(NPR) How Police Chaplains Step In After Departments Cope With Officer Deaths

HOLDEN: Well, there’s probably nothing more devastating than that. And so we call what we do, primarily in that regard, ministry of presence. Sometimes it’s not just saying something. It’s just being there and letting them know that we care. You know, I’ve been through a number of police funerals, and it’s never ever easy, as you can imagine.

MARTIN: Your group has deployed chaplains to places like Ferguson and Baltimore where there’s been so much unrest in recent years – days of rioting, emotions so raw. What – what’s your role in those situations?

HOLDEN: We work with the community and the police department. So we’re there to just pray with people, hug people – we do a lot of hugging just to let them know we care, and certainly with the department as well – but also to try to be a balance between the community and the police department and to be out there in the streets. We – we’ve become very proactive, just talking with people, you know, just letting them know that we’re there for them, whatever their needs might be.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, Death / Burial / Funerals, Law & Legal Issues, Parish Ministry, Police/Fire, Religion & Culture, Violence