In casual visits to stations I would regularly find myself talking about spiritual issues the personnel of all ranks were concerned with. In the early 80s I worked a few years as a prison chaplain and one day noted a unique characteristic that my fellow chaplains colleagues and I enjoyed in the institution. We were the only ones in that paramilitary organization that could address everyone from the superintendent to the longest resident of solitary by their first name. While we were part of the system, and while we had our place on the organizational chart, our role actually cut across every other job description leaving us a unique opportunity for relationship. This unique relationship that the chaplain has is where the real strength of chaplaincy can be best appreciated.
Chaplains can be the means to represent confidential or sensitive concerns within an organization.
For example, when someone is concerned about another the chaplain may casually assess how an member is doing or clarify what would be appropriate level of support for a family in a difficult time. Since most critical incidents are at first tricky to assess the chaplain can be in an ideal resource to make a contact and assess the impact an incident has had without compromising the privacy of individuals. From an administrative serve volunteer or career chaplains is being initiated by the Justice Institute of Canada Police Academy in Summerside PEI this April with a three-day course on training clergy to support CISM teams. If your team or department wants to support an existing chaplain or train a chaplain this will be an excellent opportunity. As well as the obvious challenges a chaplain can help with are the more illusive concerns of many CISM teams such as supporting or debriefing the debriefers.