The Sandy Springs Police Department started the Police Chaplain Program in 2008 to meet the needs of the department and the community. The Chaplain Program is comprised of members of the faith-based community in Sandy Springs who serve full-time roles at their specific religious organization. Chaplains do many different things to assist the Sandy Springs Police Department and community, with some of those responsibilities including providing counsel to police department employees, liaison with other religious leaders in the community, and various other public relations efforts. Chaplains accomplish these responsibilities through ride-alongs with officers, representing the department at public events, and through one-on-one time with department employees and members of the community.
Chaplain Peter Urdanick is the Men’s Ministry and Benevolence Pastor at First Baptist Church Atlanta, where he also served as the Director of the Counseling Ministry. He regularly ministers to individuals and families and has traveled extensively teaching Christian discipleship principles in the United States, Africa, Europe, Central & South America, Asia, and Southeast Asia.
He earned a finance degree from Binghamton University and Masters’ Degree in Counseling and Divinity from Luther Rice Seminary. He is a licensed Christian Counselor and Therapist certified by the International Board of Christian Counselors and the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Peter is Georgia P.O.S.T. certified as a Law Enforcement Chaplain, has served in law enforcement agencies in DeKalb County, and since 2012 serves as Chaplain with S.S.P.D. He has logged over 7,500 ride-along hours in a police cruiser since becoming a Chaplain in 2008, actively pursues a continuing education program in biblical discipleship and law enforcement, including Crisis Intervention Training through P.O.S.T. Peter resides in Sandy Springs, and in his spare time enjoys physical conditioning, golf, target shooting, and motorcycle riding.
Rabbi Spike Anderson was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York City in 2008. As part of his seminary training, he served as an Interfaith Chaplain at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, NH. His first pulpit was at Stephen S. Wise synagogue in Los Angeles. He has been the Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Sandy Springs since 2015 and has served as Police Chaplain for the SSPD since 2018.
For more information about the chaplain program, please contact Detective I. Tomlin at itomlin@sandyspringsga.gov
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