Short, sharp shock tactic

WHAT has happened to the police? The disruption caused by eco-zealots blocking the M25 made my heart sink to see how spineless the police seem to be in dealing with protests that impinge drastically on ordinary people’s everyday lives.

In the 1970s, I was a police motorcyclist in liverpool when there was a series of go-slows and stoppages by taxi drivers over their grievances with the council.

One morning, I was dispatched to a protest that had brought the city centre to a standstill.

In those days, traffic police were expected to deal with accidents and other road issues using their own initiative. You sank or swam with the decisions you made.

I approached one taxi driver and several times asked him politely to move his cab because it was causing an obstruction. He refused, so I cautioned him and told him he was being arrested for obstruction.

He ran off, but I chased, caught and arrested him. I returned to the scene, the watching crowd clapped and a colleague moved his cab. The other taxis drove away and traffic returned to normal. The incident was all over in a matter of minutes.

Why don’t today’s police use this method or has the law changed?

NEIL HORN, Liverpool.