Police DIG's Strict Message To Cops: Stop Vehicles Only For Visible Violations
After the recently reported tragic deaths of a four-year-old child and a traffic police officer in Davanagere, the Director General and Inspector General of Police of Karnataka has issued a new directive which will come into force immediately. In this directive, the DG and IGP have stated that vehicles across the state of Karnataka are to be stopped by the authorities only when there is a visible traffic violation. It added that random checks of vehicles have to be strictly avoided.
No random checks of vehicles in Karnataka
According to the latest directive issued by M. A. Saleem, Karnataka’s Director General and Inspector General of Police, there should be no stopping of vehicles without visible violations. It added that no arbitrary document checks should be held unless there is an obvious traffic infraction. Apart from this, it has also been mentioned that officers should avoid aggressive interference.
As per the issued directive, all traffic police officers are instructed to avoid sudden and aggressive interference to stop moving vehicles. Generally, police authorities pull over pillion riders while the riders try to flee from the situation. Also, some authorities grab the keys of moving vehicles as well. Following this new circular, chasing such offenders is now prohibited.
Instead, police authorities have been directed to note down the registration vehicle number of the offender, following which this number has to be reported to the control room for follow-up. In this way, the police authorities will also remain safe, and there will be less corruption as well.
Rules for highways
Apart from the orders for the city traffic police, the directive has also mentioned that zig-zag barricades on highways are now banned. Policemen now must not stop speeding vehicles directly on highways. It added that during inspection drives, the authorities should use reflective rubber that is placed 100 to 150 meters away.
This rule is being implemented so that speeding vehicles have enough time to slow down. Additionally, the DG and IGP of police have stated that Nakabadni or checkpoints on highways should be minimized. If necessary, law enforcement officers should coordinate with traffic police.
Safety of police officers
The new directive has also listed that all traffic policemen are now required to wear reflective jackets. They should also have LED batons on night shifts so that they are visible. Additionally, during the physical vehicle inspections, the police authorities should now wear body cameras to ensure that there is transparency and accountability.
Also, the traffic police authorities have now been directed to use Intelligent Traffic Management Systems. From now on, in the zones which are equipped with ITMS, police officers should prioritize contactless enforcement. Also, the officers should use ITMS technology to monitor and penalize infractions remotely.
Lastly, the DG and IGP Saleem have added that traffic police units should conduct regular police awareness programmes. These campaigns should focus on the awareness of road safety, traffic rules and regulations, and proper driver behaviour.
What is the need for this new directive?
As stated above, this directive has come after two tragic deaths were reported from Karnataka. In the first case, a four-year-old young girl was crushed by a truck. What happened was that this girl was bitten by a dog and was being rushed to the hospital with her father and her uncle. However, during a document check, a traffic police officer stopped the bike, which caused the rider to lose balance.
Unfortunately, as a result of this stop, the bike fell on the road and the girl was crushed by an oncoming truck. As for the other incident, a traffic police officer was also recently involved in an accident resulting in his death in Davanagere. So, to make sure that such incidents do not get repeated, these directions will have to be followed by the traffic police authorities across Karnataka.