Dave Underwood: From the ministry to wearing a badge
Published 8:26 pm Tuesday, October 1, 2013
- The Rev. Dave Underwood preaches a sunrise service at Friendship Alliance Church in Moultrie in this undated photo. Underwood left the ministry to become a full-time police officer with the Moultrie Police Department. Submitted Photo.
In a couple of classic Westerns, the protagonist of the film is a lawman- or gunman-turned-preacher who is confronted with whether to turn the other cheek or pick up the gun again when faced with violence.
In “Pale Rider” Clint Eastwood as “the Preacher” is a minister who uses his gun to protect prospectors from the greedy large landowner in the fictional Lahood, Calif.
Glenn Ford is cast into the middle of a feud between cattlemen and sheepherders in the 1969 Western “Heaven With a Gun.”
In both of those movies the main character turns to preaching after a career of carrying a gun.
For Moultrie Police Department’s Dave Underwood, the progression went in the opposite direction. Underwood, a corporal in the department’s Criminal Investigation Division, was a minister for almost 20 years before deciding on a radical new career trajectory.
Another difference between Underwood and Hollywood’s versions is that law officers today do not sling iron as those depicted on the screen. Underwood has never had to fire a weapon at a suspect.
“I will never forget the first time I drew my weapon on someone,” he said. “At the academy everything is pretty much simulated. When you’re on the street it’s live or die.”
When Underwood, now 55, decided in his mid 40s to make the move from pulpit to peace officer, he was not unfamiliar with law enforcement. His father was a campus university officer at Duke University for 15 years.
“I think it played a part in it,” he said of the influence of his father’s work. “I was always proud my dad was a cop. I remember when I was a kid I’d always ask him if anything went on that day. He loved being a cop, man. He loved it. I think that’s where it started.”
Serving as chaplain for departments in Pennsylvania and in Moultrie also may have played a role. Here he was pastor of Friendship Alliance Church in Moultrie from June 2001 until August 2005 and was involved with the police department through his work as chaplain.
In 2005, at the age of 48, he went to the police academy in Tifton.
“It’s very trying,” he said. “It’s the closest I’ve ever been to going to boot camp. They’re very demanding. If you don’t put forth the effort, then you don’t make it.
“They want to see that you’re putting forth effort. I think your personal attitude toward everything is what makes a difference.”
After police academy came a period of two months of field training, working one month on day shift and the second on night shift.
From graduation through June 2009 he worked as a patrol officer before moving to investigations.
Despite the differences in jobs, Underwood sees some similarities. Both require dealing with people, often those who are dealing with tragedy. At a scene where a victim has died, he is one of the first to interact with a distraught family.
“I think my background as a pastor has helped me,” he said. “Being a pastor and dealing with people on that level has helped me.
“There have been times I’ve been called to a scene that was death-related (and) I was given the opportunity to pray with the family and give comfort. I guess that’s always in the back of my mind.”
While there may be time to comfort, there also is a time to confront.
“I deal with crime, and I deal with a criminal as they should be,” Underwood said. “I think you should enforce the law with compassion. You can do your duty and make sure it’s done. It’s all in your approach.”
Last year Underwood published a book “Confessions of a Wannabe Cop,” subtitled “My Journey from Being a Minister of Grace to an Enforcer of the Law.”
In the book, which is available at Christian Books & More in Moultrie and is available on Kindle, he tells his story and also talks about some of the issues he has noticed in law enforcement. In one chapter he details how as a pastor dealing with death meant a body in a casket and helping the family through their loss.
While investigating a murder, he says in the book: “You are no longer treating that homicide victim as a person. Now you are treating that man, woman or child as evidence in a crime scene. This does not mean you don’t treat that person with respect and dignity. … But certain actions have to be taken with a person who has been the victim of a violent crime in order to obtain the evidence needed to solve that crime.”
He also details one of the worst cases of abuse law enforcement may have ever dealt with here — an elderly woman who was kept in an apartment where she was bedridden. When she was found she was covered with open sores where maggots had taken up residence. The woman lived but lost both legs below the knees, and Underwood recounts that he was part of serving justice on the person responsible.
“I thought I had a pretty good perception of what cops had to deal with,” he said in an interview. “I realized I don’t have a clue. Everything from dealing with people on the street to the dangers you face.”
Despite those eye-opening experiences, Underwood said he made the right decision to make the transition from preacher to police officer. He loves the work and can’t imagine doing anything else.
“I’m not saying I wasn’t called to preach,” he said. “I have no doubt God called me to that. I also have no doubt he called me to move from the ministry to law enforcement.
“I think it’s just something I always wanted to do, but God wanted me to go through another part of life before moving me here.”