Have the police gone mad?

[Cuddles]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/5238694.stm

It seems that a police department in Britain are encouraging people to "tackle crime with the power of prayer". There is no mention in this article whether they expect any results, but this seems to be only a small step away from asking psycics. Does anyone know of any more details on this?

[Big Les]

Not quite; if there's any tacit encouragement, it's from the Christian Police Association, not from any particular Force. The police won't actively squash anything like this because it's a basic form of intelligence that they perhaps don't get these days. Though wooish to us, Christianity is of course an established recognised religion. I would hope that there would be a significant perceived difference on the part of the police powers that be, if this involved psychics. I also don't think that what's being pushed by the CPA can't really affect cases in the way that assisting "psychics" can (ie negatively).

[Axenos]

This article is written in a somewhat obtuse manner.

After reading the article, I don't think their intention is to use prayer to eradicate or subdue "all" crime but rather as more of an awareness thing for churches with a faith element.... although it would be easy to derive your original conclusion the way it was written.

[Starthinker]

Yahoo picked up this story and it ended up in their "Stange News" section.

[phaedra]

This was covered by the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 earlier today. Dr Sue Blackmore was in fine form.

There's a listen again facility here for anyone who missed it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/vine/

[Mancunian]

Greater Manchester had a Chief Constable, James Anderton, who believed he spoke with God. Anyone remember him?

[Oberdan]

I find it stikenly funny that this is one of the countries Pilgrims left for the new world to establish freedom of religion. :D

[monoman]

Greater Manchester had a Chief Constable, James Anderton, who believed he spoke with God. Anyone remember him?

Ah yes, God's cop! I'd forgotton all about him. Still, he inspired a great Happy Monday's song.

[Meffy]

I find it stikenly funny that this is one of the countries Pilgrims left for the new world to establish freedom of religion. :D
Nono -- their goal wasn't freedom of religion, it was to have their religion be the one on top, so they could persecute followers of other religions. Which they did with great vim -- branding, flogging, and dragging through the streets those who didn't follow the one officially sanctioned religion.

[hammegk]

And it was working out quite well until a few decades ago..... ;)

[Abdul Alhazred]

The American idea of religious liberty developed about a century later than the Puritan Pilgrims.

Sometimes it's retrospectively credited to them.

[aggle-rithm]

[Chief Wiggum]

Can't anyone take the law into their own hands?

[/Chief Wiggum]

[Meffy]

I'd do it, Chief, but I have paws.

[gnome]

What's all this, then? Amen.