BART Welcomes Chaplains in Swearing-In Ceremony

BART police officially welcomed four volunteer chaplains to its ranks Tuesday with a swearing-in ceremony.

The four men — Chaplain Joseph Prudhomme, the Rev. Rufus Watkins, Father Jayson Landeza and the Rev. Jasper Lowery — are Christians who spoke of their dedication to helping the transit agency and its riders.

Prudhomme works as a chaplain for the Fairfield Police Department and is president of a Christian college, Trinity Biblical University, in Fairfield.

Watkins serves the Emeryville police and fire departments as a chaplain and is the pastor at House of Prayer Community Church.

Landeza, an associate pastor at in San Leandro, is also a chaplain for the Oakland police and fire departments, Berkeley Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Lowery leads the ministry at Oakland's Urojas, a Christian community organization that houses people who need shelter and offers them support services.

BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey administered the oath, which included promises to maintain exemplary ethical and moral conduct, administer aid to all persons without religious bias and to not take advantage of their positions.

Rainey said that before the chaplains were sworn in, they attended the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) training all BART police officers received last week.

The training was just one of many changes the department has undergone following a scathing report issued in fall 2009 from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

The report recommended sweeping changes in leadership, organization, policies, core values and training in the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed BART passenger Oscar Grant in January 2009.

One of its recommendations was implementation of a chaplaincy program or peer counseling, but members of the department had discussed a chaplaincy for some time before Grant's shooting, according to BART officials.

The chaplains will offer support and guidance only to those who request such help. Their services are open to all, regardless of religious beliefs. 

Landeza is a Berkeley native who has been doing chaplaincy work since 1995. He said that although it comes from a spiritual place, religion isn't directly involved in such work unless brought up by officers or victims.

"Never once have I asked anyone what their religion is," he said, adding that he doesn't know of any chaplains who view their role as converting people.

Most of his work as a chaplain, Landeza said, centers on being there for officers or victims to help them grieve and vent their feelings in a safe place.

"We see and hear lots of horrific stuff," he said. "Though it pains us, we're trained in such a way not to freak out." 

Sometimes just having someone listen as people talk about what they've witnessed can be cathartic, he said.

Landeza said chaplains are trained in crisis counseling but not therapy. They use their contacts in the community to recommend additional support services to those in need.

This is the first time BART has instituted formal support for officers, staff and riders, according to Linton Johnson, chief communications officer.

Today's ceremony was held in Oakland and attended by several BART police officers and board member Robert Raburn, who said he hopes the chaplains will help the agency build community and sees "nothing but good coming out of this relationship."

Rainey, who was sworn in as police chief in July after Chief Gary Gee retired, leads a Police Department of 296 employees, 206 of which are sworn officers.