Behind The Shield Eric Tung (Law Enforcement, Wellness and School Safety) - Episode 899
Eric Tung is is a 16 year Law Enforcement officer and the man behind Blue Grit Wellness.
We discuss his family's immigration story, his journey into policing, the emotional cost of officer involved shootings, the power of humility, social media, mentorship, schood safety and so much more.
Eric Tung has been a police officer in Washington state for 16 years. He currently serves as a patrol operations commander in Kent, WA. He also oversees peer support and wellness programs at his department and collaborates regionally with other police wellness leaders.
His experiences and those of his teammates, colleagues and best friends have shaped his focus and desire to guide and mentor in forms that support mental and physical health and resilience.
As an officer, he worked in Patrol, as a Field Trainer, K9 Officer and in the Civil Disturbance Unit (riot response). After promoting to sergeant, he supervised various patrol squads and was a team leader and trainer in the Civil Disturbance Unit.
After working briefly as the supervisor in neighborhood response (community education/chronic problem solving), he undertook the challenge of Recruiting and Hiring for his police department. With a department of 166 sworn having seen recent vacancies hovering around 25%, he knew it was where he could make the most significant impact for his team's culture, morale, and critical value to the community.
Eric has been a long-time member of his department's Peer Support Team, but became the team coordinator following his promotion and loss of his friend and colleague, Diego Moreno.
As the coordinator of peer support efforts, Eric is also one of the department's certified Critical Incident Stress Debrief facilitators. He runs such CISDs for his department as well as other area agencies for such incidents as traumatic calls, officer-involved shootings, and line of duty deaths.
As a fitness trainer for his agency, Eric programs and leads group and individual workouts and coaching. As a Certified Functional Strength Coach via CFSC, Mike Boyle's system, he delivers practical exercise and fitness content that promotes performance and longevity.
In his current role, in addition to the oversight of day-to-day operations, his focus is on building a culture of mentorship and wellness through innovative thinking, intentional effort, modeling, and unparalleled relationship-building.
Eric became a police officer to help others and challenge himself. He has been able to continue to grow in his various roles and looks to use Blue Grit to connect with, coach, and mentor not only police officers and first responders, but those looking to enter the career field, and agencies looking to expand and develop in the realms of health, wellness, culture-building, recruitment, and retention.