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CHAPLAINS

Chaplains

The Chaplains of the San Ramon Police Department are a valuable resource to community members, police officers and other department personnel. Chaplains are on call to be utilized by officers in the community when there is a critical incident where a tragic or sudden loss has occurred. They interface with community members to help them deal with sudden trauma and grief providing them with a caring presence as well as additional resources to help them through their ordeal. Chaplains also work directly with police officers and personnel as a resource to them as they deal with the stress and demands of law enforcement. The work of a law enforcement chaplain is built upon relationship building while encompassing the emotional and spiritual needs of people under duress.

Our chaplain team serves both the nearly 70 officers and personnel of the San Ramon Police Department and over 150 firefighters and personnel of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.  Our Chaplain Coordinator, Nick Vleisides, has served as a chaplain for over 20 years for multiple fire and law enforcement agencies. If you have any questions please contact Nick at [email protected]

The duties of the Police Chaplain may include, but are not limited to:

  • Riding along with officers on routine patrol on various shifts.
  • Attending line ups and debriefings
  • Accompanying a police officer to assist with death notifications.
  • Working with police officers to assist in any kind of crisis situation where the presence of a trained chaplain might help.
  • Counseling department members in response to stress or family crisis problems. Counsel is privileged and confidential between the officer and chaplain involved.
  • Visiting with sick or injured members of the department.
  • Invocations at special occasions such as recruit graduations, award ceremonies and dedications of buildings, etc.
  • Assisting the Police Department in the performance of appropriate ceremonial functions.
  • Providing practical assistance to victims and their families.
  • Assisting with specialized teams (Crisis Response, Critical Incident Stress Management, Peer Support, Hostage Negotiation, SWAT, etc.) given the appropriate, specialized training.