In the spirit of Ig Nobel Prize winner John Hagelin, the British government is trying prayer as a means to cut crime both by criminals and by policemen, according to this report in The Independent:
A Christian policing group which believes that the power of prayer can catch criminals and keep officers safe from harm has been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Home Office. The Christian Police Association (CPA) wants members of the public to “adopt a cop” by praying for the safety of local officers as they ply their beats. Subjects that the association says congregations should be encouraged to pray for include “helping officers make on-the-spot decisions” and encouraging them to “resist corruption”
The 1994 Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to John Hagelin of Maharishi University and The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, promulgator of peaceful thoughts, for his experimental conclusion that 4,000 trained meditators caused an 18 percent decrease in violent crime in Washington, D.C.
Hagelin reported his results in the paper “Interim Report: Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness In Washington, D.C., June 7 to July 30, 1993,”
Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, Fairfield, Iowa”.
Other observers noted that the crime rate in DC actually achieved historically high levels during that period.