2005 an incredible year for Placer County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy

2005 was an incredible year for the Chaplaincy.  We witnessed a transition in management as Chaplain Terry Morgan demonstrated his ability in running the Chaplain program.  Chaplain Morgan came from the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy of Sacramento late in 2004.  He came to Placer County with a new vision and a plan to grow and enrich the program here.   

 Marking a more permanent “changing of the guard”, long time Chaplain, Whit Woodard announced he would not be coming back from his sabbatical (his one year sabbatical began December 1^st of 2004) but instead chose to retire from the Chaplaincy.  Woodard was the Deputy Senior Chaplain for several years prior to Chaplain Morgan’s arrival.

 The Community Crisis Response Team was given a new name.  They are now called Community Chaplains, and have had seven new members added to their number.  This program has done much to enhance the ministry of the Chaplaincy, as they reach out to members of the community in crisis.  The Community Chaplain team has done an outstanding job, and has made it possible for the Law Enforcement Chaplains to spend more time meeting the specific needs of the law enforcement community.

 One of our most memorable call outs was to assist officers in New Orleans, LA.  Both Chaplain Morgan and Chaplain Jim Milne did a tour in New Orleans after the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  The New Orleans Police Dept. sent their thanks back to Placer County for sparing two of their Chaplains to assist them – 80% of whom had lost all of their possessions, and many who had lost loved ones in the flooding.

 A low spot in the year was the loss of two officers from Placer County.  Officer Matt Redding was a Rocklin Police officer killed in the line of duty on highway 65 by a drunk driver.  Less than two months later, a Woodland CHP officer who lived in Roseville.  Andy Stevens was killed in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop.  The Chaplaincy was there for the families and officers during both of these incredibly difficult tragedies.

 We brought a high caliber keynote speaker to Placer County in Dr. Bobby Smith.  Dr. Smith was a Louisiana state Trooper who was blinded by a shotgun blast to the face by a suspect.  Dr. Smith was the keynote speaker at Honors and Awards, and stayed another day to do a seminar on officer survival after tragedy.  He brought a sense of humor as he taught on a difficult subject.

 There were too many calls for service in 2005 to list all of them.  Some of our statistics show we responded to 39 completed suicides, 97 death notifications, 223 coroner cases, 62 CISMs (Critical Incident Stress Management/Debriefings), 50 fatal vehicle crashes, and many other calls involving victims in Placer County.

To end this report on a more positive note, there were some notable recognitions this year:

 Chaplain Robert Culverson was recognized at Honors and Awards with a life saving award for saving the life of woman.  Culverson performed CPR on a woman whose heart stopped, and was able to revive her.

 PCLEC recognized two incredibly gifted Chaplains this year with Chaplain of the Year Awards.  Both Community Chaplain Lynnette Simas, and Law Enforcement Chaplain Eileen Milligan were recognized for their dedication, and contribution this year.  They both repeatedly went well above and beyond the call of duty in service to officers, the community, and the Placer County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy in 2005.