Hey Chaplain

We need 10,000 more first responder chaplains but there's not enough church-trained clergy to recruit those kinds of numbers. So we are going to have to recruit retired first responders! Retired first responders come with a pension, cultural competency, and a passion for the people who run toward danger. But they'll need training, pastoral experience, and one other thing… convincing.

Thank you to the guys from the Was...

Ward Jenkins is joining us again.  I was wanting to do an episode, not specifically on Internal Affairs, but generally about officer integrity.  Ward has a good story on that topic and he was also adjacent to the famous Rampart Corruption Scandal in LA over twenty years ago.  So Ward can speak specifically about cops throwing away their career, or worse, for short term gain.  There is no greater danger to your career than compromis...

Today we're talking about cold case investigation with J Warner Wallace, he's a famous cold case homicide detective who had his cases featured on television for a decade. Interestingly, he also was once a 35 year old atheist cop who applied his knowledge of solving cold cases to the Bible and then became a Christian.  A police officer who's law enforcement skills led him to faith?  Now that's an interesting stor...

The 1980 Norco Shootout was an astonishing bank robbery turned running gun battle turned manhunt turned courtroom drama/circus.  And like any critical incident, it had an effect on everyone involved.  But throughout this story, I kept asking the same question: how are these officers doing now, 40 years after the deadly event?

Author Peter Houlahan was in a unique position to help me answer that question; he had interviewed almost ev...

The Norco shootout is a very modern critical incident, despite happening over 40 years ago.  Apart from the lack of cell phones, much of this could happen today.   The bank robbery, shootout, and manhunt that happened in Riverside County California in 1980 are important in part because it is one of just a few historical events that directly led to every police car in America having a patrol rifle.  It's also important because ...

Let's define a wellness retreat as a combination of vacation, seminar, professional conference, and counseling session.  But most cops I know are very reluctant to go to one,  in fact they avoid it like the plague.  But I want to encourage you to attend these events.  And I also want to figure out how we can make these events more effective at helping first responders and veterans.  To that end, we'll be talking to my fri...

Today I'm talking to Paul Kurtzweil, better known on YouTube as QRoo Paul.  Paul is a retired deputy who moved to Mexico but now finds himself teaching Spanish on YouTube.  I wanted to talk to Paul for multiple reasons.  First I think he genuinely can help those of us who are stuck in learning Spanish.  But secondly, I wanted you to hear from a retired LEO who is very successfully navigating his second chapter.  You might not ...

My guest today is Hansie Breedt, who was a police chaplain in South Africa both before and after the end of Apartheid.  Hansie talks about his experience in a police force that went from a minority white controlled government to a majority black controlled government.  But I especially want you to hear what his officers, both black and white, went through 30 years ago and how similar it is to what you might experience today.

Mu...

Steven Keogh from Scotland Yard has a new book that is one part history, one part modern true crime, with a Sherlock Holmes kind of flavor; it's called Murder Investigation Team: Jack the Ripper.  The book reinvestigates the serial murder crime spree of Jack the Ripper and compares and contrasts how that investigation in 1888 was done compared to how Scotland Yard would pursue it today.

Steven gives a really satisfying analysis...

This is a story of parents who came up in hard times and imparted values and principles that are critically important today to Law Enforcement, family, and our culture. In one sense, it's obviously the continuation of episode 060 with Mark Garrett from the California Highway Patrol, although the topic is dramatically different.  But in another sense, it's more like the a continuation of episode 048 -- the episode with Rab...

Today I'm talking to former Patrol Chief Mark Garrett, who was the division commander for the California Highway Patrol in LA county.  Mark is one of those cops who I could interview on about a dozen topics but today I'm asking him about what makes the California Highway Patrol special and his experience in the CHP, one story about a certain Hollywood celebrity in particular.

Now don't miss what Mark says about why he...

Today you get to hear part two of my interview with K-9 handler Ryan Sumner.  Ryan is going to share several K-9 stories but he's also going to talk about his career path as a K-9 handler and what it means to know you have your last dog.  This episode is also going to be useful if you want to know more about starting or expanding a K-9 program in your agency.  We talk about costs and how to pay for a K-9 unit.  Ryan is a great...

Today I'm checking off another item from my podcast bucket list by interviewing a K-9 handler.  My guest today is Ryan Sumner from the Lenexa (KS) Police Department and he has been a K-9 handler for most of his twenty year as a cop, finding drugs, tracking and apprehending bad guys, as well as training other handlers and their dogs.  

Ryan came highly recommended as a subject expert here in the Kansas City area and I had a grea...

This is an interview I gave to the While We're Still Here podcast.  This podcast talks about death and dying… while we still can. On this episode, the host, Kathy, gets me to talk about my two roles as a church pastor and as a police chaplain. We discuss death notifications, caring for traumatized first responders, preparations for death, and the people that help when we suffer a sudden, unexpected loss.


Music by...

Some of the most thankless jobs in law enforcement are the 911 operators and police dispatchers, which in some communication centers might be the same person doing both jobs simultaneously.  So what motivates a person to work in communications for twenty, twenty-five, or thirty years, when most of us couldn't do it for one?  Today I'm talking to Stacey Lowe; she's a veteran dispatcher here in Kansas City and came hig...

Here are my top 4 reasons to listen to every episode of Hey Chaplain this year:

• 1)  To increase you knowledge: Hey Chaplain can provide you with valuable information about the challenges and stressors of the job, as well as how to cope with them. I'm also going to introduce you to people and resources that are available to help you with your wellness.
• 2)  To reduce your isolation: Hey Chaplain can help you to feel less isola...

This episode marks the beginning of our third year, so I wanted to go back and do some follow up with some of my past guests.  In this episode we talk about staying healthy physically and mentally, changing jobs within the police department, serving food to the Border Patrol, and much more.  If you missed a guest's original episode, they are listed below.

• Matt Domyancic - 018, 034
• Rob Sanderson - 028
• Don Ash - 012
• Tz...

Welcome back to part two of my interview with Ryan Miller about leadership at the sergeant's level.  In this episode, Ryan is going to talk about leading officers across that wide spectrum of different ages, how to balance your new administrative responsibilities with leading in the field, as well as giving some good advice about how to handle the situation when an officer is likely going to get fired.  Don't miss the goo...

A few months ago, a listener wrote in and asked for advice for new police supervisors.  He said, "I'd like to listen to someone that's been in a command role for years and I'd like to hear their experiences and also any advice they might have for the future generation of supervisors."

So today we're talking to Major Ryan Miller from the Overland Park, KS, PD.  Ryan is a great leader who spent years in S...