Letter: Police force fears
I share Eric Milligan's concerns (Letters, 11 January) with regard to the possibility of a Scottish police force.
Police forces must be locally accountable, and must not become departments of the state. I would be very apprehensive about the possibility of Kenny Mac-Askill, or any successor, becoming a de facto Commissioner of Police. The police have to be independent of government on operational matters. The alternative could undermine one of the fundamentals of our democracy.
There is a strong case for reducing the number of police forces. The same applies to the fire service. It could increase the capabilities of the smaller forces.
There is already close co- operation between police forces in certain fields, such as fraud and firearms.
John Kelly
High Street
Dalkeith