The Daily ICPC Spokane: Intro (w/ Jeremy Hockett)

This is a limited podcast series from Hey Chaplain, which follows police chaplains Jared Altic and Jeremy Hockett to Spokane, Washington, to attend the annual training seminar of the ICPC, the International Conference of Police Chaplains.  This series will provide a daily, behind the scenes look at the convention, and this is our preview and introductory episode. We'll introduce you to Jeremy the co-host and talk about traveling to Spokane, among other topics.

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Music is by Everet Almond

The Daily ICPC Introductory Episode, MS.2.0

Tags:

Chaplains, Career, Conventions, Flying, ICPC, Ministry, Podcasting, Police, Standards, Teaching, Training, Travel, Kansas City, Spokane, Wichita, Arizona, Kansas, Washington

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Daily ICPC. My name is Jared Altic, and I'm a chaplain with the police department. This is a limited podcast series from Hey Chaplin, which follows police chaplains Jared Altic and Jeremy Hockett to Spokane, Washington to attend the annual training seminar of the ICPC, the International Conference of Police Chaplains. This series will provide a daily behind-the-scenes look at the convention. And this is our preview and introductory episode. Hello, Jeremy. How are you today?

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Hi, Jared. It's good to see you, man. And uh I'm doing I'm doing well. I'm doing well. It's been uh been a good week here in Wichita, so uh been looking forward to uh getting this uh event kicked off.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

So you're gonna be our co-host for this mini-series on the ICPC uh trip that we're taking, and we're going to Spokane, Washington this year. And you've actually been to the International Conference of Police Chaplains annual training seminar more times than I have. So can you give me a little bit of a some background on why you're a chaplain and why you go to ICPC?

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Sure, sure. So earlier in my life, I had aspirations of being a police officer. And uh back in the early 2000s, at least in the Wichita area, if you wanted to be a police officer, when they had 10 openings, they had 300 applicants.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

And so they had different criteria they were using to find the best ones that they felt would would fit the jobs. And one of the things that most of the departments around here were looking for was a four-year college degree. All right. So I did not go to college after high school. I was one of those guys that uh I took vote classes while I was in high school, and uh even before I graduated, I was out working in a shop. You know, I kind of had my trajectory set to uh to be a mechanic. I found out, I had several friends in law enforcement, and I found out that another way you could get in was to start out as a reserve officer. If you could get on somewhere as a reserve officer, and uh you would work for free, and they uh you know they saw something there that they liked. You had an opportunity to get in uh amongst all of the college graduates and have an opportunity to get you know full-time employment. So that was kind of the route I took. I worked for uh the city of Derby, which is just south of Wichita here. I was a reserve officer there for about five years. And about 2005, uh they they had they had come and they had offered me a job. And unfortunately, back in those days, being a police officer did not pay well. Yeah. And uh I already had a family, I already had children. And you were already a very good mechanic. Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was I was well established in the field. And so, you know, the the starting wage for a police officer at that time was about half of what I was making as a mechanic.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

And it was about that time that uh the Lord was doing some other things in my life and was steering me towards uh ministry. I finally I sat down and I talked to my pastor at the time through prayer and uh seeking what you know what God wanted. We we come to the conclusion that you know probably law enforcement was was not in my future. About 2005 is is when I really started helping out at the church a little more than than I currently was.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Took on uh the youth department being the uh the the youth director and uh well you spent instead of going into law enforcement, you spent you know the next 20 years as a bivocational pastor. I really did. Right. Yep. And so so you were still because because if anyone's thinking, wait a second, did he leave the mechanic job for the ministry? Because that didn't pay more.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

No, no, bivocational is definitely the right word to use for what I did for many, many years. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

And so so years later, you are now doing ministry full-time. Yes. And and you circle back around to the law enforcement. I I so how did you become a chaplain?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

So how did I become a chaplain? I've got a very good friend in New Mexico who's been a police chaplain for over 30 years. Oh, you gotta shout him out. Yeah, yeah, that's Jeff Carr down in Rio Rancho. Jeff Carr. Yeah, yeah, down in Rio Rancho there. He's and he's he's doing tremendous work right now. He's he's he's really uh since he he had an opportunity a couple years ago to retire from the pastorate, and he has just poured all of his energies into chaplaincy right now.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

It's hard to find somebody across America who's promoting chaplaincy more than Jeff Carr. Yeah, that guy is enthusiastically pro law enforcement chaplain.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yes, he is, he is. So even back when I was a reserve officer, right, he was prodding me. You know, you need to be a chaplain, you need to be a chaplain. I was like, No, that's not what I want. That's not what I want. So, anyway, fast forward to uh, well, COVID era, 2020, 2021. I had a a lady in my church who got hired on as a uh detention deputy here in Sedgwick County, and her class did not have a formal graduation. They completed their training and they got shipped off, you know, go right to work. That that was uh that was a hard time for a lot of agencies. So one of the things they did was they they told their class people that they were going to allow them to bring in a family member or a friend and to do a tour of the detention facility. And so we were just casually having this conversation one afternoon, and she kind of expressed a desire that she thought it'd be pretty cool to be able to do that, but none of her family lives here. Uh she's here, got a couple daughters that that she's raising, and really didn't have anybody else. And so I just simply said, you know, if if it means that much to you, I'd I'd I would go on a tour, you know. I'd I'd love to come in and and see what's going on, you know? And uh through that initial tour that I took, I was connected with uh Lieutenant Clayton Barth, and uh him and I just kind of hit it off and he said, Have you ever thought about being a chaplain? And I and I said, Yeah, yeah, actually I have.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

I've been asked that like 50 times now, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, one thing just kind of led to another. And Jared, I th I think I've heard you tell the story before that that you know you kind of feel like if you tried to get out of it, you know, you'd be like Jonah running from God, and and God would send a whale, and he'd you know, he puts you right back in there. And that's that's really kind of how I feel about chaplaincy as well. Uh there's there's really been some things that have happened that have really shown me that that this is where I am supposed to be. So I was able to um get a seat in the uh peer support training uh that they were hosting here in Sandwich Counties through uh FRST Midwest, uh a group I'm sure you're also familiar with there. Yes, yep, but um so I took the 40-hour peer support training, and this was all leading up to them putting a chaplain in their peer support group. You know, I kind of knew that I needed something more because I had the great desire. I had uh, you know, ministry experience. Yeah, I've got ministry experience, I've got friends that are chaplains, you know, but I really never had any real formal training. So uh Jeff was and still is, I believe, a member of the ICPC. And so he kind of encouraged me to seek out training there. And um July of 2022, I went to my first annual training seminar, which was held in Orlando, Florida. And so that was my that was my first experience with ICPC. And I I you know I went into that not really knowing what to expect, but it was it was better than I ever imagined.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Really? Especially being relatively uninitiated.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, you know, yeah, and and so you know, I I had made application with them to be a member. Um, I'd met all the criteria for membership, but they were in the process of getting ready for the ATS, so my membership didn't get processed. So my first year, I was actually a guest, and they and they allow people to do that if you're not members. Non-member participant. Yeah. And I think my membership came through like the week afterwards or something like that. But anyway, one of the things that really kind of stood out to me was if you if it's your first time there, you you get a little indicator that goes on your name badge that says, you know, I'm at my first ATS. And so I had so many people, so many chaplains that walked up to me, they saw that, and they stuck out their hand and they they you know, they greeted me and they were like, hey, this is your first one. Great. Tell me who you are, tell me where you're from. They weren't just killing time, they were genuinely interested. Yeah. And and you got you, you know, right away I felt that that camaraderie. You know, I almost felt like I didn't belong there. Because I wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

A little bit of imposter syndrome.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I didn't have chaplain credentials in my agency at the time, but it was all working toward that. I took the basics and uh a couple other classes, you know, that were available when the basics were done. I came back to Wichita and I I took the information to the to the sheriff's office there, and uh, you know, it wasn't very long after that that they they decided that uh they would put me on as a uh as a chaplain in the peer support unit. You know, for the last four years, I've been doing what I can to help out and uh really uh building relationships is is kind of what it's all about. You know, a lot of a lot of guys say, you know, it's a ministry of presence. I I know you make a lot of roll calls, I've heard you say that before. Yep. And so uh, you know, you just just get in there and and learn the names of all the people and uh yeah, spend time with them. Try to be there, exactly. Go out on ride-alongs and uh do what you can to uh kind of walk through life with them.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

I love that you you interacted with the sheriff's office, and a lot of people in ministry, a lot of clergy, they immediately gravitate toward the jail chaplaincy where they're interacting with the incarcerated. Right. And you instead gravitated toward the officers for with the deputies. Yep. And both the ones working in corrections and the ones working on the in the street, right? Correct, correct. Yeah, yeah, we minister to both. Yeah, and so but you're interacting with the with the actual deputies. And a lot of sheriffs' offices that I talk to, they're like, Yeah, we have chaplains, and what they mean is they have jail chaplains. Right. Right? They don't they don't actually have like peer support connected law enforcement chaplains. Right. And so I appreciate that you do that. So let's talk about ICPC some more. Okay. Uh you first your first one is in Orlando. Yes, it was. And then you went back the next year, right? You went back like every year?

SPEAKER_00 11:55

I have been there every year since. So um, man, you're gonna tax my memory here. Uh let's see, first year was Orlando. The next year, I think we were in um was that Arizona? Uh yeah, I believe it was.

unknown 12:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Is that the one where it was like 120 degrees? Yeah, yeah. And I remember like saying out loud, who set this up? You know, and they they do, they move them around to the different regions, you know. And uh yeah, Phoenix, Arizona in July. Um, yeah. Wow. But anyway, it was an experience. And and and at that facility, that was a beautiful facility, but it it was really spread out. It was not all in one building, kind of like what we had last year. But this resort walking in the heat. The resort was really spread out. And and my room was as far from the commons area as you could possibly get on that property. And I literally had a 10-minute walk every morning to get from my room to where the meetings were, and it was already you know 97, 98 degrees because it just doesn't cool off there at night. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah. And what was after Arizona?

SPEAKER_00 13:07

After Arizona, we went to uh Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, and after that we were in um Little Rock last year, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Yep, yep. And now this year's gonna be in Spokane.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Spokane, yeah. I'm I'm hoping the weather's gonna be a little better there than uh what we had last year.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

If I have any poll at all, I'm gonna try to make every every single ICPC annual training seminar be is somewhere in northern latitudes. Yeah. I say we go to Canada. Yeah, let's do let's do it. I'm with you there, brother. Yeah, yeah. I will I want somewhere north. I do not want to be in the south uh during July. So if it's if it's gotta be in July, I will I say let's go north. Um I'm with you 100%. Yeah. So what do you look forward to at an ICPC? I mean, you mentioned the connections with people.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Yeah, the connections with people is one thing that I do enjoy. Having been there, this will be my fifth one. So there are names and faces, you know, you reconnect with each time. And it seems as you move to the different regions, you know, it kind of draws a little different crowd every time because not everybody can make every meeting, and and you know, that's completely understandable, but there are some that that are there every time, so it's it's nice to reconnect with those. One of one of the gentlemen that I really enjoy reconnecting with each time is uh Walter Person. He taught most of my basic classes that first year in Orlando, so I I really appreciate the way he uh presented the classes and the information he gave. So I like to reconnect with him each year uh when we're at these things. I would say last year when we were in Arkansas, one of the more beneficial classes that I took was put on by Boulder Crest Foundation. These guys do a lot of work in uh post-traumatic growth. And so uh they have uh uh they work with military veterans, they've got retreats set up. And these these guys they do tremendous work. They they had a presentation they did called Struggle Well, and it was all about post-traumatic growth. And I I think of all the classes I've taken, I have actually brought that information back home and used it practically, perhaps more than anything else that I've that I've really picked up. I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and that's what I like about it. I mean, the you go to the training, it's relevant. I and I would say, you know, kind of like you taking the the basics last year, you've been a chaplain for 10 years, none of that was new.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

No, but I still learned things.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

There you go. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You still and and you get different perspectives from different ones in the room. So it's all good, right? It's all good. Um but when you can when you can grasp onto something that you can take home and you can say, I can implement this to help people in their lives, to me, that's what makes it worth going to these training seminars.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

I'm excited. Uh, I've got a new responsibility this year. I keep adding things because you know I I hate getting any actual rest. Right. But one of the things I'm doing this year at the actual annual training seminar is I'm gonna monitor classes. Okay. And so I'll be the one to introduce the speaker and I'm you know taking attendance and you know, making sure people don't just sign in and then leave. Because we take the education pretty seriously. If you're gonna take a class, we expect you to be there. If you have to use the restroom, if you have to take a phone call, fine. Yeah, but you got to come right because we're not gonna give you credit. Right. Yep. And so and so I'm gonna monitor those classes, but a couple, I think three of the classes that I'm doing are the basics. Okay so I'm doing the first and second basics class and then another one later. And so I get to see the people who are new to ICPC and some of them brand new to Chaplain City. And I am so excited to to like meet all those people. And I'm like really like, oh wow, you're you're doing something really worthwhile. Yeah. I hope, I hope that our passion for it is contagious to you. I hope that you you learn a lot, but I also hope that you feel like Jonah. Yeah, absolutely. That you that you have to do this, you feel compelled to invest in these police officers. I hope that's what we convey to people. Yeah. And and I'm really excited to be a part of that. I can't wait to see that first, you know, uh Chaplin Basics 01 class there that that very first Monday. I I can't wait to see them.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah, that's awesome. I've monitored classes a couple of times in the past, and I think I've got three I'm doing this year too. So it's always interesting when you you get the person's bio and uh you're gonna stand there and introduce them before they get up and give instruction. And and you know, sometimes you think, wow, uh I'm not sure I'm even worthy to introduce this person. You know, their bio is so extensive. But uh but you know, I and I've I've never had anybody act that way, you know? There's a lot of people, there's a lot of them there that have got a lot of education and a lot of experience, and you know, they'll they'll sit down at a table with you and and visit with you, and and you'd never know, you know, they just they don't have that air about them.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Well, if they're good chaplains, they've they've learned how to relate to people and not make it all about them. Yeah, exactly. So exactly absolutely all right, and then every day when we're done with classes, you and I are gonna find some conference room or a quiet hallway or something, and we're gonna break out the microphones and we're gonna give a little update each day, and that'll air then early the next morning, and so people can kind of hear, you know, what was yesterday at ICPC like for Jeremy and Jared. Yeah, very good. The two Kansas, two Kansas chaplains up in Spokane, Washington. Yeah, that'll be fun. Excited to have you on there. I hope I you know, I I'm wanting just kind of show people a glimpse of what it's like and like who we've met and what classes we took or what responsibilities we had, that kind of thing. Sure. I'm hoping that people kind of see that and can kind of follow along because there are people who, you know, they just could not get to Spoke In this year. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and so I'm hoping that they kind of feel like, hey, I'm still involved, I'm still kind of following what's happening. And we're gonna keep those episodes really short, just gonna be like little 10, 12 minute little update each day. Okay. And uh I'm glad you're co-hosting with me.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Well, I'm I'm excited to do it, Jared. I really am. I'm saddened that uh Ward's not gonna be with you this year. Uh oh, I know. I know. I did enjoy getting to meet him and visit with him last year, and uh and when you when you contacted me and you said Ward wasn't gonna be able to make it, and you asked me, I was I I'm I'm looking forward to this. I think it's gonna be a good time. You can beat the replacement ward, right? Ward 2.0.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

That's awesome. How are you getting to Spokane? I assume you're driving, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

I am not driving. I am flying. I I looked at that and I saw it was gonna be a two-day drive, and I thought I could probably make better use of my time.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

So it would it would be a chore. It would be a chore. Yeah, my flight, my flight out of Kansas City is connecting through Phoenix, Arizona. Okay. And I thought, Phoenix, there's no way that's too far west. Nope. Nope. If you go straight north from Phoenix, you've only gone as far west as as Montana. Okay. And so so it is still not as far west as eastern Washington. Okay. And so so I'm connecting through Phoenix. Uh, you're flying probably out of Wichita.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

I'm flying out of Wichita, I'm connecting in Denver.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Ah, see, that's great. Denver is like kind of a half, not halfway, but it's a nice, you know, in-between.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Nice little break there. Yeah. So the flights are not going to be incredibly long. Um I'm I'm just remembering your experience last year. And uh I'm really hoping. It couldn't be worse.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

It can't, it can't be worse. I had connecting flights both ways. Both both flights got delayed hours and hours. Yeah. Remember this. And so it it it can be as bad, but it cannot be worse than my flights last year.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Yeah, 100%. I told my wife, I said, Yeah, I'm I'm really hoping that uh I'd I'd just you know being associated with you that's not gonna rub off.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yeah, oh man. Man, I and I I've flown a lot in my life. I've had some bad layovers, you know, and delays and flights get canceled. I've had that happen a few times. Most of the time, it's fine. Sure. Most of the time it's on time and everything's hunky-dory. Yeah, but but mercy's sakes, last year getting to Little Rock. I should have driven. It was close enough to drive. I thought, nah, I want to fly. Yeah, I should have driven a car.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Yeah. Absolutely. Two years ago, when we were in uh we were in Pittsburgh, I don't know if you remember this or not, but two years ago, like almost all the airlines had a big computer glitch like right at the end of the ATS, and there were a lot of guys that got stranded in Pittsburgh over that deal. Yeah, there's a lot of guys. Thankfully, uh, I think I flew southwest that time, and uh their stuff was on track, and man, my my flights were right on time, but I know there was a lot of guys that did not get out of Pittsburgh when they were supposed to.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Yeah, I literally saw a headline this morning about airlines updating their computer systems. Not all of them have yet. Uh there a lot of them are still running like 20-year-old, 30-year-old software. Yeah. And and they're hoping to have it by 2028. And so I was like, oh my goodness. What a goal, huh? Yeah. Absolutely. Well, Jeremy, thank you for doing this. I really enjoy having you as a co-host. I can't wait to get together with you every day and find out what your day was like.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Yeah. Well, thank you, Jared. It's uh it's a pleasure to be here with you. And uh, I'm looking forward to spending the week up there, learning some new things and meeting some old friends, and uh hopefully meeting some folks that have been listening to you for a while and make those connections too.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

All right, Jeremy. I'll see you late Sunday night at Spokane when you pick me up from the airport, and then we'll see everybody else Monday night and then each successive night throughout the week. This is Jared Altic from Kansas City with Jeremy Hawkett from Wichita on the way to Spokane. This was the Daily ICPC from Hay Chaplin. And as always, let's pray for peace in our cities.