Before we dive into a police chaplain's personal resource guide, it helps to understand how police agencies construct a comprehensive resource guide of their own. We also benefit from the insights of John Cooley, former head of chaplain services at the Los Angeles Police Department, whose approach is practical, straightforward, and easy to implement.
The Basics
To create a resource guide for a police agency, it is crucial to gather and organize a wide range of valuable resources. A few key steps:
- Identify relevant resources. Start with what would be most beneficial for the agency and its personnel — mental health, crisis intervention, community outreach, legal support, and more.
- Research and evaluate. Find reputable, reliable resources that align with the agency's specific needs. Evaluate each for credibility, effectiveness, and relevance.
- Organize and categorize. Sort resources into clear categories: mental health services, legal support, community programs, training materials, and so on.
- Annotate and provide contact information. For each resource, add a brief note on its key features, plus phone numbers, emails, and websites for easy access.
- Regularly update and maintain. Review and refresh the information often. Remove outdated resources, add new ones, and invite feedback from personnel to keep it relevant.
By building a comprehensive, up-to-date resource guide, an agency gives its personnel valuable information and support — ultimately strengthening their ability to serve and protect the community.
A Few Exceptional Examples
There's no academy award for best police resource guide, but a few of these would certainly earn a nomination:
- Community Policing Resource Guide — comprehensive information on community policing strategies, programs, and practices. (bja.ojp.gov)
- Creating Effective Police Performance Measures: A Guide for Executives — developing effective performance measures to assess and improve organizational performance. (portal.cops.usdoj.gov)
- Law Enforcement Best Practices: Lessons Learned from the Field — best practices covering community engagement, crime reduction, and officer wellness. (portal.cops.usdoj.gov)
- U.S. Department of Justice — Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) — resources, publications, and training on community and problem-solving policing. (cops.usdoj.gov)
- Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) — research and publications on a wide range of policing topics. (policeforum.org)
Why the Chaplain's Guide Is Different
An agency's official guide is essential — but it's institutional, and it's public. The chaplain's Living Resource Guide goes further: it's personal, annotated, and built on relationships that don't appear in any directory. The official guide tells you an organization exists. The chaplain's guide tells you who actually answers the phone at 3 a.m. — and whether they'll say yes.
That's where our series turns next.