A Press article last year referred to a group of businesses renting a policeman to patrol an area that had a high crime rate.

Although the results were encouraging, there were real fears expressed that other areas would suffer because of the limited number of police available. This episode put me in mind of the war years (1939-45), when people were encouraged to raise money within their community to buy a Spitfire fighter aircraft.

The point is this: We all expect our police to be in the front line against crime, risking their health and lives in protecting our interests and endeavouring to see we are protected from the effects of crime.

It is not feasible or, indeed, remotely possible for individuals to do their own policing. Therefore why not encourage people to put a little effort into supporting the police, showing we realise fully their importance to the community, by raising money to finance the employment of more police? Perhaps this could be extended to liaising with the local force to raise funds for equipment or even crime prevention literature.

Extra police on the beat would even be beneficial to insurance companies so why could they not be asked to offer funds from their own coffers? They would certainly reap financial benefits if crime is reduced -reduced crime equates to reduced claims. But the real gain would be a positive move to restoring a sense of value and involvement in the community that may go some way to restoring moral values and a community spirit.

-R Ford, Haywards Road, Brighton