THE many crime-initiative plans — or is it crime-plan initiatives — abounding today are mind-sapping and totally confusing.

Police work is drudgery towards perfection. A police officer was an ordinary citizen who opted to present him/herself for selection to a police station. He was of a certain age and had a certain level of education.

If he passed basic muster he was forwarded to the next stage of the process… Movement all the time… He passed the different and more difficult stages; if he chose to stay on and continue, he learned more complex skills and techniques at the hands of qualified, expert, no-nonsense trainers and educators in police proficiency.

Nobody got picked because a politician sent him to the officer in charge (who ever that person was!)

The quality of the recruit's training and progress at the barracks under the watchful supervision of his/handler depended on that recruit's commitment to discipline and good overall aptitude and willingness to accept the myriad aspects of the training components… Such manifestations on the recruit's part to stay the course and gain all that was good and character-building from the sessions was what stood him/ in good stead and led to incentive awards whilst still a recruit.

Hence the police service (Force, then) boasted strength, commitment, high strike rates vs crime/criminals, and excellent conviction rates!

Today's "weekly press conferences…" are a sham and an empty way to allow officers to pass skewed and fanciful, contrived information to the public!

The courts were the daily news reports to the public… Good and effective investigation of crime; excellent probing all criminal activity to unearth the facts and make arrests; riveting presentations from lawyers in court; fair determination by the court in the matter; sentences to suit the crime; members of the public interested in the cases had the facts and knew the outcomes of low and high-profile cases. Police don't need to sit behind mikes in a radio station-type setting and tell reporters half-truths and dented statistics. Today's officers are at ease constantly, never at attention and alert to the surroundings at any level/strata of our society.

Where is the initiative for more effective police action when the perceived action over the past several months and years has been to look for police presence laid back and totally reactive rather than in you face and distinctly proactive?

Michael Coryat

Cascade