I Was a Cop… Until This Happened

Kevin Donaldson grew up with a traumatic upbringing in South Jersey found structure and identity through law enforcement and spent years as a New Jersey police officer responding to calls that most people never have to think about — until one domestic shooting incident in 2014 broke him completely and ended his career. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, he shares what that career defining call really looked like the panic attacks the mental health collapse and the burnout that followed and what losing his identity as a police officer to PTSD actually did to him before he found his way back. He also opens up about the long road through therapy and group support and how he eventually turned everything he went through into a mission as a mental health advocate author and motivational speaker dedicated to breaking the silence around police trauma. #TrueCrime #LawEnforcement #PoliceStories #RealStories #JusticeSystem #BehindTheBadge #YouTubePodcast #crimedocumentary Thank you to FACTOR & PRIZEPICKS for sponsoring this episode: FACTOR: Head to https://factormeals.com/lockedin50off and use code lockedin50off to get 50% off your first Factor box PLUS free breakfast for 1 year. Offer only valid for new Factor customers with code and qualifying auto-renewing subscription purchase. Make healthier eating easy with Factor. PRIZEPICKS: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IA... and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Connect with Kevin Doladson: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realkevindo... Website: https://www.realkevindonaldson.com/ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?h... https://ianbick.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 The New Jersey Cop Who Got PTSD From One Call and Turned His Pain Into a Mission — His Full Story 03:00 His Background and What First Drew Him Toward Law Enforcement as a Career 10:00 Growing Up in South Jersey and What Those Early Struggles Really Shaped in Him 16:00 The Childhood Trauma the Turbulent Home Life and What the Lasting Impact Really Looked Like 23:00 Breaking Family Ties and the Destructive Coping Mechanisms That Followed 29:00 Being at a Crossroads — the Trouble the College and What Reinventing Himself Actually Required 40:00 His Early Adulthood — the Teaching the Uncertainty and What Searching for Purpose Really Involved 47:00 Finding Structure and Identity Through Policing and What That Sense of Purpose Gave Him 53:00 What Experiencing 9/11 as a Police Officer Actually Looked Like and What That Day Did to Him 56:00 The Reality of Police Work — the Good the Bad and the Surreal Moments That Define a Career 01:02:00 The Emotional Toll of Policing and What Suppressed Trauma Does to an Officer Over Time 01:09:00 The Officer Involved Shooting Call That Changed Everything and What That Incident Really Looked Like 01:17:00 The Panic Attacks the Mental Health Collapse and the Burnout That Followed That Call 01:24:00 Losing His Identity as a Police Officer and What Hitting Rock Bottom After a Law Enforcement Career Feels Like 01:31:00 The Therapy the Group Support and What the Long Road to Healing Actually Required of Him 01:38:00 Life After Policing and What Finding Purpose in Helping Others After Everything He Went Through Looks Like 01:45:00 Losing a Friend the Regret and What the Hard Lessons That Followed Actually Taught Him 01:55:00 Rebuilding His Life and What Transforming Trauma Into Growth Actually Requires in Practice 02:02:00 His Healing His Justice Reform Work and What Advocacy Looks Like From Someone Who Lived the Trauma 02:12:00 The Hope the Reflection and What He Wants Every Officer and Every Person Struggling With Trauma to Hear