Police Chaplains Today

As we head into 2024, I want to share something that I have spoken about many times as a pastor. Something I always believed in, was making the topic of faith easy to understand. That might sound strange considering many in today's world believe that faith in God is a non-starter. The reasoning is simple: I can't see him, I can't hear him, I can't touch him and so on. Many will insist that faith like I and other Christians have, borders on delusional and it is based on some fictional character. They might even suggest that only science can be trusted with it's numerous "theories".  I am going to suggest to all my friends who might mock my faith, that each and every one of you, practice faith every day of your lives and have been doing so since you were children. Please don't stop reading because my simple examples are coming. You can dispute everything I am about to say but you will have a really difficult time doing so. You will try to find fault in w...

                                                                             The past year was full of new adventures and it's share of ups and downs. One thing that remained constant, was God's unfailing love.  After 69 years on this planet one would hope that a few things have been learned and stored in the memory bank for future use. We are part of a wonderful church in Calgary with some precious folks we are still getting to know. Being "retired" has been OK because I get to still do certain things, without getting paid for it. The Warming Centre at our church, serves the homeless community and occasionally Kristina and I have helped out, including making my potato/cheddar cheese/leak/bacon soup. Except for the bacon bits, it is creamery mixture that seems to be...

In October, more than 50 Police Chaplains from across Canada, convened in Winnipeg for our Annual Training Seminar (ATS). The entire week-long event was incredibly well organized with several outstanding presenters. Thank you to George, John and their team of Winnipeg Chaplains. The one struggle that many police chaplains have, is finding the opportunities to build relationships and trust. In Toronto I was able to do it originally because I was a hockey goalie they needed to play net. That may sound a bit funny, but it goes to the idea of being relatable. Police like to talk among themselves and for me it was the open door I needed to get into the policing community. Since 2002, it has been a talking point and almost a way of introduction to the three divisions I served at. Then we moved to Alberta, and all that I had established in Toronto, disappeared completely. Even to the point where the "higher ups" view me as a novice who needs mentoring. I had to sit back for a minute...

For the past few months I have been seeing posts on FB from cop haters that is quite troubling. To me, each one is a potential cop killer or at the very least, encouraging some lunatic with mental health issues, to do the same. You may have seen them as "citizens" who insist they have the right to walk up to a cop from behind with a camera/cell phone, and record what they are doing at something as simple as a traffic stop. It is all about their rights under the US constitution apparently and when the cop advises them it was a stupid thing to do and to step back, they quickly become aggressive and ask for the name and badge number followed by a demand to see a sergeant. It is comical in some ways but very disturbing in so many other ways. It seems the only purpose for the citizen to approach the cop, is to garner a reaction and film the entire confrontation which is solely initiated by the one holding the cell phone.  That is what our society has become and politicians are too...

Most of you know that I am a Chaplain with the Toronto Police Service. I write this as a friend of the policing community in Canada because I am totally disgusted with what is happening in our society. It has become fashionable to criticize our police. Politicians and special interest groups who scream the racist card every chance they get, lead the parade of haters. In Canada, we just had the forth officer die in the line of duty in the last month. We don't have enough details of the RCMP officer's murder in Burnaby, but the previous three were all ambushes where the officers never had the opportunity to defend themselves. Certain politicians who seldom praise our men and women in blue, send their condolences as if it makes up for their demand for defunding the police. I am going to use my words in this blog because if our cops were allowed to say what they are thinking, many would get in trouble. These men and women who put on their uniforms and race to dangerous situations w...

This past week has been a tough one for the policing community in Toronto and the surrounding area called the GTA. We lost two outstanding officers through the madness of others and yet God somehow still managed to orchestrate something that brought a measure of peace into the week. A gentleman in the church I attend, started something called Pitmasters Appreciation BBQ's for First Responders in Peel Region. For the past 3 years, First Responders have been appreciated through the efforts of various church and community groups. This year, I had the privilege of offering this in Toronto at 11 Division where I am Chaplain. We planned this 3 months in advance and yet God knew ahead of time why Saturday, September 17th would have a greater significance for each of us. We fed over 125 TPS officers from 3 different divisions, including the newly appointed Chief of Police. We were able to put a smile on the faces of those who serve us each day. We had sponsors like Dickson BBQ who supplied...