A police force appears to have some Star Wars fans in its midst, after eight of its officers recorded their religion as “Jedi”, it was revealed yesterday.

Strathclyde Police said that the officers and two civilian staff had listed themselves as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms. The details were obtained from the force in a Freedom of Information request.

Jane’s Police Review asked 55 forces across Britain how many employees had officially declared their religion as Jedi. It said that Strathclyde Police was the only force to confirm that some of its staff had done so.

Jedi Knights are fictional characters such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda in the Star Wars movies. Said to live “in a galaxy far, far away”, they use “the Force” to battle the arch-enemy Darth Vader and try to help characters who have strayed to the “dark side”.

Chris Herbert, the Editor of Jane’s Police Review, who requested the information, said: “The Force appears to be strong in Strathclyde Police with their Jedi police officers and staff. Far from living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, some members of the noble Jedi order have now chosen Glasgow and its surrounding streets as their home.”

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: “At the time of the request, ten (eight officers and two staff) had recorded their religion as Jedi.”

She added that the force monitored “six strands of diversity” — age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, and sexual orientation. The force said that the information was provided voluntarily and securely stored.

In the 2001 Census for England and Wales about 390,000 people stated their religion as Jedi. The Office for National Statistics did not recognise it as a separate category and incorporated them with the atheists. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000.

Strathclyde is the largest police force in Scotland. It employs about 8,200 officers and 2,800 staff.

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