We were allowed to ride with the police officers for a portion of a shift. We got to see first-hand the kinds of situations and people that police officers encounter and must deal with everyday. It s very high stress work where almost any call they respond to has the potential to immediately become a life-threatening situation. I learned about the police chaplain s program from the police officers, and about the same time I learned that a long-time friend of mine, Harold Scott, had moved to Oak Ridge and was activating a police chaplains group here. I decided that was something I could do that would help the Police Department, Smith said.
Police chaplains are there to minister to the officers.
Chaplains also help officers in other ways such as assisting with transportation of a person who has been picked up for an offense and needs a way to get home or, on the other hand, delivering the heartbreaking news that a family member has been killed or severely injured in an accident. If there s a death and the officers have to deliver that news, they often will ask the chaplains to go along to help the people get through the immediate impact of that tragedy on the family. It boils down to being a good listener. I m there to listen. They need someone they can talk to who is not a member of their chain of command, not someone who is there to critique their performance, not someone who has any other interest except listening to them, understanding the job they do and valuing them both as individuals and as police officers.