The long arm of the lord

Where are the reality TV crews when you really need them? We could be wrong, but it seems like HPD's latest crime-fighting plan is crying out for television — see, the cops are bringing in a phalanx of preachers to help bring Houston's lawless citizens under control. Go ahead, take a second to imagine it: Mild-mannered clergyman helps uncover hardened cop's heart of gold. Beautiful.

Seriously, though — in the coming weeks, clergy from area churches will join 20 HPD officers on patrol on the southwest side in hopes that they'll be able to be liaisons for police in areas where police might not be welcome. "We're not in the business to reach the hearts and minds the way trained ministers are," HPD Fondren Patrol Capt. Williams (nah, we don't know his or her first name) told KHOU.

In addition to the ministers on patrol, the Church at Bethel's Family is moving some of its members into six of southwest Houston's most crime-ridden apartment complexes so they can work from the inside. "We're going to go in there with God's people, and we're going to try to make a long term difference," Lawrence Walton said. The strategy, the Rev. Walter August Jr. told Channel 11 last month, is to help kids in the complexes first. Once kids get in line, their parents follow, he said.

As for HPD, Williams said he dares anyone to criticize the new strategy: "If anybody wants to criticize the police department for praying for crime to go down, I'll take the criticism all day long," he told KHOU.