Episode 30: Justin Cotte - Former Police Officer, K9 Handler, Detective, Civilian Investigator, Grad Psych Student

Welcome to I Will Hold Space For Your Darkness; a First Responder Mental Health Podcast hosted by Erin Jane. A former Australian Police Officer and Detective, wife of an American Firefighter, previous crisis counsellor for a suicide prevention organization and current CISM trained, certified Life and Wellness Coach for First Responders, Emergency Services Members, Spouses and Loved Ones. In this episode, Erin speaks with Justin Cotte, a former Police Officer from Washington State, who served his community for 20 years in various law enforcement positions, including patrol, K9 handler, corrections, part of a US Marshalls Task Force for Violent Offenders, Critical Incident Investigator including OIS and held a Detective position with ICAC; Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Since retiring, Justin is a Civilian Investigator for the AG's Office and is also studying his Master's of Science in Military and First Responder Psychology. Justin tells Erin about growing up in Canada during his teenage years, but that how the events of 9/11 made him want to return to the United States and join Law Enforcement. Watching the calm disposition on the faces of the First Responders on that horrible day, amongst all the chaos and tragedy, inspired him to join their ranks. He volunteered for both fire and police departments, but ultimately Law Enforcement won out in the end. Justin and Erin discuss becoming First Responders around the same age and how they were so naive and unaware of what a career in Law Enforcement would ultimately entail. Everyone joins to help people, but we all leave being changed by our roles. Justin shares about two ambush-style incidents where offenders opened fire on he and his colleagues, which caused him to enter in a significant state of constant hypervigilence and about the position he enjoyed the most, being the handler of his beloved K9, Solo. He tells Erin about the loss to suicide of two colleagues from nearby departments and how it made him question his own future career aspirations, ultimately leading him to engage in pursuing studies in psychology, knowing he wanted to be of service to his colleagues in a different capacity. Justin is honest and open about some of his mental health struggles throughout his career, using alcohol as a maladaptive coping mechanism early on to deal with a relationship breakdown and to combat feeling burnt out, the trauma exposure that murders, crimes against children and just general policing can have on you and the toll it ultimately can take, even leading to negative physiological health responses. He also shares about finding peace for the first time in his career, when he tried a kind of sensory deprivation, known as float therapy. Justin now practices meditation and this helps him alleviate any stress, anxiety and residual trauma he may be experiencing. Justin's ultimate goal is to travel, live adventurously and help his fellow First Responders with their mental health moving forward, to prevent more losses to suicide, like those of his colleagues and many, many others. It was so lovely to chat with Justin, in this first podcast episode for the month of June, being Men's Mental Health Awareness Month. We both hope you enjoy listening! Please feel free to reach out if you'd like a topic discussed, would like to be a guest or are interested in receiving coaching services from Erin Jane. Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.erinjanecoaching.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/erinjanecoaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Call or Text: +1 617 396 4695 You can watch the episodes as video on YouTube here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@Erin-Jane-Coaching?si=XI8q0z3mhmzO_a7_⁠⁠⁠⁠ Feel free to watch, listen, share and subscribe!