Letter: State of policing

Letter: State of policing

Sir: Like David Turner (letter, 18 November) I was subject to police questioning and search under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice Act while attending a demonstration last Sunday at a farm in Oxfordshire which breeds cats for vivisection.

All demonstrators were stopped on arrival and told they would not be allowed to use a public footpath unless they had a slip of paper showing they had been searched. Luckily we knew not to give names and addresses. We were photographed and videoed throughout the day.

After the demonstration our coach, which contained mostly middle-aged and elderly people, was stopped as we tried to leave for home. Officers boarded and told us we would have to be searched, but after protests and threats of legal action from several of us they chose just to look at our previously issued slips of paper. However, the video team moved down the coach, turning people's heads and lifting their jackets if they tried to avoid being filmed.

This is the state of policing in Britain today.

SUSAN DICKENS

Hove, East Sussex