One could say that Scott Odom was born to be a cop. His father was a police officer and Scott went through training with his brother. Scott was proud to be working in law enforcement in the community of San Luis Obispo in California. But the constant stressors of being out on the street wore down his health, warped his mind, and plunged him into addiction. His thinking became so skewed that everyone in his world fell into one of two categories: scumbags or people he could simply ignore.
Scott’s mind was in a constant state of alert. His entire physiology fell into a state of hypervigilance in which he viewed every human interaction as a possible threat.
He hit rock bottom when his daughter was sent to prison. One day, he looked for relief in a Tibetan Buddhist temple and decided to jump into Buddhist practices feet first. The Tibetan practice took him on a journey that broke down all his defensive structures and changed him.
Recently, Scott shared his take on the reality of policing in the United States and his stance on police reform. He also discusses his own path toward spiritual awakening as detailed in his forthcoming memoir The Seeker’s Path.
JFB: What originally drew you to police work?
