Clergy to go on Police Patrol in Northern Ireland

Police officers in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, are to be accompanied on their patrols by Catholic and Protestant clergy.

In the first ever scheme of its kind in Northern Ireland, ministers are being asked to go with constables on Friday and Saturday nights on the streets of Strabane to see the risks and difficulties they encounter.

The project - 'Faith in Policing' - hopes to nurture a growing relationship between clergy and the police to tackle community problems and issues.

Inspector Graham Dodds, who is behind the scheme, told the BBC that there is 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 said.

"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."

He added: "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.

"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.

"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 also explained that there had been a very positive response from churches in Strabane and they would be consulting their own authorities about the scheme.

Dodds said: "The main aim for this is getting crime figures down."

Clergy will receive regular e-newsletters for distribution to congregations, while local clergy will be appointed as police chaplains to their local stations across the district on a voluntary basis.