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Police Chaplains Lose Cross in Wake of Federal Lawsuit
Erik Loney
/ KXLY4 Reporter SPOKANE -- The cross is coming off the official patch worn by Spokane Police Department chaplains after a federal lawsuit prompted changes inside the police chaplains office. The removal of the cross stems from a lawsuit filed against the city last year by a senior police volunteer who argued it was unconstitutional to have a cross on an official City of Spokane insignia. The federal lawsuit, filed by Ray Ideaus, said the patch was illegal and the department's requirement that chaplains adhere to the Judeo / Christian ethic was also unconstitutional because government cannot favor one religion over another. So now the city has agreed to remove the patch and change the criteria so now non-religious people can also become chaplains. The head of the chaplains board said he's disappointed and called it an attack on Christianity but said it won't change much because they're still looking for good people to be chaplains. “If we have a person who wants to apply and is capable of dealing with people who have lost a family member and wants to show compassion to them and help officers with whatever issues they have. That's what we want,” David Staben, chairman of the chaplain’s board, said. Donations from police officers pay the chaplains’ wages and they can still can still wear a cross or religious symbol on their lapel like the military.
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