POLICING WITH A DIFFERENCE


‘ POLICING MADE ME CYNICAL – THEN I FOUND FAITH’


In the latest of our Policing with a Diference series, OLIVIA WATKINSON meets Marie Reavey, Chair of the Christian Police Association (CPA)


Marie Reavey is the National Chair of the Christian Police Association, the latest standard bearer of one of the oldest staff support networks, founded in 1883. The organisation has more than 4,000 members across all forces in the UK and all denominations of Christianity. It also works closely with other faiths. Her faith journey began in 2006, when, while travelling, she met a Christian couple in Canada who unpacked the Bible for her in a way she’d never experienced before. She became a Christian in 2009 during a career break travelling the world. Finding faith had a significant impact


on Marie’s police work. She explains: “I quickly became hard-hearted and cynical when I joined the police, but after becoming a Christian it transformed the way I view people especially our ‘regular customers’. I believe that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God and that he loves them. I’m called to do the same. “Jesus’ teachings are my moral compass: they affect everything I do, and I think they fit perfectly with the Code of Ethics. The Bible calls us to seek justice, help the oppressed go free, bring peace into chaos, to love our neighbour, to treat people with dignity and respect.” For Marie, the importance of the CPA is in helping officers be their ‘full selves’ at work and provide a family that understands their perspective. This is important, as being a police officer can really challenge your faith, says Marie. “As police officers we see the worst in


society. The temptation is to blame God for the pain and suffering we see while out on duty, but God gives each of us free will and


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with that everyone makes choices, which can often cause pain in others’ lives.” Marie became a CPA trustee in 2014


and National Chair in 2017. She attends a variety of diversity, equality, and inclusion meetings, sits on the NPCC race, religion and belief strategic group and belief subcommittee, as well as the uplift group. Marie’s role over the last two


years has been the national lead for an initiative called Faith and Police Together, which encourages police forces to build partnerships with their local faith communities. For example, in Halifax, a church group partnered with the police in a Street Angels initiative aimed at offering help to vulnerable people at night. As a result, violent crime in the town centre dropped 42 per cent within the first 12 months of the initiative. In West Yorkshire, local police partnered with Muslim community leaders to reduce drug crimes: the mosques would let them use their radio system to deliver short anti-drug


“ We try not to get bogged down in the things that divide us. Ultimately, we’re all brothers and sisters”


messages and the Imam emphasised in his sermons that dealing drugs was a sin. Intelligence from the community increased by 70 per cent. Marie adds: “Although we’re a national


group, national is made up of local. Who we are and what we can do is worked out at the local level – not unlike a church. We cover the breadth of Christianity and try not to get bogged down in the things that divide us. Ultimately, we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ.” In 2021, the CPA hopes to run an online course for those curious about Christianity. They are also about to run Kintsugi Hope courses aimed at helping people to improve their mental wellbeing in Norfolk, Lancashire and Cumbria, and hope to expand these into other areas as attendees become leaders. Their website is at www.cpauk.net


APRIL 2021 | POLICE | 21


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