POLSON – A serious void was filled with the recent addition of a pair of volunteers to serve as chaplains for the Polson City Police Department.
Polson Police Chief Doug Chase said pastors Wes Foster of Calvary Baptist Church and Stuart Boyer of Polson Alliance Church will share their expertise with his officers.
Chase, the former Missoula Police Chief and Missoula County Sheriff, has years of experience with law enforcement officers closing off instead seeking counseling after a tragic event because it was perceived as a sign of weakness and looked down upon by fellow officers.
“Now it’s a sign of strength,” he said, in reference to peer acceptance and even encouragement to seek counseling assistance.
While he realized its importance, Chase did not mandate the program, which had previously been filled temporarily by Lake County Sheriff Jeff Kingery. Rather it was approved by a unanimous vote of officers.
But in his previous administrations, Chase was aggressive about demanding an officer or deputy take the time to talk about an incident or situation before returning to work.
“We don’t want to admit it affects us,” Chase said. “Officers tend to close off from other people.”
Because Boyer, a former fire department chaplain, and Foster, who has 120 hours of reserve officer training, have experience outside of their ministry, they’ll come into their new volunteer positions with credibility and trust.
“You don’t push yourself into these positions. It has to happen naturally,” said Foster. “It takes time to get to know the officers and for them to trust you. They are certainly in their own world for lack of a better word.”
The 24-hour, on-call positions will run the gamut in a variety of situations where they may be called upon.
“Death notifications, domestic violence, that sort of thing. If I’m needed I’m certainly there and can take care of it,” Foster said. “But my primary duty is to the officers just because of the nature of the business.”
“In law enforcement if your head’s not clear that could mean your life,” he said.
The confidentiality required as part of a law enforcement job contributes to an officer’s reluctance to confide with friends or often even spouses.
“Obviously officers go through some things that he or she can’t discuss and often what will happen is they’ll want to discuss those things just among other officers and the spouse often feels kind of left out of it,” said Foster.
“That’s the primary concern,” he said. “But I’m here to tell you, regardless of the profession, if the home’s not right, you’re not right.”