Where are the police?
AS THE murder rate in London increases, and a large number of crimes go unsolved, isn’t it time for a rethink on modern policing?
There has been a breakdown in the relationship between the police and the public.
Policing used to be about crime prevention, working at a local level with a visible presence. This encouraged the public to interact with officers so they knew what was happening in their area.
Today, it appears that senior officers believe that with terrorism, cyber crime and hate speech, these methods are no longer relevant.
But in reality the crimes that affect the majority of the population are the same ones that affected their parents and grandparents.
Increasingly, the police ignore such offences as burglary. Issuing a crime number is no deterrent to criminals.
A succession of weak Home Secretaries, fast-tracked graduates with no experience of grass-roots policing and promotion based on equality and diversity rather than ability have compounded the problem. DAVID J. WHITE, Basingstoke, Hants. ARE the politicians such as the mayor of London, Sadiq khan, calling for a tough response to gang violence the same people who opposed any move to strengthen laws on account of the criminals’ human rights?
They blame the Government and police for out-of-control thugs and forget their previous opposition to such measures as stop and search.
When the metropolitan elite insisted lawbreakers were victims rather than perpetrators, police had no chance. The gently-gently approach has been proven to be a complete failure.
FRANK MCMANUS, Leeds. SADIQ kHAN has a congestion charge, toxicity charge, fines for motorists straying into bus lanes, income from speed cameras and revenue from astronomical parking charges. Why not spend some of this money on the police?
M. CATTERALL, Accrington, Lancs. HOW ironic that former Home Secretary David Blunkett says we need far more police officers (mail). Was it not his bright idea to introduce Police Community Support Officers ( PCSOs) with minimal training and even less authority? ANTHONY DUNMORE, Great Sutton, Cheshire.