Thursday, December 12, 2024
Chaplains offer spiritual and emotional support in a variety of settings beyond houses of worship, including hospitals, schools, prisons and the military. The Long Beach Police Department launched its newly expanded chaplaincy program earlier this month, welcoming five new religious advisers.
The Rev. Brian Barr, of Beach Catholic; the Rev. Thomas Kennedy, of CenterPoint Church; Bishop Mark Mosses, of New Life Church of Christ; Rabbi Binyamin Silver, of Young Israel; and Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft, of Temple Emanu-El, were all sworn in on Nov. 4. They joined the department’s current chaplains, Rabbi Benjamin Berlin, of Bach Jewish Center, and retired Deacon Thomas Everard.
City Council President Brendan Finn, a retired New York City police officer, said that chaplains play an important role in police work, and Acting Police Commissioner Richard DePalma said, “Chaplains have been a part of policing for a very long time. We’ve always had our chaplains, and they’ve been great. They’re always there for us.”
DePalma said he wanted to increase the number of chaplains from two to seven to provide officers with more support. For young cops, he said, the feeling is you’re “supposed to be tough,” and so the emotions that arise on the job are to held in, not shared.
In his past experiences, DePalma said, there was a fear among officers of having your gun taken away or being put on desk duty if you shared your feelings, which kept many from doing so. As a result, he said, discussion that should have taken place never did.
Police officers are exposed to a great deal, including all manner of crime and often intense violence. Chaplains offer them a chance to unburden themselves of thoughts and feelings that arise from trauma, with complete confidentiality. To DePalma, “a healthy cop is a good cop,” and he wanted to have this system in place so his officers would be encouraged to share their emotions.
“Mental health is health,” he said. “I want cops to be able to be healthy and provide the best service they can, not only for the city, but for themselves and their families. This chaplain program is basically a way of starting going in that direction, and encouraging cops to be more forthcoming and open.”
There are other programs to help officers, DePalma said, but with chaplains they have someone to talk to who shares their faith, has similar beliefs or is even of a completely different faith.
Zanerhaft isn’t new to the Police Department. He and Temple Emanu-El frequently host police appreciation Shabbats to thank city officers for their difficult work. Now, as a chaplain, he said, he can be more available to them.
“It’s a way to thank our law enforcement world for their dedication to protecting all of us, but particularly houses of worship,” Zanerhaft said. “I wanted to demonstrate my gratitude for their commitment, and it’s just a natural outgrowth of pastoral care and what we’ve been trained to do and live our life for. To help others, particularly in highly stressful situations, to navigate difficult times, challenging times, sorrowful times — we’re equipped to do that.”
Zanerhaft said he believes it’s an obligation for everyone to try to make the community better, and this is another way he is trying to do that.
Berlin was sworn in as chaplain in April, and he, like Zanerhaft, sees it as a way to give back. “It’s a great honor,” Berlin said. “I get to work alongside those who serve our community, to be able to offer support, guidance, spiritual care. When I came in, we started doing police appreciation barbecues and other communal events. This was just the next development of that relationship in terms of serving the community, and I really love it.”
