Members of the public are legally allowed to supervise or film traffic police officers at work, a top traffic police official in Ho Chi Minh City has confirmed.

People must ensure that their recording activities will not interfere with or affect the duties of monitoring traffic of the police officers, Lieutenant Colonel Huynh Trung Phong, head of the city’s traffic police in charge of road and train transportation, told reporters on Friday.

Phong chaired the meeting with the media following several complaints about the municipal traffic police officers, including collecting ‘unofficial fees’.

Tan Son Nhat incident

On September 7, an article accompanied by a video footage showing three traffic police officers collecting ‘unofficial fines’ near Tan Son Nhat International Airport was published and soon went viral.

According to Phong, as soon as the article surfaced, the department immediately ordered competent staff to identify the officers recorded in the video.

Three officers involved were later identified as Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Thinh Phu, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Minh Hai, and First Lieutenant Trinh Xuan Phuc who have since been suspended for their offense, Phong underlined.

A traffic cop collects ‘fine’ from an offender near Tan Son Nhat Airport, Ho Chi Minh City.

“To ensure transparency and fairness, the traffic police unit has transferred the case to the city’s police department for handling,” the officer said.

Citing the protocols of the traffic police unit, Phong said whenever a team of traffic officers stations at a place to control and monitor traffic, they must be accompanied by a higher-ranking official, who acts as a leader and supervisor.

However, as seen from the viral video involving the three suspended officers, there was no such leader at the scene.

“We have asked the traffic police unit of Tan Son Nhat to investigate as to why that team on patrol was not accompanied by a leader at the time of the incident,” Phong pressed.

It appeared that the three officers had deliberately separated themselves from the leader and violated the protocol, Phong suggested.

The officer also said he is “deeply sorry for the incident happening at Tan Son Nhat”, adding that a new hotline, 0994.67.67.67, has been launched for people to report any violations of traffic officers following the case.

Phong advised that when seeing any traffic cop receiving bribes or collect fine against protocols, members of the public should immediately call the hotline or preferably send a text message with details of the place and time of the incident.

In the near future, the city’s traffic police unit will install more CCTV cameras on the streets and at important intersections to better manage traffic problems in the city, recording violations of commuters and monitoring traffic police officers at work.

No such thing as ‘assistant to traffic police’

On September 6, a video also surfaced on social media, showing a man threatening a resident for filming traffic officers fining violators at a flyover on a section of National Highway 1 in District 9.

The filmed traffic police were later identified as members of the Rach Chiec team.

The man in question is dubbed ‘assistant’ to traffic police, with many residents claiming to have seen such ‘assistants’ near traffic police stops throughout Ho Chi Minh City.

However, the involved officers of Rach Chiec team insisted on not knowing the ‘assistant’, asserting that they are willing to take any responsibility if proven to have a relation with that individual.

In the meantime, the ‘assistant’ has been found and identified as Nguyen Van Hao, a local motorbike taxi driver.

According to Hao’s testimony, he had a minor collision with another motorbike driver on September 6, but that man had immediately left the scene following the incident.

While chasing after that person, Hao saw a group of police traffic officers and decided to stop to report his accident, he said.

While reporting the case, Hao saw a man filming him from afar and decided to follow him to ask for the video to be deleted.

The man, allegedly a police ‘assistant’, forces the filmer to pull over.

“We will investigate this case further if the media can provide more evidence,” Phong, the head of the road traffic police unit, told reporters when asked to comment on this case.

Phong said many people would come to the scene and observe traffic police officers at work, adding that while some do it simply out of curiosity, others do it with a purpose.

“Some people observe the traffic officers in order to collect information before organizing street races,” Phong elaborated.

“Others will do so to alert their friends who are truck drivers so they can choose alternative routes to avoid meeting the traffic police.”