Last night in our Citizen’s Police Academy we were visited by the department’s chaplain.  Although his primary mission is as a school resource officer at the local high school, he also works with officers in Keller and one other department as the chaplain.  In that role he is there to support the officers and their families.

But in addition to being a minister and the department chaplain he’s still a sworn officer and carries a .40cal Glock.  He tells the story of a man he arrested once who started mouthing off at the jail.  The arrestee told him that since he was the chaplain he couldn’t fight him or shoot him.  His response?  He told the guy, “I can pray for you, I can pray with you if you ask, or I can pray over you.  It’s up to you.”

I liked that response and his approach to the issue.  He says he is approached from time to time by ministers and preachers and asked how he can carry a gun and do what he does.  His response to that was that there’s nothing really that has to be reconciled there.  He also says that he tells these people to stay away from his officers, since their fear of guns could get one of his people killed by putting doubt into their minds.

Good for him.