While on duty on the street, traffic police officers are not allowed to spy upon traffic violators by standing in places that hide them from view, or point their batons at traffic violators, a senior police official in Hanoi has said.

>> HCMC to deploy all traffic police to streets for Vietnam-Malaysia AFF Cup semi Colonel Dao Vinh Thang, head of the road and railway police division of the Hanoi Police Department, made the statement in talking with Tuoi Tre about improper acts committed by traffic police in the capital city. “It is imperative to stop acts in which traffic police officers watch for traffic violators by lurking behind trees or bushes or otherwise sheltering themselves from view while they are on duty on streets,” said Colonel Thang. Traffic police officers are also not allowed to point their batons at traffic violators or randomly remove the vehicle key from the ignition. “By early 2015 at the latest, all these above wrong acts must be stopped,” Colonel Thanh stressed. In order to improve the quality of the capital’s traffic police, the director of the Hanoi police department has issued a decision on dos and don’ts of traffic police officers while on duty. However, the department has continued to receive feedback from the public about such wrongdoings, the official said. Colonel Thang also agreed with Tuoi Tre’s opinion that the main duty of traffic police officers is to control and moderate traffic, not to focus on punishing violators. “Traffic police officers must focus on regulating traffic to streamline traffic flows and ease congestion, not on giving penalties to traffic violators,” Thang said. However, they must handle deliberate acts of violating traffic rules in accordance with applicable regulations, the official added. The goal of the Hanoi police department is to promote the image of traffic police as “friends” of the public. To this end, all police staff, from officials to the lower ranks, must raise their responsibilities, maintain a spirit of serving people unconditionally, and stop committing wrongdoings while on duty, he said. If they can do so, they will gain respect and support from the public, the official concluded. Colonel Thang also said the city now has 450 cameras for traffic observation, of which 100 are used to record traffic violations. Based on images provided by the cameras, police will issue fines to violators for their actions. Thanks to these cameras, we can reduce the numbers of police officers at intersections and use them for other necessary tasks, he said.

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