By Charly SHELTON

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept. responds to many different kinds of calls, and almost all of them are high-tension events. Rare is the case when everything is going well and all parties are calm when the LASD is called to respond. And while deputies are trained in crisis management, counseling and mediation, there is something valuable for many citizens in discussing their issues with a religious leader. It is with this idea that the LASD Clergy Council was formed, to augment the services of the LASD and assist the deputies in dealing with human crisis. This network of trained clergy members hopes to increase the level of understanding between the sheriff’s department and the community.  

“Our purpose is to support the deputies in prayer or in our own ecumenical ways, whichever way we do it, and to support the functions,” said Rev. Beverly Craig, founder of the Clergy Council and pastor at the Center for Spiritual Living-La Crescenta. “For example, National Night Out, which is coming up Aug. 1. The Clergy Council will have a table there, and we help with things like the [station’s] rummage sale or Toys for Tots, wherever they need volunteers. But mainly our focus is spiritual.”

This current Clergy Council is a reboot of a previous iteration that Rev. Craig was involved in many years ago. At the time, there was an established Clergy Academy to train clergy members to be prepared for action in case a ride-along went badly.

“It was quite a deal. They told us if we are riding with the deputies, we needed to learn how to shoot in case they’re in trouble. But I haven’t been to the shooting range in forever, which is why I haven’t done a ride-along in a while,” Rev. Craig said.

This Clergy Council has been in place for nearly 15 years and has gathered to its ranks 15 members from around La Crescenta, Montrose and La Cañada, many of whom have disaster certifications like FEMA Clergy Response Team. They are ready to be called into areas of disaster and handle crises just as they would when brought in to diffuse a domestic violence or loss of life call with the LASD Clergy Council. Each member is also a trained SafePlace facilitator and can handle abandoned children as well. This all came about and grew out of a call made to Rev. Craig in the early 2000s.

“The original Clergy Council I was in died. And then [former CV Sheriff’s Station captain David] Silversparre came to town and he wanted to start up the [Clergy Council] again. And I was the only one they could find. So I called everybody I knew and we got started again. I can’t tell you exactly how many years but it has been going for a while now. And our purpose is to support the deputies and the volunteers. [Recently installed Captain Christopher Blasnek] is allowing us to have a prayer request box. No other captain ever let us do that,” Rev. Craig said. “We pray for the deputies, we pray for the community, and we’re available for one-on-one if any deputy wants to call us or any volunteer wants call us ¬– we are available to talk and pray with them.”

The Council meets once a month to fulfill prayer requests, organize volunteers for upcoming events and assign who will be at the station for what services, like the weekly Mass held in the station for inmates. Clergy Council members are in a rotation to be on-call if needed. One member would be the contact point, and then, if there is a request for a certain denomination, that would be forwarded on to the member who is of that sect. Within the 15 members are representatives from the Foursquare, Baptist, Judaism, Religious Science, Methodist, Unitarian, Fundamentalist, Episcopalian and Lutheran faiths, each to respond at the request of whoever needs them. As for Rev. Craig, the service that is offered is invaluable.

“I think [its important] because I believe everything, everything, can be handled in prayer. I honestly believe that. And we pray daily for our deputies, we pray daily for them – individually and then when we are in our meeting we pray for them there. So our Clergy Council, besides doing the spiritual work, we’re volunteers,” Rev. Craig said. “Basically what we are is spiritual back-up for the deputies.”

  Charly Shelton