Letter: Police and public

Sir: I was disappointed to see how the proposed opening of a Community Police Office at Hastings was reported ("Police put `safe cell' on streets", 20 November) as a "security cell" for frightened victims of crime in Hastings town centre.

The primary purpose of the office is to provide face-to-face contact between the police in Hastings and the public in the town centre. True, the office does provide an out-of-hours service which includes a facility for people to speak to an officer by phone and in a secure environment, but it is not the remote-controlled, hi-tech hideaway for a dozen people at a time your reporter suggests.

The whole purpose of the venture is to bring Sussex police officers closer to their public, not make us more "remote".

Supt PAUL CURTIS

Hastings