Spirit of the Law

 

Dr. Steven Davis spearheaded SpiritoftheLaw.org  website as a resource for Law Enforcement Administration, EAP units, and other caregivers to those in law enforcement and other initial responders. Those who opt to become First Responders have a high sense of social consciousness - an increased sense of empathy. The officer has powers that even the President of the United States does not have - the power of life and death, power to arrest - and at the same time, is an easy target for those who want to do him or her harm: wearing a uniform and driving a marked and lighted car make the police officer an instantly identifiable target. The officer knows he or she may have to die to defend a member of the public, or may take a bullet from that same individual. No other profession has to wear a bulletproof vest in order to carry out the job of caring for others.

Few in the public are ambivalent in their attitudes towards the law enforcement officer. He or she is resented, hated, ridiculed, and mistrusted by many of those he or she is sworn to protect. Others idealize those in law enforcement and expect the miraculous powers of precognition, extra-sensory perception and omnipotence ( "Why haven't you caught my son's killer yet? You COULD if you wanted to! etc." ).

At a working group conference held by the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, dedicated to studying available resources and approaches to helping those in law enforcement deal with the spiritual aspects of their career choice, Dr. Davis became aware of the need for a centralized repository of knowledge in this arena. The working group conference, entitled "The Spirit of the Law," included a multi-cultural selection of experienced professionals in the mental health, spiritual health education and law enforcement fields. Many of the professionals in attendance at "The Spirit of the Law" working group had been developing their ideas and resources independently, often without the benefit of realizing that other individuals throughout the country were dealing with the same issues.

The term "spirit of the law" refers initally to the intention of the law, which is so many times skewed by those operating under the strictest letter of the law. The term "spirit of the law" in the context of this website and the "Spirit of the Law" conference(s) sponsored by the Behavioral Science Unit refers to the spirit and spiritual wellbeing of those men and women called upon to enforce both the letter and the spirit of the law. This usage was coined by Supervisory Special Agent Samuel Feemster in the BSU. SSA Feemster is one of the prime motivating forces behind the Spirit of the Law working group.

Due to the corrosive nature of dealing with evil on a continuing basis, law enforcement officers face a particular set of challenges that many are not prepared for. The Academy offers cognitive instruction, physical training and weapons training. Thousands of hours and dollars are spent on instructing the law enforcement officer on how to use deadly force proficiently. But, rarely is even an hour of training devoted to how to handle the aftermath (other than the paperwork) of pulling the trigger as trained.

The factors that shipwreck the career of a law enforcement officer are rarely a lack of cognitive, physical or even weapons training. The destructive factors generally are not in the cognitive or the physical realm, but in the realm of the individual's spirit. Substance abuse (at least initially), domestic violence, abuse of power, corruption, excessive force, and racism are not in the rational or cognitive realm. They are in the realm of the spirit. An individual may be highly trained, exceedingly intelligent, yet be plagued with problems of a spiritual nature. We hold that everyone has a spirituality, developed or undeveloped, even though not all have a religious faith.

Our hope is to provide resources to help neutralize the toxic effects of being exposed to evil on a continual basis. When an officer is regularly exposed to death, murder, perversion, corruption, dishonesty, and violence, there will be spillovers domestically and professionally. When an officer is experiencing domestic problems, and comes onto duty after a fight with a spouse, he or she puts on the badge and straps on the gun as a dispirited individual. It has been said that the most dangerous individual in society is a spiritually unhealthy and imbalanced police officer. The daily environment of the law enforcement officer makes him or her more highly susceptible to substance abuse, coronary problems and suicide than is the general population. More in law enforcement die from suicide or heart attacks than in the carrying out of duty.

One area of study that has been little explored is the spiritual health and balance necessary for those in law enforcement to achieve and maintain, if a long and successful career is to be expected. The Spirit of the Law is an effort to bring together the experience, expertise, wisdom and insights of those who work within the law enforcement community so as to maximize the benefits to those we serve.

Steven L. Davis, Ph.D., is an FBI Chaplain, assigned to Washington, DC and Quantico, VA. In this capacity he is a resource provided by the Bureau to the employees and families of the agency. FBI chaplains work in cooperation with the Employee Assistance Program, and are available for call outs 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide critical incident debriefings, to help employees and their family members find direction in solving personal, family and emotional problems. He was called out to the PentBomb site for the first several days after the terrorist attacks in September 2001. The presence of a Chaplain is requested at critical incidents, such as the 9-11-2001 attacks in New York and the Pentagon, as well as to ERT, death notifications and on an as-needed basis at the request of an employee or of the Bureau.

 

Dr. Davis has been providing spiritual and counseling support in the field of criminal justice since 1976. He began as a Chaplain with the Maryland Department of Corrections at that time. He has developed a unique approach of melding the cognitive, the emotional and the spiritual together to help individuals achieve balance and spiritual health.

 

Dr. Davis is a regular speaker and presenter at conferences and conventions, and is available for civic groups, churches, colleges and universities. To contact him about speaking for your group or ministry, email him at sdavis@spiritofthelaw.org or phone at 301-645-1000. He has spoken and lectured in England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and India as well as throughout the United States. He has had his own radio program, and has guested on several others. He has also been on national television numerous times. He works with local law enforcement, where he has served as Sheriff's Chaplain for several years, with the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

Dr. Davis is an ordained minister with the Southern Methodist Church. He has his Bachelor's degree in Religion, holds a Masters in Divinity, (M. Div), and a Ph.D. in Psychology. He is married, and has three children.

 

 

Samuel L. Feemster, J.D., is the visionary and leader behind the Spirit of the Law Working Group. He is is a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI. The seeds of the study of The Spirit of The Law began in Feemster's mind years ago as a new agent. He became interested in the why some in Law Enforcement seemed to be able to easily operate within not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as well. Others, would push the letter of the law to the limit, while totally violating the spirit of the law. SSA Feemster began exploring the individual Law Enforcement Officer's degree of what may be labeled "spiritual functionality" as it  may or may not relate to his or her professional functionality.  Finding a clear correlation prompted SSA Feemster to assemble a group of  law enforcement professionals, behavioral psychologists, academics and law enforcement chaplains to assemble a body of knowledge pertaining to this area of study.

 

SSA  Feemster works in the Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico, VA and is an instructor at the FBI Academy. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and a J.D. from Wakeforest School of Law. He is currently working on his Masters of Divinity at The John Leland Center for Theological Studies. The concept for SpiritoftheLaw.org is from the passion that Special Agent Feemster has for the spiritual well being of men and women in law enforcement nationwide.

 

John M. Violanti, Ph.D., is a Full Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Rochester, New York in Criminal Justice, and an Associate Clinical Professor and member of the graduate faculty at the State University of NY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Professor Violanti is a retired 23-year veteran of the New York State Police, serving as a trooper and with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. During the last few years of his police career, Dr. Violanti helped to establish and coordinate the first Psychological and Employee Assistance Program for the State Police.

Dr. Violanti’s research interests include psychological stress, post traumatic stress (PTSD) and police suicide. He has published five books and numerous journal articles on these topics, and continues research in the area of policing. He has consulted and provided training for police agencies throughout the world on matters of PTSD and suicide.

 

 

Dr. Lawrence Au is a veteran Law Enforcement Chaplain, having been an FBI Chaplain since 1994 and a San Francisco Police commissioned chaplain since 1964. He is a Commissioned Chaplain with the Civil Air Patrol/U.S. Air Force (Captain) and has been involved in the ministry in San Francisco for 35 years.  Dr. Au is an inaugural member of the Spirit of the Law Working Group, and has presented at the FBI Academy on numerous occasions. He is currently senior pastor of San Bruno Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco.