"Our desire is not to be an officer but serve the community to provide expertise and stand alongside," The Rev. Jon Droege said. "We’re not going to be the savior but we are going to be a team player."
Droege, pastor of Aberdeen Christian Fellowship, helped spearhead the effort to create a chaplain program that will work along with law enforcement offices including the Aberdeen Police Department, Aberdeen Fire and Rescue, South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Brown County Sheriff's Department. These are the departments that send out the first people to attend to disasters, crises and other high-stress scenarios.
"Our church was developing a relationship and reaching out to the police downtown. We got contacted by the department to consider serving as a chaplain for the Aberdeen Police Department," Droege said by phone in early March. "We saw a need for chaplain support for front line service agencies. You don’t know how or if you need it until a crisis affects the community. That’s really part of a bigger picture in developing the chaplains core."
Both the Aberdeen Police Department and Aberdeen Fire and Rescue previously had chaplains.
"Basically we had [chaplain service] in our policy manual. Eldon Reich, he was also a reserve police officer and fulfilled two roles in the agency," Aberdeen Police Department Capt. Eric Duven said. "We know it takes more than one person to carry a program."
The program is just beginning. The hope of organizers is to expand it to an overlapping network of support.
"There are seven or eight people in our [chaplain] training and a few pastors from other communities. We are open to any pastor that may be interested," Duven said. "I would say the biggest improvement is we are expanding the program to have a number of chaplains. We’ll have the resources when we need them — the expansion will be the biggest change in what we are doing."
"What we do from here on, is meeting with the pastors, the chaplains and we will continue to build the program into an updated policy — talking about how we are going to integrate them into the department," Duven said.
Although chaplains are faith leaders in the community, their support goes beyond faith and beyond their immediate relationship with first responder organizations.
"It was interesting to see how beneficial a chaplain program is, not just for the department, but for the community. They are there for emotional support, in a nondenominational, nonreligious role," Aberdeen Police Chief Dave McNeil said. "Now if people asked them to pray with them, then they will do that and provide guidance as well."
Droege has been working with the organizations to address what needs chaplains could help fulfill.
"The amount of trauma is pretty regular. One thing I do with officers and fire and rescue is ask, 'What do you deal with day-to-day? How do you deal with the stuff you are feeling, facing? Do you just absorb it, like a rough rough road? How do you absorb the shock?'" Droege said.
"In the first responder role, (chaplains) can assist with managing stress, dealing with critical incidents, (and) dealing with injury. Officers are just regular people and they have problems, struggles and challenges so they’ll be there to assist them," McNeil said.
Another arm of the chaplain program will also help with death notifications. "That was a serious part of the training, death and death notification. It’s a less desirable side but it’s a critical component (of a chaplain's role)," Droege said.
The chaplain program goes beyond support for officers, firefighters and other first responders to being a support system for the entire community in dealing with crisis.
"Chaplains can provide support to the agency and to the families. It’s like an earthquake: how far does the tremor affect," Droege said. "It's an opportunity to serve and support people beside just the front line service providers — spiritual support, social support and emotional support as needed.
"The number one [focus for chaplains] are law enforcement agencies, the number two would be their families. Number three they would also be available to meet with survivors of victims in the community. And, the other rare side is, you might have people who have committed a crime that need some crisis support," Droege said.
To put it more simply, Droege said, it's about walking through the crisis and getting back to some sort of normal feeling.
Chaplain Program
- Each potential chaplain will fill out an application. They're experience and education will be vetted to assure they are capable in the role as chaplain.
- Each front-line agency will conduct a background criminal check.
- The goal is to have 2-3 chaplains establish a relationship with a front-line agency: Aberdeen Police Department, Aberdeen Fire and Rescue, Brown County Sheriff and South Dakota Highway Patrol. Brown County Emergency Management is also taking a supporting role.
- The chaplain's philosophy: "To walk alongside your department as a servant," Droege said.
- Designated chaplains so far are: Sammy Allen of Family Worship Center, Randy Battey of Calvary Baptist Church, Jon Droege and Rod Hall of Aberdeen Christian Fellowship, Brad Kingsriter of Aberdeen First Assembly of God, Jay Rossman of Holy Cross Lutheran Church and George Parmeter, retired Episcopal priest.
