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manifested as ‘light hearted’ ‘banter’, and can sometimes be a means of entering
into conversations with people.

Question 9 – What relationships do chaplains have with Human Resources
and other support services within the police?

In answering this question six out of the seven chaplains interviewed stated that
there was either no link to Human Resources (HR) and other support services or
only a very slight one. Where there has been a relationship with HR in the past it
has tended to be informal and on an individual rather than systematic basis. One
respondent stated rather pointedly that HR are viewed as ‘the professionals and
chaplains are for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate approbation!’

There were some positive examples of support services working well with
chaplains. One such area was the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) initiative
whose managers are ‘engaged, and use chaplains as a resource where
appropriate’. Two chaplains spoke positively about TRiM and one had been
involved in training sessions with the force TRiM co-ordinator.

One respondent did identify that during the annual training sessions for chaplains
they had been addressed by operational staff from specialist policing
departments. This included officer from the force welfare department and while
there ‘was a concern that welfare or those who undertake counselling may resent’
chaplains or otherwise ‘not co-operate’, this was found to be an unfounded
apprehension. ‘They may not immediately call us in when a big incident arises but
we are available and they know it’.

Question 10 – What relationship is there with the Christian Police
Association?

In general the respondents were very positive about their relationship with the
Christian Police Association (CPA), which was variously described as ‘massive’,
very good’, and ‘good’. There were some very positive comments about the CPA
which was described as a ‘great organisation’. One chaplain expressed
admiration for the CPA which has the ‘confidence and ability to speak out’.
Another ‘wondered at first where the CPA fitted in’, but had forged a good liaison
with the CPA to the extent that a CPA representative had attended some of the
chaplains conferences. Positive examples of where chaplains had worked well in
partnership with the CPA also included; frequent meetings with CPA leaders;
bible-study; special services; community and police events.

It was suggested that the CPA had a higher profile than chaplains within the
constabulary, and one chaplain rued that there was not enough time to develop a
fuller relationship with the CPA. Several chaplains commented upon the
distinctive ethos of the CPA which ‘has its own theology, its own approach’, that is
different to the role of the chaplains. A key difference is that the ‘CPA identify
themselves religiously’, that is they are overtly Christian with the aim of supporting
Christians, whereas ‘chaplains are totally faithless’, being ‘there to provide
support to everyone regardless of faith or lack of it’.