Why is the anti-traffic police situation increasing?

(Baonghean) -The situation of opposing traffic police is becoming more and more complicated, directly affecting the health and lives of the soldiers who are performing their duties. Why do such bad things happen?

Resistance is against the law

Not long ago, the image of a woman in Ho Chi Minh City driving in the wrong direction, grabbing a traffic police officer by the collar and using obscene and insulting words was shared on social media. Immediately, the online community expressed their dissatisfaction with the woman’s uncultured attitude.

Traffic police officers in Vinh city help people push their vehicles through a flooded road. Photo: Thanh Cuong

More seriously, many people oppose traffic police by deliberately driving straight into police officers, causing unfortunate consequences. On April 15, at the Dong Nai Bridge Toll Station, a truck driver did not obey the order to stop, ran away and killed a traffic police officer on duty.

On June 30, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Anh Duc of the Traffic Police Department, Ha Tinh Provincial Police, while trying to stop a violating container truck, was thrown off the road by the driver and hospitalized in critical condition.

In Nghe An, in April 2017, a rare incident occurred, 4 people in a family had an opposing attitude, insulting the traffic police. The incident occurred in Vinh city, when a woman driving a motorbike committed the violations of not having a left rearview mirror, not having the required documents. Not complying with the penalty, this woman also called 3 other people and threatened the traffic police officer on duty.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Road and Railway Traffic Police Department, in the first 6 months of 2017, there were 24 cases of resisting law enforcement officers nationwide, resulting in the deaths of 2 traffic police officers, serious injuries to 2 people, and the arrest of 19 lawbreakers. However, these are typical cases; in reality, the number of people who disobeyed orders and resisted traffic police probably far exceeded the above statistics.

View from both sides

First of all, it must be affirmed that resisting a person on duty is a violation of the law. However, regarding the causes leading to the above improper behavior, there are many cases that, objectively, come from both sides, the traffic participants and the person performing the duty, directly the traffic police officer.

In some cases, traffic police officers are still limited in their communication and situation handling skills, and are not decisive and clever in handling their work, are still confused and lack agility. This causes traffic participants to have a negative view of this team, so when placed in a direct collision situation, they are prone to impulsive actions and have opposing expressions and attitudes.

Nghe An traffic police fined a law violator. Photo: Phuong Thao

Regarding this issue, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nam Hong - Deputy Head of the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department, Nghe An Police, said that one of the most important tasks is to improve the image of traffic police officers in the eyes of the people.

“For Nghe An traffic police officers, we always thoroughly understand that first of all, opposing elements must be resolutely handled according to legal regulations; secondly, the officers on duty must fulfill their responsibilities, not have negative behaviors or behave in an unprofessional manner, and not handle situations unprofessionally, damaging the good image of the traffic police force,” said Lieutenant Colonel Hong.

Although somewhere there are some traffic police officers who have not maintained a standard image, leading to the situation of "one bad apple spoiling the barrel", causing a one-sided view and generalization of the traffic police force from the people, but many times we have seen the images of officers in yellow shirts braving the rain and wind to push a stalled motorbike for people through a flooded section, they risk their lives chasing robbers in the middle of the street, they sweep up fallen rocks to ensure the safety of pedestrians, they hold the hand of an old man or a child across a busy intersection with vehicles and passersby,... Those are the best things that we have forgotten, so when we are wronged and put ourselves in an undesirable situation, many people consider traffic police officers as the ones to confront.

Ultimately, the most important factor in maintaining social stability is that everyone upholds the rule of law. Traffic participants must obey the law and soldiers on duty must also rely on the law to fulfill their duties. Anger, lack of composure, and loss of control all lead to unfortunate consequences.

Phuong Thao