Write to letters@thetimes.co.ukSir, Your report “Police arrest parents for complaining about school” (Mar 29) made for uncomfortable reading, particularly in conjunction with the principles of policing, drafted by Sir Robert Peel, founder of the Metropolitan Police, in 1829, “to recognise always that the power of police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour”. I have been mercifully retired for 24 years but feel confident that the case would have been dealt with very differently in my time in the service. It would have been written off pretty much at source as “no threat of imminent violence, no evidence of criminal offence, complainant advised this is not a police issue; see a solicitor if you

Source: The Times March 30, 2025 23:43 UTC