Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is so preoccupied with handing out traffic violation cases, some sergeants say the competition between officers is interfering with everyday traffic control.
The ticket-issuing frenzy began after the DMP Traffic Division started measuring performance by the number of tickets an individual officer had filed.
Some sergeants say they are feeling pressure to up the numbers, and those who have successfully brought in large volumes of cases are the new favourites of the senior management.
The flip side is that commuters and drivers are now facing charges and fines based on minor faults and even false issues, and officers are so preoccupied with filing cases that they fail to control traffic on major roads, contributing further to congestion and chaos in the capital.
According to DMP Traffic Division, in 2015 there were 566,067 cases of traffic violations, yielding fines worth Tk18.29 crore. In 2016, traffic police filed 892,713 cases and earned Tk41.25 crore.
The figures for the first half of 2017, however, show an exponential increase in traffic offences: 670,915 cases filed and Tk21.11 crore in fines issued. If this rate is maintained for the rest of the year, the DMP traffic division will file 1.34 million cases - a 34% increase on 2016..
Motorists in the capital say traffic police officers look for the smallest of excuses to file a case.
One driver, Imran Miah, told the Dhaka Tribune of how he was stung while dropping off his employer at Shomorita Hospital on Panthapath.
“He had barely stepped out of the car when a sergeant appeared out of nowhere,” Imran said. “All my papers are fine. He cannot find fault with my papers, so he says I have parked wrong and my car will be towed.”
Cyclist Saikat said he was stopped by a sergeant at a checkpoint for no apparent reason.
“He looked at my papers and found nothing at fault. Then he found that the headlight did not have the black line, but neither did the headlight on his own bike,” he said.
Number of cases filed by DMP Traffic Division since 2015
Khandker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association (BRTOA), urged the traffic police to refrain from unnecessary harassment and towing of vehicles.
“Owners are helpless when the administration’s policy is to flood us with cases,” he said. “It seems to us that the sergeants are more focused on filing cases than maintaining discipline on the roads.”
The transport leader warned that owners will start to lose interest in running their businesses if the traffic police “keep bogging us down in cases”.
“More cases are filed against bus companies than others. BRTA operates seven mobile courts and DMP operates one. Their main target is public transport,” he said.
Average number of cases filed per month in the last three years
When asked about the competitive nature of traffic case filing, a senior traffic police officer admitted that there was pressure from above, although he would not admit that there was any competition among his colleagues.
“We have to manage the pressure on the road and the pressure from senior officials, but no one is unduly harassed,” he said.
In June, the Traffic North division was elected the best traffic division in the city. Best Senior assistant commissioner was Senior AC Ferdousi Rahman of Badda traffic zone, best traffic inspector was TI Biplob Bhowmick of Rampura zone, and best TSI was Shushanta Kumar of Motijheeel zone.
TI Biplob told the Bangla Tribune that this recognition was based on their work in keeping the traffic moving.
“Our main task is to keep the flow of traffic normal. If someone breaks the law, we take legal action against them. We also raise awareness about traffic issues in schools and other institutions,” he said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (traffic admin and research) Md Jahidul Islam told Bangla Tribune that only law-breakers were receiving cases and there was no harassment.
“We are talking to the transport owners and drivers and we are trying to raise their awareness,” he said. “It is a difficult task to control all these vehicles on such limited roads, but our efforts will continue.”
Jahidul said there were many unregistered vehicles in the city at one time, despite many drives by the DMP to bring the number down.
“According to BRTA, 280 new cars are coming onto the streets every day. We have no numbers on how many cars are moving out or being expired, but we can guess that they are much fewer than the ones coming on,” he said.
The ADC added that the city needs roads on about 25% of its area to function normally, but has only 7.8%.
The article was first published on Bangla Tribune
Number of cases filed by DMP Traffic Division since 2015
Khandker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association (BRTOA), urged the traffic police to refrain from unnecessary harassment and towing of vehicles.
“Owners are helpless when the administration’s policy is to flood us with cases,” he said. “It seems to us that the sergeants are more focused on filing cases than maintaining discipline on the roads.”
The transport leader warned that owners will start to lose interest in running their businesses if the traffic police “keep bogging us down in cases”.
“More cases are filed against bus companies than others. BRTA operates seven mobile courts and DMP operates one. Their main target is public transport,” he said.
Average number of cases filed per month in the last three years
When asked about the competitive nature of traffic case filing, a senior traffic police officer admitted that there was pressure from above, although he would not admit that there was any competition among his colleagues.
“We have to manage the pressure on the road and the pressure from senior officials, but no one is unduly harassed,” he said.
In June, the Traffic North division was elected the best traffic division in the city. Best Senior assistant commissioner was Senior AC Ferdousi Rahman of Badda traffic zone, best traffic inspector was TI Biplob Bhowmick of Rampura zone, and best TSI was Shushanta Kumar of Motijheeel zone.
TI Biplob told the Bangla Tribune that this recognition was based on their work in keeping the traffic moving.
“Our main task is to keep the flow of traffic normal. If someone breaks the law, we take legal action against them. We also raise awareness about traffic issues in schools and other institutions,” he said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (traffic admin and research) Md Jahidul Islam told Bangla Tribune that only law-breakers were receiving cases and there was no harassment.
“We are talking to the transport owners and drivers and we are trying to raise their awareness,” he said. “It is a difficult task to control all these vehicles on such limited roads, but our efforts will continue.”
Jahidul said there were many unregistered vehicles in the city at one time, despite many drives by the DMP to bring the number down.
“According to BRTA, 280 new cars are coming onto the streets every day. We have no numbers on how many cars are moving out or being expired, but we can guess that they are much fewer than the ones coming on,” he said.
The ADC added that the city needs roads on about 25% of its area to function normally, but has only 7.8%.
The article was first published on Bangla Tribune