SEVERAL people have had letters published bemoaning the fact that we need more police on the streets, but I disagree.

The real problem is that criminals are not locked up at all or not locked up for long enough.

If these people were off the streets then the police should be able to manage perfectly well.

It is the criminal justice system that is the problem - it is suitable for crimes committed 50 years ago, but is totally unsuitable for today’s criminals and today’s crimes.

If we doubled the number of police on the streets, of course, more criminals could be caught, but those same criminals would be back on the streets soon afterwards, so we would be no better off.

Joan McTigue, Independent councillor, Middlesbrough.