Cranford, NJ—American Atheists has dispatched a letter (see below) to the Hon. Todd Strange, Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, and to Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy alleging that the city’s “Operation Good Shepherd” is unconstitutional, demanding the program cease immediately. The letter arrives on Tuesday.

The program uses volunteer Christian pastors trained by on-duty police officers to minister at crime scenes. The officers are paid their regular, taxpayer-funded wages during training, and the program additionally incurs administrative expenses to taxpayers, for example ID cards that give pastors access to crime scenes. On preacher Billy Irwin’s Christian radio program, according to The Atlantic, Corporal David Hicks described “Operation Good Shepherd” by saying “What we want to do is combine the religious community and the Montgomery Police Department and we want to unite those as one.”

“This program is an explicit violation of the Constitutional requirement of separation of religion and government,” said American Atheists President David Silverman. “The police department chaplain—whoever heard of an official police chaplain?—has openly said that it is his intent to take ‘evangelistic advantage’ of people in times of crisis and to preach Christianity to them.”

The program has trained 37 volunteer pastors so far who are on call to evangelize at crime scenes. Another Constitutional problem with the program is that it only trains Christian pastors. In order to be constitutional, alleges American Atheists, the program would have to provide equal treatment: Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams, atheist humanist chaplains, and any and every other religious or nonreligious group must be provided the same opportunities and the same privileges.

“Even without paying the ministers, using ministers as a formal part of the police department— as an outreach ministry — I think violates the Establishment Clause,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the School of Law at University of California in Irvine, as quoted in The Atlantic. “The government cannot take actions that appear to endorse religion. Using ministers in this way does exactly that.”

American Atheists is a national nonprofit with members in every state, including Alabama, that advocates for separation of church and state.

American Atheists’ 40th National Convention will feature such speakers such as NFL star Chris Kluwe, Survivor®: Philippines grand prizewinner Denise Stapley, Grammy-winning Spin Doctors bass player Mark White, Reverend Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Maryam Namazie of the Council of Ex-Muslims, popular bloggers PZ Myers and Greta Christina, and American Atheists President David Silverman. The convention will also feature a costume party, live music, stand-up comedy, an art show and silent auction, national and local exhibitors, and childcare options for attending families. The convention takes place the the weekend of April 17-20, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

DISPATCHED LETTER FOLLOWS: