Editor’s note: This is the second of a four-part series on the changes that are made when an adult converts to the LDS Church. Read part 1 here.
Everyone’s workplace is different. However, finding opportunities to apply the lessons of the gospel in our professional lives is as important as living up to our covenants in our personal lives – you can’t do one without the other. To illustrate this point, I must rely heavily on those experiences I have undergone in the workplace since my conversion. My reason for doing so is not to spotlight achievement, but strictly to emphasize how humbly turning to the Lord in the workplace can help each of us magnify our covenants.
In Part I of Ripples of Adult Conversion, I wrote about the responsibility we have to bring the spirit of the Lord into the secular workplace and seeking his guidance as we do our jobs. Obviously, this can be a daunting challenge, forcing us to humble ourselves if we are to understand Father’s plan and be willing instruments in his hands.
I told of a harrowing experience I underwent when two incarcerated rape suspects brought a civil suit against the police department, the city of LA, myself and my partner as the arresting officers. After eighteen months, during which I struggled mightily with a deepening anger toward the suspects and the legal system, the incident finally came to a head the week before my baptism.
Although I had prayed about the situation many times, the climax came when I finally humbled myself in a prayer aimed not at my own burden, but that of the two suspects held fast in the talons of the adversary. This prayer of compassion led to immediate feelings of comfort and a sudden resolution to the case the next day, when it was thrown out of court as being without merit.
I took this hard-learned lesson with me into the waters of baptism, emerging with a determination to apply it at every opportunity. Little did I know how soon the Lord would test my resolve.
Prayer in the Workplace
In 2 Nephi 32:9 we read:
But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
Praying always doesn’t mean praying only about things in our personal lives. It means praying always, in all things. It also means seeking to discover through prayer and reflection what Father’s will is in order that He may elevate the welfare of our soul. If I didn’t bring the power of prayer to my professional life (along with the other spiritual gifts of baptism such as the Holy Ghost’s guidance, humility, and fasting), how could I know I was serving Father in the way he would have me serve?
Shortly after my baptism four years ago, I became the officer-in-charge of a newly formed LAPD sex crimes unit covering twenty-five percent of the city. In that position, I rapidly discovered applying Father’s guidance when dealing with child molesters and rapists had nothing to do with judgment or vengeance. In fact, those sentiments were the exact antithesis to success.
About a month after my unit was established, one of my detectives came to me to discuss a child molester she had arrested. She had interrogated the suspect, who had waived his rights, but refused to admit to the allegations leveled against him. Often an interrogation can be jump-started by bringing in what car salesmen call a closer – another individual with a different approach who can overcome obstacles and close the deal. My detective thought this technique might work with this suspect and asked me to play the closer role.
Real World Interrogation
To explain the situation further, I must digress for a few sentences. Interrogation as practiced on television in such shows as NYPD Blue and all the C.S.I., and Law & Order franchises – like most episodic television shows – bears little resemblance to real life police procedures. Most of the intimidation tactics, trickery, and strategies used in these shows would land real cops in jail for all manner of civil rights violations. Even the most popular television cliché – good cop, bad cop – is a violation of a suspect’s right not to be intimidated.
In reality, interrogation is a delicate mental dance with three main keys. First, belief in the suspect’s guilt (even if the interrogator later changes his mind regarding this issue, he has to enter the interrogation with the certainty firmly in place). Second, a total lack of moral judgment toward the suspect. And third, a determination to find a socially acceptable manner/excuse the suspect believes you will accept for his behavior.
Of the above three keys, it is particularly important in sex crimes to find an excuse the suspect thinks will not diminish him in the eyes of the interrogator while still allowing him to shed the burden of his guilt. Does this mean I, as the interrogator, believe the excuse? Absolutely not – as it usually involves passing a portion of the blame onto the victim or other entities/circumstances. However, if the suspect believes I will accept his confession on this basis, I’m delighted to present the excuse as it will not mitigate the outcome of the confession – the suspect being incarcerated.
Prayers for the Fallen
Immediately after being approached by my detective to act as closer in this particular situation, I felt the spirit prompting me to pray. In all of my police career, I’d never considered this before. What did the spirit expect? Was I supposed to fold my arms and close my eyes right there and break into prayer? Get on my knees next to my desk and bow my head?
Once beyond my initial surprise regarding this spiritual request, I realized it was the lesson I’d already learned coming around once again. With my detective looking at me expectantly, I excused myself and left the squad room. A police station is a busy place with little hope of privacy. Still, I found an empty interrogation room, closed the door, turned out the lights, and spent a few moments in silence, listening for the prompting to come again. When it did, I closed my eyes and prayed.
I did not pray to get a confession, nor for the four-year-old victim. Instead, I steeled myself and prayed for the suspect’s heart to be open to repentance, for the blessing of discernment, and for the correct words and guidance in order to carry out the Lord’s will.
The suspects we dealt with in our assignment ranged the extremes from people exercising bad judgment to unspeakable monsters, I had learned. However, it was my job to deal objectively with their secular actions, not to pass judgment on their eternal consequences.
After praying, I entered the interrogation room where the suspect was waiting and sat next to him (never on the opposite side of a table or some other barrier). I introduced myself, speaking softly and plainly. I then sat in silence with him, watching every nuance of his body language for some clue as to how to open him up.
The suspect had no prior record. He was an illegal immigrant with little formal education. He was a manual laborer, who worked hard enough to afford a small apartment next door to his sister’s family.
His four-year-old niece was the victim. Like many child molest victims, she was too young to testify in court. There was no physical evidence. I emphasize there is no excuse for molesting a child, but I had to find an excuse for the suspect’s behavior he would believe was socially acceptable enough to confess his guilt.
“How long has your wife been pregnant?” I asked.
Where did that question come from?
The suspect looked up at me sharply. “Seven months,” he said, tears forming in his eyes.
I had him. I knew I had him. I reached out and put my hand on his knee (it’s amazing how much difference gentle human contact can make). “Well, that explains everything,” I said, and immediately began putting the blame for his actions on his wife for not taking care of her spousal duties resulting in his inability to resist the charms of a four-year-old. Within a few minutes, the suspect was consumed with jagged waves of sobbing as he admitted to everything he had done.
I had no idea the suspect was married, let alone that his wife was pregnant. Was my question a total shot in the dark, or inspiration from the Lord? I believe it was an answer to my prayer.
Do I believe his wife being pregnant and not having sexual relations with him is an excuse for molesting a child? Absolutely not! But, the suspect believed I’d accept it as an excuse and not judge him. I let him have his dignity both before and after the confession. As the case played out, getting the confession meant the difference between the suspect going to jail and a prosecutor rejecting the case.
Other Crimes, Other Cases
For me, the above incident confirmed again the mandate I had received to pray for those who are the hardest to pray for, because they need our prayers the most. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus counsels, “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”
With years behind me of watching suspects wreak destruction across the lives of others, this often appears to be an insurmountable task. Yet having seen it work again and again, I have been convinced of the truth within it.
Should violent offenders, even non-violent offenders, escape secular responsibility for their actions? Obviously not, but recognition of them as our spiritual brothers or sisters can give us insight into what torment their souls must be in. It is also important that the repercussions of secular punishment help offenders to truly repent and find their way out of the grip of the adversary – and this can only be done by sincere and prayerful petitioning of the Lord through Jesus Christ.
From interrogations, I also took prayer into other areas of my work. When we are working sexual assault cases with unknown suspects, I believe praying for guidance to recognize clues, for inspiration to be in the right place at the right time, or for other members of the task force to be guided by the spirit, can be a huge advantage. For me, this is on par with Alma praying about where to send the troops to defend themselves from the Lamanites. It’s inspiring when you actually ask God to help you with this work.
Proverbs 3:5-6 reads: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Following this guidance, I subsequently practiced fasting during the pursuit of sex crimes suspects and found it to bring many professional blessings.
Sometimes these blessings were not immediate. Perhaps I wasn’t listening intently enough, perhaps there were lessons to be learned in the pursuit, or maybe there were other facets of Father’s plan delaying or negating success. However, if we believe what we are taught in the scriptures, why shouldn’t these spiritual tools guide our secular professional lives? The experiences following these practices during the three years our unit was in operation were nothing short of amazing – unlike anything I had encountered in thirty years of police work.
I prayed for guidance as a leader, to provide service to the detectives assigned to the unit so they could do their jobs. I fasted for breaks in important cases with no clues, and suddenly received them. Inspiration came out of left field that could only come from the Lord. In one instance, we went from a robbery/sexual assault with no suspect information to three suspects in custody eighteen hours later, full confessions, and what eventually turned out to be a clearance of more than eighteen similar cases.
On another occasion, I was confronted with doing something every good interrogator knows is the kiss of death. I had to interrogate a suspect (a Spanish-only speaker, so I needed an interpreter) in a rush because I had to get to court in thirty minutes. I prayed, walked into the interrogation with one of my detectives who spoke Spanish, and walked out of there ten minutes later with a full taped confession of rape. No way would that have happened without the intervention of the Lord.
During the search for a serial rapist, I fasted for a break in the case. The next night we captured the suspect. He matched the composite, was identified by three of the victims (all Korean females), and had a prior record for similar crimes – only it wasn’t the guy we wanted. The suspect’s DNA didn’t match the evidence gathered from the victims and crime scenes.
I went back and fasted again. Three nights later (the day after fasting because it took a couple of days to find out we didn’t have the right suspect the first time around), we caught another suspect in a manner secularists would consider a fluke. This time the DNA matched. The first suspect turned out to be good for a string of violent robberies, and I’m convinced the Lord led us to both of suspects before there were more victims.
Then and Now
Having had these experiences through bringing my covenants and spiritual blessings to my professional life, I realize I can no longer do my job without the Lord. I know it is my mandate to keep compassion in my heart for the suspects no matter how heinous. If that compassion is real, it somehow translates into a metaphysical connection that leads to confession after confession. I see it working on a daily basis.
Sincerely praying for those who are the hardest to pray for brings uncountable blessings. I testify to the truth of it. It is a daily struggle to remember to stay humble, to understand these are the Lord’s works, not brilliant police work on my part. As we see so often in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, to forget those points brings nothing but the withdrawing of the spirit and leads to disaster.
As Heber J Grant reminded us, “The prayerful and humble man will always realize and feel that he is dependent upon God for every blessing that he enjoys, and in praying to God he will not only pray for the light and the inspiration of His Holy Spirit to guide him, but he will feel to thank God for the blessings he receives, realizing that life, that health, that strength, and that all the intelligence which he possesses comes from God, who is the Author of his existence.”
Although many of the examples I have given have been based in my law enforcement experiences, in Part 3 of Ripples of Adult Conversion I will discuss other faith-based applications we can bring to our professional lives no matter what our profession.
