Police Chaplain Comforts Those Touched By Crisis

“I was three months short of my 10-year anniversary when I realized I had a real problem with police work,” says the Rev. Bill Goodrick.

During his tenure as a police officer in Fallon, Nev., Goodrick sustained a broken neck - and a broken spirit.

“My marriage was on the rocks,” he says. “I had a lot of anger towards society.”

Statistically, police officers do not do well in marriage. But Goodrick didn’t want to become another divorced, embittered cop.

So he quit his job, reconciled with his wife and began his religious education.

In 1993 he became the full-time Spokane Police chaplain.

“That’s when it all started to make sense,” he says.

According to a general order from Chief Terry Mangan, “the primary purpose of the police chaplain is to offer compassionate care and support to the members of the (department) during and following crisis situations. Secondary duties include administering crisis assessment … and delegating community care.”

Goodrick, along with his assistant, the Rev. Jim Murphy, and seven other volunteer chaplains are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Officers request their assistance with crime victims, deaths and suicides - especially incidents involving children.

It’s always the chaplain who notifies a relative after someone dies.

“We are multispiritual and nondenominational,” Goodrick says. “We’re here to offer support, not to proselytize.”

When a 78-year-old man went on a lunchtime shooting spree at the Ridpath Hotel last February, the police chaplains spent days comforting witnesses.

They also performed a memorial service in the hotel ballroom.

This is one of many tragedies Goodrick narrates during a recent talk to 11 police cadets. Just last week, he says, officers arrived at a north Spokane home to find a teen dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“His mother and brother were on the scene. (Police officers) are not trained to handle that - call the chaplain.”

Voluntary pay-roll deductions from about 85 percent of Police Department personnel support the chaplaincy. The United Way also collects private donations.

Members of the community, crime victims and witnesses can reach police chaplain volunteers by calling 625-3322.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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