sft, i think the point is that we invest a great deal of power in the police and they make decision about our personal liberty which english and scottish law regard as some of the most fundamental basic rights we have. there are indeed racists everywhere, but to invest these sort of powers in someone who has an irrational dislike or even hatred of a particular social group is to put the members of that social group in danger. people dont just believe racist bigotry, they act on it, a racist barmaid is one thing, but a racist policeman is something else entirely. the police are representatives of the government and the government represents all of us, there is no space to make allowances for racism in that. i had to abandon my own plans to join the police when i realised how much i hate the scots (for all the noraml AB ers reading this, that is private joke about the scots for sft's benefit and not intended to cause offence).