If in the credits it is listed as follows

Police        Actor
                Actress
                actor
                actor
Thug        Actor
                Actor
                Actor
Etc.

Would it be proper in profiler to list it as

Police
Actor Police
actress police
actor police

Thugs
Actor thug
actor thug
actor thug

etc...

If not, what would be the proper use of dividers?

I agree with Unicus.  Just because a section of roles are grouped, does not mean a divider should be used.  You commonly see roles grouped as "Police" or "Reporters" or "FBI Agents" or what have you, but I don't think these qualify for dividers.

The use of dividers for cast should have a 2 part requirement.. meaning the roles has 2 parts to it, exactly has Unicus put in his example.  You have 1 part which groups these particular people together then you have a 2nd part which is their actual role name.  Further examples would be movies with ficticious bands or gangs and in the credits they show

Band Name
Actor  Jimmy Doe
Actor  Susie Smith
Actor  James John

or

Gang Name
Actor  Jimmy 'Tiny' Doe
Actor  John 'One Eye' Smith

Generally, if the actual film credits themselves do not separate with a divider then don't use a divider in DVDP.

If you want to see real examples, check out Purple Rain (085391139829), Apocalypto (786936705089), and The Hunt For Red October (097363202073).

In my opinion, dividers aren't for group roles at all. The only was I think it should be used is when you have different cast lists, like different soundtracks on animated features or to separate episodes or movies on the same side of the disc.

Example:
To separate the original voice actors and the English voice actors in the animated movie Spirited Away
To separate the cast and crew for different short movies/cartoons like on the Walt Disney Treasures
TV sets

EDIT: The rules mentions the divider feature in two places. First under the credit section:

Quote:
Do not include artificial actor entries to act as separators between cast lists. (e.g. "--JAPANESE CAST--"), instead use the Divider feature for this.

The under the TV series section

Quote:
Enter Cast and Crew for each episode using standard rules, and insert dividers to separate each episode's credit list from the others. Do not list Cast and Crew outside of the dividers even if they are credited in all episodes.

Enter the episode number and title in the divider that marks the beginning of that episode's credit list. The divider should be formatted as "1. Episode Title", or "Episode 1" if no title is available.

Take the episode title from the episode itself, or from elsewhere on the DVD or DVD packaging, exactly as shown. If all episode titles are entirely capitalized, use standard capitalization rules instead. If the episodes are listed with quotes around each title, exclude the quotes.

If the DVD or DVD packaging specifically numbers the episodes, use that number in the divider. Otherwise, episodes are to be numbered sequentially in the order that they appear on the DVD(s) in the set, with the number sequence carrying over from disc to disc. Do not number non-episodic features such as movies or alternate cuts unless they are given specific numbers on the DVD or DVD packaging.

The rules doesn't mention group roles at all

I think the program should support two kind of dividers which has been requested here and which would allow cast to be divided in both episode/cast lists and group roles. That way we could also create groups if these are used in different episodes or casts. Plus it would make users on both side of the fence happy.

Totally agree with you Martin. Some program development from Ken could solve this easily

There were rumours back in March/April that Ken looked at making a different kind of divider for group roles. Haven't seen anything more about it though.

EDIT: I took a quick search through the rules forum and found this poll.

Take it for what it's worth 

I'm a strong supporter of using dividers for group roles. I don't care if they're not explicitly allowed in the rules since they are not forbidden, either.

As I see it, they definitely fit to the "as credited" philosophy. If there's a header in the cast list, I see absolutely no reason not to reflect this in the profile. Besides, these dividers make the list look clearly arranged.

Quoting Martin_Zuidervliet:

Quote:
I think the program should support two kind of dividers which has been requested here and which would allow cast to be divided in both episode/cast lists and group roles. That way we could also create groups if these are used in different episodes or casts. Plus it would make users on both side of the fence happy.

I agree.

Quoting Martin_Zuidervliet:

Quote:
I do not have access to the Contribution Rules Committee, so I can not see any poll...

Just request access to it Martin, it's simple.

Quoting reybr:

Quote:
Quoting kahless:

Quote:
I have to agree to TigiHof that the dividers make the cast clearly arranged!

That's a matter of personal preference. I don't think it makes the profile any more clear at all. Especially not in cases where you have a group, then normal cast and then a group again. Too me that looks messy (But that's me)

I agree, I think it looks messy and I don't think it follows 'as credited'.  Group roles are just that, roles for a group of people.  It is, in my opinion, done simply for convenience.

For me, dividers should only be used when the cast is actually divided...as they are in the examples given above.