In high school, he knew he was going to be a pastor because his report cards indicated he talked too much in class. His teachers even said he gabbed like he was going to be a pastor.
Marty Walker, 61, not only went on to become a pastor, but he’s also been participating in the Chaplains Program of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is a group of religious leaders who volunteer their time to provide for the spiritual and personal needs of Sheriff’s Department personnel and their families.
“One of the things that turned me on to the program is that, as a pastor, I so relate to cops,” Walker said during a recent telephone interview. “No. 1: There’s never one around when you need one. Some people say, ‘There’s never a cop around when you need one.’ Same with pastors. Like, ‘I need to show up at the hospital. Why wasn’t my pastor here when I had surgery?’ So, I felt like I connected with cops.”
Walker added that pastors can also relate with cops because so many people expect them to be perfect. They might similarly ask a pastor or a cop, “How come your son has long hair and is hanging out at the skate park?”
Walker’s answer to that question: “Because he’s 15 years old.”
It’s true, Walker said, both cops and pastors make mistakes, and they both have problems just like everyone else.
“Anyway,” he said, “I got to hanging out with them (sheriff’s deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station), and one of them approached me and said, ‘You’ve got to do chaplaincy.’ I’m like, ‘What’s that?’”
Upon learning about the program, the pastor was all in. That was about 15 years ago. He’s been a part of it since.
Walker was born and raised in Pacoima. In 1989, he was a pastor at a church in Woodland Hills when he learned about a church in the SCV called The Sanctuary, which he described as being “empty.”
“There was nobody going to this church and it needed some pastors,” he said. “They had a building, they had a parking lot, but there were 15 people.”
Moving to the more rural Canyon Country from the trendier neighborhood of Woodland Hills, which he said was populated with people who drove BMWs, was a major culture shock.
Walker clarified: “I didn’t drive a BMW, but everyone else did,” adding that people in Woodland Hills also dressed much differently.
“I’m in gabardine slacks,” he said. “I’ve got a ponytail, I wear bolo ties all the way up to the collar — this was the ’80s. And so, I came to Canyon Country, and I’m like, ‘Where are we?’”
Walker would come to proudly call the SCV his home. He said he fell in love with the people. And he’s still at the Sanctuary Church.
When he started working with the chaplains program at the SCV Sheriff’s Station, he immediately saw the value he could bring. It was a perfect fit, he said. He especially likes doing ride-alongs.
Walker insisted that when he’s with deputies, he’s not always sharing the word of God. In fact, most of what he does is simply converse.
“My job isn’t to lead someone to Jesus,” he said. “I’m there to be for these deputies.”
He explained what that meant — to be “for” the deputies.
“I think the world looks at us — at the church — and says, ‘Oh, we know what the church is against,’” Walker said. “I think it’s time for the world to know what the church is for. We are for deputies. We are for the city.”
He added that he’s also for a clean city. He won’t litter and he’ll even pick up trash if he sees it around town. He’s for the parks. He’s for the schools.
As a congregation, Walker’s church, for example, has served dinners for the Golden Valley High School football team.
“These deputies need to know that we’re for them,” he said. “Because they’ve learned to not trust people. When someone says, ‘I was just here, I wasn’t doing anything.’ ‘Well, I have three witnesses who say you did.’ Everybody lies to them. So, who do they trust? Who can they trust? I’m trying to break through going, ‘You can trust us. We’re chaplains, and we’re here for you.’”
Sometimes, it’s the small conversations that helps sheriff’s personnel come to trust Walker. He’s related with deputies over the trials and tribulations of installing a pool, or over the only slightly less than gigantic feat of raising a teen. Walker’s four kids are now in their 20s and 30s, but he has quite the life experience, including 40 years of marriage, that informs what he shares.
“I’m not their mentor by a long shot,” Walker said. “But I’m this older guy who understands them.”
During ride-alongs with deputies, Walker will even assist with lighting and setting flares around a traffic collision on the road or writing a suspect’s name and driver’s license number on the bracelets they get when going to jail.
The pastor pointed out that he never does anything like handcuff a suspect. But the first time he was told to put on a bulletproof vest made him think twice about the work.
“I was like, ‘What am I doing here? I’m a pastor,’” he said. “But for me, I go, ‘If I’m not putting my life on the line, then I’m not really with these guys.”
At a certain point, sheriff’s personnel must’ve recognized Walker’s conviction. It’s not like he was getting paid. He was volunteering his time. And those connections he was making must’ve been real. Many deputies stopped calling him “sir” and began calling him “Chap.” That’s when Walker said he knew he was on the inside.
In the past year, he’s spent his time in the chaplains program at North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. And while he embraced the challenge, being there for facility personnel, he said he wasn’t able to get as much conversation time in with those folks because they haven’t had that time together in vehicles on patrol. So, Walker feels less impactful, but it’s important work, nonetheless.
SCV Sheriff’s Station Capt. Justin Diez expressed the importance of the department’s chaplains during a recent phone interview, saying that their service is invaluable, and a part of the deputy wellness services that the station offers.
Mental health, Diez said, is a big issue in the community, and the station provides four programs, including a peer support group, a doctor from the psychological services bureau, a peer support canine, and the volunteer chaplains program.
Chaplains, the captain added, are trained and credentialed through the Sheriff’s Department chaplains program, and Walker is one of about six chaplains who volunteer at the station, each of those chaplains from a different place of worship within the Santa Clarita Valley.
In addition to the chaplains going on ride-alongs with deputies, Diez said they also offer their services at briefings and on the scenes of traffic collisions, homicides, baby-not-breathing calls — any major incident, really. During fires, he said they’ve gone out to command posts to make themselves available to deputies and the station personnel.
Asked about the effectiveness of the program, Diez said it can’t be quantified.
“Any conversations — a deputy’s formal conversations, any spiritual guidance they’re seeking with the chaplains — is completely anonymous,” he said. “So, there’s really no way to quantify it, nor am I allowed to ask about it or even try to quantify it.”
The services, he said, are there for any needs anyone at the station might have.
On average, Walker will volunteer through the sheriff’s chaplains program twice a month, usually about four hours each time. He’s particularly excited with some news he got just a couple weeks ago. He learned he’d be reassigned to ride-alongs. It’s where he feels he shines most.
Diez seemed to also believe that Walker does well in that capacity.
“It’s very, very, very easy to connect with him (Walker),” Diez said. “He’s got a great skill where he can come down to anybody’s level and really just interact with that person. He’s got that gift. That’s why the guys and gals here really like him and take to him.”
Know any unsung heroes or people in the SCV with an interesting life story to tell? Email [email protected].
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