“What does a law enforcement chaplain do?” is a common question I get. Allow me to give a little insight. The week after Thanksgiving 2023, the Spokane County (WA) Sherriff’s Office received a call for a woman lying in the street. When officers arrived, they found a girl, not a woman. Eleven-year-old Lily Stolworthy lay dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. A couple blocks away, they discovered her 31-year-old brother, Jordan, slumped over the steering wheel of his Ford Mustang. He too suffered a gunshot wound to the head. His was self-inflicted. Just before shooting himself, Jordan sent a group text to family and friends, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” As you might have guessed, investigators confirmed it was a murder-suicide. After shooting his sister, Jordan turned the gun on himself.
The siblings’ mother said both of her children had a history of threatening suicide. Lily had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was at times prone to violence. One of the last things Lily said to her mother was that she just “wanted to be done” with life.
One can’t read that tragic story without thinking about the heartbreak and conflicted emotions the Stolworthy family is going through and how they will have to adjust to life without Lily and Jordan. But what is often missed are the victims of collateral damage—the first responders.
Few people think of the stress these types of calls cause for first responders. Police, fire, and EMS routinely make crisis calls; and as a result, may suffer from Critical Incident Stress (CIS). Simply put, CIS is the stress response a first responder has when exposed to a crisis. For law enforcement officers (LEOs), and all first responders, a crisis can be defined as “a critical, unexpected, and potentially life-altering incident.” Here are some incidents that may bring on CIS.
- Officer-involved shooting
- Accident involving serious injury or death (especially children)
- Being the victim of a felonious assault
- Death of a colleague or partner
- Death or serious injury to someone in officer’s custody
- Near-shoot incident
Law enforcement chaplains are called upon to minister to officers suffering from CIS. And it’s a tough call for all involved. Critical Incident Stress is the body’s normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Symptoms can be physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or spiritual. Symptoms may occur immediately or days, weeks, or even months after the event. Chaplains are trained to recognize CIS and instruct officers how to treat it.
One important mission of the Strong Blue Line Foundation (SBLF) is training chaplains. Part of the chaplain training course I’m writing with Jon Sperling for Clarity Christian College is designed to equip chaplains to minister to officers with Critical Incident Stress. Suicide is Not an Option was written to those struggling with suicide and to those who minister to them.
Books
In January, I saw a spike in Amazon book orders, especially for Winning a Gunfight. I wasn’t sure what caused the spike until I received an email from a chaplain. Chaplain Deb emailed me and let me know that Gila Hayes, who writes for Armed Citizen Network wrote a book review on Winning a Gunfight. Here’s part of what Ms. Hayes wrote:
I ordered Winning A Gunfight after a Network member who serves as a chaplain asked if I had read another of Rupp’s books entitled Moral Injury in Policing. I was drawn to that title because I had been first exposed to the term “moral injury” in an interview with a now-retired police officer who had endured a lengthy USC § 1983 action (allegations of depriving a person of their civil rights under color of law) for whom recovery included counseling to address injury done to him in the aftermath of an on-duty shooting. Drawn to Rupp’s book on that subject, I found that he had written extensively about armed use of force both from his experience as a police officer and from his Christian viewpoint.
To read the entire article, click here.
SBLF on the Road
In December, Sherry and I made a quick trip to Mena, AR where we met with business owners, a pastor, and the executive director of the Ouachita Baptist Association. We presented the SBLF’s purpose and mission, and it was warmly received with promises of support.
Pray for your police.
