Faith in the police... clergy on patrol

Clergy would accompany officers to see what they face on the streets

Catholic and Protestant clergy are set to go on patrol with police officers to see the risks and difficulties they encounter in a County Tyrone town.

In the first NI scheme of its kind, ministers have been asked to accompany constables on Friday and Saturday nights on the streets of Strabane.

The Faith in Policing project hopes to develop an ongoing relationship to work on community concerns and policing issues.

Inspector Graham Dodds, who developed the scheme, said there was a lot of sectarian tension and alcohol-related crime in the area.

"We are hoping to make use of the existing good relations with the churches in Strabane," he told the BBC News website.

"We can outline what the social consequences of incidents are and speak to the local parish priest or local minister to see what can be done through the pulpit or parish magazine."

'Very positive response'

Mr Dodds, who is sector commander for Strabane Rural, said the scheme followed a successful forum between the PSNI and churches in the Castlederg area.

"Since Christmas, there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence and I attribute that in part to that tremendous effort between the police and the churches," he said.

"We would like to see clergy go out with officers on patrol in Strabane on Friday or Saturday nights to see the real social problems we face.

The aim is to reduce crime on the streets of Strabane

"We are not asking them to be apologists - if they see us doing something wrong then I want them to please tell us and we can adapt the way we do things."

The officer said there had been a very positive response from churches in Strabane and they would be consulting their own authorities about the scheme.

"The main aim for this is getting crime figures down," said the inspector.

The project will involve regular open meetings, the publication of e-newsletters sent to clergy for distribution to congregations and the appointment of local clergy as police chaplains to their local stations across the district on a voluntary basis.