Sheriff’s chaplains help deal with traumatic events

In cases of deaths, conflicts and dealing with stresses of law enforcement, the chaplains of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office are there to offer help and comfort.
A group of 10 specially trained pastors are on call in Dodge County to help residents deal with traumatic situations and to help law enforcement and first responders to deal with the stresses of their jobs.
The Dodge County Chaplain Program began to take shape in the fall in of 2017, said Roger Langworthy, pastor of Praise Fellowship Church in Dodge Center and one of the chaplains. He said the idea was proposed by Sheriff Scott Rose in 2017. It gained its official status in the office in 2018, he said.
Currently, he said, there are 10 chaplains, nine men and one woman, all working in various areas of the ministry.
Dodge County dispatchers make the calls to the chaplains when they are requested by law enforcement.
Three of the chaplains live in the Kasson area, two near Hayfield, three in the West Concord area and two in Dodge Center. As a result dispatchers first try to contact a chaplain closest to the incident. Chaplains are always on call, Langworthy said, but not always available so dispatchers will work their way through the list until one can be dispatched.
They respond to a variety of calls. If someone has died at home a chaplain will likely be requested, he said. In such cases the chaplain is available to help family members cope with the death but it also frees law enforcement and first responders to take care what they need to do.
Chaplains can be a source of comfort to the family, Langworthy said, and often they are requested to pray with families and offer scriptures. Sometimes, he said, their ministry is simply being there.
In the case of death notifications, Langworthy said, a chaplain will accompany the deputy and help the family process through their feelings. They also are sometimes called to an accident scene when there is the possibility of death.
Officers also request they be called to scenes of suicide, Langworthy said.
People are often angry when the chaplains are called to the scene and they have to go through a range of emotions. The chaplains, Langworthy said, can help them start that process.
Dodge County residents are not the only ones served by the chaplains.
The job of a law enforcement officer is stressful by nature, Langworthy said, and like others they need someone to talk to or someone to simply listen to them. The Sheriff’s Office has been paying increased attention to the mental health of officers, he said, during the extremely stressful environment they are now dealing with. A peer group of law enforcement personnel has also been established to help deal with these issues.
And sometimes the presence of the chaplain has a purely practical purpose. As part of the training, Langworthy said, they ride along with officers during their shifts. Langworthy said as part of his first ride along the deputy showed him where things were in the squad car. When a deputy at the scene of an incident asked Langworthy to bring the medical bag he knew exactly where to find it.
“I was just able to help,” Langworthy said.
The chaplains also get together monthly to debrief on incidents and to provide support to one another.
Typically, he said, the chaplains are called three or four times a month, sometimes more.
Langworthy said that the purpose of the chaplains program is not to prosyletize. The chaplains he said are there to offer support, comfort and understanding to those in stressful situations.