MPD program takes clergy from the pulpit to the streets
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Several members of the clergy have been getting an up-close look at police work over the last few weeks.
The Clergy Academy is a chance for religious leaders to hear from and even ride along with police to experience crime-fighting firsthand.
The 15th session of the Memphis Police Department's Clergy Academy is a six-week course with a full 12 hours of curriculum, where officers break down police work from sex crimes to domestic violence.
The Clergy Academy was started in 2011 under then police director Tony Armstrong. This latest class will graduate on May 1st.
Dorshauna Shinault is a native Memphian who watched police from afar. When she got a chance to get an up-close look, she quickly signed on through her True Prophetic Ministries Church.
'We are all working hand in hand, and it's just not their fight or your fight. It's all of our fight,' she said.
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From the classroom, it goes to the streets. Church members see police work firsthand from roll call to heading out on patrol. With a word of prayer, they hit the street.
Angelique Henderson of City of Faith Church is riding with Officer Holmes for an inside look at what happens during a regular shift.
The first call comes from a local school. A threat has been made against the principal. Henderson is right there to hear it all and see how police respond.
The situation has kinda died down. But he did listen to everybody, wrote down, took his notes,' she said.
When the call comes in about a man having a mental crisis in South Memphis, police have to turn to specialized Crisis Intervention Training to calm a tense situation.
Police don't arrest him, but plan to take the man to a local mental facility to be assessed, only he doesn't want to go. More officers are called to the scene, and they finally get him to cooperate and get help.
'We are gonna take him on down for some mental evaluation,' MPD Lt. Tom Walters said. 'He doesn't agree with our decision, but he is clearly in crisis. Some of the things he was saying to the CIT officers were very clear indicators.'
Henderson is there to see how police interact.
'I think that was a good judgment call because the young man is in crisis,' she said. 'I saw that myself because of the repetition, and he kept saying things over and over again. Getting out, seeing how it's handled, how it's done, you can get nothing better than experience.'
Police Chief CJ Davis says it's good for the clergy to see firsthand what police officers do every day.
'So it's an education for them. But I always tell them it's just it's not about us educating them, but it's also an opportunity for our community members or clergy to talk to us about what they expect from the police department, and really have deep discussions,' Davis said.
She says it also brings new eyes and ears to crime-fighting.
'If we have a problem in a community or we need information about something or a trend that's going on in the community, a lot of times our churches, our individuals, our clergy they know not just where things are happening, they know who it is that we might need to talk to,' Davis said.
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Those who have been through the Clergy Academy agree. Pastor Vinvecca Gray with Golden Leaf Church was in the 11th Clergy Academy Class.
'After going through the program and taking the different classes, I've learned that there are so many different parts to what the police department does,' Gray said.
It's helped her deal with issues in the community around her church.
'I'm going to tell you what really blew my mind was the sex trafficking that has occurred through Tennessee that I wasn't aware about,' Gray said. 'Oh, my goodness. I didn't realize it was just so close to home. So it gives us different things to pray about, not just pray about, but to teach about.'
Now Gray works with police, praying with families who have lost loved ones in gun violence, and she has served as Chaplain of Graduation for new recruits.
She highly recommends the academy and any opportunity to learn more about what police do.
'It is an extension of what we've been called to do,' Gray said. 'The Great Commission in Matthew 28:22 tells us to go, not sit, not stay, but go. And that's what we're doing.'
You can click here for more information on the next class.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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