THREE RIVERS AREA — Adjusting his belt as he stepped up to the squad car, Lt. Bob Fielding prepared himself for his evening patrol. Fielding isn’t like most police chaplains; he is also a police officer and the driving force behind building a chaplaincy program at the Jacksonville Police Department.
Fielding participated in a ride-along program with the Jacksonville Police Department when he was a senior in high school.
“It was my first ride; it was a Friday night, the midnight shift,” Fielding said. “We got into a car pursuit, and I got the bug. I couldn’t wait until I turned 21 and joined the auxiliary; then I got hired full time in 1981.”
After working full time at the Jacksonville Police Department in the early ’80s, Fielding left to pursue a career managing a McDonald’s restaurant in Newport.
“In 1986, I began to sense the Lord was calling me into the ministry,” Fielding said. “I went to school full time at Williams Baptist [College] and then started pastoring a small church in Alicia.”
Fielding, his wife and two daughters moved back to Jacksonville in 2001 after he took a job with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, where he helps with mission mobilization for church members who are going on international mission trips. He also works with hospitals, fire departments, police departments and other institutions to organize chaplaincy programs.
He came to the police station for a visit and realized that all the patrolmen he had left behind are now highranking officers. Almost six years ago, Fielding becamethe Jacksonville Police Department’s chaplain, a volunteer position. He also decided to go back for 100 hours of training so he could join the auxiliary force again, which is also a volunteer position.
“I believe a person should volunteer in their community some way,” Fielding said. “Most of the time you can base what you do on what your interests are.” And his interests are in law enforcement.
Because Fielding is in uniform, he is right there, side by side with the other officers. Being a chaplain gives him a better understanding of their job-related stress. Although a chaplain doesn’t have to be a police officer, it was Fielding’s choice to use his experience and love of law enforcement to further his volunteer efforts.
“It gives me instant access to those officers,” Fielding said. “I have the badge on, and I’m right there with them.” Fielding said there are times when a call comes in and there’s been a bad car accident or someone has died, and the officers need someone to calm the situation and help the family of the victim cope with the circumstances. Many times, the chaplain is asked to go on a death call when officers deliver the news of a death to a family. Chaplains also assist on the streets during stressful situations, such as a natural or violent accident or death.
“He’s a one-of-a-kind guy; he’s a super guy,” Capt. Kelley Smiley said. “You don’t see someone who is willing to devote his personal time like this. He has served us in so many varied ways.”
Fielding gives 25 to 30 hours a week, and sometimes he also works at the 911 call center.
“It’s all about the people in the police family,” Fielding said. “The uniformed officers are my heroes. They see more in a month and hear more lies than most of us see or hear in a lifetime.”
The chaplaincy has expanded since the shootout in Foxwood on Aug. 25, 2008, between Jacksonville police officers and a heavily armed man. One of the officers was shot but survived; however, the stress of the situation called for several debriefings. The department now has six volunteer chaplains.
Smiley said it helps the officers do their job when a chaplain is on the scene calming the situation.
“Between Monday and Thursday, I went to every shift briefing to let the guys tell me, ‘This is what I felt, and this is what I saw,’” Fielding said.
Fielding first found out about the shooting when his pastor called him from the golf course at the Foxwood Country Club asking about shots being fired nearby.
“I ran home, got my bulletproof vest and my walkie-talkie and went to the perimeter,”Fielding said.
When Officer John Alberson was shot by the gunman, Fielding accompanied Alberson to the emergency room and stayed with him until he was released.
“After that, the chief said, ‘you need some help,’ and that’s how the program was expanded. Jacksonville is a very safe town, but as anywhere, there are things that happen, and these officers have to deal with it.”
The two types of chaplains now at the department are community chaplains, who support the community, and department chaplains, who work with officers, civilian employees and their families. The chaplains not only help officers and department employees with job-related problems; they are also available for personal issues.
“The divorce rate is high, the suicide rate is high, and there’s a strain on your health,” Fielding said about law enforcement employees. “You don’t walk away and forget it. They’re tough because they have to be, but they are also people, and they care. It’s important for their mental health (for them) to have someone to talk to.”
Although Fielding is a chaplain, he said he never pushes his religious beliefs on anyone. He says the chaplaincy is a “ministry of presence,” where he is “just there to be there.” On call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, chaplains also get stressed, and when the stress gets to Fielding, he said he vents to other chaplains.
“His dedication to the Jacksonville Police Department andthe citizens of the city of Jacksonville is without question,” said Lt. L. Dean Scroggins of the Professional Standards Unit of the Jacksonville Police Department. “We anticipate the chaplain program will continue to evolve and be a great benefit to the department and the citizens it serves. ... [Fielding] is a fine person and has a good spirit.” - jbrosius@ arkansasonline.commatter of factName: Bob Fielding Occupation: I work for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and help mobilize people for missions and chaplaincy Family: My wife, Sharon, and our Boston terrier, Mitzi. Our girls are grown up!
Hobbies: Computer geek, photography and genealogy The origin of my name is: English. Fieldings came to the New World in the 1600s I cannot live without: God and family Most people don’t know I’m: Married to the best woman in the world!
I cannot live without: A regular visit to the Thai Taste Restaurant in Jacksonville My favorite memory is: Actually two - being there for the births of my girls The world would be a better place if: People would love Jesus like He loves them.
Three Rivers, Pages 122 on 01/31/2010