Courant: State Police Chief Revives Chaplaincy

The Hartford Courant is reporting on efforts by Public Safety Commisioner John Danaher to revive the state police chaplaincy:

Public Safety Commissioner Leads Effort To Revive Chaplaincy Program

By TRACY GORDON FOX

Courant Staff Writer

It wasn’t religion or faith that brought Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III to the conclusion that the state police chaplaincy program should be revived.

It was bad behavior.

After learning about some of the misconduct state troopers were being accused of — drunken driving, domestic violence, alcoholism — Danaher said he thought that perhaps the department was not adequately supporting its own, not helping troopers haunted by what they’d seen: horrific crashes, violent deaths and sexual assaults against children.

So Danaher invited a rabbi who had written a book called “Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement” to speak and help him revive the chaplaincy effort. In the audience on April 28 were state police supervisors along with about 15 priests and rabbis from across the state who had volunteered to be part of the expanded program…

Danaher said he started thinking that having clergy available to troopers “might help them find another direction to solve their problems, whether they were marital issues or alcoholism.”

“It could make a difference if they could have someone to share that burden,” he said.

That led him to read Rabbi Cary A. Friedman’s book, and, Danaher said, “It rang so very true to me.”

Troopers, he said, “are tougher, much tougher than most.”

“Indeed many would question the need for a chaplaincy program,” he said. “They would say to their fellow trooper, ‘Look — just suck it up and deal with it.’” But over time, Danaher said, “This work can wear even on the best of them.”

Danaher is right on the money. Police officers are forced to come face to face with great evil on a daily basis. Over time, this exposure to evil has the potential to corrode the soul. This challenge cannot be confronted by therapy. It is best dealt with by a priest, minister, or rabbi; It is a moral problem, not a psychological one:

But each exposure to wickedness, tragedy or catastrophe withdraws from that “spiritual bank account,” he said, and can lead, eventually, to “spiritual bankruptcy.”

Quoting American crime author Joseph Wambaugh, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, Friedman said: “Law enforcement involves a daily drop of corrosion on your soul.”

And that’s where the bad behavior often comes in, Friedman said.

“In spiritual bankruptcy, an officer loses faith, hope, confidence and optimism and engages in all kinds of destructive and self-destructive behaviors,” he said. “Abuse of power, professional misconduct, domestic violence, marital difficulties”…

“It’s the chaplain’s sacred privilege, honor and responsibility to minister to law enforcement officers,” Friedman said. “Reintroduce the hard-core veteran to the type of person he or she once was,” Friedman said. “To be able to connect with God.”

It is hard to come face to face with great moral evil without becoming jaded. Quite frankly, it was a challenge that I faced as a reporter for The Tower: how do you come face to face with evil at the highest echelons of power without becoming cynical and disillusioned? Fortunately, I benefited from the spiritual direction of good priests. It is good to see that the state police have rediscovered the importance of state police chaplains.

State Police Master Sgt. James Dolan is pictured with the Rev. Michael Dolan, his brother, on the ground of St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. Father Dolan is the Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Hartford. (Michael McAndrews / The Hartford Courant)

It is clear they are on the right track. They have appointed a priest with a strong reputation to serve as Chaplain:

The Rev. Michael Dolan, who joined the new chaplaincy program, knows intimately what state troopers face: His brother is state police Master Sgt. James Dolan.

“I’m thankful for the training and honored to be able to join in something I know so well from personal experience,” said Michael Dolan, vocational director for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.

James Dolan said troopers may be more likely to confide in a clergy member than a peer or a supervisor when they are having a problem, be it a family issue or alcohol abuse.

Many people have a connection with clergy, James Dolan said, “with a familiarity and trust outside the agency.

It is good to see that the state police appreciate the value of a strong chaplaincy. Regardless of religion, chaplains have a vital role to play as moral and ethical advisors to the state police.