Tattooed policemen

SIR – I would find it difficult to trust the judgment of any heavily tattooed policeman (report, August 29).

The police have lost their way. Their uniform is scruffy and aggressive. For some police it allows an unpleasant attitude to grow that wasn’t tolerated when police had pride in their unit. Lance Warrington Northleach, Gloucestershire SIR – Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, is quite right to say that visible tattoos damage the professional image of the police.

They cannot maintain the position they need by becoming “street”. Likewise, it is high time they stopped calling the public “mate”. There is a distinct difference between courtesy (which we expect of the police) and over-familiarity (which we don’t). John Newman Hinckley, Leicestershire SIR – To judge from the beach, the Germans are not far wrong when they describe tattoos as “the Anglo-Saxon rash”. Mike Spragg Great Yarmouth, Norfolk