Placer County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy highlights 46 years of volunteer crisis support to agencies and families

Senior Chaplain Lance Dustin, representing the Placer County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy, presented to the Board on March 18 to describe the organization’s volunteer crisis‑response and officer support services.

Dustin said the chaplaincy, incorporated as a 501(c)(3), traces its origins to a request from a sheriff and has operated for more than four decades. He said the organization has two paid chaplain positions, a small paid office staff and a larger volunteer corps: 36 chaplains total, including 10 law‑enforcement chaplains and 26 community chaplains; six additional trainees were in the current academy.

Dustin told the board the agency provides spiritual, emotional and mental‑health support to law‑enforcement personnel, families and citizens; it does agency visits, ride‑alongs, death notifications and incident debriefings, and chaplains are part of incident command for major events. For 2024 the chaplaincy reported roughly 34,000 hours of service, 326 emergency call‑outs, about 10,000 citizens served and approximately 4,000 law‑enforcement personnel contacts.

Supervisors thanked Dustin for the chaplaincy’s work and emphasized the non‑sectarian, supportive role law‑enforcement chaplains play. A representative of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office also publicly thanked the chaplaincy for its 24/7 support to deputies and families.

The board did not take any budgetary or policy action; the item was a presentation to introduce the new senior chaplain and outline services for the board to consider in ongoing partnerships.