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Police Chaplaincy 

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Dom was born & bred in Cornwall, until moving to Hampshire in 2017, he is married to Hannah who is a primary school teacher and they have 1 daughter who was born in lockdown 1 – May 2020. Ordained as an Anglican Priest in 2011 Dom spent 6 years in parishes in Cornwall before moving to Hampshire on August 17 to be the first-ever full-time Lead Chaplain to the Force. During his time in Cornwall, Dom was a volunteer police chaplain with Devon and Cornwall Police based at Falmouth Police Station; whilst at Falmouth Dom became famous (in his station!) for always bringing in a cake – something he has carried with him into his role in Hampshire. Since being a Lead Chaplain, Dom has worked hard to build a team of 22 volunteer chaplains across the Force from a variety of different faith groups and the Chaplaincy team in Hampshire recently won the award for ‘Volunteer Team of the Year’. Dom is also the Force Religion and Belief Champion is passionate about enabling people of all faiths and none to flourish in the workplace. Dom is a trustee of Police Chaplaincy UK – the national body for police chaplains and looks after their communications and website. 

Dom will be tweeting as @HantsPoliceChap 

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Zaheer was born in Lancashire and is married to Sabana, a henna artist, and they have two boys aged 7 and 4. 

As a chaplain with Lancashire Constabulary, Zaheer has provided confidential pastoral care, welfare support, and well-being to the police officers, staff, volunteers, and the wider police family for over a decade; a long time before well-being became a word in vogue. 

Previously, Zaheer spent 6 years as a teacher in a secondary school and (at the same time) was a chaplain at two colleges and a university and currently, in his day job, he owns and runs a travel agency. 

In 2020, Zaheer spent over 1,500 hours volunteering to provide chaplaincy support and having a “confidential chat” with thousands of people from the police family not just in Lancashire but throughout the UK. 

As a volunteer, Zaheer has the enviable benefit of having no paperwork to complete, providing support independent from the organisational command structure of the police; with the freedom to be impartial. 

When asked about what he loves about his role, Zaheer said, “In the busy world of the police, a chaplain has time and in an ever-changing environment world of policing, chaplaincy is a constant. Although it’s a challenging role, it puts me in a privileged position. I love supporting the police family during their difficult times and nobody gets to know about it.”. He added “There was a time when I used to ask if I can trust the police, now the police family asks if they can trust me to tell me things that they can’t tell others.” 

Zaheer will be tweeting as @IslamicChaplain 

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Police Chaplaincy 

Right from the early days of the police service, it was realised that much of police work, by its very nature, is stressful and can be de-humanising. 

Working in today’s police service is increasingly challenging, but now there is a greater awareness of the effects of prolonged exposure to stressful situations. It is recognised that, more than ever, at times individuals may need some help to be able to keep things in perspective. It is recognised, too, that everybody is a complete person: body, mind and spirit. Police work can affect us, our physical and mental well-being, as well as, perhaps, our own deeply held standards and beliefs. 

As part of this holistic care, chaplains work alongside the other wellbeing agencies who work within the force structures. 

The basic role of the chaplain is to care: to care for the individuals within each force and to care for the organisation itself. Chaplains are in a unique position because they are not part of the structure, nor are they required to report in detail what they do. Their work is totally confidential. 

What do chaplains actually do? 

They make themselves available to people who need someone to talk to someone in confidence. 

By their on-going presence, they become aware of the stresses & strains of life in their force and try to help staff at all levels by being a critical friend. 

All chaplains will pray regularly for their force and for the situations and members of staff they are involved with. 

If appropriate, they visit staff who are ill at home or in hospital and they offer care to families and friends. 

They get involved if a member of staff dies, particularly if this is whilst in service. 

They lead formal religious services such as carol services or memorial services. They may also officiate at weddings and other ceremonies, if appropriate. 

Although chaplains are appointed specifically to care for staff, they will, of course, help with victims or offenders if necessary and will certainly offer advice on matters of religious faith. 

They are available as an operational resource to officers; for example, in situations of distress or death. 

 Chaplains don’t try to convert you!