BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Being a law enforcement officer is one of service, sacrifice and duty and with it comes a lot of responsibility to those in need. It also brings a good deal of stressful and tense situations that are dealt with on a daily basis.

But what happens when the officers or their families have difficult times and need someone to help them?

The answer is in the newly formed Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department Chaplain Corps.

Made up of a group of local pastors, this corp is there to give spiritual guidance when needed, provide counseling for marriages and assist in financial intervention. Also, they will assist in emergency situations and be a liaison with hospitals and clinics for employees of the county who are hurt or ill, and conduct or help with funerals if needed, according to the BCSO website.

This newly formed unit came after Larry Robinson, chaplain for the past 15 years, moved away and Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack attended a conference where he heard of other departments enlisting the help of a group of pastors.

“This has been something I have been wanting to do since attending that conference and I talked to my six command staff officers and they recommended some names to me and we talked to them about it. We have been doing some training with them to aquaint them with the Sheriff’s department and all the areas we work with. I expect to have everyone in place in the next 30 days. We have four now but will probably end up with five or six,” Mack said.

With 275 employees in the department, Mack said the men, Dr. Joe Savage, Pastor Steve Spining (Robertsdale United Methodist Church), Pastor Bo Rice (First Baptist Church Loxley) and Pastor Joe Aldrete (Calvary Chapel Fellowship Foley) were chosen based on their location and the diversity of their experience and personality.

The group will be given specific areas to cover including patrol, investigations, support and corrections and will have certain people they are responsible for. But they will also be able to cross over to each other’s area if needed, Mack said.

“We will use them to assist in death notifications and cases with traumatic situations that need some additional counseling or spiritual guidance. They have a program like this in Madison and Calhoun Counties and it has worked well for them. We are excited about this and are expecting good success with it,” Mack explained. “This will help bridge the gap when we have stressful situations to deal with.”

Pastor Bo Rice of FBC Loxley will cover patrol squads two and four and court security and is excited about helping the officers and the community in this way.

“I had been praying about getting into the chaplaincy program for the military and put in my application for that when Joe Savage approached me about this opportunity. I feel like I can bring my experience from working with disaster relief programs to this program and I have also been the chaplain for the Loxley Volunteer Fire Department for a while so I am familiar with this kind of work,” Rice said.

Having a desire to serve the men and women who serve him, Rice said this a great opportunity and even though he has specific areas to focus on, he will go anywhere and do anything to help where he is needed.

Being from Riverside, California and working with the sheriff’s department as their chaplain for five years, Joe Aldrete said he has been wanting to get back into the chaplaincy program since moving to Foley two years ago.

“We started calvary Chapel Fellowship here and it has always been on my heart to get back into it. I was involved in the juvenile court system and family preservation court and was on call 24/ 7 whether it was a crime scene or just to chat with one of the deputies. I thank God for our law enforcement personnel who serve and protect our communities putting their lives on the line everyday for our safety and protection,” Aldrete said.

Patrol squads one and three and the Special Operations Unit are Aldrete’s areas and he believes it’s his calling to be there for Sheriff Mack and his staff and deputies.

“They have a very stressful and dangerous job to do and they need to know pastors of the communities they serve are there for them and their families, praying for them and supporting them. I am honored to be a chaplain for the department and serve the sheriff and his staff in any way I can.” Aldrete commented.

For more information about the program, contact the department at (251) 937-0200 or visit www.sheriffofbaldwin.com or the BCSO Facebook page.