Letter: Single police force will be a big mistake

THERE are people in Scotland who wish to see a single police force (Letters, 26 July) but I am not among them.

Having served in a small, rural-based constabulary, latterly absorbed into the large and administratively cumbersome Lothian and Borders Police, I know bigger is certainly not better when it comes to levels of policing made available to the community at large.

I choose my words with care; anyone wishing to satisfy themselves as to the truth of this can, if they have a few hours to spare, do so by attempting to report something suspicious to Lothian and Borders Police Bilston control centre.

A single police force in Scotland would be subject to political control dictating the minutiae of day-to-day policing at the expense of the experience and wisdom of operational police men and women, and with predictable results.

Naturally, the pro-single force lobby will scoff at this, but it might help to keep in mind the Metropolitan Police, which is a single force of a size similar to that proposed for Scotland.

The Commissioner is a political appointee who can be hired or fired at the whim of the Lord Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and it does not require much imagination to visualise a Scottish First Minister holding similar powers.

The recent woes of the Metropolitan Police concerning allegations of corruption, patronage and law breaking serve well to illustrate the dangers of creating large police communities where wrongdoers can flourish amid the anonymity of large numbers.

Small might not be beautiful, but it is effective when it comes to policing.

Jim Bradley

Thornfield Terrace

Selkirk