IMPD senior chaplain, 1st Black female captain retires, saddened by rise in crimes
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The chief chaplain for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, who was also their its first African-American female captain, is retiring.
Patricia Holman’s last day is Friday.
As chaplain, Patricia Holman provided comfort to victims of crime, and helped them make it through their darkest moments.
“Crime is just crazy. It’s something that saddens me a whole lot just to see the way that people are killing each other for no reason,” Holman said.
Holman joined the Indianapolis Police Department in 1979. She served for more than 30 years climbing the ranks from patrol officer on the east side of the city to serving as deputy chief covering north of Washington Street.
She’s paved the way for Black women on the force. Holman in 2002 rose to be the first African-American female captain at the Indianapolis Police Department.
“It was remarkable to me I was the first Black female captain on IPD or IMPD. It’s not so much I was first, but when there’s a first, there’s always going to be second,” Holman said.
Holman retired from IMPD in 2013 at the merit rank of captain.
In 2016, at the request of then-Chief Troy Riggs, Holman returned to IMPD to serve in her current position as senior chaplain/manager, and worked to help the community and officers after homicides, deaths, suicides, and more.
As the years have gone by, she says, there have been less and less chaplains, making it harder to keep up with the rise in violent crimes. Now there are only two full-time chaplains.
“They are constantly asking, you know, ‘Is there any chaplain available?’ You can’t do that with less people. We ask a lot of our chaplains and they do a lot, but we need more chaplains.”
She was there helping the families of the people killed in a shooting at a FedEx facility in 2021.
“We were there for 17 hours with people who didn’t not know and just trying to positively identify people, and people were just standing around, sitting around with their family waiting to hear,” Holman said.
She brought comfort to the community after Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Breann Leath was killed in the line of duty in 2020.
“I had an opportunity to meet and talk with her family and this was just such a loss of such an absolutely beautiful person,” Holman said.
So, what’s next for Holman? She says she plans to travel around the country and continue to help others.
