Hey Chaplain: The Police Wellness Podcast

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to firefighter, illustrator, and editorial cartoonist Paul Combs.  His first responder-focused artwork has been featured in newspapers and magazines and probably more than one training session power point that you've seen. In Part 1 of this interview, we're going to talk about Paul's dual career as a firefighter and an arti...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Preventative care can save your teeth… and your marriage. But in both our relationships and our dental hygiene, we often wait for a problem to get out of hand before we are motivated to find a solution. Music is by FSM Team Hey Chaplain Bonus Episode 34 Tags : Relationships, Conflict, Counseling, Dentistry, Divorce, Expense, Help, Marriage, Pain, Police, Kansas C...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking about drug interdiction: stopping vehicles traveling through the middle of the United States on rural highways and finding drugs and cash and the criminals who transport it.  Our guest today is Troy Foster who worked interdiction on Kansas highways for most of his career before a series of personal tragedies almost lead to him taking his...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today I called my police chief friend from Minnesota, Tim Eggebraaten, to come back on the show again and talk about the examples we set and the mentoring we do within a police department.  Every cop is setting an example, either good or bad, for every other cop in their sphere of influence and I wanted to run an idea past Tim to see if we couldn't be a litt...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail I believe that there is a small number of occupations who carefully observe human behavior.  Cops are definitely on that list… but so are comedians.  I know that both groups make me laugh with all the funny observations they make about the crazy behavior in this world.  It's only natural that some cops would gravitate toward stand up comedy and I found one I...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is just a quick update to talk about my own experience with debriefing after exposure to trauma and critical incidents.   Guest host Kaleb Sackett joins Chaplain Altic again to talk about getting everybody to talk to someone after a hard day. Hey Chaplain Update Q3 2024 Tags : Police, Chaplaincy, Critical Incidents, Debriefs, Ministry, Suicide, Support, Trau...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail I've been impressed by the wide variety of jobs in law enforcement and I delight in uncovering forgotten corners of this profession, perhaps to remind you that changing jobs doesn't necessarily mean hanging up the badge.  Today I'm talking to Scott Robertson, a game warden from the forests and swampy lakes of East Texas.  Scott's daily patrols...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we welcome back Dr. Barry Young.  Barry is my friend and a fellow police chaplain and my favorite chaplain & peer support trainer.  On Hey Chaplain he was previously in the very highly rated episode, Bonus Episode 24, where we talked about bad death notifications.  Today Barry is back and this time he's going to talk about the phenomenon of "l...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today I'm presenting to you a select episode from the Blue Canary podcast by Steve Kellams.  I listen to a lot of podcasts.  I recommend very few.  This is one of the good ones and this particular episode of Blue Canary is one that Steve picked specifically to air on Hey Chaplain. Intro Music is by Chris Haugen Hey Chaplain Bonus Episode 32 Tags : Police, Ma...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to Chris Moore, a Virginia-based firefighter whose father was a police officer.  Chris is a great interview because he's got a lifetime of experience wrestling with the ups and downs of first responder behavioral health, both firsthand and as a child of a cop.  Chris brings a radical level of transparency to this conversation and I w...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Two years ago we talked with Doug Monda and this is a special abbreviated and condensed version of that interview with him. The original is Episode 022.   Doug Monda was a professional athlete turned high-speed, low-drag SWAT cop, in a Florida city with a very high rate violent crime.  His identity was wrapped up in being an a very active athlete and operator… un...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail There are two conflicting truisms in law enforcement: one is old and one is new.  First, it's stereotypical that cops, when you ask them, don't want their kids to go into the same line of work.  Second, it's becoming more and more true that law enforcement families are some of the only reliable places to find applicants for the job.  Police work, l...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This is part two of an interview with Shawn Thomas.  If you haven't listened to part one, in which talked about her experience as the wellness officer in a large Sheriff's Office in the Pacific Northwest, then please go download that episode.  She had a lot of insight to share, especially if you think you might be the first wellness officer in your agen...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today's guest is Shawn Thomas.  She was a deputy with a major Sheriff's Office in the Pacific Northwest and also married to an officer.  Shawn was a wellness officer in a major agency and she had to build the airplane while it was flying and a lot of wellness coordinators can identify with that.  She also runs 1st Responder Conferences, which has taught...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we continue our conversation with Dr Cordell Hachinsky and we discuss his career change from combat leader to medical doctor.  I hope you listen to this carefully; Dr Hachinsky is a Christian man, so he's going to talk about hearing God call him to a new career but I want you to listen to him describe the process of coming to that conclusion and the di...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today's guest is a West Point Graduate and an Army combat veteran who came back from Afghanistan to then went to Med School and become an Army doctor.  Major Cordell Hachinsky is a friend of mine who I regularly had lunch with while he was attending the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. I split the interview into two parts:  This fir...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail The Hey Chaplain podcast is for police officers by a police chaplain. It offers peer-to-peer support and expert advice on officer wellness, including stress, trauma, and work-life balance. Hosted by a real chaplain who rides along with officers, the show provides support for officers to connect and find encouragement. For Officers: Get support and encouragement:...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This episode marks the beginning of our fourth year so I wanted to go back and do follow ups with some of my past guests.  In this episode we get an update on the US Marshals, including some of their new missions, why law enforcement officers have left the profession in recent years and how that affects someone coming in right now.  We also talk about the what fi...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Although we normally focus on interviews with police officers, today we're talking to a medical doctor who is married to a newly retired homicide detective.  Her name is Dr. Melody Rodarte and I wanted to ask her about police officer health.  Why do they get sick and what parts of the job cause it?  And more importantly what can be done about it.  Dr Rodarte...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we are talking to Brandi Fischer, a sexual assault victim's advocate with an organization called MOCSA.  Part of Brandi's job is going into police academies to teach officers about sexual assault and the impact of trauma on a victim.  She has a lot of really good coaching on what to do and what not to do when talking to a victim but she also has s...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Some of the best stepparents I know are police officers.  So when it came time to find the 2024 LEO Mom of the Year, I was really happy to receive the nomination of a highly regarded detective who also happens to be a stepmother. So today we're talking to detective Emily Hren, who works at one of our larger agencies just a little ways down the road from me. ...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to Gregg Dorsett; he has been a guest several times before mostly on compilation episodes, but his first appearance was all the way back in Episode 004.  Today he's a captain at KCKPD and part of his job now is getting the patrol officers better equipment than what they've had in the past.  He's had a hand in changing thing...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we're talking to Simon Osamoh, who was a highly decorated detective in the UK investigating organized crime and doing counter-terrorism.  If you've ever had to container of liquid confiscated at the airport, then you're familiar with the results of Simon's work.  Today he's talking to us about communication and empathy, mentors in l...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail This episode is Part Two of my recent conversation with Ginger Passarelli from the Soup Ladies.  You'll want to go back and catch Part One, episode 081, where she talked about her recent work with the Border Patrol.  This portion of the conversation focuses on serving first responders more generally and I wanted you to hear Ginger's passion to serve and...

Text the Show or Leave a Voicemail Today we have the return of another fan favorite, Ginger Passarelli of the Soup Ladies.  For the last couple of years she has been working with the Border Patrol, which is no small feat to bring a non-profit organization into the inner workings of a Federal agency.  In this part of the interview Ginger talks specifically about her work to help encourage the Borde...