Hey Chaplain: The Police Wellness Podcast

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail On Today's episode we are continuing our conversation with retired DEA agent Todd Hixson.   If you haven't listened to part one, episode 107, then stop this episode and go listen to that right now!  Today Todd is going to talk about his career and some of his travels, or at least the parts he's allowed to talk about.  But just like in part 1 where...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail On Today's episode we're talking to retired DEA agent Todd Hixson.  Todd has a tremendous wealth of experience as a DEA agent and we're definitely going to hear some of those stories, working both domestically and on foreign assignment.  But I'm going to split this interview into two parts that are both really compelling.  First, we have the p...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we have part two of our conversation with a medically retired police officer from the United Kingdom, Ken Anderson.  After a brief recap of the life-saving encounter he had on an edge of cliff in the moment before he would take his own life, we'll rejoin the conversation with Ken and talk about the aftermath and his new mission to de-stygmatize the con...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to a medically retired police officer from the United Kingdom named Ken Anderson. Ken was a patrol officer, an instructor, and also a firearms officer in Leeds, England. But an accident on the job set him down a path that would eventually lead to him standing on a sea cliff, ready to end his life by throwing himself over the edge. In part...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail It's mailbag time! Use the link above to leave a comment or a question and we might use it on a future show! Music is by PineApple Music Hey Chaplain Update Episode 1Q 2025 Tags : Chaplaincy, Bible College, Chaplains, Clinical Pastoral Education, CPE, Education, Law Enforcement, Mail, Preparation, Seminary, Theology, Training, Kansas City, Kansas Support the...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to Anthony Baumgart; he's a former local and state level narcotics agent who worked in California.  Tony had almost 30 years in law enforcement, but when it came for his last day at work, he experienced a failure in leadership that sometimes happens in law enforcement.  You risk your life and give decades of hard work, only to be sho...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking again to Deborah Green; she was a California dispatcher for almost 30 years and in Part 1 of this interview she told about how she dispatched her deputies to a middle of the night call at a marijuana grow in the forests of California where they were ambushed by drug cartel gunmen. Make sure you go listen to Part 1 to hear how it all went...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to Deborah Green; she was a California dispatcher for almost 30 years and has a compelling story to tell.  She dispatched her deputies to a middle of the night call at a marijuana grow in the forests of California where they were ambushed by drug cartel gunmen.  The story itself is remarkable but I wanted you to hear this one because it&a...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail On this special Bonus Episode we are revisiting the interviews I did last fall with three sergeants from the department that I serve.   They collectively have 70 years of combined service and every time I asked another question, they just kept dropping more wisdom that I knew you'd want to hear.  The officers interviewed are Master Sgt Angie Joyce, Senior Sg...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail On today's episode we are talking to an Army doctor, Colonel Skip Mondragon.  The good doctor is a championship wrestler, a combat veteran, a medical doctor, and also a man who has battled depression.  It has become the Colonel's mission to help tough guys ask for help, something that he struggled with first hand and so he knows what he's talking a...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail A special guest host interviews Chaplain Altic to recap the year!  Police Major Joe Grasela joins Jared to give us a recap of their favorite moments from the 2024 Hey Chaplain episodes.  Listen in to find out what were the most noteworthy episodes of the year; also included are the top 10 listener countries and cities. And don't miss a sneak peek of what top...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is just a quick Christmas update to read a few reviews of the show, encourage you to write your own, and share a quick Christmas greeting.   Guest host Kaleb Sackett joins Chaplain Altic again to help us out and this time Kaleb is sharing a greeting he wrote. Music is by Kevin MacLeod Hey Chaplain Update Q4 2024 Tags : Christmas, Chaplaincy, Family, Goodness...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking about technology! Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Body Worn Cameras and more are proliferating through police departments at a rapid rate and I find the whole topic just fascinating. So our guest for this episode is Captain Richard Breshears who is the captain over the technology unit in a police department here in the Kansas City metro...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is Part 2 of the interview, go back to Episode 100 to hear the first part. Is this a hostile takeover?  No, it's just one of my patrol sergeants commandeering the podcast in order to ask me questions about my background, education, and family.  Paul Simonich is one of my patrol sergeants and he appeared previously in Bonus Episode 38.   Music by Chris H...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Is this a hostile takeover? No, it's just one of my patrol sergeants commandeering the podcast in order to ask me questions about my background, education, and family. Paul Simonich is one of my patrol sergeants and he appeared previously in Bonus Episode 38.  Music by Chris Haugen. Hey Chaplain podcast episode 100 Tags: Chaplains, College, Education, Family...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail On this special Thanksgiving Bonus Episode I asked three sergeants from the department that I serve to come talk to me about gratitude and the perspective that younger officers need to have to be successful in law enforcement. The officers interviewed are Master Sgt Angie Joyce, Senior Sgt Paul Simonich, and Senior Sgt Kyle Hickerson. Music is by LesFM Hey Chapla...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is a special milestone episode: number 099 (of the enumerated main episodes)!  So here are ninety-nine ideas that I have not yet made into podcast episodes.  Enjoy the look into the future publishing schedule and please keep an eye out for a topic for which you may be able to assist in making contact with a good interviewee.  Message me or email me! Music is...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Steve Kellams from Blue Canary has devoted this season of his show to leadership topics and he brought me on to talk about informal leadership, because as a chaplain I have influence but no actual authority.  We ended up talking about several wellness topics and some of my philosophy of chaplaincy as well as why I started Hey Chaplain.  I asked Steve if I could u...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail In this episode we're talking to police Chief Kendra Brown.  She's one of over 300 police chiefs in America who happen to be women.  She's also happens to be a former participant in the Miss America pageants – not the usual starting place for most cops.  So I wanted to talk to Chief Brown about being a woman in the hyper-masculine field of law enfo...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Every cop has a bump in the night story; sometimes those bumps happen in broad daylight.  Today I'm talking to a veteran homicide and cold case detective from Kansas City named Stuart LIttlefield.  Detective Littlefield was recommended to me because he's a great story teller with a great story that might actually include an encounter with a ghost.  Even...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail When you first became a cop, you probably had a goal.  You wanted to become a homicide detective, or a K9 handler, or you wanted to make the SWAT team.  Maybe you're on track to achieve that goal, but even if you do make it, what then?  How do you go about getting promoted later in your career if you've already gone into a specialty like SWAT?  I'v...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we address one of the most frequent topics that I hear about in the police station, the great difficulty in recruiting Gen Z.  My friend Jim Dudley co-authored a recent book on the subject, called "Recruitment & Retention of Gen-Z Law Enforcement Officers" and I brought Jim and his co-author, Janay Gasparini, to talk about it and give us a few...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today's guest is Jimmy Graham.  Jimmy was a US Navy SEAL and worked for the CIA but one of the most interesting jobs he had, and one that overlaps with law enforcement, is that in both the SEALs and the CIA he trained people in CQB, i.e. Close Quarters Battle, room-clearing, hostage rescue, and room-to-room combat. Jimmy still trains people but now he includ...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking about the recurring dreams and nightmares that cops have.  Our guest is Dr Dara Rampersad, a first responder and forensic psychologist from Phoenix Arizona who specializes in first responder mental health. Dr Dara's website: www.bluepaz.com Music is by Chris Haugen Hey Chaplain Podcast Episode 095 Tags : Police, Alcohol, Anxiety, Dre...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is part two of my interview with firefighter and illustrator Paul Combs where we talk more about the first responder as an artist, about critics responded badly to our work, and we also talk a bit about chaplaincy.  If you've not listened to the entirety of part one, then go back and find that episode -- it's Episode 094. The title of this episode...