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Skylarking while people are punishing

Dec 02, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Police Traffic Department deploys ranks during the days to various busy junctions to assist in traffic control. Peak hours are usually from 7:30 to 9:00 hrs and from 14:00 to 17:30 hrs.
The afternoon peak hours are longer. Yet you find more ranks are deployed for the morning peak period than for the afternoon.
Most times, the ranks that are deployed to the busy junctions do an excellent job. There are now ranks deployed in front of certain hospitals to control traffic and parking.
The officers provide a service that is appreciated even though motorists may not show it the way the traffic cops would like traffic to be shown. But it also seems that they can at times fall back on their bad habits and not take up their positions.
Nothing is more disgusting to witness than traffic being knotted up at busy intersections while a traffic rank, posted to help relieve such situations, stands at the side of the road looking for his next victim.
Yesterday presented a good example of this. During peak hours, a rank posted at a busy junction could not be bothered by the fact that motorists were in a knot. Instead of stepping forward and directing the traffic, the rank was standing at the side of the road.
He seemed unconcerned that it was rush hour and that there was need for him to step up to the plate to direct traffic.
It is not as if he was sheltering from the sun. He could not be bothered by what was taking place around him. In the afternoon session, it was a repeat of the morning. Instead of directing the flow of traffic, the rank who was on the scene left motorists to the whims of the traffic signals while he stood at the side of the roadway aimlessly.
Sometimes you feel like screaming at these ranks to take up their position.
The longer they take to do so, the more confusion takes place on the roadway. Many of them cannot be bothered.
The public is intimidated by traffic ranks because they can target you. As such, pedestrians refrain from lodging complaints. And after what it is alleged happened to ‘Saga’, not many people are interested in filing reports against the police to the police.
The police deployed for traffic duties should be supervised by senior officers who should be moving around to the various locations to ensure that the traffic cops are doing what they were sent out to do.
Instead of simply sending out ranks in the mornings and afternoon peak periods, the traffic department should be also sending out supervisors to ensure that these ranks are in place very early so as to avoid traffic jams.
Yet there are ranks that are deployed to some busy junctions who do take up their positions and do their work efficiently. It is unfair to these ranks that do their jobs while others are skylarking at the side of the road.
Things like these have contributed to the police having a poor public image. Some traffic ranks, unfortunately, have acquired a notorious reputation for shaking down motorists.
It does not help the police force when slack service is provided by the traffic department.
There is a need for more than one rank to be stationed at busy junctions.
For one, there is usually a practice of motorists using the turning lanes to proceed straight ahead and having to cut in the line of flowing traffic. This happens all the time at some junctions.
By having two ranks in place what can happen is that one rank can be on the lookout for those who are violating the law while the other rank can direct traffic. After a while they can switch roles to provide a rest for the rank who is directing the traffic.

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