Policing in a Christian Key

By Neil Earle

Glendora Police Chief Tim Staab

Sometimes you hear a talk you wish the whole country could hear.

That was certainly the case at the ninth straight Glendora, CA Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on February 24. The keynote address was given by Police Chief Tim Staab who elaborated on the Scripture reading in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

As a fairly young man and a graduate of a well-known Christian school, Azusa Pacific University, Captain Tim proved a captivating and engaging speaker. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he told us. “Every day you make difference.”

He related an occasion directly involving one of the 227 guests at the breakfast. Paul, a Mormon, regularly thanks Tim for saving his life. Glendora police carry external fibrillators in their cars and that made a difference in the life of Paul, who nodded in agreement as the chief spoke.

The Tarnished Badge

Then Captain Staab got swinging into his real point and it was very timely indeed. “Today police are criticized, doubted and often feared,” he admitted. ”We’re under fire right now and a lot of that is our own fault. We police are high testosterone, Alpha dog, Type A individuals who can do it to you. We are often arrogant and slow to change.”

By now, the captain definitely had our attention.

“We need to change,” he frankly admitted.

He was not hesitant to expound Romans 5 where Paul said we are all called to “rejoice in our sufferings.” Suffering, St. Paul taught, creates endurance and endurance gives hope. The chief was hopeful that the present standoff between too many communities and their police can change for the better, a point clearly suffusing his message.

“Do you remember March 3, 1991?” he asked us. That was the day the public saw the Rodney King beating on TV and “that is not what we are taught.” That as the day motorcycle cop Tim Staab felt a tarnish on the badge. And now, he admitted, “the national rhetoric can be so disheartening.”

But…”endurance builds character,” the chief reminded us, returning to his theme. There is no Us and Them, we’re all in this together. Glendora has a great relationship with its police force. The present mayor, Karen Davis, is also head of the Ministerial Association and the police need that consistent support from the communities they serve.

Glendora Mayor Karen Davis

Lethal Weapons as Last Resort

“We make mistakes, usually with our mouths,” Tim added,” But we are fragile too, we break easily. We need grace to deal with quick decisions made under stress. People are not always saved, our partners get struck down. But sometimes there are shining examples.”

He then cited the case of Officer Craig Schubert who was assaulted by a man in a truck crashing into his car for no apparent reason. An eyewitness saw it all. The aggressor headed straight at Schubert with intent to harm while the officer reached for his taser but a bulky coat protected the suspect while he reached for Schubert’s gun. That is a red alert but Schubert persisted to wrestle the attacker to the ground, after trying all his defensive weapons first.

He finally subdued the assailant. “This was all witnessed and attested to and when we make mistakes we have to remember events like these. They should give us credit in the bank of public opinion. But we also should seek forgiveness when we do wrong.”

The audience applauded with a standing ovation this incisive insight into real police work, done well.

In general Glendora community heartily supports its officers. People send them cookies and cards at the office. People wave at them “with all their fingers.” The cars have cameras and a new initiative is forming to deal with the mentally ill, a file much more complex than the public thinks. “We’re getting a clinician to come in now for ten hours a week to help us do a better job.”

Prayer’s Two Edges

All 227 of us seemed suitably impressed with a candid and utterly sincere address. Mayor Davis then spoke: “When we come together as a community like this we are reminded that faith is essential to our success as a city.” She followed up Captain Tim’s address by reminding us that each place card where we sat had the name of a Glendora police officer on the back. We were asked to pray for each officer listed. “If you’re a little anxious about law enforcement we find when we pray for others that it not only lifts them up but changes us as well,” the mayor concluded.

All in all, a most memorable prayer breakfast. On behalf of my congregation I say thanks to Chief Tim Staab and his team for such timely and inspiring words.