The police chaplain's role has changed dramatically in the past two decades. Police chaplaincy used to be a ceremonial function until the 1980s, with the chaplain called upon to dedicate the occasional police building or to say blessings at police-related functions.
This is not so today. Most chaplains, like myself, are volunteers. In Canada, there are only two full-time, paid police chaplains, serving the Edmonton Police Service and the Quebec City Police.
The police chaplain today is a trained professional who works with police in serving the community and attending to the officers and civilians employed by the police force.
Chaplain John Price of the Albuquerque Police, a founding member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains, said in a speech to chaplains: "Response in crisis is the calling of the police chaplain. Response to God's call is his daily fare. He is a person who brings to the lost, the least, the lonely, the love of God. Here is the arena of life, and here, people are battered and beaten and questioning the existence of God.
"Here, by all the Jericho roads, lie all the victims that the frightened and fearful would pass by. Here in the gore and the grime, people cry that God, if he does exist, doesn't care. This is where the chaplain lives."
Just what are some of the responses that a police chaplain must make?
Looking at the Thunder Bay police chaplain's logbook for the past year or so, we get a glimpse into the work both of the police and the chaplain.
The past year (1997) began with three homicides in the first month. The year was less than two weeks old when a double homicide occurred and then as January ended, a third murder took place.
The third murder was that of a 19-year-old gas bar attendant. Blair Aitkens was closing up the Can-Op station when he was shot. He was rushed to hospital and the watch commander called me to go to the intensive care unit.
Blair died almost immediately, but his family wanted their son's organs donated to others in need. I spent many hours with the Aitkens family in the intensive care unit and then at their home. The family did not have a church affiliation and requested that I take the service.
The community was rocked by this tragic event and I found myself ministering not only to the family, but also to Blair's many friends and, to a lesser degree, to the entire community. As it turned out, the same man had committed all three murders, and he subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for at least 25 years.
One of the common calls that come to chaplains is to accompany a police officer to make a death notification. When a person dies as a result of a traffic or industrial accident, the police must be the bearers of bad news. It is probably the task that officers dislike most.
There is no easy way to tell someone that a husband, son, father, wife, daughter, or mother has died. People go out the door to their day's work and, unfortunately, there are those who never return. The chaplain accompanies the officers to give this terrible news, not because the chaplain can do it any better, but to try to offer comfort and assistance to the bereaved.
It is the role of the officer to make sure that the family's questions regarding the cause of death are answered. The officer knows the facts of the case. The chaplain is there to help the family contact other family members and the clergy person who may be able to assist the family.
In many cases, the family will ask for a prayer and help right at that time.
The most frequent calls for death notification are after suicides. No two suicides are the same. There was the man who took his life in the police parking lot. Another overdosed on drugs. Others use guns. One young man soaked himself with gasoline and struck a match. Just before Christmas, a young woman hanged herself. Another died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In many of these cases, be it murder, accidental death, or suicide, the officer who is involved may also need comfort and help in coming to grips with the dark side of his or her profession.
It is not easy to see what happened when someone has shot himself, or after a young boy sets fire to himself. It is not easy to have to go out to a quiet home and tell a family that a son has been murdered. It is not easy to pick up what is left of life at the scene of an accident. And then there are others who need ministry, such as the man who tried to smother the flames on the burning boy.
On 10 evenings in the past year I found myself in the passenger seat of a Thunder Bay Police cruiser. These evenings are called ride-alongs. They give me an opportunity to understand the stresses of life as an on-duty police officer.
Many evenings the calls are routine, but sometimes I find myself ministering to people in their homes as we answer calls. The calls range from breaking and entering to domestic abuse, to a teenager who has trashed a home or apartment. And there are always calls to bars where trouble has erupted.
In some cases, things quiet down when the troublemakers see a priest. In other cases, the chaplain has the job of picking up officers' hats that go flying in the scuffle.
As the year ended, I was called to testify at the coroner's inquest into the death of a young man who had taken his own life, as I had been one of the persons who had negotiated with him.
Listening again to our taped conversations and our pleas with the young victim, the negotiators and I were overcome by our unfortunate failure to convince this young man that he was loved.
There are also pleasant tasks for a chaplain. From time to time officers have asked me to officiate at their weddings. I am also asked to speak to community groups, service clubs and churches regarding police chaplaincy.
There are times when I am called upon for confidential counselling.
It has been my practice to pray with the officers each Thursday morning at briefing before they head out to the streets. Throughout the year, many members of the police service, sworn and civilian, have brought their prayer concerns to me and these are remembered as we gather on Thursdays. I feel that this action has been of benefit to all as we come to think of ourselves as a "police family."
On a sad note, this can also mean comforting officers and their families when loved ones die. Towards the end of the year I spent many hours with a retired officer who was dying of cancer. And, as 1998 began, one of my first duties was to bury that man.
On the last Sunday of September, the annual Police Memorial Service is held on Parliament Hill. As many of our officers never have the opportunity to attend this, I have held a similar service in Thunder Bay for the past six years, going to a different church each year.
At the annual training seminar of the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC) in Duluth, Minnesota, in July, I was elected to the office of first vice-president, having served two years as second vice-president. The ICPC is a worldwide, professional organization of more than 2,000 chaplains in 12 countries. There were more than 350 chaplains in attendance from Canada, the United States, Jamaica, Australia, Great Britain, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
I also attend the annual training seminar of the Canadian Police Chaplains Association in Niagara Falls in October. Much of our instruction has been on problems inherent to gambling casinos. There are several new social and criminal problems that accompany the introduction of a casino to a city or town.
This article is based on my annual report to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, in which I acknowledged with thanks the patience and understanding of my wife, Marilyn. Her support allows me to spend the volunteer time and effort necessary to make this chaplaincy effective.
This article first appeared in the Algoma Anglican. It is reprinted here with the author's permission.
