This article is a 'behind the scenes' look at the professional life of a Christian senior police officer, currently at the forefront of addressing child protection issues within faith and minority ethnic communities. We chart the pioneering work he has been involved in over the past decade and the progress of a new project that is furthering the work in this area.

To start with we need to take a step back in time to ten years ago when Detective Inspector Bob Pull of the Metropolitan Police headed up the training of police officers for North West London. A work colleague, who also happened to be a Christian, was approaching retirement and Bob was helping him through various aspects of the retirement process.

What happened next was a kind of role reversal because during their sessions together, his work colleague began sharing his faith and encouraged Bob to read the Bible. Over a period of time Bob responded by committing his life to Christ. Although it took him a while to find his spiritual feet, attending an Alpha course was a great help to him, and it wasn't long before his wife became a Christian also.

A former leader of the Christian Police Association (Metropolitan Branch), Bob is at present completing ordination training and in August 2006 he will retire from the Met to become a full-time Minister with a special emphasis on evangelism.

When Bob first became a Christian, not only did he experience a dramatic change in his personal life, but also professionally in his role as a senior police officer. He began to notice there was sometimes a tendency within the force to treat minority communities (including those of faith) less favourably when, for example, executing Stop and Search protocols. This did not sit comfortably with his newfound faith and he therefore decided to transfer his energies from seeking promotion to challenging the police service to become more aware of the value of faith in building bridges within the communities where they were operating.

This has been particularly relevant in the last decade following the Public Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence. In February 2000, Bob was transferred to the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force at New Scotland Yard where he had a lead role in implementing recommendations contained in the Inquiry.

Bob has also been involved in spearheading strategic initiatives, working alongside Black Majority churches, building trust and confidence through shared faith. This work has rapidly developed into projects with the Black Christian Civic Forum, African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, Church Commission for Racial Justice and other organisations.

I met Bob recently at a Street Pastors Conference, an initiative in which he has been heavily involved in a training capacity. He is also a consultant with the Haringey Peace Alliance. The efforts being made in these areas are having a significant impact not only on gun crime in the Capital, but also in areas targeted by the Street Pastors initiative where certain crimes have reduced by 80%.

Behind the scenes Bob, with some of his black colleagues who are also Christians, have spent a lot of time meeting leaders of Black Majority churches and disparate faith groups from very different ethnic backgrounds. It is not unusual these days for Bob to be found preaching in one of the churches on a Sunday morning where he has established links, and statistically he has probably spoken to over 25,000 people at Black Majority churches and conferences.

One thing I have failed to draw attention to so far, though it is evident from the photograph, is that Bob is white. Obviously this is not an issue for most Black Majority churches but in some quarters, the level of trust and acceptance he experiences, is a credit to his ability and I would say, God-given gift, to bring reconciliation where there has been justified reason for suspicion and mistrust.

Having said this, it has been a cause for extreme frustration that following the high profile court case earlier this summer of the conviction of three people for ritualised abuse against a young girl, irresponsible and facticious reporting in some sections of the media has done untold damage to the Met's much improved relationships with minority faith communities.

In light of tragedies such as the death of Victoria Climbie and what has become known as the 'Thames Torso' (the dismembered torso of a child found in the Thames that has never been identified), Bob was asked to set up a working group known as Project Violet, that would challenge and educate minority and ethnic groups where a culture or tradition meant children could be harmed physically, emotionally, sexually and through neglect. This included serious crimes against children carried out in the name of that culture or tradition. Bob was at pains to point out to me that the incidences of serious ritualised abuse that invariably hit the headlines are extremely small, and whilst needing to be taken seriously should not be seen as everyday occurrences.

Bob was called upon to set up Project Violet because of his established links with faith communities, not only Christian but with people of other faiths such as Muslims and Jews. He is accepted and respected, not because or in spite of his uniform, but because he is a person with a genuine faith albeit sometimes different from those he is working with. Bob sees his role as informing, educating and developing further links so that each community is able to respond appropriately to child protection issues and go to trusted individuals with their concerns. Bob cited a recent occurrence when he learned of a church where the leadership were encouraging their congregation to beat their children so 'the devil would go'. Bob's response was to visit the church with a pastor of similar tradition and meet with the leadership. This church responded positively and asked for help to establish child protection procedures and are now using the CCPAS manual 'Guidance to Churches' to do this.

Having listened to Bob describe his work, I realise the issues can be complex and sensitive. For example, if spiritual forces are very much a reality within a congregation and prayers for deliverance the norm, this may form a child's expectations when it comes to prayer. Being careful not to enforce western-style theology on the church, Bob would guide them on a more moderate approach that would ensure their prayer model is not abusive to children.

The question of reasonable chastisement can also be a difficult area. We would rightly be appalled by the practice of putting chilli pepper in the eyes of a child as a punishment. The truth of the matter is, this is not an uncommon form of chastisement in some countries. It is often considered like a short, sharp smack, that if carried out with restraint, though painful, rarely causes long-term damage. I ask myself the question whether this is this very much worse than some of the more severe punishments meted out in western society? In other words do we have to be careful of double standards?

From Bob's point of view, whilst respecting different cultures and being positive in his approach to changing traditions and mindsets, where abuse has occurred the law must be upheld and if necessary those responsible punished.

The backdrop to Project Violet is a working group made up of fifty health and social services professionals, one of whom is CCPAS Director David Pearson. David and Bob are working together on a number of new initiatives that include a major media campaign and the production of a booklet on basic child protection that will be widely distributed amongst faith and ethnic communities. Bob is committed to continuing to build upon what has already been achieved and anticipates he will speak to six hundred pastors of Black Majority churches on child protection policies and procedures. When he visits churches he also goes armed with a copy of the CCPAS manual 'Guidance to Churches' to promote good and safe child protection. Although Bob is leaving the Met next summer, he is already considering how the groundbreaking work he has started will continue, which may well involve the CCPAS in some way.

Whilst in this article we have focussed on Bob Pull's employment at the Met and his work with various communities, he was recently quoted as saying 'It is the responsibility of all communities to protect children'. We must never lose sight of the fact therefore that child protection principles must be applied across the board whatever the denomination, movement, faith group or organisation. CCPAS will therefore continue to work with people like Bob Pull in promoting child protection and safe practice wherever it is needed.

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