New chaplains take on law enforcement duties
By John Joyce
Published in News on February 7, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
From left, Pastor Gary Bailey, the Rev. Bill Conlon and Pastor Wes Johnson wait in the lobby of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office before the beginning of a Chaplains' Association meeting. The newly organized group has eight members and is designed to help the people of Wayne County deal with traumatic events as quickly as possible.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Senior Chaplain Freddie Pierce leads a meeting of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office Chaplains' Association.
It never gets easier.
Death notifications are part of the job no law enforcement officer -- or clergyman -- ever gets used to.
The difficult task is one of many a new corps of chaplains will take on after swearing in with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office in January.
"You try not to internalize things that come from the victims, but that is just human nature to do so sometimes," Chief Chaplain Freddie Pierce said.
Pierce is also the brother of Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce.
One of the sheriff's objectives when he took office more than a year ago was to increase the chaplains corps, Pierce said.
This year the group expanded from two chaplains to eight.
"We took an extremely long time to put together a standard operating procedure because we did not want any pastor to take on this job no knowing what they are getting into," Pierce said.
The sheriff's office looked at chaplains' SOPs from several counties across the state before compiling its own manual.
Pierce said there are two key points of focus the chaplains corps wants to focus on from the outset. The first is making sure chaplains only intervene when asked.
"Of course we only want to step in if we're asked that is the big word -- we wait until we are asked," he said. We don't want to force ourselves on anyone."
Second, Pierce wants to maintain a sense of adaptability within the corps.
"It's adaptability. (Chaplains) have to adapt to many situations that you are not a part of most of the time with their church members."
Murders, suicides and fatal accidents rank highest among those "situations."
Pierce, along with W.C. Hutchins -- the two longest tenured Sheriff's office chaplains -- know first hand the difficulty that comes with responding to a crisis. Both men were called in to respond to victims needs when a former student/employee shot and killed a teacher on the campus of Wayne Community College in April 2015.
Pierce said his first responsibility was to keep the victim's family away form the media by taking them to a "secret location" and allowing the deputies to conduct their inquiries in a more sensitive manner.
In the days and weeks to follow, the pastors hung around the college offering grief counseling to the campus victims.
"That included everyone form the managerial to the janitorial staff," Pierce said. He said he visited the college two to three times a week, maintaining both visibility and availability to anyone in need.
Two of the newer chaplains responded in much the same way at the industrial accident that took place at SPX Transformer Solutions, Inc., late last year.
"Two of our chaplains went to d the death notification for one of the victim's spouses," Pierce said.
It is during those times the chaplains might need to lean on one another, and having eight chaplains versus only two makes that a little easier, Pierce said.
In addition to death notifications, crisis intervention and grief counseling, the chaplains offer regular services to the community and to the sheriff's office.
Sometimes a robbery victim struggles with he fact a stranger invaded their home, Pierce said.
Other times a deputy might be feeling the stress of the job. Or there might be marital issues a sheriff's office employee would like to seek guidance on.
The chaplains corps includes two chaplains -- a married couple -- who specialize marital issues. One chaplain is a youth pastor who can focus his services on children and students in need. Another is a veteran Army chaplain.
All eight chaplains are Christians of one denomination or another. There is one African American and one female, if their unique perspectives are requested by a victim's family or employee. And, although none of the chaplains are Jewish, Muslim or of a faith other than Christian, Pierce believes the chaplains corps can service anyone in need. If not, arrangements can be made to meet the needs of the person seeking help.
Sheriff Pierce said he is confident the expanded chaplains corps. will be an asset both to the community and to the men and women within the sheriff's office.
"I just saw a need when I came in to expand the program some," he said.
Pierce knows first-hand the demands of the job he asks of those serving under him.
"We're trying to look at the stress that they go through, the emotional needs that they have and the spiritual needs that they may have. So whether it is need on the citizens side or a need on our staff's side, we are trying to meet those needs."