Saturday, September 25, 2004

THROWING THE GOOD BOOK AT 'EM

Police are getting tough with criminals in Romania--they're sending the bad guys to church:
Police in a rural area of Romania are sending criminals to church in an attempt to drive down crime figures.

Officers in the Satu Mare region also use the bible to "put the fear of God" into suspects.

This, they say, makes people own up in questioning, and also deters others from committing crimes, said the daily National.

People in the region are deeply religious but also very poor, and while some locals resort to theft to solve their problems or use drinking to forget about them, lying while under oath on the bible is unthinkable.

Feher Vasile, head of police in Livada, said: "We thought this was a good idea. And it works, I can tell you.

"Sometimes, when we deal with something we send people involved to go to see the local priest. And we ask them to swear in front of God to mend their ways. If they are drunk and disorderly for example, it's amazing how quickly it sobers them up."

Now that's a policing strategy that I can endorse!

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