Letter: Lawrence tragedy

Sir: My experience is that the police, for the most part, are stuck in the culture of 1950s Britain, and they don't get what the Macpherson report is on about at all. Last month I joined a protest outside Tottenham police station following the death of a local black man, Roger Sylvester, after eight police officers had visited his house.

The protest was around 75 per cent black and I was the only white man with a collar and tie present. The senior officer at the station emerged from the building, surveyed the scene, came over and had a chat with me about how unfortunate the whole matter was, and went back inside. No doubt all this was sincerely meant, but it is a symbol, I would suggest, of just how far the Metropolitan Police are from understanding the concerns of the communities they are charged with policing.

KEITH FLETT

London N17