Policing by consent

I see from my council tax bill that the Police and Crime Commissioner is to be given a 7.1 per cent increase.

I am all for this increase (assuming it means more for policing) but I would like to see a shift in the way the police react with we citizens.

If I try to use 101 because there are youths riding motorbikes all over my local park, after a lifetime of listening to how busy they are, I am instructed to fill in an online form.

If I find the remains of a fast food

I would like to see a shift in the way the police react with we citizens

ALEC MATTHEWS

meal, dumped in the car park of the above park, where a car full of youths have had their evening repast; and, I then take a photo of the mess, make a photo copy of the receipt and send it to the police by email, they don’t reply.

If I notice a 14-year-old with an 11-year-old passenger, riding on an unregistered scramble bike up and down my road, no helmets and totally illegal, who in the police would be interested?

If I see cyclists on the road at night, with no lights and always jumping the traffic lights (which happens day and night), why can’t the police see this too?

This kind of low-life activity (I could go on with more examples) is the bedrock of future criminality. If nipped in the bud, it would be life-changing for these youngsters, but there is never anyone there to see their mischief and no visible policing for us citizens to communicate with.

We all know that the police have been decimated by cuts and officers leaving.

Also the pandemic has brought evil to the surface with drugs, gangs, scams, dognapping – you name it – but they need to start talking to the community again. Policing by consent is supposed tobethenameof thegame.

Alec Matthews Parkside, Bedhampton