FOUNTAIN VALLEY : City Police to Get Chaplains’ Service

Eight clergymen have volunteered to form the city’s new police chaplain program and will ride with officers on duty.

“They’re here to help,” said police Sgt. Larry Griswold. “They’re a group of people who are sincerely interested in helping people. . . . They want to open themselves up to hurt.”

In crises, the chaplains will be there to offer emotional support, to listen or console.

But they will step in only if officers or the public want the help.

“We hope to be a service to people in need, to be able to help them in traumatic situations and give a spiritual uplift to anyone who may ask that of us,” said Jay Eskelsen, an elder with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The chaplains will be installed in an 11 a.m. ceremony Tuesday at the Police Department.

Chaplains also include the Rev. Karl Vaters of Community Bible Church, the Rev. Arvin Gowens of First Southern Baptist Church, Rabbi Stephen J. Einstein of Congregation B’Nai Tzedek, the Rev. David Coyne of First Christian Church, the Rev. John McFarland of First United Methodist Church, the Rev. Wayne Wilson of St. Barnabas Orthodox and the Rev. Eugene Stroh of Fountain Valley Baptist. They have undergone training to prepare them for their new ministry. They will ride with police a minimum of five hours a month and be on call.

The Fountain Valley Police Department joins about 11 other Orange County law enforcement agencies with chaplain programs, said the Rev. Carl Stone of the Orange County Chaplains Assn. About 100 clerics serve in those programs, he said.

Vaters said he hopes to be a “calming influence” to police officers when they face a crisis situation.

“Our priority is to help them do their job better,” he said.

Chaplains said they also hope to be confidants to officers, someone with whom they can share personal problems or stress. A cleric’s presence at the scene of an accident or domestic disturbance could result in someone wanting to contact them later to talk about their situation or tragedy.

“I think we can be of positive service by just being here for them,” Einstein said.

Chaplains will also deliver death notifications and refer people in need to the cleric of their choice.

“I think it’s an opportunity for service,” Einstein said. “I feel a personal responsibility to give something. It’s a pay-back.”

The “bottom line,” Vaters said, “is that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. This is another way of giving.”