Support for stop and search
Sir: Mary Wakefield is rightly exasperated by fatuous comments over police use of stop and search (‘Stop posturing over stop and search’, 29 June).
Perhaps this year there will be 200 murders of children by other children. Swamping areas with police is obviously a visible response to the problem, but gangs know there is a reluctance to stop and search and this is part of the reason for their arrogant attitude. Stop and search is street policing in the raw. It often leads to arrest, and it can be a messy, frustrating, confrontational business, even when done with tact and patience.
As a Met PC for 31 years — Lewisham, then Islington — I went through hundreds of pockets. Nearly all the searches were resented: who wants to be frisked? There was a grudging acceptance that I had a reason to search, but no self-respecting youth is going to let plod ruin his Friday night without putting on a bit of a show. This street theatre can be intimidating to younger officers, and unless there is strong support from above many simply choose to ignore what is happening right in front of them for fear of making a mistake.
Robust, proactive street policing is now less popular with politicians and senior officers because of fears of sparking riots, and the results have rolled down to street level. It will take years to reverse this trend.
Richard Hill
Hitchin, Herts
Revised prayer
Sir: Melanie McDonagh is certainly correct to side with Cranmer over Pope Francis on the issue of rewriting the Lord’s Prayer (‘Lead astray’, 22 June), but she may be interested to know that the Anglican Communion was guilty of this offence well before the Catholic Church.
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