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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1979)
Wednesday, november 28, 1979 daily nebraskan page 13 Chaplains aid police but not in front line By Nancy Ellis Helping people find help. That is the duty of a new volunteer support group of the Lincoln Police Department. The Chaplaincy Corps, which has been operating since April 1979, "touches the lives of people in crisis situa tions," according to Pastor J. Nevin Crowther, the senior chaplain of the corps. . Crisis situations are mostly domestic problems and suicide threats, Crowther said. Local clergymen in the 14 member corps take turns volunteering time in 24-hour shifts which begin at 1 pjn., Crowther said. The pro gram ideally would have 30 volunteers, he said. The corps is looking for new recruits to help even out the monthly shift distribution, he said. The Chaplaincy Corps operates out of LPD Assistant Chief John Miller's support division, Crowther said. "We are not front line troops," he said. "My tie does not stop bullets." When on duty; the clergyman is always communicating with the police dispatch via car radio, hand radio, a pag ing device, or telephone, Crowther said. The Chaplaincy Corps is called upon by , an officer when that officer feels a chaplain would be beneficial, said Crowther, the 45-year-old pastor of-Lincoln's Holy Cross Lutheran Church. , "We don't come in Carrying the man-in-blue image of the law. We're not law enforcers, we're merely support. We're not there to sell religion either," Crowther said. The major function of the all-denominational support group is to help people who are hurting, he said. The idea for the Chaplaincy Corps originated through the work of Pastor Tim Lowe, who was the chaplain for the County City j ail t Crowther said. LOWE, WHO HAS since transferred to Little Rock, Ark., to start a family shelter, and other police officers saw the need for a counseling program which reached people before they were imprisoned, he said,. With the support of Station Management Lt. Bill Satterthwaite and Chief Dean Leitner, the corps became operational, Crowther said. . , Molded after a program in Lakewood, Colo., the Chap laincy Corpsanswered .about 70 calls in August, Crowther -said. The corps is called by the Lincoln Police Department and the Lancaster County Sheriffs Department. In the future, Crowther said, he hopes to include the UNL Police Department. "We want to involve UNL because it is a large part of this city;'1 Crowther said. M -'w- The Rev. Mel Luetchens, minister director at the Wesley House on the UNL campus, said he would like the university to link with the Chaplaincy Corps, but the Wesley Church Board wants to learn more about the responsibilities of such a program before committing it self. The campus minister said he knew the city police received quite a few'calls from the campus. "A lot of problems on campus are related to tension. A high percentage of suicide attempts in young adults are related to this," said Luetchens, a member of the Chaplaincy Corps. Crowther said the corps handles mental situations involving people who are "living at the end of their emotions." The most tragic situations are those where a home has "gone to hell," Crowther said. "The home ceases to be a home and is a house," he said. Cases like these are usually alcohol-related and result in a lack of care, concern" and love among family members, said Crowther, a trained alcohol abuse counselor. "DEATH OR SUICIDE is not as'tragic as people'who treat loved ones as if they don't exist," Crowther said. Counseling on a short-term bais is the main service of the Chaplaincy Corps, Crowther said. Some of the chap lains become long-term counselors if contacts request it, he said, but the corps is basically a referral service. "We help people see that things don't have to be the way they are, and tune them into their own resources of support," Crowther said.' tX Professional services in Lincoln like the Rape Crisis Center provide follow-up support, he said. Crowther said there are about 60 to 70 good professional, agencies in Lincoln to turn to for help., z '. Success within the Chaplaincy Corps has been good, Crowther said. However, he said, there are some failures. "We're not a magical group," Crowther said. "We try to help people find that touch of healing." One success story which Crowther recalled dealt with a domestic dispute between a husband and wife. The Department made countless regular visits to the home, he said, always on pay days. The husband had a drinking problem and would spend his pay check an liquor, and then come home and beat his wife, Crowther said. v , One LPD visit resulted in the husband threatening .a police officer with a gun. The husband was arres'ted, Crowther said. Through the counseling of corps members, Crowther said, the husband voluntarily enrolled in a alcohol-abuse treatment center. The man and woman now are living together peacefully. - ' NOT ALL CALLS are successful, Crowther said, citing one particular case involving a 29-year-old man who has "difficulty understanding his sexuality." The man continually makes calls to LPD, threatening to harm himself. Crowther said he even calls his parents and harasses them. " ??y-? The department and the Chaplaincy Corps currently are evaluating the case, because the man seems to like the attention he is receudng, Crowther said . This attention only is making him more dependent on the officers and corps counselors, Crowther said. - "The key to counseling is being able to help people . face responsibility for their own actions," he said. The clergy on the corps depend upon their church congregations for support, Crowther said. "When I go on the scene, I go with the support of my congregation. You must be a recognized pastor," he said. The key to the success of the corps is the ability to be able to "plug" people into a support group, like the con gregation, he said. "The ministry and the Chaplaincy Corps is about people," he said. . "I meet a lot of people who normally wouldn't walk into my church on Sunday," Crowther said. The corps members receive calls from all areas of Lin coln, he said. The bulk of calls generally fall between 8 p.m. and 2 ajn., Crowther said, when people are return ing home from work or a night on the town. CALLS INCREASE near the end of pay periods, which cause some tough domestic scenes, Crowther said. It cannot be scientifically proven but, Crowther said, the days around a full moon alo are generally pretty active. Training for the Chaplaincy Corps includes 40 hours of instruction on crisis" intervention, police procedure, com munity resource identification and role-playing, Crowther said. . Another part of the training program is a ride-along session with the officers, he said. A good side benefit of the Chaplaincy Corps, Crowther said, is that the clergy get to help the members of the police department and their families. Police families have a high rate of divorce and family problems, Crowther said, because they take home much . of the job-related stress. - The police officer leads a lonely life on the street, Crowther said. They move from one stressful situation to another, whether it be child molesting; marriage problems or a drunk weaving down a busy street, he said. "They only see the community when it -is bad," Crowther said. I V2W-,f jCa J EXUBERANT A WmmM, starring BAMBI WOODS AS DEBBIE Must be 18 Have I.D. Bloodislifo Peso it on A 10 , ILsf's Molto a Peal eoraos to v THE ScfyJfO Hi 'mi f4 n Our barter shop wants your props, pictures, signs, paintings, flags, stuffed animals, license plates, and any other junk that you don't need. We'll trade our suds for your duds (free booze for your junk). No Federal or State Road Signs Accepted Tcnlglir, lohttiq, fto. 20th ) no (SyinidD Applications arc now available for oxecutivo and chairperson positions on U PC-City and U PC-East. Positions opon: EAST em President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Free University Chairperson Walpurgisnacht Chairperson Foreign Films Chairperson President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President SecretaryTreasurer Visual Arts Chairperson Films Chairperson Dances & Concerts Chairperson Recreation Chairperson . Special Events Chairperson Pick-up. applications in Room 200 Nebraska Union or at East Union CAP office, 3rd floor East Union. Dead line November 29th, Interviews Dec. 1, 2, 3. - u CityEast
