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Armitage’s 1996 research Police Chaplaincy - Servant to the Service explores police

chaplaincy at a national level and from a largely practical perspective. In avoiding a
repetition of this work, this questionnaire aims to establish the views of explicitly

Christian officers and staff working within the local context of Devon & Cornwall
Constabulary. Identifying people within this group was not straightforward given that

the constabulary does not maintain personal data concerning faith identity among its
employees. To this end the Christian Police Association (CPA) was approached to

disseminate the questionnaire to its 56 members. In all there were 29 responses to
the questionnaire (appendix 1) which was sent out via electronic correspondence to
the CPA membership and also posted as a link upon the CPA intranet pages.

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Responses were via e-mail and by post, and were anonymous . The results were
then collated with quantitative data being presented in chart form, and more

qualitative data being summarised. These results are outlined in appendix 2.

b) The Police Chaplains Interviews

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The fourteen chaplains currently serving within Devon & Cornwall Constabulary
were identified from an internal force contact list. They were initially contacted via
email regarding this research and those who replied positively were invited to take

part in interviews. Seven chaplains consented to interview, and the nineteen
questions they were asked are outlined at appendix 3. The interview with the Senior
Force Chaplain was a face to face meeting. However due to the extensive geography

of the force area five of the other six interviews were via telephone conversation, with
one being conducted by e-mail. The records of the interviews are based on notes

taken at the time of the interviews and although these are not entirely accurate
representations of the conversations great care has been taken to ensure they do
represent the views and comments of those questioned. The results at appendix 4

highlight a summary of the key motifs arising from these interviews.

In conclusion the dissertation will propose the essential principles of a Catholic
approach to ministry that arise from the research and the literature review. These will

4 Respondents were however invited to forward their details should they require further contact concerning issues
relating to ministry within the constabulary.
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The most recent list of chaplains shows there are 16 chaplains, although one of these on being contacted
identified that they were no longer a chaplain to the police. Another indicated they were not currently involved in
the ministry being on sabbatical.