New KPD Chaplain Program supports officers, civilian personnel

Law enforcement officers and other front line employees, such as 911 operators, experience situations most people never will: horrific accidents, stressful arrests, responding to domestic violence calls, among other incidents. That exposure can take a toll on an employee, especially over a long career.

Kyle Police Department now offers a support system and in-house resource for its officers and civilian staff who may be dealing with the after effects of job-related stress.

“We recently implemented a chaplain program,” Police Chief Jeff Barnett said. “Chaplains can serve as a resource during times of crisis.”

Barnett said other local police agencies have similar programs and believes they are successful at helping officers better handle some of the situations they encounter.

In addition to external pressures, such as witnessing crash scenes and giving death notifications to family members, a chaplain program can also provide an outlet for talking about internal issues.

“Organizational change is another area where officers and other personnel may need a little extra support,” Barnett said.

Situations arise within agencies such as staff retiring or resigning, new employees coming on board, and structural reorganization, he said. In a city with exploding population growth, change is inevitable.

“Many people don’t care for or deal well with change,” Barnett said. “Our chaplain program can help our staff deal with any changes that come along more effectively.”

Pastor Marquet Curl, who started the ROCK (Reflections of Christ’s Kingdom) church in Kyle in 2014, is the lead pastor for the KPD chaplain program.

With a 23-year corporate career under his belt, along with currently pursuing his Masters in Organizational Leadership, he seems well suited to the task.

“With his background and history, we believe Pastor Curl is just what KPD needs at this time,” Barnett said.

Curl said staff interviews are the foundation for building the KPD chaplain program. He has met with many officers, some command and civilian staff and most of the emergency dispatchers at the department so far.

“I want to understand the culture here and the history of the agency,” Curl said. “Knowing those elements will help me provide the right kind of support for KPD officers and other department staff.”

Curl recently met with Captain Pedro Hernandez as part of an effort to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

Hernandez, who has been with KPD for 21 years, told Curl his top three factors for a successful chaplain program are confidentiality, availability and building relationships with the Kyle PD.

“In the past, other agencies have loaned us a chaplain for a particular event or crisis, but we never really built a relationship with any one person,” he said.

He is looking forward to working with Curl and a small group of local chaplains who will be available for KPD on a more regular basis.

“I want to establish standard operating procedures for the program,” Curl said. “That way any one of our chaplains can step in and understand what’s needed and how best to accomplish certain tasks.”

He said he believes most interactions with officers or other KPD staff will be in person but he is open to having phone availability as well.

Chief Barnett said he is glad to get this chaplain program up and running.

“We’ve been working on it for several months and it’s great to see it come to fruition,” he said.