Motorist complain about traffic police
Motorist complain about traffic police
JAKARTA (JP): Despite strong warnings from their chief to be more disciplined, a number of police officers have been found unfairly ticketing suspected traffic violators.
Many drivers are stopped and accused by police officers of disobeying traffic signs and rules and are given no chance to argue.
Some officers even give offenders two alternatives; to be ticketed and pay a huge amount of money after a complicated court procedure or give the officers money, the amount of which is slightly lower than the fine, to settle the problem on the spot.
Several suspected offenders told The Jakarta Post recently that a number of city police personnel have incorrectly adopted the new traffic ticketing system, which carries fines much higher than the previous system.
"One of the officers told me that it is better to give Rp 30,000 (US$13.60) to them rather than pay more, probably at Rp 50,000, after complicated court procedures," said Zamilah Salam, who was stopped by out-of-sight police officers on Jl. Suratmo in North Jakarta early last week.
One of the officers, identified by Zamilah as Second Sergeant B. Karo-karo, told her that she had disobeyed a traffic sign prohibiting vehicles from turning left.
"But the officer refused to show me where the traffic sign was," Zamilah said. "He quickly showed me a bundle of ticketing books, pretending to write down my name. Then he offered to settle the case on the spot for me, by giving him some money."
G.M. Sudarta, the cartoonist of Om Pasikom in Kompas daily, experienced another tough adventure dealing with city police and the new ticketing system.
He told The Post that he and his friend were on Jl. MH Thamrin wanting to make a U turn near Monas Park on Jl. Merdeka Barat at about 7 p.m. on Jan. 20.
"Suddenly, an officer stopped our car and accused my driver of not using the car's turning signal. My friend and I knew exactly that my driver had used it," Sudarta said.
He said the officer refused to hear their explanations, saying that they could mention it later in court.
He said the officer then wrote down the driver's suspected violation on the traffic ticket and set the date of trial as four days from the ticket date.
"We arrived at Central Jakarta court at 7:30 a.m. but by late evening my driver had yet to be called," he said. On the same day there were about 300 people at the court waiting for their trials," Sudarta explained.
Later, he was informed by court officials that his case had yet to be recorded. The next day he went to City Police Headquarters and was also informed that his case had not been reported.
"One of the officers had changed the date of the trial on the ticketing notice to Jan. 27," he said. "I don't understand how he could do that."
Tired of the complicated procedures and believing that there would be no time for the court to ask witnesses to appear at the trial, Sudarta asked his driver to admit to the police's accusation.
His driver was then asked by the court to pay a Rp 50,000 fine.
When asked by the Post for comments, City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko simply said, "None of the officials are allowed to accept money from traffic violators." (bsr)