PETER Walker's comments on public concerns about telephone answering and police response are breathtakingly arrogant and condescending (July 5).

Members of the public expect to be able to telephone the police for all manner of reasons. Telephone operators will not be able to identify which calls are urgent and which are routine but nevertheless important unless they answer the call.

Emergency calls should receive priority and that is what the 999 system is for. But to ring the police to pass on information about a crime being committed, while not an emergency, is an important call if the police are serious about engaging the public in the prevention and detection of crime.

I am intrigued by the comment that "non-urgent callers would have to change their habits by calling at quiet times or by being prepared to wait". Does this mean that when the Home Secretary wishes to speak to the Chief Constable he will have to guess when police call centres are quiet or wait in an endless queue like the rest of us?

It seems to have taken a damning report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate to galvanise the force into taking action when criticism of call handling has been aired widely for a long time.

Finally, the comments do not address what will happen when the extra operators are employed. Presumably, more calls will be answered but unless there is a change in attitudes, the response will sadly be the same.

Mrs JA Hudson,

Hill View, Stockton Lane, York.

Updated: 10:43 Tuesday, July 08, 2003