Well, Assistant Chief Constable Yeo, you did it. Still, it was only a piece of equipment in your eyes - just another police resource.

Is this how you view the officers in your force as well? The next time a criminal is injured by one of your officers in the line of duty, will you have him or her put down?

The next time one of your brave officers is killed in the line of duty, will you say the officer was just a piece of equipment, just another resource that is totally expendable?

The morale you generate within your (no, our) police force must be at rock bottom when senior officers make such crass decisions.

The perception of the force in the eyes of the public must also be eroded when highly-paid senior officers are seen to make such poor decisions and then try to tell us you have to be "bloody-minded" in our interest.

Don't fool yourself Mr Yeo, your decision was in no way in the interest of the vast majority of the public you are highly paid to protect.

You should also feel very lucky your position in the police force is not dependent on the ballet box of the people of Sussex or within your own force.

-Barry Lister, Denton Drive, Brighton