Police are enlisting the power of prayer to cut crime.
The church-backed charity Redeeming Our Communities is being invited to help solve problems in areas across Sussex.
According to the charity’s website, it was founded in Greater Manchester in 2004 to try to reduce violent crime “through prayer and action”.
It works by promoting partnerships between police, councils, voluntary groups and police.
A report before Sussex Police Authority’s neighbourhood policing scrutiny committee revealed the charity is being invited to set up schemes across the county, after success in Bognor and Littlehampton.
The report said Sussex Police want to work with the 100,000 churchgoers in the county, and police in different districts are in contact with local churches about local issues.
More than 250 people attended the first meeting of a Redeeming Our Communities scheme in Eastbourne in October.
The charity is now working with police to launch schemes in Brighton, Mid Sussex, Crawley and Hastings.
The papers also revealed that “street pastor” schemes, under which volunteers speak to people in the street to try to solve urban problems, are being introduced in Bexhill and Mid Sussex.
Brighton has 24 street pastors to help police city-centre streets at night, while Hastings, Worthing, Eastbourne and Crawley have weekend patrols.
The committee is due to discuss the proposals at Sackville House, Brooks Close, Lewes, at 2.15pm today (Wednesday, November 23).
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