Chaplain Programs

[ZalmanEmmes]

I just wondered if any of you guys had much to do with the Chaplains attached to your departments and what they do and dont do...and maybe should do. What kind of training do they get and are they a hindrance or a help?

[Godside]

ZalmanEmmes,

Even though I'm not a cop (yet), I'll try to answer your question. My mentor is the chaplain for a police department in Texas and some of the main responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

*Being available to families in traumatic situations, including death notifications to families of lost love ones.
*Providing personal or family counseling.
*Responding to major incidents and cases involving serious injury.
*Participating in ride-a-longs.

Chaplains also offer Police Department personnel and their families, upon request, individual or family counseling and spiritual support. Many chaplains, using my mentor for example, work patrol because they are apart of the program voluntary. As far as training goes, I couldn't really tell you details as to what classes he has been at and taught, basically because I'm not allowed to attend. :( Addressing the help/hurt: I personally believe they are a major help. In my opinion, its always nice to know that someone is there for you and praying for you when times are hard. God bless.

[ 12-11-2001: Message edited by: Godside ]

[Press Hard]

We have a large chaplain unit. They drive cars marked with Chaplain, and other police department related stickers. They drive old corsicas with no lights or sirens. They can be requested by any officer, and any one that the officer comes into contact with. They also go on ride alongs with officers. It's nice to have someone in the car.

[unhappycop]

The NSW Police have a chaplaincy service and they have a number of full time and on-call chaplains of varying denominations. They primarily attend so called "critical incidents" to help police officers, and then try to help with the aftermath of these things, (shootings, fatal pursuits, SIDS etc.) .

[SpecOpsWarrior]

We have a volunteer chaplain who goes on ride alongs every Monday night. He is good to have as a ride along to, keeps up with his position and radio traffic and carries concealed just in case anything happens to the officer he rides with.

He also handles death notifications for us and provides grief counseling when needed. I consider him a real assest to the department, and he does all this for free, while he works a full time job as a prison minister in one of the state prisons near here.

[petebroccolo]

The RCMP has 2 Chaplains at our Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan - 1 is an Anglican priest, who has a full-time contract, and the other is a Roman Catholic priest, whose duties include services at the Academy. The Academy has a Chapel, which is believed to be the oldest building in Regina, and R.C. Mass is held there every Sunday, with Anglican services once a month.

The Anglican priest at the Academy now wears a modified RCMP uniform - blue military style single breasted jacket, dark blue pants with yellow cavalry stripe, khaki grey shirt, and rather than a tie he wears his clerical white collar tab.

The Academy Chaplains perform weddings and funerals, assist at medal and award presentations and provide counselling services. The Academy also has a Native First Nations spiritual room and I believe they have arrangements with Native elders in the Regina area that can assist the First Nations Cadets that are in training.

The RCMP has also developed a Voluntary Chaplaincy program for our various Divisions and Detachments. We have a fantastic V/Chap. here who is the local Presbyterian minister and who is also the Padre for the local Royal Canadian Legion branch. I have called on him A LOT to help with notification-of-next-of-kin due to suicides, assaults and fatal collisions. We also invite him to our farewell and Christmas parties, but we make him work for his supper - somebody has to say Grace!

If an Agency has not developed a Chaplaincy program, I would HIGHLY recommend it!

[Zamboni]

They can be useful in traumatic situations when dealing with distraught people. They get to do the huggy, touch feely, crap that I don't want to deal with. But I no longer am willing to let them do a ride along with me. I did it, against my will, one night and spent 10 hours listening to why I should love God and go to church. :mad:

[petebroccolo]

Originally posted by Zamboni:
<STRONG>They can be useful in traumatic situations when dealing with distraught people. They get to do the huggy, touch feely, crap that I don't want to deal with. But I no longer am willing to let them do a ride along with me. I did it, against my will, one night and spent 10 hours listening to why I should love God and go to church. :mad:</STRONG>
Unfortunately, the wrong type of minister was picked for your program. Chaplains for Police, Fire and EMS, especially when they are allowed to do R-A-L, should NEVER be that aggressive in their evangelization. Evangelization is a part of their vocation, but they have to realize that not everybody, especially in this kind of work, is open to a hard-sell. They should be soft-sell, so that you see the advantages of a belief in a higher power (pick your flavour - I like R.C., but hey, that's just me) from the quiet example of how the minister listens and leads her/his own calling day-to-day.

[Plaso]

We have a LE chaplaincy that covers the entire county. They are wonderful. They go with us everytime we do a death notification. They are used for traumatic events like serious vehicle accidents, suicides, barricaded suspects and the like. Actually anytime we can utilize their services we call them.

We call for as many chaplains as we need to work with the vicitms and the deputys or city officers.

One of the greatest assets we have is their service on suicides. For example they take care of on scene clean-up when a suicide is completed in someone home. They use a bio-service who takes care of the entire scene.

Out of my bi-monthly DSA dues I also contribute to the chaplaincy. We would have a very difficult time without them.

I forgot to say they also ride with us on a regular basis. They are trained in use of the radio, how to assist on a traffic stops, use of the shotgun and handguns. Sevral years ago one of the chaplains called for help after our deputy became involved in a serious fight. We try to keep them out of harms way and don't expect them to become involved except in a life and death situation.

[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Plaso ]

[JB]

Thank you to everyone who has posted here. After I become ordained, I plan on working as a Chaplain in some kind of law enforcement agency. I have always had a desire to minister to police officers as well as victims of crimes. What are the educational requirements for your department's chaplains? (IE how many years in seminary?etc) Godside, you mentioned that your mentor works patrol. Does this mean that he's an actual police officer in addition to a Chaplain? Press Hard, which agency are you with? I never knew that PDs had that big of a chaplain's program. Around here, we only have two or three pastors that come in part time.

[Godside]

Originally posted by JB:
<STRONG>What are the educational requirements for your department's chaplains? (IE how many years in seminary?etc) Godside, you mentioned that your mentor works patrol. Does this mean that he's an actual police officer in addition to a Chaplain?</STRONG>

JB,

In response to your question: Yes, my mentor works patrol for the department and is a State Certified Peace Officer. He takes calls like everyone else does, if a call comes in that requires a death notice, or services done by a chaplain he would be dispatched to that call. He is also the community policing officer, so he spends a lot of his patrol time going to schools and meeting with community leaders. As for education, I believe it really depends on the department. My mentor is ordained, but I don't believe he went to seminary or even Bible school. Larger departments are more likely than smaller to have tougher educational requirements for chaplains. A lot of times, its more about book smarts than it is about people smarts. God bless.

[Watchman]

We have two chaplains . I beleive one is Assembly of God and the other is Babtist.

Both of them are Part Time II certified. One of them works two days a week at the courthouse as a Baliff. They both do patrols, they are both full time preachers with their own congregations. Both of them are a delight to work with and both of them are very dedicated. I personally think they are an asset to the department, but there are a few heathens that feel uncomfortable around them. They wont try to "evangelize" you if they ride with you, but if asked they will tell why they beleive the way they do. As for untimely death notices they get "volunteered" every time. Sometimes they even do it together and that is a job that everyone is more than happy to let them do.

They qualify with weapons along with everyone else and one of them is quite a good shot. They train along with everyone else.They wear the same uniforms .They drive the same cars.