THE ideas of a certain Chief Inspector Boyd and his sidekick Santa hat- wearing Inspector Ian Money to send Christmas cards to persistent offenders, and the have them visited by officers on Christmas Day (Oxford Mail, December 16) is in my mind totally barmy.

For them then to claim that the crime figures go down as a result of this action is further insulting to the general public’s intelligence. They should both wake up to the real reasons that show the crime figures have dropped in their area.

That is, in my humble opinion that Joe Public has lost faith in the policing system and doesn’t bother to report some crimes to them any longer, as the police would probably not achieve a result in the detection anyway.

Also, the recording system of crimes has a chequered existence and, sometimes, crime and detection figures are massaged.

While not advocating that regular transgressors shouldn’t escape the attention of the police, I firmly believe that the sending of birthday cakes and Christmas cards and visits makes a total mockery of the police service.

I proudly served in the Oxford City Police, where detection rates were hardly ever under 47 per cent. The force was later merged into Thames Valley Police, where detection rates are probably half of those of Oxford City Police. The Oxford force didn’t rely on gimmicks, but at Christmas time, aided by the wives of police officers, a certain amount of food parcels were collected and distributed to the needy. This was, in my considered opinion, a far better way of showing the true meaning of this festive season and, in turn, gained far more respect for the police.

One final thought: with the Badvent calender crooks being exposed in the Oxford Mail, could you publish the outcome of how many of the 23 miscreants have been apprehended since the clever introduction of the feature in the paper? The detection rates would be of interest to readers.

MICHAEL RHYMES, Warborough Court, Kidlington