Officer Ritter’s badge sits under the same glass as one from Father Brown’s family. His great-grandfather was killed in the line of duty in 1917. Patrolman William Brown was shot while apprehending a suspect and later died in the hospital.

“My great-grandfather’s badge was number 711, and so I always look to that to recognize his sacrifice and his service,” Father Brown said. “Even though I never knew my great-grandfather, and even though he was never a part of my life, I still felt obligated to do something. I knew that I wanted to help the police in my own way because I felt connected to them.”

Father Brown became the Cleveland police chaplain in 2016. He is the only Catholic chaplain. The rest of the department’s 16 chaplains are from other denominations.

“Our charge is that we’re there for the officers as well as their families. It doesn’t matter what their religious faith is, what their background is, where they’re coming from,” Father Brown explained. “Sometimes, there’s no faith background and we’re still called to be there with them, to stand with them, to support them in every way possible,” he added.

Father Brown’s chaplaincy is on a volunteer basis, in addition to his regular service as pastor of Mary Queen of Peace Parish and School in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. His chaplain duties range from leading prayers at memorial services to being boots on the ground at the most tragic moments.

“When that phone rings in the middle of the night, usually I know what it is as soon as I answer. It's to jump out of bed, get dressed and go to the hospital immediately,” Father Brown explained. “I’ve been in the hospitals for several officers who have been killed in the line of duty and that’s a very, very difficult time. Sometimes, I’ll lead a prayer. But most of the time, I’ll just stand there. And that visible sign of a man of the cloth being there at that hospital shoulder to shoulder with all these other officers who knew the officer who was killed, it’s really powerful.”

Cleveland Detective Chris Porter understands firsthand the power of Father  Brown’s presence. His older brother, best friend and fellow Cleveland Patrol Officer David Fahey Jr., was killed in the line of duty in 2017. (See related story on page 14).

Chris recalled that Father Brown was there the night his brother died and he continued to show up at various memorial events in the following months. In addition to the mental health counseling and other services Chris received from the police Employee Assistance Unit, he credits Father Brown with the spiritual healing he needed to deal with his grief.

“When I lost my brother, I did not do well. I kind of tanked completely and lost my faith,” he recalled.

Chris, who grew up Catholic, heard from plenty of well-meaning family members that losing his brother was part of God’s plan. But that was something he was not yet ready to hear. “If God’s plan was to take my brother away from me, I didn’t want to hear about it,” he said. “I feel like Father Brown really toed that line very well, allowing me to deal with my anger with my religion and God and to wait for me to be ready to have the spiritual conversations I needed at the right time.”

Father Brown said it’s important to trust God. “I think we have to trust him and how he draws souls to him. We often get in the way when we say, ‘I’m going to help this person.’ We have to allow God to work in God’s time,” he added.

Chris credits the Holy Spirit’s intervention with the fact he now works in the EAU where he helps fellow officers deal with personal losses or other challenging circumstances. He works closely with Father Brown and also has a partner named Apollo, a specially trained emotional support dog. Chris and the 3-year-old English yellow Labrador retriever regularly visit officers to help reduce stress, especially among those who recently experienced a crisis.

“The Lord put me in a place where I could use the tools that I gained and the knowledge that I learned while fixing myself to help other people do the same,” Chris said. “I never would have gotten to this point and had these abilities to help people without God and his guidance in my life and saying, ‘OK, you went through something, let’s make something good out of it,’” he added.

“I would agree that I think there is a sense of good that can come out of bad,” Father Brown said. “Through his work with employee assistance, Chris has realized the satisfaction of helping others because he needed help once before. So, his work is good work, and it’s rooted in reality,” he added.

Patrol Officer Dave Muniz is another police officer who experienced the bad and the good with Father Brown. In 2020, he was near death with a second bout of cancer. “Father Brown came to the hospital to give me last rites,” Officer Muniz recalled. “Now, by the grace of God, I am in remission. I have a beautiful family, and Father Brown played an integral role in helping us adopt our son. I definitely see the Holy Spirit working through Father Brown to support me and other officers,” he added.

Father Brown is also the sole chaplain for the Cleveland Division of Fire. His duties are similar to those for the police. They are not always tied to tragedy.

Lt. Kevin McGervey of the Fire Department recalled the joy of having Father Brown baptize his second and third sons. A lifelong Catholic, Kevin appreciates that he can rely on Father Brown. “It makes me feel more secure to know if something bad happens to me, I can count on Father Brown to show up at the hospital and give me last rites,” Kevin said. He also noted how he and others appreciate that Father Brown goes to all the fire stations in Cleveland on Ash Wednesday to distribute ashes.

Father Brown said he’s done almost everything as a chaplain that he does in his regular priestly duties. One added thing he enjoys is speaking to the new recruits at the Cleveland Police Academy.

“I tell every academy class that if you don’t have some kind of faith background, some kind of understanding that there’s something greater than you that exists, then you’re going to be bitter and cynical in five years,” he said. “You’ve got to believe that you’re a small part of the battle of good vs. evil that has gone on since the days of the Garden of Eden and will continue long after you and I are both gone. That sense of being a small part of a much bigger picture I think helps officers keep things in perspective. It does for me.”

Another important activity for Father Brown is helping to carry the giant American flag in the Cleveland Police Week parade. He’s proud to don his police dress uniform and embrace all the sacrifices it represents.

“What’s in my heart and soul that calls me to serve those who serve would be that sense of wanting to offer myself in the same way that they’re offering themselves, the same way that they’re able to make that commitment,” Father Brown said.

“I also recognize that this is where God wants me right now in my priesthood and this is the type of work that he has me doing. And I’m grateful for that because I get a lot of satisfaction from it. The relationships I’ve formed, the friendships that I’ve made, the experiences that I’ve had, I would never have had any of that if it weren’t for my involvement with the fire and the police.”