Reader urges more visible policing to combat crime levels – your letters, plus archive picture: Chindits ceremony, 1973
Today's letters page features a range of opinions, from calls for a return to more visible local policing and concerns about rising town centre crime, to a nostalgic reflection on the decline of traditional high street shops and window displays, and a provocative take on political leadership and decision-making.
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Police stations tackle crime
Reading the article regarding the issue of crime in Dudley town centre when since January 2026 there have been 74 reported matters of crime (how many went unreported?). Now call me a cynic, but would this increase in crime be down to the fact that since the closing down of the police station have anything to do with the problem?
In the days when town centres had their own stations, officers on foot would leave the station and casually walk (sorry if that's a swear word nowadays!) around the town, chat with stall holders and shop owners. And here's a thing chat with the shoppers, any problems could and would be resolved there and then. Shoplifting did go on but not in the way it takes place today.
Dudley police station closed, Stourbridge closed but had to find office space to have a station after public outcry, Brierley Hill closed is Brierley Hill going the same way, Kingswinford, Sedgley closed but we have a place nearer to Tipton than Dudley, it appears crime is that bad even the police are moving out.
If government of any persuasion want to fight crime then give the police the resources to do their job, closing down stations to save money is all well and good but closing down stations is not the way to fight this blight of crime, if we have stations with police officers inside of them they will be able to get out faster and be near to where the public want them, nearby and available, not miles away and having to travel miles to get to any incident, yes bobbies on foot maybe old fashioned but it WORKS, just look at the increase in crime levels without them.
Pete Lowe, Brierley Hill
Bring back the bric-a-brac!
When all the charity shops start to shut down
Which, let’s face it, are the last resort for a town,
Where do we go from there?
There are more Turkish barbers than there is hair!
No shoe shop or bookshop to be found in my own particular town,
Bare foot illiterates then, we’d seem to be
Are we de-evolutionary?
Window shopping, now there was a thing;
We’d meet up in the holidays just to look at all the things:
Toys and bric-a-brac, records and guitars
Multi coloured sweeties in big shiny jars!
