A Christian policeman’s promise to God

By John McNeil of Challenge Weekly, New Zealand
Special to ASSIST News Service

Sunday, September 3, 2006


WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (ANS) -- “I cried out to God when my son Tyler was taken seriously ill as a baby,” Paul Fong recounts.

“He lay dead for 45 minutes. I said, ‘If you bring him back to life, I’ll bring him up as a Christian.’”

Mr. Fong’s prayer was answered. Tyler was resuscitated, with the associated miracle that he showed no ill-effects although doctors had warned Paul and his wife Tanya that if the child was brought round he would most likely be little more than a vegetable.

“If that had not happened, I wouldn’t be a Christian now, or working here,” says Paul.

“Here” is the New Zealand Police training school at Porirua, where Mr. Fong is a physical training and arms instructor – although that is about to change in a couple of months.

He signed up for the police in 1996 after stints in the Army and working in the security industry.

After time in Otara on the beat and working as a youth aid officer and with the VIP police protection squad in Auckland, he transferred to the training college, where he teaches defensive tactics, unarmed combat, handcuffing, baton work and the use of disabling spray. He has also trained as an armourer with the new Taser stun gun.

The experience with his son, and the mentoring of a fellow Christian officer, brought Mr. Fong to Christ three years ago.

He says his attitudes to the work changed greatly after that, for instance in the way he handles the parade of trauma that is a policeman’s lot.

“Before God, every traumatic incident used to be kept in the group of people I was working with. I have never been to counseling after a big traumatic incident. I think it’s available, but I was never offered it. It was not mandatory to attend. Most of the times we’d end up in the bar, counseling each other.

“After becoming a Christian, I guess a lot of the anger and stuff like that was taken away. I used to have a lot of anger towards a lot of different people, especially because of my childhood. I learned to release it, give it away. It’s the same with dealing with emotional things, being able to give it to God.”

Paul says police who can’t deal with it burn out very quickly. “I started to do a bit of it, and it led me down the track of, ‘okay, I need to get off the street now and try something else,’ which is what I did.”

Asked whether churches have an understanding of what it’s like being in these kinds of jobs, Mr. Fong said he doubted it. “It’s one of those jobs you have to be in to respect what we have to deal with.

“There are not many jobs out there picking limbs up off the road or trying to tell someone that their loved one is dead.

“Even a firefighter who came onto my section left the police after about three months because he couldn’t handle the emotional side of it. As a firefighter, he was used to going to accidents and cutting bodies out of cars but he was never used to having to wash them, clean them up and then get somebody into to identify them, tell the parents that their loved one’s dead.”

Mr. Fong says it’s getting harder for police to exercise some kind of authority now, which is one reason he backs the introduction of the Taser.

“I worked in South Auckland for about six years, and even since then it’s changed. The turf wars have started, there are a lot of youth gangs. They have absolutely no value for life.

“Rather than punch someone, they’d go and stab them. That seems to be their MO [modus operandi]. It’s a hard one to control, especially with the youth being our future.

“A lot of culture is imported, media related. What they see on TV they are trying to portray here. There’s a lot of violence in the homes, fatherless youth, no direction, no goals in life.

“A lot of people say we’re the bogey man, we’re the bad men, and kids grow up with that perception. Among the youth there’s absolutely no respect for authority.

“There was a time in the 1970s and 80s that if you gave a cop the finger, before you knew it you’d be all cuffed up. But society today says we should be able to accept that as part of our job.

“It’s hard to take, because it shows other people they can do this to the police and there’s no responsibility for it, and it just grows. We’re supposed to be able to take abuse – we’re called pigs, and all the rest of it – without going to that next level.

“We’re starting to lose the battle with the youth. Society needs to wake up and realize we need to deal with our future. If this is what our future is, we’re in for a hard one.”

Despite the difficulty of the task, young men and women are still stepping up to fill the ranks, Christians among them.

David Fransham

One of those is David Fransham, of Pakuranga, who graduates in the middle of this month. The son of a Presbyterian minister, Mr. Fransham says he fell into policing by accident.

“I was studying at uni [university] and needed some time off. I was going to just take a year off but partway through the year decided I wanted to go into policing.

“I was getting really bored with the part-time jobs I had – I wanted something with some challenge and variety. And I hope I will be able to make a difference to people.

“It seems to be one of those sort of jobs that you don’t do it for the money, but because there’s a purpose behind it.

“I don’t expect I’ll make a huge difference, but to able to make a difference in one person’s life here, and in another’s there, that will be quite rewarding.

“I’m not going out with ambitions to change the world. If I can make a positive difference on one person at a time – just in the way I approach the job, or treat them – hopefully I can do that in a more caring way than I have heard of a lot of people’s experiences of the police.

“You hear a lot about the police culture, and the force somewhat lacking morals. I am hoping I can bring something to that. I’m not sure how many Christians there are in the police, but I am sure there can always be more.”

Out of the latest intake of 200 recruits, about 10 are Christians. Mr. Fong says that for some there is a big culture shock because the environment is totally different, with “a lot of worldly stuff going on”. The college bar is a big one.

But there are weekly home groups, run by Padre David Bell. “He tries to keep the momentum going with their faith so they don’t slip away while they’re here.” Mr. Fong says few drop out. “Most seem to come through okay.”

And, he says, other police appear to respect the Christians who live out their faith. “A lot of guys respect the way they conduct themselves. They even apologize for swearing in front of you.”

After 10 years in the police, however, Mr. Fong is looking for a new challenge and in about two months will leave to start a new 12-week program for at-risk youth.

Youth Quest will operate on the Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua, where statistics show youth-related crime is increasing every year.

The program will work with at-risk youth, recidivist offenders and their parents or caregivers over an intensive three-month course, with monthly visits for a year afterwards.

Mr. Fong says the idea has been on his and Tanya’s hearts since they gave their hearts to the Lord. With his experience – including his own childhood as an at-risk kid – he feels he can now give something back to youth.

“I used to work with kids in Otara and I’ve seen them change. I’ve seen one of the worst offenders in Otara change just by spending time with him, taking him away from his environment,” Mr. Fong said.

That prospect for change, and his Christian commitment, will be the driving force for this new venture.