On Being a Police Officer Ep. 51 – (Ret.) Officer Eric Hofstein - from street to transit cop, defining moments and saving lost souls.
Ep. 51 Joining me is Eric Hofstein who was in law enforcement for 27 years and recently retired in 2021. After working as an EMT, he made the switch to law enforcement working with agencies in CA and FL before becoming a transit officer for BART, The Bay Area Rapid Transit System. We cover two of the most defining moments in his career. The first as a deputy with the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office, responding to the line-of-duty shooting death of California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom, an incident that, as Eric says, was the final straw for him emotionally and forever changed his desire to be a street cop.
The second was his resulting decision to join BART thinking he’d be leaving the stress and trauma of traditional law enforcement behind. That was not at all the case. The job presented unique challenges including reacting to thousands of commuters filling the train platform as often as every three minutes during rush hour, fights and open drug use on subway cars, and more.
On top of that, Eric found a world he’d never seen before – people who were homeless, drug addicted, and mentally ill – strewn about and suffering in the subway halls and trains. He could not understand or make sense of it. Why was it happening? We talk about how his thinking gradually shifted from one of judgement to one of empathy; how he became the person who would give everything of himself to try to save every single one of these people – at his own expense and the expense of his family. And how he learned what true “harm reduction” is. It’s a story he tells in his book, “What Doesn't Kill You. One Cop's Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addiction” which he co-authored with his wife, Mary Beth Haile.
We do cover his time in law enforcement working for San Jose PD, Palm Beach Sheriff's Office in Florida, then the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office in California including several very close calls, and that traffic stop, the one where he trusted his sixth sense, that inner voice that saved his life.
Also unique to Eric’s career was working the jails for five years as a deputy with Contra Costa. He says it was one of the best training grounds for working patrol.
We also get into his post-law enforcement career and the challenges of retirement which he writes about in the book. “Everything bubbles up,” as he says. It wasn't until after he was retired that he was diagnosed with complex PTSD. He shares his learnings and insights for others experiencing the same feelings.
You can find the book on Amazon both in paperback and Kindle and on Audible. Here is a link to Amazon.
“What Doesn't Kill You. One Cop's Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addiction.”
I want to honor the life, service, commitment and sacrifice of California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom.
E.O.W. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012
https://www.odmp.org/officer/21381-officer-kenyon-marc-youngstrom
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©Abby Ellsworth. All booking, interviews, editing, production done by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org