He says combatting indiscipline on the roads is a collective responsibility and invites the travelling public to join hands with the police to ensure the rules are obeyed.

DCOP Adu-Amankwah who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Graphic Online, also discounted widely held views that police personnel prefer taking bribes from traffic offenders to prosecuting them hence the failure of the many campaigns to instill discipline on the roads.

According to the MTTD Commander, he has a lot of trust in his officers and will stand by them any day. Members of the public who have evidence to the contrary should make same available to enable the administration discipline its officers.

DCOP Alphonse Adu-Amankwah, Accra Central MTTD Commander

“It is not enough to accuse the police of bribery. People have sophisticated mobile phones and can record situations they suspect police officers are being compromised for onward action. Even if they don’t want to bring it to us, they can share it on social media to name and shame the alleged bad nuts. I’m sure such videos will get to us but until then, I have full trust in my officers.”

Declaring a “zero tolerance” for indiscipline on the roads, DCOP Adu-Amankwah said indiscipline is a major cause of most vehicular traffic, which in turn leads to the loss of precious productive hours. The quest for discipline on the roads therefore, begins with the MTTD officers themselves who he said are now under strict orders to wear their identifiable white uniforms for duty, all ranks included.

Responding to questions on the unwillingness of the police to take action in instances when so-called “big men” commit infractions on the roads, the commander said the police administration recognizes the challenge and have resolved to deploy officers in reasonable numbers to bolster their confidence to enforce the law.

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse though, but we reckon also that most road traffic infractions are misdemeanors and so the use of discretion to caution and educate first time offers is highly encouraged, but recalcitrant offenders need to be punished to serve as deterrent to the rest of the public. It is the reason why we are enlisting all stakeholders to join in the campaign for discipline. While we enforce proper behavior on the roads, we want the AMA to take charge of the pavements and we support each other”, he said.

DCOP Adu-Amankwah commended officers of the MTTD for their commitment to duty so far and said they should put in more effort to uproot indiscipline outright from the roads, describing road traffic management as perhaps the most difficult of policing jobs.

“We need a lot of public education, unfortunately we cannot buy media space for this because of adverts cost. That is why we enlist all stakeholders to play our respective roles. It will be difficult for the police to get rickety and smoking vehicles off the roads when the DVLA says they are good enough for the roads. The infractions have persisted for long but we shall succeed.”