NEWARK -- About 100 local clergy members are ready to fight crime in Newark.

At a press conference Monday announcing the expansion of the city's "Citizen/Clergy Police Patrols" program, Mayor Ras Baraka and Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said the program will help boost the often strained relationship between the police department and Newark residents.

The program puts police officers on patrol with religious heads and civilians.

The Newark Police Division Citizen/Clergy patrol unit (Submitted photo)

"Partnering police officers with our city's residents and religious leaders is an invaluable tool for building trust and strengthening community relations," Ambrose said in a release about the announcement.

"Seeing a clergy member in (a police) vehicle will very likely encourage residents that their neighborhoods are being protected both by law enforcement and by spiritual re-enforcement."

The clergy members, who city officials say represent a wide number of faiths, will head out with officers on patrol from 4 p.m. to midnight on scheduled ride-along trips, city officials said.

Riding in special yellow and white police cars, they will be tasked with providing comfort and counseling to crime victims and their families, as well as joining officers on hospital and school visits.

The program had been in place in the Newark police department until 2010, when sweeping layoffs cut it, city officials said.

The addition of about 100 officers this year, and plans for 100 more to join the ranks next year, have allowed for the program to grow again, they said.

The move comes in the midst of several reforms, including the creation of a civilian review board of the department, in the wake of a condemning 2014 Department of Justice report on the state of the department. It has been under a federal monitor as a result of the report.

Baraka touted the reform efforts as moves that "have made Newark a national leader in building trust between the police and the communities they serve."

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.