WHILE agreeing with much of Emma Witney’s comments regarding Police Scotland (Letters, July 22) I think it is unrealistic to expect policing to be separate from the politics of the day. Were the police to be more independent and farther outwith governmental control the risk of a vigilante, street-militia force would dangerously increase.

But whether a de-regionalised approach to policing is preferable, as appears to have happened with the setting up of Police Scotland, is complex in its pros and cons. The apparent urge for the change has been cost-saving but cost-saving isn’t always as simple and straightforward as it seems. What about life-saving? What about preserving peace in communities?

As mentioned by Emma Witney, concerns about arming police in what is a mainly rural area (the region formerly policed by Northern Constabulary), and the recent apparent neglect of a phone call from a concerned member of the public about a car having come off the M9 road, point to both safety and peace perhaps being sacrificed in the quest to save money by transferring police authority from local to national control.

Emergency calls to the police are often made by people who can identify local reference points that are not in sat-nav, ordnance survey, or street plan format. In such instances of panic, turmoil and so on, local knowledge is paramount.

All the electronic wizardry in the world will often not match this local familiarity. Therefore, maybe it is time to re-assess such matters and perhaps extends the perspective a bit.

Ian Johnstone,

84 Forman Drive, Peterhead.