I read with interest the letter from Mark White, secretary of the Sussex Police Federation (Letters, May 1).

Even more interesting was the picture on page 20 - Claire Truscott's article on the recent terrorist trial. The caption again read, "Police officers on patrol."

They were not police officers in the picture, but police community support officers (PCSOs).

Sussex Police has recently replaced the royal blue PCSO epaulettes with black ones featuring letters and numbers, just like regular officers.

I am a serving police officer, not with Sussex, and I attended an incident recently which was policed entirely by Sussex PCSOs.

The event in question is a regular event and one which Sussex Police knows attracts underage drinkers and troublesome youths.

One such youth started to mouth off to one of the PCSOs, who could do nothing about it as he was not a police officer. He had to just stand there and take it.

Thankfully, I was there on an unrelated matter and stepped in to intervene and defuse the situation. Had I or any other police officer not been present, the PCSO's nearest back-up from the police was at least a 20-minute drive away. This is unacceptable. The PCSOs should never have been on their own in the first place.

They may be an asset in certain situations, but PCSOs are not police officers and they should be stopped being treated as such by their bosses.

They should not be sent into situations which they are not equipped to handle.

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