A large number of traffic police officers in Ho Chi Minh City have received compliments for refraining from taking bribes in 2017.

The officers were praised during a meeting on the review of traffic safety last year held by the municipal department of road and railway traffic (PC67) on Thursday.

The body commended 143 groups of traffic police and 3,649 fellow officers who exhibited exemplary performance and behavior. 

Amongst the latter, 514 officers demonstrated integrity, refusing to receive bribes which otherwise amounted to nearly VND142 million ($6,250), and 110 others bravely fought back crime, PC67 head Huynh Trung Phong said at the meeting.

No information was given about the rest of the force regarding the misconduct.

A police officer uses a camera to spot traffic rule violations. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A multitude of traffic law violations was reported in 2017, with more than 500,000 offences recorded which corresponded to a total fine of VND260 billion ($11.45 million), and in 80,000 cases where driving licenses were confiscated.

As a progressive step, cameras have been installed over streets or used by police in major cities during the past few years to detect illegal traffic acts and provide retrospective proof in case the law-breaker claims the contrary.

Nearly 44.000 offences were detected with the help of this technology, resulting in the payment of over VND17 billion ($748,800).

At Thursday’s meeting, the police said they also plan to step up their activity to guarantee traffic safety in the coming Vietnamese Lunar New Year, or Tet, in mid-February.