For Glendale Police Officer Patrick Hamblin, God and law enforcement go hand-in-hand.
His passion for both topics recently led him to Uganda, Africa, where he learned about the country and shared his knowledge of law enforcement.
Hamblin, 32, visited the country in east Africa from May 24 to June 3 to speak at a two-day conference titled “God, Law and Justice” at the Uganda Christian University in Mukono.
The conference was designed to teach people how to combine religion and their career in law enforcement in the pursuit of justice, he said. Hamblin talked to third- and fourth-year law students about interpreting law enforcement with a biblical perspective.
“Hopefully they can work for reforms in their police force, whether that be creating laws or changing standards,” he said.
Hamblin, who joined the Glendale Police Department five years ago, explained his duties as a police officer in the United States to the students.
“A police officer’s job is pursue justice,” he said. “[To] make sure there is justice for everyone, including widows, orphans and includes not taking bribes for money from victims.”
Hamblin said he learned that police officers in Uganda often solicit bribes from victims of crimes to arrest a suspect.
He believes their low salaries, about $10,000 a year, contribute to the lawlessness.
“There is the temptation to go out and solicit bribes . . .to get [out] of traffic enforcement or arrest situations,” Hamblin said.
He also told the students that police officers must follow the law to earn the trust of the people they protect.
“You can have the most just laws or just higher levels of government, but if you have injustice at the police level, you are robbing people from the chance to see God’s character, and you are robbing people from the ability to see God’s justice,” Hamblin said. “It doesn’t matter how just your upper levels are, but at that level people always see injustice.”
Hamblin toured various ministries in Uganda and said people were friendly there.
“They had a desire to get to know someone despite their poverty,” he said.
Glendale Police Sgt. John Gilkerson said Hamblin was a good ambassador to represent the Police Department.
“He’s the perfect person to reflect this agency,” Gilkerson said.
