According to the recent article – "PCSOs do not have the power of arrest".

If this is so, they cannot be citizens, as all citizens of Britain DO have the power of arrest.

Therefore, these persons must be aliens, here under false premises, and clearly, present in this country without the permission, or indeed knowledge, of HM Border Controls. If then, they have been smuggled in by the chief constable or his minions, to pad out the woefully minute numbers of police officers actually involved in "policing" our streets and towns, then he must have some explaining to do.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the only parts of the country that are "policed" now are the motorways.

I think the last time I saw a police "person" on foot in Portishead town centre, was about three or four years ago, when I encountered not one (shades of the buses!) but two lady PCs walking together at the bottom of Avon Way.

Expressing surprise, I asked if there was a crisis, to which they both smiled, and asked if I'd like one.

We could do with a few more like that, and not these pseudo police "officers".

David E. Hockin, BA (Hons), LBIPP, 18 Lower Down Road, Portishead.

Editor's note: The Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset has discretionary power to give PCSOs the power to detain a suspect for 30 minutes and to use force for certain activities.

He has chosen not to do so as this would be confrontational. PCSOs are not a replacement for police officers. In the Bristol region, a PCSO would have to make an arrest as a citizen, if they knew an indictable crime had been committed.