Wahoo-oo! Barreling through the streets of Pasadena, lights flashing, sirens blaring, the cop driving the patrol car at full alert, radio crackling. Oh, it’s go-o-ood! Hey, that’s police chaplaincy.
We-e-ell, sometimes. Every now and then. Maybe. Kinda.
Police chaplaincy can be exciting, true. It can also be boring, dirty, disgusting, sometimes even dangerous. On the other hand pastors who are chaplains will:
- never run out of sermon illustrations;
- have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in town;
- make some really solid friends;
- do more good for their community than they can imagine;
- participate in some very strange training; and
- never sit with their back to the restaurant door again.
Chaplains come in all colors, denominations, shades of doctrine, religions, ages, and in both sexes. I know of only two underlying qualifications for a person wishing to become a chaplain: you’ve got to love your cops, and you can’t want to be one.
Police departments usually have additional qualifications. Ordination or some other recognition of clergy-type status from one’s accrediting organization is usually required, as is a driver’s license, passing a background check and evidence that one’s religious organization approves of one’s chaplaincy. Chaplain activities fall largely into the following categories:
- Ceremonial duties – Department personnel weddings, funerals etc., invocations at department functions and the like.
- Death notifications – In the event of fatalities, a chaplain will accompany an officer to notify next of kin.
- Special situations – Major accidents, terrorist attacks, natural disasters.
- Policy assistance – Helping the Department develop policies and procedures within the chaplain’s areas of competence.
- Counseling – Counseling police department personnel.
But having said that is to ignore that which is even more important: establishing a ministry context, i.e. the long-term commitment involved in working with a group of people performing difficult jobs under sometimes dangerous circumstances.
Cops are different. The pressure of having to make decisions that affect people’s lives (even a traffic ticket does that), of having their actions subject to review for indefinite periods after those decisions, and dealing with some not-so-nice people with truly ugly agendas, has its impact on the police officer. Officers’ greatest fears do not involve high-speed chases, gun battles, fights and the like, but disciplinary action. So, cops tend to stick together and are wary of outsiders.
To accomplish the formal duties, a chaplain has to be received, eventually, as a trustworthy person. Moreover, this must be accomplished while retaining his or her integrity.
Police departments vary widely in their requirements and expectations of chaplains. Department chaplain policies run the gamut of very informal and casual to highly structured, uniformed, and regulated. In some departments, a chaplain may in fact be required to become a full-fledged sworn reserve officer. Police departments — and chaplains themselves — disagree. Should we have uniforms? Bullet-proof vests? Should we be armed? Should we be sworn?
Personally, I love my incredibly cool uniform with the Pasadena Police Department patches, and my jacket with “CHAPLAIN” in bold letters across the back. I’m even growing to tolerate my bulletproof vest. But even if I didn’t, I would have to wear them, and therein lies the other part of chaplaincy.
All chaplain positions — police, military, hospital, school — have one thing in common. They operate under the authority of the organization they serve. While we must be true to our faith, our organizations have demands placed upon them that transcend our personal desires.
The vast bulk of police procedures and regulations exist to facilitate the discovery, arrest, and conviction of bad guys and/or minimize the potential liability involved in negotiating the maze of laws covering police operations. Violating these procedures lessens the ability to accomplish these purposes at best, and at worst exposes the organization to potential harm. So, no! You may not wander around the crime scene looking for clues! Neither may you question suspects, nor take the patrol car for a spin.
This condition of being under authority extends to other areas as well.
While from my pulpit I may insist on doctrinal purity, commitment to Christ, and fellowship with other believers, as a chaplain I cannot. I may not use the patrol car as an evangelism opportunity, preaching venue or counseling office unless invited to do so.
Time? In our department chaplains are expected to put in about eight hours a month on average. Our monthly meeting (administration and training) accounts for two to three hours of that, and the mandatory ride along (or non-patrol equivalent) accounts for another four. Usually there is some sort of function or volunteer opportunity that will sop up the remaining hour. Call-outs – those events where we are called upon to perform some duty with the police like a death notification — simply take as long as they take.
Some of our chaplains put in much more time. Some hang around the station a lot. Some we haven’t seen for months. The department will usually take all you wish to give.
Sound interesting? Contact your local police or sheriff’s department, and see what they say. I can’t promise you adventure, but I can promise a worthwhile ministry.
George Rittenhouse is pastor of La Rambla Church in San Pedro, Calif. and volunteer chaplain with the Pasadena Police Department, Pasadena, Calif.
