Dear Editor,

Unfortunately, just recently, we had an incident where a young mother was killed because apparently she had refused a young police officer's sexual demands.

Last Wednesday (07.11.01) at approximately 19:00 I had the chance to witness an incident in Alexander street involving a police car driven by a male officer with a female officer in the passenger seat. Another male officer arrived on the scene. His physical make-up suggested he had just graduated from training school, he was quite young and inexperienced. What was even worse was the fact that attached very neatly to his waist was a firearm. Only God knows if it was loaded or unloaded.

Young inexperienced officers are seen with firearms attached to their person quite frequently these days. Is this desirable? Our police force does not want or need men or women who are attracted by weapons and power, they should look for stable personalities with good control over their aggressive impulses. Much effort should go into the development of psychological tests that will help weed out those candidates who are prone to violence under stress.

This situation will get worse if decent law-abiding citizens don't take a stand. Police officers must remember, the more respect you give, the more respect you will receive.