll go there and you'll crush it and just do phenomenally well. I have no doubts at all. 

Steve Morreale Host

43:04

So thanks. We've been talking to Colin Whittington in Northern Virginia. I'm Steve Morreale. That is another episode that's in the can. Thanks for listening, stay safe and stay tuned for other episodes. 

Intro/Outro Announcement

43:18

Thanks for listening to The CopDoc Podcast with Dr. Steve Morreale. Steve is a retired law enforcement practitioner and manager, turned academic and scholar from Worcester State University. Please tune into The CopDoc Podcast for regular episodes of interviews with thought leaders in policing.