SALISBURY’S former police chief Frank Lockyer made some valid and important points in his article in the Salisbury Journal of August 13.

I, for one, and I suspect there are many like me, endorse fully Mr Lockyer’s plea for a review of the cost and an investigation into what exactly the police and crime commissioners are there for and whether they give value for money.

Since their inception it is clear the commissioners are costing the country a great deal of money – money that could and should be spent on running a police force. If the office of the Wiltshire PCC was scrapped, the force would have to make fewer cuts and would be able to employ more front line officers.

Politics should not play a part in the appointment of a police chief whether it be a commissioner or chief constable.

Because it is now a political appointment, the government has a powerful direct link to each individual force. The former local police authorities, made up of elected councillors and magistrates, appointed the chief constable and the system was answerable to the electorate. The current position is not.

Mr Lockyer is correct in saying there is a need for independent professional leadership able to challenge party politics.

Politicians make the laws but it should be a police force free from political persuasion that enforces those laws with a professional chief constable in charge who is answerable to the electorate. Police forces have, unfortunately, joined an ever-growing list of institutions, which includes the NHS, where politically-appointed chiefs have created a situation reminiscent of a well-known saying – too many chiefs but not enough workers.

ROLAND BATTEN Porton