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By Kent Larsen
LDS Man One of Many Garden Grove Police Chaplains
GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA -- The city of Garden Grove, California has made a
point of recruiting police chaplains from a variety of religions, and in the
process has created a cutting-edge program, with 10 volunteer chaplains from
a variety of faiths, including LDS, Muslim, Buddist, Jewish and several
other denominations.
LDS Chaplain Steve LaFond says that the job isn't easy, and often requires
the chaplain to get police officers to talk about what they see instead of
bottling it up. "We have a lot of young officers," says LaFond, "and they
see a lot of things. They're supposed to be real macho, but no one's that
tough. I don't care who you are, when you see a SIDS [Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome] baby, it affects you. They won't ever go to a psychologist, but
they'll spill their heart and soul to a man or woman of the cloth."
The chaplains ride along with police officers, wearing a nondescript uniform
of black jeans, black shirt, black jacket and baseball cap, along with body
armor to protect them. They serve on an on-call basis, 24-hours-a-day and
are instructed to avoid proselyting or anything that would indicate a
particular denomination. The position is increasingly popular with police
departments, and an association, the International Conference of Police
Chaplains reports that it has added 100 chaplains to its role each year for
the past twelve years, nearly doubling its membership to 2,500 in nine
countries.
Source:
Police Chaplain Program Is Keeping Many Faiths
Los Angeles Times 16Jan01 P2
By William Lobdell: Times Staff Writer
Religion: Garden Grove fields a highly diverse group, including a Buddhist and Muslim.
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