The Role and Function of the Police Force Chaplain

The role and function of the Police Force Chaplain is to provide spiritual upliftment and advice to the rank and file of the St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and officers in the Fire and Rescue Services.

This was outlined by Force Chaplain, Ericsson Cumberbatch during his appearance on ZIZ radio’s programme, “Policing with You” on Thursday.

He stated,  “As the chaplain, I’m responsible to get to know people’s problems or officer’s problems or deal with them on a spiritual level, as well as one may say psychological, but you know, it’s more on the spiritual side because when it comes to human beings, our real problem is, we call it psychology, but really our real problem is the need for God, and so a lot of the issues that we may face, may come down to the absence of certain principles or godly principles in our lives.

So, I’m here as a spiritual advisor to help persons to come to an understanding of where they are, why they might be having certain problems and difficulties, why they may be facing depression, why sometimes they feel that they are not welcomed and they’re not treated in the best way they could.”

While the Force Chaplain does not have a regular work schedule, Cumberbatch explained that he is on call and has to be present for meetings with senior officials.

“I don’t have a normal working schedule. I am scheduled to be at meetings as appointed and as scheduled, so, most mornings, Monday mornings, and Wednesday or Thursday, whenever the meetings are scheduled, I’m scheduled to be there. I function also as spiritual advisor to the High Command of both organizations or both departments, and so I’m scheduled to be at the meetings but when it comes to chaplaincy supervision, chaplaincy service I’m on call so I could be called at any time,” said Cumberbatch.

He also mentioned that the Force Chaplain is appointed by the Governor General and is under the directorship of the Commissioner of Police and the High Command.