We welcome your letters and e-mails, whether in response to items in Public Agenda or as a way of sharing your own insights and experiences with other readers. We are particularly keen to learn of examples of good practice from which others may benefit. Letters and e-mails may be edited. Please e-mail us at: agenda@thetimes.co.uk, or write to Public Agenda, The Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT

Cops find teacher’s comparison odious

I NOTE with sadness that Fred Stride (Teacher can’t back police’s pay claim, Over to you, Jan 22) is obviously a strong advocate of facts-free teaching. The present dispute over police pay concerns, above all else, the argument that arbitration should be honoured by both parties.

Mr Stride may be interested in a few facts. Many police officers join the service with university degrees. Annual leave provision is modest by his standards and in relation to pension entitlement, critics always overlook that officers make contributions of 11 per cent. No officer can retire at 45 and none should ever be admitted, in a private capacity, to any event free of charge merely because they are police officers. Integrity is central to professional policing. The 2.5 per cent settlement arrived at by independent arbitration is not inflation-busting, despite Home Office rhetoric. Society needs police officers who feel respected and teachers who know their subjects. Paul Kernaghan, Chief Constable, Hampshire Constabulary, Winchester

IT TAKES two years for police officers to qualify, for which there are no certificates to hang on the wall, only pride in having learnt to deal effectively with what the world has thrown at them via incidents and crime, with the support of colleagues who train and support them.

They work mainly late and night shifts for which there is no pay enhancement. Officers can retire on a full two-thirds pension only after 30 years, and can join only at 18½ years, so retiring at 45 on a full pension is impossible. They spend an awful lot of time dealing with issues that have fallen through the fingers of other public services because of inadequate resourcing.

So let us not compare; let us value our respective expertise and recognise that without us the country would be less than what it is. Paul Phillips, Area Commander, Northamptonshire

THERE is no comparison in the relative danger of the two jobs, even in these days of unruly classrooms. The true comparison is that these are two worthwhile jobs which the Government does not support properly. Gary Barnett, Durham I DO not accept that because I am unable to strike (not that I want to), the Home Secretary can treat me with such disdain and expect me to accept a pay increase below inflation and lower in comparison with other public sector workers. That she has authorised a higher rate for police community support officers only adds salt to the wound. Name and address supplied

POLICE receive short training, do they? In 30 years, I never stopped training. The law and procedures changed continually. Like most of my colleagues, I trained in my own time, at my own expense in what is called “distance learning”. The exams to seek promotion are not easy and take a lot of time and study. Colin R. Venn, Swindon IT IS true that graduates in the police are still a minority, albeit a substantial and growing one. However, to imply that they have only rudimentary education is misleading and gratuitously insulting. Free entry to public events may not be as attractive as Mr Stride suggests when it is remembered that the point is to deal with violent troublemakers. James Howard (retd), Alverstone, Isle of Wight

IT IS wholly unhelpful of Mr Stride to compare the two professions. I fully support a teacher’s claim to fair pay whether it is more or less what police officers earn. I have the same feelings towards nurses, paramedic crews, and Fire Service staff, who are hugely underpaid but do a great job. Mark Hickman, West Midlands Police

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive