2021-05-12 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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During January 2020 I was able to meet with officers and staff normally as in the past. On January 4th I enjoyed a luncheon with officers and was introduced to a new officer hire. On the 13th of January, the CLPD 2019 holiday event was held having been rescheduled from the original December 2019 date. While there I was privileged to share a word of encouragement and a prayer with the officers and staff in attendance. On February 10th I enjoyed a ride along with Officer Schroeder who had recently completed his field training program. After the ride along we attended the government meeting for the swearing in of officers and honored CLPD - IT Chaplain retiree Larry Hutchinson. Joel Heckman March 2020 brought the shutdown of normal activities necessitating my relinquishment of all external (community) chaplain involvement. This was most difficult for me. Internal (officer and staff) chaplain contacts continued albeit mostly via phone calls, emails and outdoor in person visits. I was however able to, with proper safety protocols, attend a few departments roll calls with the officers. During one of those roll calls an officer shared how they handled a death scene on their own utilizing information they had gathered from our involvement together on previous death scenes. Another inspiring example of the dedicated commitment to our community by our officers! Rev. Patricia Clearence, our Lexington and Centennial Fire Chaplain who also handles CLPD call outs when I am not available, was able to assist on a few external requests from officers during the year. A heartfelt thank you to Rev. Clearance for her dedicated service to our officers, staff, firefighters and community! July 14th through the 16th I was blessed to join the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC) online for their annual training. Having been able to attend four of the ICPC regional trainings in previous years but because of location and costs unable to attend the national events this free online training was one of the good outcomes of the pandemic period. As chaplains we were reminded anew of the pressures and stresses our officers and families are facing in today's climate. Reaching out to all of the officers and staff after this training I shared my continued commitment to remember them daily in prayer for courage, strength, safety and wellbeing. On August 6th I was pleased to meet with our new Chief of Police James Mork to go services of which I am honored to be a part of. Unable to continue our tradition of having officers over for Christmas Eve dinner because of the pandemic, I delivered meals prepared by my wife to the department for those who were assigned to work that evening. We join with numerous others in our communities thanking our excellent caring and compassionate officers for their continued dedication and service to us. Respectfully, Chaplain Joel Heckman 15