Community Chaplaincy
Providing Assistance to the Community and Peace Officers of Placer County
The Community Chaplains of PCLEC have become a vital tool to law enforcement officers, freeing them to do their jobs by caring for the needs of victims at the scene. Trained in crime scene integrity and working with traumatized individuals, Community Chaplains have received specialized instruction in homicide and suicide bereavement, child death, coroner and funeral home procedures, natural disasters and terrorist attacks, blood borne and airborne pathogens, compassion fatigue and stress management, and more. Community Chaplains are typically invited to cross the yellow crime scene tape to assist victims, a zone where the church cannot go.
What the Community Chaplaincy Provides Our Community Chaplains respond daily to emergency calls from law enforcement agencies throughout Placer Country, providing essential crisis counseling, trauma and crisis intervention, and coming alongside officers to assist victims of crime, accidental deaths, and natural disasters.
Community Chaplains perform death notifications and are frequently called out to scenes involving coroner’s cases, giving support and comfort to those who are grieving. Additionally, they are a valuable resource of vital information to assist surviving family members and friends, equipped to answer such important questions as “What do we do next?”
The Community Chaplain provides spiritual, emotional and mental care, as well as practical assistance to traumatized and distressed members of the community. He/she is a person of faith, often becoming a guiding light in a very dark situation, providing direction for victims through the initial hours or days following a traumatic event.
Community Chaplains are trained to lend a helping hand to every person, without regard to religious preference (including no preference), and are frequently requested to contact pastors, priests, rabbis and other religious leaders to assist families.
The Community Chaplain is well equipped with numerous referrals for services available to those in need, including various community assistance programs and organizations, care groups and long term professional counselors. Many of these establishments offer specialized aid such as biological clean up services and funeral assistance.