What do you do as a Chaplain?

 

We spend time with first responders, dispatchers, correctional officers building rapport with them to gain their trust so that we can help them deal with the challenges of their careers when they feel the need.  We respond to line-of-duty injuries and deaths and provide comfort for the families of those injured or killed in service to their communities.

 

How do first responders use your ministry?

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They will call us to respond to many critical scenes where a person has lost their life or been seriously injured.  In those cases we provide a service to the community on behalf of the law enforcement agency we serve.  We also conduct Critical Incident Stress Debriefings for officers involved in serious incident in our communities.

 

How do you fund this ministry?

 

Sierra Chaplaincy is a 501 c (3) registered charity with the IRS and the California Tax Board. The Chief Chaplain is responsible to raise 100% of his support from which he is paid and ministry expenses are paid. We receive donations from churches, individuals, peace officers, and law enforcement associations.

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What kinds of scenes are you called to?

 

We have been called to respond to auto fatalities, home invasion robberies, drug overdoses, shootings, drownings, hostage situations, homocides, suicides and natural disasters.

 

What kind of needs do law enforcement personnel have?

 

Their needs in some ways are the same as other people's. They have family and marriage, children, and home responsibilities . Additionally, their jobs are really difficult. They experience danger in a high stress occupation on a day-to-day basis that takes its toll on them.

 

What makes officers' jobs so stressful?

 

They are expected to handle any call for service a dispatcher gives them. They never know if they are walking into danger where they might have to put their life on the line. Officers are under pressure every time they go to work. For example, an officer responds to 3 hot calls per shift; that would be about 12 hot calls in a week. You can do the math: 48 hot calls in a month and over 500 in a year. When they go the distance for a thirty year career it can take an unbelievable toll on their lives.

 

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