Rev. Keane Appointed First Police Chaplain

The Reverend Bill Keane, the senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Branford, was formally sworn in as the police department’s first chaplain this week.

Rev. Keane, who spent nine months at ground zero at the World Trade Center following 9/11, and was a chaplain in New Orleans after Katrina, said he was honored to be appointed to the post. At a meeting of the police commission, Jill Marcus, the commission’s chair, showed Rev. Keane his new police badge and welcomed him to the department.

Police Chief Kevin Halloran formally presented the badge to Rev. Keane and the men shook hands. Halloran said at the commission’s meeting that Rev. Keane would provide a way to connect with faith-based communities in town. He will also be on call to listen to and comfort police officers and others when the need arises. Rev. Keane said he will also call on his colleagues of different faiths to provide similar aid.

“It is a privilege to be supporting the police force,” he said in an interview afterwards. ​“This is a way to serve the whole town and is a real good opportunity to be an additional liaison with the Branford community,” he said. One of Chief Halloran’s goals is to find a variety of ways to reach out to the community at large in order to hear their views on a variety of subjects. 

“My church, First Baptist Church of Branford, has always wanted me to be involved as much as I can with the Branford community. I have been here nearly 18 years and this is another facet of being involved,” Rev. Keane told the Eagle. 

“I am also available for officers and personnel if they would like to talk,” either in Branford or at a hospital. At the World Trade Center site he said he worked side-by-side with police and fire personnel. 

The Rev. Sharon Gracen of Trinity Church on the Green is the chaplain for the Branford Fire Department.
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