Ask A Cop
Ask A Cop is live and unscripted. Each episode gives other officers and the community a window into a police officer's world and provides authentic community engagement with law enforcement professionals.Listeners can relate by asking questions, hearing some of their own struggles, and finding solutions. Despite preconceived notions, these men and women, who serve and protect, are approachable and eager to answer questions. This resource provides meaningful engagement for officers, their families, and the community. As chaplains, we have witnessed the immeasurable rewards of simply sitting down and having these positive conversations. Produced in partnership with Gods Way Radio.
Ask A Cop
035: A Journey from Law Enforcement to Ministry - Chaplain Ken Kerrigan's (Retired BSO)
Imagine transitioning from the high-stakes world of law enforcement to the heart-centered mission of ministry. This is the journey of Ken Kerrigan, a former Broward Sheriff's Office deputy and now chaplain for the Secret Service in Miami. With nearly three decades of service under his belt, Ken shares his remarkable transformation through faith, illustrating how he evolved from seeing individuals as mere statistics to embracing a more compassionate perspective. His story is a testament to the power of meaningful choices and the courage to follow one's true calling.
Ken's path takes a dramatic turn post-1994 when a spiritual awakening reshapes his entire worldview. Raised with a Catholic background, Ken found himself grappling with the pressures of his profession and personal life until a pivotal moment at Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale shifted his understanding of justice and redemption. Through this profound encounter, Ken's narrative highlights the significant difference between religious practice and a genuine relationship with faith, offering listeners a candid reflection on the transformative power of spiritual growth.
Balancing roles as both a law enforcement officer and a pastor, Ken delves into the challenges of maintaining emotional wellness while serving the community. His experiences underscore the importance of support systems for officers, advocating for safe spaces where emotions can be processed, rather than suppressed. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, Ken offers valuable insights and strategies for finding strength in faith and community, encouraging others in similar roles to embrace transformation and live with integrity. Join us for a deeply moving episode that explores resilience, purpose, and the journey to true redemption.
you're listening to ask a cop podcast, a time where communities and cops connect. These conversations are recorded live, so stay tuned after the podcast so you can learn where to submit your own questions and to learn how you can support us. For now, though, get ready to ask a cop cop.
Speaker 2:Hey, good morning, the year 2025, the first program presentation of Ask a Cop. Thank you for joining us the first Tuesday of every month right here, god's Way Radio 104.7 FM on your radio dial. Remember, there's the free phone app. You go to the Apple Android store, you type in God's Way Radio, you install the app. I love to say this, fuakata. Now you're connected and you could go beyond the radio signal coverage area. Hey, my name is Raz. It's a joy this morning to have a special guest with us. I got Psalm 83, verse 1, open. It says do not keep silent, o God, do not hold your peace and do not be still, o God. And you know God speaks through people. God speaks through law enforcement officers. So, off the bat from the former Broward Sheriff's Office. Good morning, sir. Are you there?
Speaker 3:Pastor Raz, always a pleasure to speak with you, my friend.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's great to have you on the program today. I can't wait. We gotta just jump in. This is too good. So listen, how many years of law enforcement do you have with the BSO Broward Sheriff's Office?
Speaker 3:So I was hired in 1985. I served 29 years as deputy sheriff and 10 years now as a chaplain.
Speaker 2:So you got ahead of me, but that's okay. 1985, you get started. You know just a young man at the time, deputy sheriff, and so you did that for how many years again?
Speaker 3:29 years. Can you believe it? Two years out of high school, I got hired.
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 3:So I was all about 140 pounds.
Speaker 2:That's no joke. That's no joke. That's amazing, man. You started right out of high school. You're going to go into this profession and then, because you got ahead of me, it's good. Now you're with another department. What department are you with now?
Speaker 3:I am the staff chaplain for the Secret Service out of Miami.
Speaker 2:Oh, man. So you are in different agencies. You know it's like. I love that psalm do not keep silent, o God. So with you, god puts you in the sheriff's office. We're going to jump into your story. I don't think when you started you were full on for God. So you start in the sheriff's office 29 years. Then you go to the Seminole Police Department as a chaplain. You're also a chaplain with a secret service. But hey, let's get into your story. First of all, what makes you of all the professions? Why in the world would you put on a badge, a gun, get a car? Tell me about that. What made you go to the BLE, basic law enforcement class? You got the mic.
Speaker 3:You know, that's a very interesting story and perhaps a story that many people experience when they're young. You know, when I was in high school, my friends were doing acid and mushrooms and I think Quaaludes were around at that time and there was a big drug scene and so I had, you know, a fork in the road. The peer pressure was just amazing, Okay let me stop you right there.
Speaker 2:There's the peer pressure going nowhere. I'm going to ask you to give us a call back. I got a bus on the line. This program is too good. I think the content is going to be too valuable. If you're listening, please stay tuned. If you're law enforcement. Thank you for joining us today. Again, we salute you. This. Thank you for joining us today. Again, we salute you. This is one of our own here. We're interviewing today Ken Kerrigan from former BSO, 29 years, also Seminole Police Department Sheriff's, also Secret Service Sheriff. He's telling us our story. He's in high school. There's that peer pressure going to wasteland, and then he makes a different decision to wasteland, and then he makes a different decision. Uh, please, uh, ken kerrigan officer, I don't want to, I don't want to let yet what you also do, because that's going to be part of the story. But give us a call back. 786-313-3115. Can you call us back? Call you right back.
Speaker 4:Thank you, sir and while we're waiting for him to call back, I just want to give you a preview. Who's listening live this afternoon? Ask a Cop 330. We're going to have some boots on the ground from some chaplains and people in the West Coast to hear about the fire and the situation going on there. We got to pray for our brothers and sisters. We heard the Johnny Eric Citada program this morning and we know that there was some update from her regarding, uh, those who have trouble.
Speaker 2:She had to leave her house.
Speaker 4:She had and so so we're going to hear from first responders, chaplains, pastors. We're going to try to get as many as we can if we can. We're we're trying, uh, to get communication with them, but we have now back on the line ken kerrigan, former bso, 29 years.
Speaker 2:That's no joke, sir. Are you there? You got to press the button here. Then you press that button, are you there, sir? Hello, I'm here. Oh, man, man, we're good, we're good, this is good. So so let's get back to the story. You're fresh out of high school. What makes you jump into law enforcement here? People around you are breaking the law, wasting their brain, and and yet you go to the side of law enforcement where you're making a contribution to the community, to the people, to families. Tell us about that. You got the mic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, again, as I mentioned earlier, it's a situation that many find themselves. I was actually in high school, probably in 10th grade. I found myself at a fork in the road. The peer pressure of friends and such Drugs were rampant.
Speaker 1:What am I going to do, but?
Speaker 3:I had been influenced at a very young age watching Adam 12. All right.
Speaker 2:And it was a show called the Rookie Guide. I remember that. Nah, he's too young for that. He's way behind the year. What was that again? Just the facts, man, just the year. What was that again? Just the facts, man, just the facts.
Speaker 4:I've got to Google this. I'm sure there's an archive. There's a show called Adam 12, and then Rookies as well.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 3:Early on as a young boy I watched that and I was intrigued by the law enforcement officers. And so now I'm in high school and there's peer pressure what do I do? So there was a fork in the road and I really God led me in the proper way and I thank the Lord for that. You know, he gave me an avenue of escape. So there was a program called Police Youth Auxiliary, which now is called the Explorers. So I'm 15, 16 years old, I'm out riding with the cops, I had a blast and at that time I was hooked.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was in your blood. In your blood. Yeah, Explorers, Wow, so let's go on. So then now you go to the basic law enforcement class. You probably rode with an FTO, you know?
Speaker 3:Oh well, there's a little more to this.
Speaker 2:Okay, go ahead Go ahead.
Speaker 4:All right, give it to us.
Speaker 3:You know the peer pressure to do the drugs, and I'm out riding with the cops now. So all those people that were, you know, all over me trying to entice me to engage in their activity, all of a sudden now are afraid of me because, I'm with the cops. Oh wow, so it was a beautiful transition for me. So I really end up at the parties anyway, but I was with the cops and I had a blast. It's repellent.
Speaker 2:It's like divine repellent to keep you safe. And before we continue with your story, we see how God's hand is on you. Now you're not a church goer, I don't think You're not no holy roller, but you're in law enforcement. You got this pressure to go in a different direction. By the way, this is the program ask a cop. The first tuesday of every month you could tune in here, 104.7 fm god's way radio. We interview different members from our police law enforcement family. Today we're interviewing ken kerrigan, uh, formerly with BSO, 29 years. Ken, back to you.
Speaker 4:Also just a watcher you said of was that a show called Adam 12?
Speaker 3:Yes, Adam 12,. That's it, Adrian. I would recommend you watch it. It was awesome.
Speaker 2:So tell us how do you go to the BLE class? You sign your papers, you pass the background check, go ahead. Continue the story.
Speaker 3:Well, you mentioned, it's in our blood. So I believe God gives us a particular calling and you know he knows every day of our life, before it's ever been written. And so there's a calling, it's in our DNA, to do what God has called us to do. And so I then applied for the sheriff's office. I was hired. They had just opened up the Broward County Jail and they needed 1,000 correction officers. And I was 19 at the time when I applied and I had no college, nothing to add. So they said come in the jail for a year, work in the jail and then we'll put you out on the street. Well, it ended up being three years later.
Speaker 2:You get an education in that, in that, in that correctional Institute system.
Speaker 3:Well, as much as I hated it, I matured really fast, wow, wow.
Speaker 2:You there.
Speaker 3:You know, as I matured as a young man, realizing you know the evils of man, I hadn't been exposed to such things. You know, my first night there, because they know you're brand new, right, they give you a special brand new badge, right. And so I show up and I had this. You had this transvestite blowing me kisses. Well, I've never seen anything like that in my life, and so I was freaking out right away.
Speaker 2:But anyway, the Lord brought me on a path. You got the chaplain here laughing, you got Adrian laughing Well trust me, I was scared to death. But I'm laughing today I was scared to death, but I'm laughing today, so I was exposed early on to some things I had never seen before Working in intake.
Speaker 3:When people are arrested, they're just absolutely drunk and violent. So I saw a lot of things that I hadn't seen before. So there was a maturity that began to happen, but the calling never changed and then I at some point transitioned over into the police side, the patrol side.
Speaker 2:Green and white, right Green and white cars, green and white, green pants and plastic shoes. So tell us, tell us so your officer, officer Ken, now, and your career. How, how, how did it go for you, Like? What different sections did you work or what different details? Give us a little bit of that.
Speaker 3:So right out of the jail you do your field training. You're a field training officer where you ride with someone and he shows you the ropes and then you're evaluated. So I excelled on that. Thank the Lord for everything. And then I started in road patrol.
Speaker 3:So I was out on the streets for a couple of years but I always had. You know, one of the things that I did early on is when I transferred from the corrections into the law enforcement side. Nobody knew me on the street. So I was the new skinny kid on the block and they dressed me up in you know, plain clothes and I would go make. Would go make undercover drug deals, wow, and I loved doing that. Right away I had my concert shirt on long hair because nobody in the district had known me until then. Obviously I was exposed. So I started the narcotics early on in my career. So I did road patrol and then I went into street-level narcotics, which was, you know, search warrants by bus, and back then Nick Navarro was our sheriff. We were on cops you know the show Cops. Broward County Sheriff's Office was the pilot for the show Cops. One of our sergeants went to school with John Travolta, who knew Langley, the producer, and so that was the connection for the program Cops, which is amazing, it's still going on today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So it's interesting. You're listening to Ask a Cop. This is the God's Way. Radio 104.7 FM. Every first Tuesday of the month, we bring a member from our law enforcement family and we get to know them and you get to ask questions. Today we're functioning a little bit different, but this is the second Tuesday of the month. Our guest today is a former deputy sheriff with Broward Sheriff's Office, ken Kerrigan, and so you're incorrect.
Speaker 4:Almost movie star. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:Almost movie star Ken Kerrigan and there's that law enforcement uh, what they call that humor.
Speaker 2:Anyway so so, so we get, so we get corrections, we get road patrol and next thing, you know you're undercover narcotics, you know buying back and and and so. So tell us, in those years of law enforcement, obviously you start, you're not even married. Walk us through that. How do you get married? And then the pressures of law enforcement, new marriage. Obviously the Christmas, the Thanksgivings, the holidays, you don't have seniority, people are spending it with their family. You're going to work, you're going to protect, to serve. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a great point that you brought up. So actually my wife and I met in high school. We were 15. So at the time I was out riding with the cops, I had just met my wife, and so I grew up in a Catholic denomination, learning that background, with a private school, and until ninth grade my parents ran out of money. And then, you know, then I went over to the public side but I knew the fundamentals of Jesus Christ as Lord, but he wasn't my Lord. I was the king of my castle.
Speaker 3:So, think about that. Now I get married, married and with all the stress and pressures of the job and the selfishness and the pride and all of that does not make good for a marriage at all.
Speaker 3:In addition to you know, struggling with your sins and such, and certainly early on, it was difficult actually for the first five years and I take total blame for that because of you know, not knowing the Lord, this is the result, yeah yeah, it's a miracle that you were able to remain married right, you could see God's hand on you.
Speaker 2:I know your wife. She's an exceptional lady, a woman of God and so, but it's interesting and I'm glad you're bringing it out because the public that's listening. You need to know that law enforcement not only are they protecting and serving, taking the side of justice and law and order, but then they have these pressures on the marriage, both the male officers and the female officers, and to survive is so difficult, it's so hard. So walk us through that. You're a new cop, you got shift work, You're out there fighting crimes, the trauma, the emotional acceleration that most people don't see. And a cop sees in one day what some people don't see in a lifetime. Five years marriage. Tell us a little bit. What direction is your life going? How's it going for you?
Speaker 3:Well, it's going downhill, it's going chaotic, it's a lot of stress, looking for a balance. Can't find it, bound in your sin. And you know, at some point my brother, I was searching and didn't know what for I was in chains and bondage of my sin and I had no way out as long as I would try. And my brother one day said, hey, somebody invited me to go to his church. Will you come with me?
Speaker 3:And I said yes Now. I don't know why I said yes then, but I certainly know now why because God had a plan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So here you are. You're an officer, newly married. Obviously, any officer I speak to because it's in their DNA, in their blood they like what they do. The citizen needs to know the officer is willing to go into danger to catch what you would call the criminal that wants to be a danger to society. And so I remember one officer saying man, I can't believe I get paid to do this, you know. But you're obviously enjoying the job, but yet emotionally, psychologically, socially, it's taking a toll. You're suffering. Your brother asked you to go to church. You don't know why. You say yes. You say yes, okay. So continue with the story. Here you are, deputy sheriff, you go to church. What happens?
Speaker 3:So, you know, that's a great observation because I'm doing my job, I'm excelling, I'm very aggressive, but I wasn't there for the right reasons. I wasn't there to help people. I was there for cops and robbers and the excitement of it. To be honest, right, you know cops and robbers. To be honest, right, yeah, you know cops and robbers, and so I didn't really treat people necessarily how I spoke to them properly and you know, people were statistics for me. There were numbers. I would, you know, try to look good, make as many arrests as I can to, you know, stand above my peers, but then, but, but I'm so I'm on the right side of the bars right.
Speaker 3:But I'm in bondage nonetheless.
Speaker 2:That's a great observation.
Speaker 3:My brother invites me to come to Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale. I hear the message before, which I've heard before coming from the Catholic Church. But I was hooked, wow. And all of a sudden it something really moved in my heart. The Lord was drawing, because Jesus says no one can come to me unless the Father draws him, and then I will raise him up on the last day. So there was the Father drawing me to the Son. So my brother and I, I didn't give my life to the Lord that service. But when we left we walked out. My brother said I want nothing to do with this. This is crazy. I was hooked. He walked away. So a couple weeks later, because I kept going, the Lord knocks on my heart and my wife was with me at the time and I said you want to go up when they give the altar call? She said no, she wasn't ready, but she eventually did. But I was the first one up on a Wednesday night.
Speaker 2:Man.
Speaker 3:Now I'm an adult cop, I carry a gun, I'll walk into anything and I'm crying like a baby.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Absolutely hysterical. What year?
Speaker 2:Can you tell us the year for the listener? What year is this around?
Speaker 3:So that was 1994. Wow, okay, this is great. So you start 1985, deputy sheriff.
Speaker 2:This is great. So you start 1985, deputy sheriff. Nine years later, 1994, God gets a hold of deputy sheriff Ken Kerrigan's heart. Man. So here you are, a fighter for righteousness, for justice, without even knowing the justice of God. You confess and it's so easy to do because of the pressures, you maybe don't treat people the best way. God gets a hold of your heart the difference between religion and relationship. Deputy Sheriff Kerrigan. Tell us so what happens.
Speaker 3:So I give my life, I have this encounter with the living God. He knocks on my heart. I realize that I am absolutely bankrupt of any righteousness on my own and I need to be saved. I can't break myself free from these chains of sin. And the Lord had set me free. At that moment I said Lord, here I am, save me, and I felt like this world of sin off my shoulders. And it was real, it was absolutely real and there was no turning back. And so that was on a Wednesday, thursday. I go back to work and I told everybody hey, I gave my life to the Lord, I became a Christian. They didn't have a party for me, pastor Rod they did not have a party.
Speaker 2:That must have gone over really well. Here you are law enforcement men that are fearless, women that are fearless. It's kind of like a society, a group, and here you come from the left field and you're saying man, there's something that's changing my life. I love it. You know you're listening to the program Ask a Cop. The first Tuesday of every month right here, god's Way Radio, we interview one of the members of law enforcement.
Speaker 2:Today, our guest, former deputy sheriff with Broward Sheriff's Office for 29 years still with Seminole Police Department, with the Secret Service Agency. Back to you, I got to say, man, first of all, as you were talking, I would say I would pray that every cop, every law enforcement agent would have this relationship with the living God. I always say when you're walking with God, you're a're a better officer, you know, because now God is backing you up 100%. But back to you. So you walk in, you're there and then shift, roll call, whatever it is at the locker room and and so you say this tell us, walk us through it now, what happens well, the persecution comes right away.
Speaker 3:Bible thumper, Bible boy you know they didn't receive it.
Speaker 3:Well, and then you know what happens they stop inviting you to lunch and you're no longer part of the crew, and I learned that early on. But I couldn't turn back because I knew it was real. It's kind of like the Apostle Paul getting struck off the horse, blind, and has this encounter with Jesus Christ himself. That's how I felt, and so there was no turning back. It was real. It wasn't that I just went up and said a prayer. It's that I had a living encounter with Christ and he forgave me, and I knew it was real, and so I began to walk that way. Now here's how Satan tempts. You know, because one of my struggles was pornography. So now my brother's going to get married this is a couple months into this now and he's going to have a bachelor party. Well, I'm not going, and so I tell my brother I can't go. God set me free from all that. And won't you know when I said that all of a sudden I'm getting all these calls?
Speaker 1:What do?
Speaker 3:you mean you're not going to your brother's bachelor party. How could you do such a thing? And the Holy Spirit gave me the power to resist and not go, so I didn't go.
Speaker 2:Wow, Now is your brother also law enforcement. By the way, we didn't get that information.
Speaker 3:My brother's a fireman.
Speaker 2:Oh, firefighter, perfect pair.
Speaker 4:Firefighter, payer firefighter, of course.
Speaker 3:So firefighter versus police, christian, non-christian you got some battles going on there. So here's what happens and it's it's so. It's such a testimony to to our walk, and certainly not taking any credit, but god used this for my brother's sake so I don't go to his bachelor party. A year, a year later and what interesting it was like a snowball effect All the people around me got saved my wife, my mother-in-law, my sister, my brother-in-law all these people began to get saved. Praise the Lord for that. So my brother, a year after his bachelor party and he gets married, he gets saved. And here's what he said to me and I'll never forget it. He says it was never anything that you said, but it was what I watched you do, because if you didn't come to my bachelor party, then something happened.
Speaker 2:Hey, I got to stop right there. You're listening to God's Way Radio 104.7 FM on your radio dial. You're listening to the program Ask a Cop. The first Tuesday of every month we have a member of the law enforcement family and we interview them, sometimes firefighters also. And so today we're interviewing former deputy sheriff Ken Kerrigan and he's walking us through his life 1994, he gets radically an encounter with God.
Speaker 2:I don't want to use just the word get saved because so many people don't even know what that is, but he encounters God by meeting the resurrected Savior, jesus Christ, who is alive today. And so now I love what you're saying because you took a stand. You loved your family, but you took a stand for righteousness for God as God was directing you, not a legalism, righteousness for God as God was directing you, not a legalism, but out of love. And now you're telling us there's fruit to that, that your brother comes full circle and the one that wanted nothing to do with God, now he's drawn to God by the testimony of God in you. Would to God that every law enforcement that knows God and encounters Jesus would do this and know this, because you never know the ripple effect. Sir, back to you. Please continue with the story. Your brother says it wasn't what you said, it was watching your life continue.
Speaker 3:And what a beautiful testimony of what the Lord does. From a broken, pitiful vessel. He shines it up and people now are watching and you know the ridicule, the persecution comes along with that but they're watching to see if it's real. So it's a whole year later and he says it wasn't what you preached, it wasn't anything you said, but it's what I watched you do. There was a transformation and when you come to the saving grace of the living God, god, he's not going to leave you the same. There's a transformation. It may be slower than others, but there's a sanctification, setting apart from the worldly ways to follow christ. I love it. I gotta pass you the mic.
Speaker 2:I gotta take this real quick yeah, yeah, let me just say this before you go in 1994 you get saved. What year is this that your brother, uh, comes the Lord how many years after? One year, 95. One year, 95. Okay, we're going to take a break, We'll be right back. So welcome back.
Speaker 2:Remember this is also going to be heard on podcasts and for more information you could also go to policethankyoucom. Remember that this is a station where we love law enforcement family because they serve, they give, they're willing to lay down their lives. So the least that we could do is say we're with you, we appreciate you, we pray for you and we like to put some rubber to the road, like they say, some action behind it. So the first Tuesday of every month we are here in the morning at 730. And then in the afternoon at 330,. You get a double barrel exposure to law enforcement family. Sometimes we have the husband, Sometimes we have the wife.
Speaker 2:You know Chaplain Adrian. One of these days I want to interview some law enforcement children, offsprings. You know sons and daughters, because we know that some of them follow the footsteps of their dad and moms when they're good officers, and I think of William Williams and his son. I think one of these days. Maybe we could get him here, Adrian, maybe you can make that happen. Let's begin to have some of the sons and daughters I know we have. But I mean, you know, 70,000 miles, 20 years, 2025, at least this year we haven't done that yet.
Speaker 4:But anyway, Adrian, anything you have to say no again, just grateful to know these men and women who give their sacrifice, their time right, their families. You know, I know that there's a sometimes negative or difficult light on the profession and there's all sorts of statistics where it looks like bleak news, where officers end up in divorces and and all those things are true, or the life expectancy after an officer retires. But again, I remind people, those are statistics. That means there's a range, there's officers who are married 20 years after their retirement. You know, even longer.
Speaker 1:And they survived many years. Good husbands, good wives and many kids and a legacy.
Speaker 4:Amazing, and yeah, some are maybe shorter, so I always point out that just don't let all those statistics be like oh, I guess it's the destiny of my life.
Speaker 2:I must be, I'm going to die soon. Statistics help, but real life inspires.
Speaker 4:And so, yeah, we look at people who God has worked in their life, or just people who have navigated that career, on the best side of those statistics, on the best side of those statistics. And so, pastor Ken, we're grateful to continue to have you here. Chaplain Ken, officer Ken, sheriff, deputy, I'm not sure which- one.
Speaker 2:Well, you got ahead of the story, so let's get back to our guest today.
Speaker 3:Sinner saved by grace. Sinner saved by grace.
Speaker 2:You're listening to Ask a Cop. First Tuesday of every month we have this program. Today our guest Deputy Sheriff, former Deputy Sheriff with BSO Broward Sheriff's Office. He starts in the department, recently married, his life is going in the wrong direction because of sin, pressures life. But something happens to him. He meets the resurrected Messiah, savior, lord Jesus Christ. It changes his life 1995, his brother gets saved, also meets Jesus, gives his life to Jesus. So, ken, please tell us. So what happens from there?
Speaker 3:Well, the amazing thing happens because God gives us a new heart. So all of these people that I thought were statistics and bums and drunkards and once again statistics now meant something to me. I began to see them through the eyes of the Lord. I began to realize, wow, they need Jesus, they need the Lord, they need to be saved. This guy didn't wake up one day and say I want to be homeless, I want to be a drug addict, I want to be this or that, and so what happened is God changes our heart. He takes that old, cold, calculated selfishness away and he gives us a heart of. He gives us his heart, a heart of purity, and now I have to walk with the Lord as I walk with him. But the interesting thing about coming to the Lord was is I was a criminal investigator at the time. I was a detective working major crimes. So I'm skeptical about everything. I'm profiling everything. It's in my DNA. This is what we do. This is what.
Speaker 3:God's created us to do. You know, we can both walk in a room and see different things. I'm looking for the exits.
Speaker 3:I'm looking for suspicious people. And so I am asking the question yes, I got saved, had an encounter with the Lord, it's real. But what else don't I know Is what that guy's saying at the pulpit. Is that true? And so the Holy Spirit led me along a path of studying the Scriptures and shortly after that I signed up and went to seminary school, which was a huge challenge. It took me six years to get a two-year degree. I was going part-time, extra part-time, but here's what happened. God was doing a work in my heart and I began, you know, big deal went to seminary.
Speaker 3:Well, it's foundational in the study of the Scripture. And when I realized prophecy is proof, god says in Isaiah I am God. There is none like me knowing the end from the very beginning. And he writes it down so that we would know this is the one because it was spoken about. And so the prophecies him being born of a virgin tribe of Judah kings, david's seed, born in Bethlehem. These were with great specificity. They were ambiguous conversations. Right, anybody could be a weather reporter. It may rain and it may not rain. Right here, you know what if he wasn't born in Bethlehem? What if, when he sent them to get the donkey. The donkey wasn't there, he wouldn't be the Messiah, and so when we look at the facts given to us beforehand, it's undeniable yeah.
Speaker 2:Now you're listening to the program Ask a Cop first Tuesday of every month right here God's Way Radio. You could also get this on podcasts. However, you get your podcasts, adrian. What do they go for? They go to Ask a Cop, right?
Speaker 4:Just search, ask a Cop, wherever you get your podcasts. Pol policethankyoucom. You can find all the info there on podcasts, trainings, different opportunities to serve our law enforcement.
Speaker 2:And so you get this interview and you get many others that we've been privileged to do throughout the years Back to our guest this morning. I think time gets ahead of us, so let's begin to circle and get here on another track. So you're law enforcement for 29 years, but all those 29 years you just didn't do law enforcement as a sworn deputy, you also did it as someone that got assigned by also a higher power. Tell us a little bit about that to the listener. A higher power? Tell us a little bit about that to the listener. What happens to this deputy sheriff detective, you know, doing criminal investigation, going to seminary learning how to study the Bible, how to use the weapon, the Bible. So what happens? Tell us.
Speaker 3:So all along the way, especially going to seminary, is very difficult. My sons were young at the time. I was working six days a week and then going to seminary at night. All along the way, satan's throwing darts. Who do you think you are? There's no way you're going to finish. Why don't you just quit? And my prayer was Lord, this is so hard to do, but I know you led me here and if you led me here, you've got to get me through it and praise the Lord. He did.
Speaker 3:And in 2006, I graduated from seminary school and I had already had men's groups in my house for many years. There was a time we had 19 guys in my living room, but I never had spoken at a church or from a pulpit. So here was my prayer. And this is amazing After I graduate all right, lord. Now what? What was the purpose of this? If you want me to preach from a pulpit, have someone ask me. Now here's the answer to that prayer. Two weeks later, I live behind a Nazarene church in the city of Pompano Beach, florida, and the pastor knocks on my door because he had heard that I went to seminary and says hey, I'm going away. I have nobody to fill in for me. Will you fill in for me?
Speaker 3:Wow Is that a specific answer to prayer.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it and people don't realize. God is much alive and if you're willing to let the God creator, phenomenal, awesome God to let the God creator, phenomenal, awesome God to lead and guide your life, god will do it with specificity. I went up to specifically. I used to know that word, but anyway. So back to you. So this Nazarene pastor behind where you live comes knocks at your door. Obviously, he knows you're deputy sheriff, he knows that you've been to seminary, he knows you've graduated, he asked you to teach. Continue with the story.
Speaker 3:So now I said, yes, he knows that you've been to seminary, he knows you've graduated. He asked you to teach. Continue with the story. So now I said yes, and as soon as he walked out of my house I had this incredible attack, demonic attack. I never had it since, never had it before. I was confused, I was struggling. I wrote five sermons, threw every one of them out, and I was going to call him up and say you know, I'm not doing this, but I didn't have his cell number and so it's it's Friday and and I'm teaching on Sunday and I have no idea what I'm teaching. I've threw out five sermons already, all confused. Saturday morning, the Lord gives me peace. Sunday morning, I deliver the message without a hiccup. And so that was all of the Lord, and so I know number one God wanted me to do that because he answered that prayer and now he's enabled me to do it. There's the key, because God is he equips the called. He doesn't call the equipped, because I am not equipped for sure.
Speaker 2:God enabled you. He equips the call. I love it, and this is around 2006, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, 2006, 2007,. Around that time. So then I started praying Lord, what would you have me do? And so we started, a Wednesday night, the first book in a house, the first book I opened up to teach, was Revelation, believe it or not. But I didn't have a call to be a pastor. That hadn't happened yet. I'm just having now a Bible study inviting women. Initially we were doing men's groups, so the women come, and in time we prayed Lord, what would you have me do? And he said I want you to start a church, I want you to start Calvary Chapel, Pompano. Now I've got to tell you this before I've got to backtrack.
Speaker 3:After I got saved, this is what my mother said to me. Bless her soul. She said you're going to be the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Pompano Beach. Wow. And here's what I said to her oh, that's the problem, there's too many churches out there. I said that Little did I know she was speaking prophecy to me, and so we became a ministry of you know, we had to go through the process. Chuck Smith and other pastors confirmed us as a Calvary Chapel Pour. So we're going to be a ministry 19 years this year. Wow. And also, you spoke about marriages. By the grace of God, I've been married 38 years this year. Man that's beautiful yeah.
Speaker 4:I mean these numbers. I know some of you are listening or thinking, man, you know, there's officers actually that were probably born 2006, 2007, while you were starting the church, and they're officers now. So it's a different stage, different time.
Speaker 2:You know it's funny, adrian, I'm so glad you're saying that it's a different time, but sin is the same, and so I'm sure that there's officers that are having problems in their marriage. That's not the way they started. They're drifting away. They had a love. They're mad, they're upset, they're hurt, they don't know why, and it's bigger than any man can solve it, because man can solve the problems of the spiritual soul Only the resurrected Jesus at the end of the day. So I'm glad you're saying that, adrian, and for any officer that's listening, there is an answer, there is hope. Things can turn around. You too can go on in your life and maybe look back and be married to the same husband, the same wife, 38 years Back to our guest. So there's a transition here. You go from deputy sheriff to deputy sheriff, detective and also pastor.
Speaker 3:Now Tell us about that yes, so now I'm doing both. So let me go back again. When I graduated seminary, pastor Jeff Buck, calvary Chapel, fort Lauderdale, asked me to be one of the teachers at the seminary school, and here's what I said to him oh, there's no way I could do that. I'm too busy. Those are the words that came out of my mouth, and it wasn't too long after that, so repeat that, Repeat that for me then.
Speaker 2:So then what happens? Jeff Buck say what? What happens here?
Speaker 3:Jeff Buck asked me if I would be one of the instructors in the seminary school. Wow, and I said I don't have time. I'm too busy because I was working. You know it was a lot. Now to add that on my plate and I spoke without even seeking the Lord, it came right out. No, I'm too busy, and only to show the grace of God and His enabling, because when the call came here I told them I was too busy to do one teaching a week in seminary school. I'm now doing two services in church, wednesday night and Sunday night.
Speaker 2:Sunday night radio, when you say in church you, you went to fast for me, so you've already started Calvary Chapel in Pompano Beach no, this was a just shortly after he, so he asked me to.
Speaker 3:He asked me to be an instructor and I said no and it was shortly after that, so it was about a year later, we were still meeting, but I wasn't officially a Calvary Chapel. But here I said I was too busy, and now God is enabling me to not only work full-time, have a family, but now I'm teaching twice a week and we were on Reach FM radio at the time, and so Sunday nights was radio too. So what I said I couldn't do, god worked above and beyond my capacity.
Speaker 2:You reminded me of what the Word of God says and what God says in His Word. With man there's things that are impossible, but not with God, because with God, all things that God wants, of course, are possible. So what year is it that you start? Finally, calvary Chapel, pompano Beach.
Speaker 3:It was 2006, 2007. Okay, we started the process, we became an organization, but we weren't officially Calvary Chapel, because you have to go through the process. So we had started the church and then we had functioned, I believe, for a season, and we became a Calvary Chapel in the city of Pompano Beach, to the grace of God, almighty, and you know, he had opened up the doors. He gives the calling, he equips you and listen, he reminds me every day I'm not perfect, I'm not what I think I am right, I have to come.
Speaker 3:I need his daily bread, I need his empowering.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, you're listening to, yeah, go ahead. You're listening to. God's Way Radio. This is the program. This is the program Ask a Cop, the first Tuesday of every month, also in podcast form. Wherever you get your podcast, you could just look for Ask a Cop.
Speaker 2:Remember policethankyoucom different tools that are there to help the officer, to help the law enforcement agent. And so today we're interviewing former Deputy Sheriff, 29 years of law enforcement experience with Broward Sheriff's Office, but also pastor minister, the cop that also God called to become a pastor. So, pastor Ken, tell the officer that's listening, that's struggling, the officer that maybe is struggling with an addiction. You know he doesn't say he's an alcoholic, but he can't function without alcohol in his system early in the morning, and his wife is noticing it, his family is noticing it, some of his supervisors are noticing it, they're working with him, but they know what's up, pastor Ken. Deputy Sheriff Ken, how can a person change? Your life is jaded, your heart is affected. You've been doing this for a long time. You've seen things that people shouldn't see. Is there hope? Can I change? Can I function? You got the mic.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely. And it is only by the power of Almighty God who can set you free from your sin and your addiction. And so it's when we come to him. Because I struggled, you know, being exposed to pornography at eight years old my entire life. I got saved when I was 27. For all of that time, this is all I thought about and I couldn't break free of the chains of that addiction until I came to the Lord and he sets us free. So God gives us a choice. We can continue on in doing what we're doing with no change, right?
Speaker 3:Or you know there's two gates, the wide and the narrow. There's two roads, the broad and the difficult. There's two foundations the sand and the rock. And when we come to the Lord, we'll know for sure that he is real. Because Jesus says if you love me, the Father will love you, and if the Father loves you, I will love you and we will manifest ourselves to you. In other words, we will reveal ourselves to you, we will show ourselves real to you. And so it's not just that somebody coaxes us into saying a prayer. You know that's an example from our heart going to the Lord, realizing Lord, I need you and there's no way out on my own. And when you come to Christ and believe he sets you free, your life begins to change. You see things differently. I treat my life differently.
Speaker 3:I treat people differently. I'm not perfect. Listen, the only one person ever walked on the earth pure and holy, sinless, was Jesus Christ. We are all sinners, saved by the grace of the Lord. We're all under construction. We've got this big scaffolding all around us and there's a big sign that says under construction. God's still working on us. Right, we're not what we think we are, but when we come to him, listen, he enables us to walk away from the things that keep us bound. Satan wants to keep us bound in a pit. Jesus wants to reach in and pull us out and wash us clean. Now there's a beautiful picture, and I didn't understand it early on, when I was a young believer. You know why was Jesus naked on the cross? What was the significance of him being naked? Well, if we go back to when Adam and Eve sinned, they realized their nakedness, and that nakedness is a picture of shame. And so Jesus is stripped naked because he takes our shame of our sin on himself and then he clothes us in his righteousness. Isn't that wonderful.
Speaker 2:It is wonderful You're listening to the program Ask a Cop. Every first Tuesday of the month we're here to let you meet and greet and get to know members from our law enforcement family. We welcome law enforcement to listen. You're listening today your law enforcement. If your life is in turmoil, there can be a straightening out by God's intervention in your life. God's intervention in your life. We're talking to our guest today. Former deputy sheriff, 29 years with BSO Broward Sheriff's Office. Also pastor for 19 years in Calvary Chapel, pompano which I'm getting ahead of myself. But deputy sheriff Ken, pastor Ken, chaplain Ken, here's the thing If somebody wanted to talk to you, they could probably call Calvary Chapel Pompano and make a connection.
Speaker 3:Is that right? Absolutely. Our webpage is calvarypbcom and on there is our phone numbers, contacts. There's great resources there. Once again, that's calvarypbcom. Is there? Once again, that's calvarypbcom.
Speaker 3:And the Lord has, at this point in my life, amazingly what's been many years putting it together, but I've written a devotional book called Blessed Hope, and I know this is a nonprofit radio station, so I'm not promoting the sale of anything. But I'm telling you, pastor Raz, if you'd like to purchase Blessed Hope, it's available on Amazon, and you know what we did for Christmas when you purchase that stuff on Amazon, you can mail it directly to somebody anywhere in the world. So we bought copies of Blessed Hope in the morning.
Speaker 2:Devotional In the evening devotional.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, it's scripture, it's a reflection, and so there's another one coming out, hopefully in March, for specifically first responders Okay, coming out hopefully in March for specifically first responders.
Speaker 3:So recently I was able to talk with the law enforcement officer at Seminole Police and here's what I said to them. Here's what they tell us Suck it up, do your job, because you have to right. You can't show up on a crime scene and say, oh my gosh, look at the blood. Right, you've got to suck it up. But what they don't tell you is to exhale. And the exhale is talking about it, calling the chaplain, reaching out to someone to talk through. And that's where peer support, employee assistance program and the chaplaincy are the three legs of wellness in your agency. And once again— Now I've got to interrupt you.
Speaker 2:I've got to interrupt you a second, because you know, officers, they're tough people. They're tough people I mean, god calls them because they're going to be exposed to the bad and the ugly. You know, hopefully the good, but sometimes the bad and the ugly it overpowers. So here's the question You're going on, scene after scene, you're seeing the blood, you're seeing the tragedy, you're seeing the treason, you're seeing the betrayal, you're seeing the tragedy, you're seeing the treason, you're seeing the betrayal. Then it hits you personally, at home. It comes to a theater near you. So so here's the question now.
Speaker 2:Okay, you said something about talking about it, because the the tendency is I'm going to talk to no one, I need no one, i'm'm Superwoman. So, chaplain, pastor, former deputy sheriff, what do you say to that officer that's listening? That they're about to cross the line of no coming back because you got problems, you got to deal with these problems. And something that you said is, I mean, just talking about it to the right person, where there's confidentiality, is going to make a difference. It's going to make a difference.
Speaker 3:What do you say to that person? It's going to make a huge difference because we have to talk through it, and talking through it helps us process what we've experienced, believe it or not. So let me give you a quick illustration. I know we're running out of time. Not too long ago, one of the former retired Secret Service agents was killed in a motorcycle accident, and I had to go tell his wife, and so it was a Saturday afternoon I was actually ready to take a nap and I get the phone call. So I have to dress up and go out to the house a semi-mansion, beautiful place. You know he's done his career taking care of his family and I tell his wife you know, unfortunately, he was in a motorcycle accident and he has died as a result of his injury. She drops to the pavement screaming it was terrible, neighbors are coming out, we go inside the house, relatives show up.
Speaker 3:It was just a really traumatic experience that I had, and so, about two hours later, the pastor showed up and I was relieved. But here's what I did, because I was emotionally affected by this we're not robots, right, exactly? And so what I did was reach out to a chaplain friend. Oh man, I just got to share with you what I experienced and just by me talking about it helped me process what I was feeling and what I was going through. Help me process what I was feeling and what I was going through and that's available to any law enforcement officer. Do their chaplaincy. If your agency doesn't have one, reach out To another agency.
Speaker 2:Pastor Raz, yeah, yeah To us, yeah, go ahead. So exhaling is talking about it. I like it, I like it. So you suck it up, but you also got to blow it and let it out. Let it come out in a proper way. Chaplain Adrian is here with us.
Speaker 4:Adrian, any officer that wants to contact you. How do they do that? Yeah, we have here in Dade County, just real quick. We do have the multi-agency peer support team, so there's many resources. Contact the radio studio here, 786-313-3115, because you're listening here through God's Way. Radio PoliceThankYoucom is another way you can reach out. You know my office number is 786-348-2997, if you want to call that. But just there are ways that you can reach out and so, especially right now if you're listening, don't hesitate to call 786-313-3115 and reach out to somebody.
Speaker 2:You know it's funny, I got to say this. One of the reasons for Ask a Cop is you listening right now? You in law enforcement, you, the deputy sheriff, the officer, the detective, the sergeant, lieutenant, captain, you, the deputy chief, the chief, you, we care about you and there is a remedy. When life, the cup gets full, your emotional cup, your heart gets full, there's remedy to not only help you deal with it, but to help you to come to know God, your creator, jesus, your savior, for you to have assurance of eternal life. That starts here and now. Back to you, deputy Sheriff Ken, pastor Ken, what would you say right now in your place of life? You know, here you've done a law enforcement career, a chaplain, with two different agencies pastor, dad, granddad, what do you say now? What are some of the things you say, now that you've learned? If you're speaking to the younger Ken, that would be helpful.
Speaker 3:It's the best decision I ever made to give my life to Christ. I was lost in the pit of hell. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and there's no way to the Father but through him, and Paul makes it clear. He says in Romans 10, if you confess with your mouth, lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. I needed to hear that message afresh, and perhaps there's an officer listening today and doesn't know that he knows he has eternal life and he's in the pit of hell. Jesus is the way, and perhaps we could lead them in a salvation prayer before we hang up.
Speaker 3:What do you think Right now? Why don't you do it? Let's do it, lord. God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day. Forgive me of my sins and wash me clean. I've decided this day to follow you, jesus. I open my heart and I invite you inside to be my God, to be my Savior and to be my friend. From this day and forever, I am yours. Help me to follow you each and every day, and it's in Jesus' precious name that I pray. Amen.
Speaker 3:And if you've believed in your heart and confess with your mouth, the scripture says that you've gone from eternal life to eternal, from eternal death to eternal life in Christ Jesus. That's the best decision that you'll ever make.
Speaker 2:Yeah, If you prayed that prayer, you could reach out. You could reach out to Calvary Chapel, pompano. You could ask to speak to Pastor Ken or one of the pastors there. You could reach out here to Godvary chapel, miami. So we are here for you, not selling you an institution, not bringing you into an organization of man, but bringing you to a relationship with the living god, the same god that walked ken kerrigan, deputy Sheriff, a long life's way to be in the center of God's will for his life. Pastor Ken, I want to thank you for joining us Quickly before we go. Favorite food Italian, french. What's your tendance?
Speaker 3:Oh, my favorite food is. First of all, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2:I'd love to come back on my favorite is veal Parmesan. All right, veal Parmesan. And then are you an opera man, are you a concert man, are you a Broadway show.
Speaker 3:I'm all of the above brother.
Speaker 2:Good, good, good Self-defense. What is it? Kaboom, magra, jiu-jitsu Judo or what?
Speaker 3:is that you know, paul says I become all things to all people so that I may win a few. So I'm not limiting myself to anything.
Speaker 2:Hey, thank you. Thank you so much. God bless you. We'll have you back.
Speaker 3:God bless.
Speaker 1:Thank you, guys. You've been listening to Ask a Cop. For more information or to get in contact with us, visit our website, policethankyoucom. You'll also find out how you can support us. Again, just visit policethankyoucom. All one word Don't forget to subscribe to the Ask a Cop podcast, wherever you're listening right now. We look forward to continuing the conversation when you join us next time for Ask a Cop.