Jonesboro, AR (JonesboroRightNow.com) – March 7, 2025 – Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) Chaplains expressed their passion for ministering to local law enforcement officers by providing special understanding and support for the officers and their families.
Pastor Don Blackmore, JPD wellness coordinator, Chaplain Mike Hart and Pastor Nathan Morse all said they are very passionate about their chaplain ministry. They are three of the seven JPD chaplains currently ministering in the department. Other chaplains include, Jonesboro City Councilman and Reverend Dr. Charles Coleman, Pastor Trey Rose, Pastor Bryce Holmes and Reverend Jen Vincent.
Blackmore was the department’s second chaplain; his predecessor was retired pastor, Mike Martin. He has now been with the JPD Chaplain’s Program for 17 years. According to Blackmore, the Chaplain Program was started around 1990 by Martin.
“He was just so good at it, and he was all that JPD had for almost a decade,” Blackmore said of Martin. “A lot of the older guys who were in the department will relate back to how Mike walked with them through a very dark season of life. They didn’t have a wellness program, and officers back then dealt with stuff internally, they did not ask for help. They just internalized it, because they thought it would be weakness if they asked for help. We try to convey that it’s okay to not be okay, but you just can’t stay there.”
According to Blackmore, Martin dealt with 50 to 60 officers by himself, whereas the current seven chaplains have 175 officers between them, which averages to about 25 officers each. “Mike paved the way because of his consistency, his dependability, his compassion, his genuine love for the officers and the strong relationships he built with the department,” Blackmore stated.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott noted, “The program began some 30 years ago here at the department with just one chaplain and evolved to two. Over the years, it kept evolving and that’s where it is today. The program itself has been a big success to the department.”
He added, “These chaplains come in and they’re there for the officers to talk with. They’re there to listen and, if prompted, give advice, but it’s important they are there for the officers”
For Blackmore, Hart and Morse the chaplain program is an extension of their ministries. Blackmore is the full time adult discipleship pastor at Central Baptist Church and an Arkansas State Police Chaplain. Hart, who has been with the JPD Chaplain Program for 10 years, is a retired executive pastor at Nettleton Baptist Church. Morse, who has been with the JPD Chaplain Program for almost two years, is the senior pastor of Friendship Assembly Church. Blackmore and Hart are certified officers as well, which they said helps them to build trust and relationships with the officers, a crucial part of what they do as chaplains.
According to Blackmore, there are three major components of what they do within the department: ministering to officers, ministering to their families and ministering with the officers.
“We minister to the officers due to the nature of their work,” Blackmore said. “It’s a very high stress job sometimes. They have to deal with a lot of critical incidents and most officers will work a full-time job plus at least one or two part time jobs. So, there’s a lot of stress they have to deal with. The number one responsibility is to minister to the officers.”
Building relationships with the officers and riding along while they are on calls in order to build a sense of trust is part of what the chaplains do to minister to them. With that trust comes a level of confidentiality.
“Once that credibility has been established and the confidentialities are there, then they know can trust us, which helps the process,” said Hart. “They like to talk when they’re in their police cars, because they feel like they’re in control of their environment.”
The second component, ministering to officer’s families, is also incredibly important, according to Blackmore. “Because of the stress, it takes a toll on their marriages and relationships with their family and so we try to minister to their families as well,” Blackmore said.
Morse added that, “They don’t necessarily even have a pastor or a faith family to connect to. So, sometimes we’re really the only connection that they have.”
Ministering with the officers is the third responsibility of the chaplains. Hart explained that, many times, police officers are part of somebody’s worst day. The chaplains can give perspective and encouragement by going along with the officers on calls.
“We’re the ones that will oftentimes go with the officer and be the one to knock on the door, introduce ourselves, introduce the officer and break the news to a family member that their loved one has as died in a car accident or [was] found deceased,” Blackmore explained.
Blackmore also noted that the chaplains want to take the responsibility to notify a family member so that they, as ministers, can approach to the notification from a pastoral perspective.
“They’ve got a duty to perform, they’ve got their uniform on, and they can’t show emotion and so forth, whereas we’re able to go in there and really just show compassion and concern,” Blackmore explained.
According to Hart, the officers have a systematic process that they have to go through. For instance, in a death notification after an accident, officers have to get information, a diagram of the accident, contact information and then complete a report. “That’s a lot of things to go through,” he said. “The tag team approach really helps.”
Another benefit to having a chaplain alongside the officers is to help protect the officers themselves from trauma. Blackmore noted that, according to a 2019 study, most civilians will experience maybe five or six critical incidents over their lifetime. Conversely, most officers experience 188 critical incidents over the span of their career, which, if they retire, is about 28 to 30 years.
Blackmore said when they are there it helps to, “minimize the accumulative trauma that officers face every day. It kind of protects them from that shock every time, the emotional shock of it, and helps keep them centered.”
“We’ve seen the benefits of the chaplains,” Elliott said. “The officers go through things and out a lot of them are very unpleasant. I mean, we see death. We see horrible things and accidents; and sometimes the officers have a hard time processing that information. Frankly, we lose a lot of officers because they just can’t deal with the complexities of the job. So, I have these chaplains there to just say ‘Hey, it’s okay. We’re here for you.’ More or less be a person they can talk to about what they saw or went through. I think it’s paid off and I believe I’ve kept officers that I would probably have lost because of what they have encountered or been through.”
Hart related the JPD Chaplain Program’s ministry approach to the JPD Wellness Program’s three-prong approach, which included: healthy perspective, healthy margin and healthy resources.
“The healthy perspective is just listening, being able to give a proper perspective and having a conversation really helps a lot,” Hart said. “The healthy margin is helping officers understand what a healthy margin is, helping them understand that, ‘Hey man, there are only 168 a week. If you’re working 40 plus hours at your regular job, plus you’re working a part-time job of 25 to 30 hours. When are you going to spend time with your family? When are you go sleep? When are you going to do these healthy things?’ Basically, sometimes less is more. And then, the healthy resources are the counseling programs, the financial programs and the leadership programs we try to do within the department.”
Elliott also noted the importance of the mentorship the chaplains provide, whether it is personal issues, family struggles or something else, such as the death notifications or any other unpleasant task of the job.
“If you have a mentor there to be with you, on that course, it really helps,” Elliott said. “They learn from the chaplains. Plus, for the public having somebody there that’s compassionate and caring at that time in their life with what’s going on and receiving bad news, it is important. And hopefully it leaves a positive and impression about the officer and the chaplain that came to them during this time. Again, it’s not a very pleasant time, but we don’t want to be worsened by the actions of those who make notification.”
“I’m very blessed to have this many chaplains willing to step up and serve in this capacity,” he said. “It’s been a great program, and it will keep on going.”