Eric Clague: Veteran, Former Police Officer, & Founder of PoliceReports.AI

One of the biggest life lessons we all must learn is that it is not nearly as important as where you start, but where you go along the way makes all the difference.  Robert Frost wrote a poem about it.  Well, kind of.  It really does not have to be the road less traveled; it is more like just choosing a road and seeing where it takes you.  As long as you do that, there will be choices to make along the way.

This week's guest on #TheCoptimizerPodcast is Eric Clague.  He started his road to policing courtesy of Uncle Sam and the United States Army.  This journey led him to a profound experience in Afghanistan, where service, sacrifice, and commitment were forged.  After serving in the Army, he stepped right into another service-centered career: policing.  

Some people just catch the learning bug, and they can’t let it go.  #IYKYK  For Eric, his time in policing took him to some pretty cool assignments, working narcotics and eventually becoming a Field Training Officer.  But sometimes, in policing, it is hard not to ask, “Why do we do it that way?”  And, if you are a process-oriented person looking to gain efficiency, that question can sometimes become all-consuming, and it can take you to unexpected destinations.  

For Eric, he wound up starting his own company while he was working as a police officer.  This led to the dilemma that many who choose to expand their horizons must ultimately face.  Where to focus time and effort?  Sometimes, when you like more things than one, it can be problematic if you begin to burn the candle at both ends.  While some cops choose to spend time on non-productive, unhealthy endeavors that cost them sleep and time with their families, this was not the case with Eric.  However, he faced the same reality: only twenty-four hours a day.  

Ultimately, Eric made the tough decision to leave a career in policing that he really loved to pursue a different challenge.  Make it on his own.  In America today, police departments face the reality that many of our officers are highly intelligent and talented people who choose policing over more profitable and, dare I say, more qualified life-oriented professions.  And now, many of them are leaving to pursue other careers.  

In this episode, I wanted to have that conversation.  Why leave a profession you love?  Eric can tell you in his own words.  In this case, there looks to be a happy ending on the horizon.  Without giving away the whole story, I’ll just say this: Eric is coming back to law enforcement as a business entrepreneur, and a product that he is hoping will make the job easier for our police officers.  I think it will.  So, we will call that a great start to a happy ending.