The Exciting World of a Police Chaplain

By Chaplain John L. Crose MA MDiv

You will find this book very interesting and exciting! Even those who are not interested in doing the career of a police chaplain will find the book very interesting, as many examples of bad relationships and dysfunctional families or persons are contained in the books contents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781973603412

Chaplain John L. Crose MA MDiv

He entered the ministry later in life, at the age of 36. He graduated from seminary in 1983 with an MDiv degree, graduating with Academic Honors. He was able to begin his work in 1980 with the town that had requested his presence, being recommended by one of the town’s police commissioners. Much of his training while in seminary was centered around his interest in becoming a police chaplain. He found this interest as a result of completing an internship for one semester with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He learned a lot while being involved in this internship, and he enjoyed it very much! He was with this same town for a period of twenty-one years, retiring from this employment at the end of 2001. Through the years, he was able to accumulate much experience in a variety of circumstances arising from his work with the officers and staff of the town police department, as well as with members of the general public who came into contact with the police department for various reasons.

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Copyright © 2017 Chaplain John L. Crose MA, MDiv.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-0340-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0339-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0341-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017915107

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/25/2017

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: What Is A Police Chaplain?

Chapter 2: Resources For Training And Information

Chapter 3: Some Humorous Incidents!

Chapter 4: Some Representative Types Of Calls To Which Chaplains Respond

Chapter 5: Some Of The Extra Services Provided

Chapter 6: Counseling Very Sick And Dying Patients

Chapter 7: Feelings Of Inferiority

Chapter 8: Interpersonal Relationships

Chapter 9: Serious Misconduct Counseling

Chapter 10: Counseling Those With Mental Issues

Chapter 11: New Trends In Pastoral Counseling Needs

Chapter 12: Summary And Conclusions

About The Author

FOREWORD

Nobody wants me to knock on their door in the middle of the night. That statement is a brief and accurate one about the work of a police chaplain, but it is far from complete.

The author has written a thorough description of the varied work that is involved in being a police chaplain. Drawing on his many years of ministry as a police chaplain, he details the various ministry opportunities and responsibilities that a police chaplain experiences.

Not every police chaplain will experience every circumstance that is recounted here, but anyone desiring to be a police chaplain will profit from the author’s experiences. My response to reading the manuscript was how much I wish I would have had access to this material at the beginning of my service.

Chaplain Charlie Paxton

Indiana State Police

PREFACE

A few years ago, I began to have some ideas about writing a book detailing my experiences as a town police chaplain in the State of Indiana. After briefly considering each of these ideas, I decided not to take on that awesome responsibility, particularly because I had never written a book before in my entire life! However, every now and then I would get the same idea in my head once again. The last time this occurred, I felt it much more strongly. I felt that the Lord was calling me to write such a book and to do it as a ministry in His name! As I gave the idea a lot more thought and began to put a few more concepts together, I really began to feel a strong urge to go ahead with it.

There is a very strong need for more ministers to serve as police chaplains, and a special need exists for more women to get involved in the profession, in my opinion. Because of these needs, I wrote this book especially for existing ministers and ministerial students, in hopes that more of them might choose to become police chaplains. This could be done along with their other ministries: as volunteer chaplains; as part time, paid chaplains; or as full-time chaplains with a law enforcement agency of some type. Police chaplains serve on the local, county, state, or national level, in many varying ways. This book could also be of a general interest to lay persons who just want to see what a police chaplain is and what he or she does.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the book, and may you receive a blessing from reading its content.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I wish to thank the Lord above for giving me a calling to author this book. From the beginning, I felt a strong urge from Him to complete this book. I needed His encouragement numerous times through the process, and I received it every time!

I would also like to thank my wife for her encouragement and help through the process. The many hours I spent writing, editing, and proofing the manuscript package took me away from my usual work around our home and from doing things with her. I appreciated very much her patience with me during this time!

CHAPTER 1

What Is a Police Chaplain?

Over the twenty-one-plus years that I had the great opportunity to serve as a police chaplain, I was often asked the question that appears as this chapter’s heading. Some people know the answer, some think they know, and others do not have a clue!

A police chaplain usually is an ordained minister who has obtained a college education focused on biblical and ministerial studies. Most have gone on to obtain an advanced degree, such as a master of divinity (MDiv) or master of arts degree {MA} from an accredited seminary, and a few have even obtained a doctoral degree in the ministry, such as a (PhD.)

The typical police chaplain has taken classes in the field of psychology when he or she has had the chance. In my case, I was able to take courses such as Mental Hygiene and Pastoral Counseling as well as general psychology, some as an undergraduate.

At the end of my work for my MDiv degree, I ended up one-hour short of the required ninety course hours. After talking with the head of the psychology department, I was allowed to take a special one-hour course, during which I brought in case studies from my work as a police chaplain, (I had already started my work as a police chaplain before graduating from seminary.) I then had the department head evaluate each case during a discussion with me. This was one of my favorite classes in seminary.

Another course I was able to take was called The Dysfunctional Family, which was valuable to me as a police chaplain, because I worked with many such families.

This type of ministry is not for everybody. It is primarily a crisis ministry, in which individual or family lives have suddenly dropped to a low level, and people are experiencing a lot of stress because of the crisis involved. This type of minister has to deal with some horrible sights, such as victims of car wrecks, suicide, or gunshots. The chaplain often deals with people in varying stages of shock and those under severe stress. People’s lives have come crashing down on them, and they are really hurting—physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

One needs to experience a specific calling before one goes into this type of crisis ministry. I began to sense this type of calling for my life when I elected to take one of my two required internships with the Indianapolis Police Department’s Chaplaincy program. The other internship I took was a church pastoring situation. These two internships led me to choose both pastoring a small church and becoming a police chaplain with a small community in Indiana. Actually, I pastored two small churches and then realized that my real calling and desire was to stay with only the chaplaincy. And there I stayed for over twenty-one years.

A police chaplain serves primarily as a pastor with his or her respective police department, helping the police officers and the other staff within the department. They also get involved with people who have had contact with the police officers in one way or another. A chaplain can find himself being a volunteer with no pay, a volunteer with a stipend to help with expenses, or a full-time employee with full pay and even insurance and other benefits. I served as a volunteer with a stipend for expenses after several months with no stipend.

A police chaplain must have a caring heart and a lot of empathy for those who are hurting, stressed, depressed, and in need of help. Police chaplains are typically male, although there is no reason why women couldn’t serve in this capacity. I am not sure why we do not see more women serving as police chaplains. Their tendency to be more empathetic and better at dealing with victims of rape and/or sexual battery would seem to me good reasons to hire more women in this field. These, of course, are just two of many reasons that more women would be welcome in this field. Please, ladies who are reading this book, if you are considering police chaplaincy as a vocation, check out this opportunity.

CHAPTER 2

Resources for Training and Information

Following formal training in school environments, a person interested in becoming a police chaplain has many resources for additional training in the crisis ministry field. Even before ending one’s academic training, a person has numerous places from which to get additional information about the police chaplaincy.

One option is to get in touch with your advisor in college or seminary to see whether they have a list of resources from police departments around the nation. This would include police for towns or cities, sheriff’s departments for counties, and state police agencies (in the State of Indiana, at least) for contacting the state- or national-level police departments and law enforcement agencies—such as the FBI; US Marshals; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, for example. Colleges and seminaries around the country would also be good resources to investigate for information.

The International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC) is a wonderful organization from which to obtain training and information. I was a member of this organization the entire time that I served as a police chaplain. This group has annual conferences in various states and countries that last a few days and proceed with training on several levels, depending on one’s previous experience. I was able to attend two of these, one held in Toronto, Canada, and one in Indianapolis, IN. These conferences usually include not only training sessions but also a certification program, a tour to a local site of interest, and some interesting speakers. There also are ICPC conferences on a state level or in cities close to where a chaplain would be working.

Other organizations exist for training in various regional and local areas around the country. In Indiana, for instance, the City of Indianapolis police agencies have been involved in training police chaplains. The City of Cincinnati, Ohio, at one of their local colleges, has been involved in the past in good training for police chaplains. One just has to search for such programs or check with the ICPC for any resources on this level.

While in seminary, I was able to get involved in all of these training resources and continued with some even after graduation from seminary. Several of the local police agencies have what are called ride-along programs. They are interesting, exciting, and informative programs, during which chaplains and potential chaplains have the opportunity to ride along with current police officers to experience what they experience on one of their routine shifts.

When I was on a few of these ride-alongs, I had some awesome experiences, such as being on a night patrol in Cincinnati and having the officer suddenly stop a driver whom he believed had just committed a robbery at a local convenience store. He told me to stay in the car, while he proceeded to execute a felony takedown. Meanwhile, two additional officers arrived to give the officer backup, which is something police officers always try to do. The suspect who was stopped was later found to be the wrong man.

Another time when I was in Cincinnati, another group of chaplains was across the river in