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Thanks for explaining that, Merrick, I hope you didn't think I was trying to say "nyer, you're not being consistent"! My interest was in why your opinion should change, not in accusing you of hypocrisy - it's only the bigot whose opinions never change. I certainly agree that it's not just "a few bad apples", but that the majority of police officers are in it for the wrong reasons. It's the sort of job (like prison officer) that attracts the wrong sort of person. Thanks also for putting some perspective on my experience with that WPC - I've not had much dealings with the police and am probably quite naieve about them. What's the answer, though? This is an issue that's had my head tied in knots for years now. Do we just abolish the police force? I wonder what Britain would be like without them. They sell us this myth (I mean that in the sense of "story" rather than "lie" - although it may well be a lie) about how without the police chaos would ensue and we'd all be living in a much more violent amd scary world. I'm not so sure, though: I very much agree with what you say in the intro to U-Know about most people always having shared core values of honesty, compassion etc. It also seems to me that the police are themselves violent and scary, so in one sense abolishing them would reduce the amount of fear and agression in the world. I don't know, though, it only takes a minority to make life a living hell for the majority.
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