Desperate for street patrols

The streets of our cities are teeming, we are told, with disaffected youths, armed and dangerous, terrorising each other and society in general.

What is desperately needed, it is said, is the visible presence of uniformed officers. Problem: we simply do not have enough coppers to do the job, and the ones we do have are up to their armpits in paper, so where do we find the officers we so desperately need?

This is just a thought, maybe we have them already. They are currently patrolling the streets of Iraqi cities and putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan.

Imagine this: A recruitment drive among our armed forces. "Change your desert camouflage for smart navy blue, retrain for the National Guard and patrol the streets of home."

Give them a uniform that a young man would be proud to wear, give them the equipment and the power to search and remove weapons from the pockets of thugs.

Too simple a solution? Maybe so, but one which should appeal to Gordon. After all, these young men are being paid already. As I said, just a thought.

Derek Massey, Old Park