Officers Sworn to Give Comfort

They’re an elite corps within the Los Angeles Police Department who, instead of aiding the public, help their fellow officers and civilian police employees in times of tragedy.

The seven sworn officers who double as police chaplains will add another to their ranks today when Senior Lead Officer Ronald Carter receives his special chaplain’s badge.

“Cops are not emotionless, so who do they turn to when they have a problem?” Carter said in an interview from his Valencia home. “It’s the desire of all chaplains that, if someone has a need, they will come to us.”

If those who work in law enforcement are considered a special breed, it might be said that those who become police chaplains are even more unusual. On a daily basis, they listen to the concerns of dying colleagues, console families who have lost children and grieve alongside the spouse of the cop who has just committed suicide.

Some of their work is done in the course of their regular police shift, such as when another officer approaches them in the locker room or patrol car with a personal problem. Other duties are performed after hours--and sometimes in the middle of the night--when they deliver tragic news or sit with a family in crisis. And all for no extra pay.

“Sometimes they need religious counseling or sometimes they need grief counseling,” said Sgt. Kieth Moreland, supervisor of the LAPD’s Employee Assistance Unit, which oversees the chaplains. “We have to respond. If we don’t do a good job, there will be suffering people out there.”

Carter, a 20-year LAPD veteran and the only chaplain who is not an ordained minister, said he decided to become a chaplain after being approached by another chaplain who is a fellow senior lead officer in the Van Nuys Division and an elder in the Mormon church.

Carter’s application required the approval of the LAPD’s Chaplain Advisory Board, made up of seasoned chaplains, the department’s chief psychologist, the commanding officer of the department’s Human Resources Bureau and the police chief.

A special chaplain’s badge, along with lapel crosses that may be worn while conducting chaplain duties, will be presented to Carter today at a gathering of the Religious Forum, made up of community clergy who meet regularly with the police chief.

Raised a Roman Catholic, Carter was drawn to the Baptist faith after a Baptist minister counseled him after his wife of 20 years died of cancer in 1994. He became a Baptist in 1997, the year he remarried. Although he intends to be a sounding board for his colleagues, Carter expects primarily to be counseling those who have experienced a death in the family.

“Losing a loved one is a difficult time, and I feel I’m being led to grief counseling. My feeling is that the Lord is always preparing you for what He’s preparing you for,” said Carter, 54, who has two children, three stepchildren and three grandchildren.

The chaplain officers represent a variety of faiths and ranks. Two consider themselves Protestant, two are nondenominational, and the others are Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Baptist and Mormon.

Two are senior lead officers, two are sergeants, three are officers and one is a detective. All are men. Another male sergeant from the Southwest Division will become a chaplain in about a month, and a female officer has expressed interest in the program, said Officer Randy Michaelsen, chaplain coordinator.

Although the police chaplains profess a strong faith, they are not permitted to try to convert fellow workers.

The primary motto of the police chaplains is “Serving those who protect and serve,” Michaelsen said. “It’s a ministry of presence. So much of it is just being there.”

In addition to the chaplain officers, the department has a reserve corps of 39 civilian chaplains representing nearly every major religion. Both the officer chaplains and the reservists assist members of the “LAPD family,” conducting funerals and baptisms and even weddings, if they are licensed clergy.

A minimum of three training sessions annually--covering such topics as dealing with air disasters and police suicides--are organized by the Police Department for all chaplains. They also are encouraged to attend a weeklong annual meeting of the International Conference of Police Chaplains.

The primary difference between the sworn officers and the reservists is that the LAPD chaplain officers have the law enforcement experience to help them more effectively counsel fellow officers, especially those involved in a work-related tragedy.

“We’re already in the circle. We talk the language and the lingo. We know what it’s like to get shot and shoot people. It brings credibility. It isn’t that the reservist isn’t credible; they just haven’t experienced life at the same level as a police officer,” said Officer Steve Hillmann, 47, who received a Medal of Valor in 1977 after saving an officer’s life by fatally shooting a suspect.

His advice to fellow officers who become chaplains: “Remember to stay balanced. Keep God in your life and make your family your priority; otherwise, you’re no good to anyone else.”