May the force be with you
Few platitudes are as comforting and beguiling as the demand for "bobbies on the beat".
Even in the days of Dixon of Dock Green, there was a potential inherent snag.
What use were bobbies pounding the pavements when the crooks were racing away from the crime scene in a stolen Zephyr? Send for Z Cars.
All of which is simply a way of saying that the provision of policing in Scotland is not a straightforward matter.
There are balances to be struck which go beyond cliché.
The Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill performed something of a balancing act himself when he offered options to MSPs for the future structure of police and fire services in Scotland.
There were, he said, "compelling arguments" for a single fire and rescue service. Despite that, the government will continue to consult on options.
Equal options
But, with regard to policing, the matter, he argued, was much more complex.
The three options, he said, were the current eight forces but with more collaboration; three or four regional forces; a single force.
However, as Labour's Richard Baker pointed out, not all of these options are equal.
The Minister was casting notable doubt upon the validity of option one. Mr Baker urged the Minister to pursue Labour's option of a single force.
By which point, the search for consensus had evaporated.
Mr MacAskill plainly disliked the suggestion that he was trailing Labour's heels.
He noted that senior Labour figures had spoken out against their own party's plan.
Policing philosophy
The Tories urged a single force - but with elected police commissioners, US style.
Perhaps the most thoughtful contribution came from Robert Brown of the Liberal Democrats who, in opposing a single force, invited MSPs to consider the philosophy of policing.
Was it local? Was it national? To whom would a Scotland-wide force be accountable? Quis, as he nearly said, custodiet ipsos custodes?
Mr MacAskill replied that policing required to be both local and national, to serve both the needs of communities and the challenges of global crime.
That, he said, was precisely the core of the consultation: how to preserve a substantive degree of local involvement and accountability while driving forward efficiency.
Money must be saved.
In all, then, intriguing exchanges on a matter of real substance.
May the force be with you. Or, indeed, forces.
I'm 
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