When he isn’t offering the mass at his church, baptizing an police officer’s child or performing a wedding, Criscuolo often rides with D.C. police officers, lending them his ear and spiritual counseling to help them deal with on-the-job stress resulting from shootings and deaths of fellow officers.

"It’s not always so tragic. I tend to meet all kinds of funny people. It’s good if you can find one positive thing each day. That’s what I tell the officers," said Father Sal, as he is known to members of the Metropolitan Police Department and parishioners at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Oxon Hill, Md..

"I remember riding in the car downtown with an officer and while we were stopped, this elderly woman gets into the back seat and asks us to take her home. The officer took her home and when she gets out, she said ‘How much do I owe you?’ and the officer said ‘No charge this time, it’s on me’."

Criscuolo said he’s been stopped on several occasions by tourists asking for directions and hailed at accident scenes, in which case he calls for police backup.

In his 12 years as a police chaplain, Criscuolo said he’s supported officers in everything from births to accidents to suicides. He recalls one incident when a new officer witnessed someone jumping to his death.

"There was a jumper on the Calvert Street Bridge and a new officer had seen the whole thing. When I arrived at the scene, he (the officer) just kept repeating ‘Father, I’d never seen anything like that.’

"Sometimes what they see is so traumatic and hard to separate. Instead of leaving it on the streets, they bring it home," he said.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time we just listen to them. They feel like they can open up to me rather than another officer simply because I’m a priest," added Criscuolo, who is the only full-time chaplain in the District for the city police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

In addition to Criscuolo, four other chaplains work part time with the D.C. police department. They are the Rev. Michael Marrett, an Episcopal minister; the Rev. Lewis M. Anthony, pastor of Metropolitan Wesley AME Zion Church; the Rev. Stephen Short, a Pentecostal minister; and Jewish Rabbi Saul Koss. All the chaplains volunteer their time.

In cases where an officer is injured or killed, police chaplains also help in comforting the family and assuring their wellbeing, according to chaplain Short. He said being a police chaplain combines spirituality, law enforcement, psychology and ethics.

"We’re like an extended family. The death of one is like the death of all, " said Short, who also serves the Pentecostal Campus Ministry and the Outreach Bible Society.

"We also nurture the wellbeing of the families and provide spiritual comfort," said Rabbi Koss, who was a military chaplain for 20 years.

Koss, director of Jewish Chaplaincy Services and the Jewish Free Burial Services, said he has found his background in psychology and pastorial counseling helpful in his position as police chaplain.

Lt. Mark Carter, a technical services officer who has been a member of the D.C. police department for 15 years, has worked with Criscuolo and said the priest always has the right words no matter the situation.

"I think it takes a unique individual to deal with some of the gut-wrenching things that go on in the street," Carter said.

"When it comes to situations involving deaths of the cops, he not only gives his sincere support to the fellow officers but gives equally to the family. He’s very forthright and poised. He knows what to say, how to act and he never forgets.

"I don’t know how he does it," Carter added. "I guess it’s his God-like spirit. He’s a special kind of guy."

Chaplain Short noted that police chaplains are humans and certain things will affect them like other people. He remembers a shooting in Southeast Washington when he had to comfort a white police officer who shot a black man.

"At the same time, I sympathized with the black subject," said Short, who is African-American.

"I do have my own priest that I go to, as well as some friends for advice," Criscuolo said. "What I’ve discovered is to actually listen to what I tell the officers, and I apply it to myself and situations."

Criscuolo said being a full-time chaplain has made him more aware that law enforcement is a tough job.

"One thing people need to know is that these officers are human," he said.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator