Police Chaplain: Mental Health & God

I am going to challenge more than a few of you with this blog but I do so with only the best intentions. As a former pastor and missionary, my background in approaching police chaplaincy was fixed on the "spiritual" health of our police officers. In hindsight it should have been on the complete wellness of the officer and their family.

It is the same comment I would make to those who insist on calling "holistic health" the go-to phraseology when it comes to wellness. Holistic health usually leaves absolutely no room for spiritual health. Similarly, mental health professionals often exclude the spiritual component when it comes to offering resources to our officers. I am not even sure it is intentional but rather an oversight caused by a lack of knowledge. The same lack of knowledge clergy often have when it comes to mental health.

Now that I have stepped on all the toes I needed to step on, let me make my main point. While each potential resource competes for the attention of the hurting cop, that cop continues to suffer because too many of us refuse to acknowledge the significance of the other type of resource. We make it about us and our comfort zone instead of offering all possible resources to those who need the help. At the end of the day, I am calling out management to step up and set aside personal preferences and think only of the officers and their families. The human being is complex and we need to take that under consideration when our men and women are in crisis mode.

As a chaplain with Toronto Police Service, I am trying to get my colleagues familiarized with the numerous mental health organizations out there who serve our cops. Like wise, the Police Chaplains Association of Ontario is trying to familiarize those same organizations with our role as chaplains within policing. Namely, that we are not just there to do benedictions and grace at social functions. Not even the occasional ride along, although they are very important for building relationships and trust.

As chaplains and clergy, we have years of experience helping people in crisis. Why would we suddenly not be qualified to do the same when we serve as chaplains for police? It makes no sense. It is a two way street however when it comes to my chaplain colleagues. If we don't educate ourselves about mental health and issues like PTSD, suicide and other Operational Stress Injuries, we will be of no use as part of the wellness team within police services. I am so grateful that I have sat under excellent teaching from groups like Badge of Life Canada. Training is available for all of us if desired.

I know that the old way of looking at chaplains by both sides, is a hard thing to alter when it is so entrenched, especially here in Canada. Hopefully we can start taking baby steps and get to the place where those needing the healing have every option available to them. You can watch my short LinkedIn talks on how I believe chaplains can be used more effectively within policing communities. 

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