Media
Release
CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mark Ott, Police Chief.
(856) 451-0033
BRIDGETON SET TO SWEAR IN
POLICE CHAPLAINS AT JUNE 17TH COUNCIL MEETING
Over the past two and half
years, Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly has been using numerous tools to deal with crime-related
issues in the City of Bridgeton; including community actions teams, code
enforcement, graffiti removal, gun buy-backs, youth crime prevention with the
County Prosecutor’s Office, data assessments, and now police chaplains.
At the June 17th
City Council meeting, Kelly will join Bridgeton Police Chief Mark Ott to swear
in the chaplain contingent that includes Albert Morgan, Douglas Heckman Sr.,
Jaime Badillo Sr., Dennis Thompson, Ellen Rutherford, David Hadley Sr., Andre
Jones, Howard Duncan, Roberto Rodriguez, and Claude Rozier.
A trained chaplain
himself, Kelly is confident that this new group will have a positive impact in
the city; “I’ve seen good results in other chaplain programs and with the
results we had from our community actions teams; having police chaplains will
take our efforts to the next level” said Kelly.
The 10 chaplains, having
completed training through a nationally recognized police chaplain program,
will be available to assist police in multiple situations where such service is
needed. “They are called upon to assist police with family and members of the public
at crisis scenes and we are working towards having them involved in our station
house adjustments for juveniles” said Police Chief Mark Ott
In addition to crisis
counseling and station house adjustment efforts, chaplains will also
participate in police ride-a-longs with officers throughout the community;
providing a more comprehensive approach to problem-solving in neighborhoods to
prevent issues from rising to an enforcement scenario if possible.
“The role of these
chaplains will be important, but I think they can have the biggest impact with
our youth. If we can have the right interventions early, we can have a greater
chance of arriving at good outcome” said Ott
Having completed training
and in line with existing police department policy for police chaplains, the
last step in the process is the official swearing-in ceremony which will take
place Tuesday, June 17th at the Police & Municipal Court Complex
at 330 Fayette Street at 6:30pm.
“Our Police and our
citizens encounter one another in many ways; sometimes under very stressful and
trying circumstances. Having chaplains to assist police and serve the community
in some of those circumstances can only help. I am very thankful to each of
them for their service” said Kelly.
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