Do the North Yorkshire Police not understand that there are other ways to enter a property or detain a suspect than smashing down doors and terrorising residents (Raid cops seize drugs, March 3)?

That the York Press shows a photograph of these tactics with the jokey caption “Police use their big red key” is a sad reflection of a society that has more respect for police repression than it does for the rights of ordinary people.

It must be absolutely terrifying for the residents, especially children, to have these people smashing into their homes in the early morning, and all for something that could have been achieved by knocking on the door or questioning the suspects when leaving home.

Roger Westmoreland, The Oval, Pocklington.