In another example of how positive thinking can turn around a community, Detective Roger Bartlett turned to the people of Barnstaple, Devon, to combat their community crime rate. At one point, Barnstaple had the lowest rate of crime detection in the country and one of the highest traffic accident rates. However, then Bartlett asked the community to pray for themselves and the police force. Now, Barnstaple has one of the highest crime detection rates in the country and accidents have dropped by nearly 66 percent!
Officials aren’t sure what caused the turn-around and are hesitant to suggest divine intervention due to Officer Bartlett’s street pastors, but that doesn’t really matter. As Bartlett’s boss, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton says, “Whether you believe in the power of prayer or not, the fundamental issue is there are people out there caring about society.” Sometimes, that’s all it takes to turn things around.
Tags: Roger Bartlett, Barnstaple, Devon, England, United Kingdom, divine intervention lowered crime rate, crime rate improved by prayer, street pastors