Police Department
Community Programs
Tri-City Chaplaincy Program
What it's all about...
Police officers are occasionally called into situations where they sense a member of the clergy would be helpful. Initial officer involvement may be important, but extended involvement keeps the officer away from other urgent situations.
Papillion, La Vista and Ralston have the ability to access governmental and social agencies designed to give aid to people, but some find it difficult to plug into the appropriate agency.
For these reasons, members of the local clergy have joined with the Papillion, La Vista and Ralston Police Departments to provide a Tri-City Police Chaplaincy Corps.
The Tri-City Police Chaplaincy Corps offers spiritual guidance and other assistance to people in crisis. It also serves as a communication link between people in crisis and their own spiritual advisors or the appropriate helping agency.
The Chaplaincy Corps is People Helping People...
The Chaplaincy corps is comprised of licensed or ordained clergy from a cross section of the religious community of all three cities. Before becoming a member of the Tri-City Police Chaplaincy Corps, each clergy makes a written application, is screened by the Board of Directors, and then participates in an orientation and training process which includes some ride-along experience, role playing, familiarization of police procedures, and an orientation to local helping agencies.
After meeting the requirements of the orientation and training process, the clergy are commissioned as Police Chaplains and are given an identification card.
Each Chaplain is on duty for one week at a time. Other chaplains serve to provide assistance when the on-duty chaplain cannot be available. The value in this involvement is that the local congregation becomes a voluntary support team to the Papillion, La Vista and Ralston Police Departments.
What the Corps does...
The Chaplain aids officers in rendering field service to the community. As an alternative way of handling calls, officers may request a Chaplain in situations involving spiritual, emotional and other crisis situations.
Chaplains provide help with...
Family disturbances
Lonely and despondent persons
Alcohol problems
Attempted suicide
Death notices
Counsel injured persons and their families
Abused spouses
Referrals
Fires
In addition, the chaplain is available upon request to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and their families for immediate crisis relief or counseling or other assistance.
There is no charge to anyone for these services. They are offered by the police and fire departments and local clergy through the support of each congregation.
For more information, contact:
| Tri-City Police Chaplaincy Corps Attention: Senior Chaplain Papillion Police Department 1000 E First Street Papillion, NE 68046 402.597.2035 lhouloose@papillion.org Ralston Police Department Chief W. D. White 7400 Main Ralston, NE 68127 402.331.1786 |
La Vista Police Department Chief Robert Lausten 7701 S 96th Street LaVista, NE 68128 402.331.1582 BLausten@ci.la-vista.ne.us |
Our organization and resources...
The Chaplaincy Corps, organized in 1993, is organized under a board which consists of the Chiefs of Police in each city, one representative from each community, and three chaplains, including the Senior Chaplain. A car and police radio are provided for use by the Chaplain when on calls. An initial training program, ongoing training refreshers, the experience individual clergy bring to the program and the most important ingredient, God's love shown through the Chaplain, are the resources of each of the Chaplains.