POLICE RECRUIT DOPE-SMOKING RASTAS AS 'PEACE OFFICERS'

Rastafarians have put aside decades of mistrust of police officers - by
strolling across the thin blue line to join bobbies on the beat.

The self-styled 'peace officers', who admit to smoking marijuana for
spiritual meditation, have no powers of arrest, but join West Midlands
officers on patrol, mainly as observers.

Members of the Haile Selassie Peace Foundation church in Handsworth,
Birmingham, have designed special uniforms and hats which combine elements
of the traditional bobby's uniform with the colours of the Ethiopian flag.

"Rastafarians carry a lot more sway than police in that area", said a
police spokesman. "Even when we are investigating a murder, people have a
problem with speaking to police," he added.

The Rastas designed their own uniform because they wanted to show they are
still distinct from the police. "They're not police and they don't want to
be," he said.

Peace officer and president of the HSPF, Itabarica Napthali, said: "People
love it. We've already helped officers. Last week there was a gang of
youths in the street and they refused to move on when police asked. They
just jeered.

"I told them to stop their antics and they did. It's because I spoke to
them on a loving, peaceful basis, maybe because I didn't have the uniform.
I'm here to show people where they're going wrong and squash enmity."

Rastas and police have been natural enemies in the past, due to the
religion's use of cannabis and their perception that police are part of a
white political power structure Rastas refer to as' Babylon.'

A police spokesman said: "A peace officer was with us when we arrested a
man for cannabis. They did exactly as they had pledged, and kept quiet,
but sat in to ensure everything was done correctly."

In April, the Metropolitan Police revealed plans to change its rules so
Rastafarians could join the force without losing their dreadlocks.