For the second year in a row, the Gwinnett County Police Department is looking for additional volunteer chaplains for its officers.
Gwinnett Police Sergeant Jake Smith, who serves as the department's chaplain program coordinator, says they currently have half of the volunteers that they would like to have.
"We'd like to have a team of about a dozen just to make sure on-call is not too burdensome," Smith said. "Right now we have about a half-dozen, so we're looking for about six people."
Smith said the department is looking for chaplains from any faith or denomination. He said due to the nature of the position, volunteers will be called on an as-needed basis.
"We do ask them to be on-call for about a week at a time, and that's to assist officers on the road who are in need of assistance in, basically, delivering bad news," Smith said. "The other thing we ask them to do is to be available to officers, 911 dispatchers, any other employees of the department who might be in need of some guidance of some kind."
Interested clergy members can apply on the police department's website. Smith said there are several requirements for an applicant to be considered. Those requirements are listed below.
- Applicants must be an ordained member of the clergy and must have been ordained for at least two years.
- Applicants must provide a letter of good standing from their ordaining organization.
- Applicants must be engaged in ministry as a principal vocation in life for a minimum of two years.
- Applicants must provide a résumé indicating their relevant experience and why they are interested in the position.
- Applicants must pass a panel interview with the Chaplain Program Coordinator, existing chaplains, and other members of the police department.
- Applicants must possess good moral character and a broad base of experience, emotional stability and excellent interpersonal communication skills.
- Applicants must be able to maintain confidentiality unless there is a conflict with state or federal law.
