Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Howell Police Department is welcoming two new police chaplains.

At Monday night’s meeting, City Council unanimously approved a motion to appoint Pastor Danny Davis and Pastor Brad Tate as the new police chaplains for the department.

Chaplains provide services to department members, their families, and the community as a whole. The program is designed to provide services related to emotional, moral, and spiritual needs that department members may request. Additionally, the Chaplains will serve alongside officers in the community at events such as the Melon Festival and Balloonfest and occasionally on scenes of tragedy or loss experienced by citizens.

Both pastors vocalized their pride in the community and the honor they felt being able to serve alongside the officers of the Department, and a number of supporters were in attendance at the packed meeting.

Chief Dunn stated during the meeting that the program is something they looked into over the last year following some incidents that officers have had to deal with.

Dunn said there are times when officers think they’re responding to a minor crash that turns out to be fatal and then they move on to other calls – never really having time to process things until the end of a shift. He said then officers go home and have to deal with it, “how do you deal with it?” Dunn noted a lot of officers don’t like discussing these types of things with their spouse and need an avenue to decompress – which is a lot of what the Chaplain Corps is for. He stated that if there is a tragedy, the chaplains can also assist family on scene and be there for support; and reach out to the families of officers if needed.

Dunn stressed the program is not religious based and they are not trying to teach religion to officers – it’s just simply about being there and being a part of the community. He said the Department already has a mental health program, this will just personalize it and give officers someone to talk to.

Appointed chaplains will serve in a voluntary, unpaid role serving the department and community. Both Davis and Tate were confirmed through background and experience as being qualified to serve in the positions.

Pictured left to right: Chief Michael Dunn, Pastor Davis, Pastor Tate, Deputy Chief Matt Kelleher.