I refer to the letters by Roger Tucker and Chris Payne, both former close colleagues.

I joined the Gloucestershire Constabulary in 1958 after army service as an officer. On joining the police I realised that the lower police ranks performed nearly all day-to-day policing. It is very important that the supervising ranks of sergeant upwards knows the job, otherwise it is almost impossible to supervise the officers that are doing the work.

Sergeants with less than five years’ service are always at a disadvantage. Even so, unlike the ‘instant inspectors’, they all had to do two years on the beat.

Being a junior army officer and a constable cannot be compared. Once the army officer has been trained he is usually quite capable of being a platoon commander (40 men) within months. A police constable’s consists of between six months and 30 years’ service — a lot of experience there.

Up to 70 years ago nearly all county chief constables were retired service officers.

I worked with a number of graduate entries, i.e. inspectors with only four years’ service. Some were excellent, a couple mediocre and one was the nastiest person I have ever met in the police service.

I was regularly on night duty as a sergeant in charge of a division of TVP which stretched from the edge of Leighton Buzzard to Great Missenden. I wonder how the public would feel with an ‘instant inspector’ in charge? Let’s hope he has a good sergeant and experienced PCs.

I think part of the problem is that not a single member of the Government, or Opposition for that matter, have service in either the army or the police and unless people have some sort of experience of either of those, they just haven’t got the first class knowledge.

DAVID M YOUD Barlow Close Wheatley