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Category: Law Enforcement Chaplaincy

Back the Blue

Back the Blue

To our Granbury and Hood County First Responders: We know….all too well….that many of you feel like a target right now. You sense that there are people with evil intent targeting you.  And at the same time, you also feel invisible, because so few appear to notice the good you are doing. Today, we are here to say: You are visible indeed.  Your actions have not gone unnoticed. And today, we want you to know you are a target for…

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Law Enforcement and Racial Tensions: The Chaplain’s Perspective

Law Enforcement and Racial Tensions: The Chaplain’s Perspective

Law enforcement in America is under severe scrutiny. Simmering racial tensions between police and the citizens they are called to protect and serve have reached a boiling point in communities across America.  At the urging of a good friend and colleague, I am going to comment on such tensions.  My perspective is rather unique. I have been a law enforcement chaplain for over 25 years.  In that role, I am called to provide pastoral care both to officers and victims…

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It Takes a LOT of Patients….A Tribute to Georgetta Hudson

It Takes a LOT of Patients….A Tribute to Georgetta Hudson

It takes a lot of patients to make a career in emergency medical services meaningful.  In the case of Georgetta Hudson, she has indeed seen a lot of patients since 1990.  Today marked her final shift with Texas EMS.  She started working on the ambulance when it was still Hood County EMS.  And so much has happened since then.  She has also served as a volunteer firefighter for some of that time period in Hood County as well. Her colleagues…

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Policing in a Post-Ferguson World: The Viewpoint of the Chaplain

Policing in a Post-Ferguson World: The Viewpoint of the Chaplain

Mr. Groux was my employer when I was a struggling undergraduate student lacking life direction and basic maturity.  And to top it off, I had leanings toward being arrogant.  What a wonderful combination!  But Mr. Groux put up with me every single day. As I would express my poorly conceived opinions, occasionally he would say: “Are you well qualified to discuss that?”  And of course…I was not!   But today I am indeed well qualified to discuss the topic I…

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One Year Later: A Tribute to Officer Chad Davis

One Year Later: A Tribute to Officer Chad Davis

I love the old film noir movies from the 1940’s.  The bad guys are particularly evil and the good guys are real heroes. And in the noir movies, the moral is always the same…Crime does not pay.  The good guys win.   I know that is not real world.  But they are still enjoyable to watch. One year ago tomorrow Officer Chad Davis with the Granbury Police Department heard the words on his radio that will send chills down any normal…

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June 28th, 2014: The Hood County Law Enforcement Community One Year Later

June 28th, 2014: The Hood County Law Enforcement Community One Year Later

This week in my counseling techniques class we are studying the idea of meaning.   Our textbook mentions that meaning issues become more prominent after a person has experienced a serious illness, encountered a life changing experience, or gone through a serious trauma.  I have experienced two of the three in the last year.  I have journeyed with my friends in law enforcement since June of last year during a life changing experienced triggered by a serious trauma. Saturday is the…

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Up Close and Personal: Providing Heart Care for Emergency Medical Personnel

Up Close and Personal: Providing Heart Care for Emergency Medical Personnel

I grew up watching Johnny and Roy respond to all kinds of crises in Squad 51.  Dr. Brackett always prescribed Ringer’s Lactate and D5W. The patient was to be transported to Rampart Emergency immediately!  As a 10 year old boy in 1972, I was impressed. Watching  the television show “Emergency” was a weekly ritual. I have worked with emergency medical personnel for 24 years now as a law enforcement chaplain.  But unfortunately the relationship has always been characterized by distance. …

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Guess Who is Working on Christmas?

Guess Who is Working on Christmas?

911 dispatchers have been putting up with me for 24 years now.  They call me at 4:00 in the afternoon and they call at 4:00 in the morning too.  I am currently serving as chaplain with and for an exceptionally good group of dispatchers that are employed by the Hood County Sheriff’s Office. They are great.  “My” dispatchers recently received the “Agency of the Year” Award  from the North Central Council of Governments regional 911 program.  They could not have…

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Gladys Kravitz and The Dueling Banjos

Gladys Kravitz and The Dueling Banjos

Several years ago I was riding with a state trooper to deliver an emergency message to a Family.   We were in the sticks. I mean we were well off the beaten path.  In fact it was a little eerie late at night.  I made the following comment to my 20 something trooper: “I can hear the dueling banjos in the background.”  He just gave me a quizzical look…I told him to forget it. But I was clearly reminded that…

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The Sticker Says it All: Thank You Texas EMS

The Sticker Says it All: Thank You Texas EMS

You are our chaplain. You serve our agency exclusively. In my early years as a law enforcement chaplain, that thought was never verbalized. But it was always an unspoken rule. I am so thankful I serve a community now where that mindset has never been implied.  I officially serve the Granbury Police Department and The Texas Department of Public Safety. But over the years countless opportunities have arisen to serve The Hood County Sheriffs Office and The lake rangers affiliated…

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