Police scared a lot of priests (10)

I believe the answer is:

sacerdotal

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'police scared a lot of priests' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'police scared a lot' is the wordplay.
'police' indicates an anagram (police can mean to control or manage).
'scared'+'a'+'lot'='scaredalot'
'scaredalot' with letters rearranged gives 'SACERDOTAL'.

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(Other definitions for sacerdotal that I've seen before include "priestly" , "concerning priests" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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