Under a new directive, traffic cops in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang are banned from using mobile phones when they are on duty on the street.            

The ban is aimed at making on-duty police officers become more responsible as well as raising public awareness in complying with traffic laws.

However, local traffic police will instead be equipped with a walkie-talkie for internal communication, according to lieutenant colonel Vo Thanh Thien, deputy head of Hau Giang’s Road and Railway Traffic Police Department.

The implenmentation of this directive will be closely supervised by local authorities.

Preivously, under a new regulation released by Hanoi Traffic Police Bureau in March, paunchy and undersized traffic patrol police cops will be banned from directly contacting with people or patrolling streets in the capital.

The ban is one of “eight steps” to promote the image of local traffic police, a local senior police officer said.

And in 2011, Hanoi’s Road-Railway Traffic Police Department banned traffic police from hiding behind trees and required them to greet vehicle owners before issuing the fine.

In the same year, the Ministry of Public Security Tuesday issued an instruction banning police across the country from wearing black sunglasses, from smoking, from reading books and from putting their hands into pockets while on duty at public places.