Episode 22: Matt Pitcher (End of Part 1) - Former Under Cover Operative, 22 Year Career in Law Enforcement, Medal of Valor Recipient

Welcome to I Will Hold Space For Your Darkness; a First Responder Mental Health Podcast hosted by Erin Jane. 

A former Australian Police Officer and Detective, wife of an American Firefighter, previous crisis counsellor for a suicide prevention organization and current CISM trained, certified Life & Wellness Coach for First Responders, Emergency Services Members, Spouses and Loved Ones.

In this episode, Erin speaks with Matt Pitcher, a former police officer with over 22 years experience in law enforcement, with both the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD in North Carolina and Monroe County Sheriff's Office in Florida. His professional duties included extensive undercover experience, at both the State and Federal levels, involving drug trafficking, organised crime, political corruption and domestic terrorism. Matt even received the Medal of Valor for his role in one such case. Throughout his career, he had involvement in Major Crime invesitgations, involving rape, human trafficking and homicide, in particular one case involving a suspected serial killer.

Matt medically retired from law enforcement in late 2022 and kindly now, shares his stories and experiences in a mission to help fellow First Responders, especially Law Enforcement Officers, recognise the mental health implications of careers in these kinds of professions and encourage others to seek assistance when they need it and not leave it until it's too late.

In their conversation, (Part 1 of 2) Matt tells Erin about his early years, where he was interested in acting, but how he'd always been fascinated with undercover work and after listening to his older brother's stories of his policing experiences, he decided to join too.

He talks about working in a busy part of Charlotte, NC and how his career trajectory was always focused towards working in an undercover capacity. That he worked hard and made his way to vice and narcotics, where he was able to pursue that aspiration.

Matt shares about one of the most tragic experiences of his career, in a personal and professional sense, the loss of two of his colleagues and good friends, Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton, in an ambush style Line of Duty Death. Erin and Matt discuss how a loss like that can truly haunt a police department.

He tells Erin about how generating Confidential Informants led to his first deep undercover, prolonged and protracted investigation, that ultimately began from an outlandish lie he told that spiraled into 18 months of drugs, strippers, nightclubs, fast cars, cash and organised crime. Matt shares that during this time, he had a wife and newborn baby at home, who he hardly got to see and how those factors impact an undercover investigator, as they very much live a double life. He even explains about the night he thought he was going to be killed, by the criminal he had befriended.

Matt and Erin ended up speaking for almost three hours together, so this episode is Part 1 of 2, ending just before Matt starts to discuss his second case involving deep undercover work, where he infiltrated an organisation with plans of domestic terrorism. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week!

You can follow Matt on Instagram or TikTok with the handle @ret_det_mattpitcher

We both hope you enjoy listening to this episode! 

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