The Amherst Police Department has just welcomed a new member into its ranks; their new volunteer chaplain, Evan Oxner – Lead Pastor at Amherst Wesleyan Church.
According to the International Conference of Police Chaplains, someone in Oxner’s role has the life experience and neutral perspective to offer advice when life’s challenges visit, helping to boost resiliency. Chaplains are experts in ecclesiastical matters to those inquiring, but serve an invaluable secular purpose as well.
“We’ve been here for almost 10 years now,” Oxner shared. “My wife and I moved here back in 2015, and since we’ve been here, we’ve had all three of our kids. It’s wonderful.”
One of the first people that Oxner met upon moving to Amherst was Police Chief Dwayne Pike, and he’s built a pretty good relationship with the Chief and his family since then.
“I’ve got a brother who’s in the RCMP,” Oxner said. “I’ve gotten to know some of his friends and people connected with him. As we got to town here, I got to know other cops and other first responders, and it just seemed like I was building more and more connections with people in that realm.”
Throughout his work in the church, the community, and now in the police department, a common foundation for Oxner is developing and nurturing genuine relationships with others.
Amherst Police Chief Dwayne Pike pictured with Pastor Evan Oxner – the APD’s new volunteer chaplain – at a recent meeting of the Amherst Board of Police Commissioners.
“Policing is very much about your stakeholders and fostering those relationships, inside and outside the department,” shared Sergeant Aaron Graham, a 16-year member with the APD. “I’m a sergeant, a patrol officer, and another one of my roles is being a mental health advocate for the department.” He’s trained to provide support and mental health assistance in times of trauma or trouble and, along with two other department members, Graham is part of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team. “Part of that mental health piece is having a chaplain within the department, and I think Evan is going to be a good fit.”
“The stigma around mental health has changed so much in the last 16 years, to something you talk about openly – to get that help you need,” Graham said. “With Evan, it’s just adding to the resources we already have.”
Members of police departments are asked to do more now in service of our communities than ever before, and this is paired with increased exposure to traumatic events. Many see the police chaplain as playing an essential role in helping department members find their balance, and Evan Oxner has been interested for a while in helping to do just that.
“Very early on in my time in Amherst, I broached the subject with Chief Pike about ‘How do I pursue chaplaincy with the Amherst Police Department?’” Oxner shared. “But at that point, they already had a chaplain. So, every now and again, I’d bring it up with him and ask ‘Is there a chance that position is going to be opening?’ Because, I wanted to be able to invest in the department. It was only recently that the previous chaplain stepped away from more active duty; it became an open volunteer position and I jumped right on and applied. I was pretty excited to get the call saying ‘Let’s get you in there and let’s get you to work.’”
And Oxner has gotten to work, recently attending his first meeting of the Amherst Board of Police Commissioners, and beginning to connect with everyone and determine exactly what his new role will look like. “I can have ideas about what I want to do and how I want to do it, but a lot of it comes down to having conversations with the people in the department – finding out where they’re at, what they need, and then developing things from there, to make sure that I’m actually helping them meet the needs they have.”
Building these relationships will help grow trust between Oxner and everyone on the police force, so that he will become a go-to advisor whenever situations arise.
“What I can be is a person that walks beside them, in the good times and the bad times, and just give them support as somebody that is part of the department, but also separated from the department,” Oxner explained. “Some things are going to be beyond me. I can start telling them where to go and what I think are the right next steps, and help them connect with the right resources.”
Through Oxner’s chaplaincy, our Amherst Police Department members have another valuable resource to care for their mental health and well-being. This will help to maintain and improve their resiliency, allowing members to continue serving our community with the special level of care and professionalism we all appreciate.
