Are speed traps the best use of police time?

10:40am Thursday 22nd November 2001

In response to your front page article about the low figures of police in Bromley (News Shopper, November 14), I would like to make the following point about which I feel strongly.

Last week, I made a trip into Beckenham which took me down Wickham Way.

As I recall, the time was late morning and halfway down, was an unmarked black van with one policeman and one policewoman using radar speeding equipment.

Further down, was another policeman with some more of the same equipment.

I could not believe my eyes at this total waste of police time when we need to see a police presence on foot around the area.

May I also say, Wickham Way (a long-favoured road for police traps) is a very wide road with no bends and of all the roads in Wickham must have the fewest pedestrians. Pickhurst Rise, on the other hand, is a speed track and could do with speed traps or, better still, a Gatso camera.

There can be no justification for such a waste of police time when crime and terrorism is so rife.

A R Jacubs

Pickhurst Rise

West Wickham