Eric Hofstein and Mary Beth Haile and What Doesn’t Kill You: One Cop’s Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness, and Addiction
Eric Hofstein with What Doesn't Kill You: One Cop's Perspective on Homelessness, Mental Illness, and Addiction paired with a Starbucks soy milk latte
About the Book: When Eric Hofstein changed his career path, he didn’t expect to meet hundreds of lost souls, many of whom were desperate to be found. Here he shares what he learned about how the people he met became homeless, what kept them on the streets, and how to help them improve their lives. He learned what true harm reduction is and how to manage his expectations and not center himself in his outreach work. Now retired, Eric is compelled to give voice to those whose stories inspired him so that others can be inspired in turn.
This memoir of essays illustrates his path and offers important insights into how to mitigate the trauma of homelessness.
About the Beverage: Eric recommends pairing the book with a Starbucks soy milk latte with two sugars because “I initially thought coffee was disgusting, but working night shifts patrolling a dangerous busy city, I had to drink. I was also told by the old timers real cops drank black coffee and grew mustaches. I complied but snuck sugar into my coffee to make it work with the new mustache. Now a Starbucks late' is my favorite drink. And I added a beard to the mustache.”
About the Author: In 1990, Eric Hofstein was working as an Emergency Medical Technician, considering a career in medicine. Alas, the police procedural books of his youth beckoned to him, such as; The Choir Boys, The Black Marble, Serpico, Donny Brasco, etc. While still working as an EMT, he took an opportunity to try out police work and got hired as a volunteer police officer ("Reserve Police Officer") at a very busy gang-plagued city in the heart of John Steinbeck country in Salinas, California. The police bug then bit harder, and he left his EMT job to be a full-time police officer, which meant for almost a year, he continued to work as a Reserve Police Officer and EMT while putting himself through a police academy in Monterey, California, to make the transition. Upon graduating from the police academy towards the top of his class, he was hired as a full-time police officer at Salinas PD, working patrol.
Towards the end of his career, Eric got hired at the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department to ease into a transit police officer position before retirement. He was stationed in District 4, which covers the San Francisco stations. While traversing the stations and streets above, he met hundreds of homeless people, many younger than his own children. Over time he applied his police skills in investigations, problem resolution, and family assistance to help them, get them into services, and reunite them with their families. This book follows this pathway from traditional patrol to a hybrid police officer.
After six years at BART PD, Eric accepted an early retirement incentive plan, retired in March of 2021, and then moved to Woodstock, Georgia.
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU: ONE COP’S PERSPECTIVE ON HOMELESSNESS, MENTAL ILLNESS, AND ADDICTION is free on Amazon Kindle Unlimited and will soon be available on Audible. https://a.co/d/bRdkp1c
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