Police To Retain All Traffic Fines

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff Writer | Monday February 22, 2010 00:00

 

Last year government set up the Traffic Fund where the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning will be the accounting officers, with 50 percent of the funds accruing to the police and the rest to the Ministry of Finance. The establishment of the fund followed the introduction of steep traffic penalties last year. However that has all changed, and now the police pocket it all.

The police make some P200,000 a week on average or something in excess of P12 million in a year from traffic fines, the minister responsible Dikgakgamatso Seretse explained in a brief interview with the Monitor last week at the Grand Palm where he launched the roll out of a new community policing project, Volunteer Policing Project, which will consume part of the funds. The decision to let the police keep all the money comes at a time when the government has been scratching its head trying to find sources of funds to implement the community policing project early in the year. Hundreds of youths were recruited into the new community police across the country but the initiative never took off due to lack of funds, until government decided that the police use the traffic fines to run the program, among others.

Minister Seretse told the Monitor that the Volunteer Policing Project, though very important and designed to be a permanent feature, has not been budgeted for, and so government recently decided that all the traffic fines should accrue to the Police for this purpose.'We have been authorised to retain the traffic fines to fight crime, not just to use them for road safety campaigns as has been the case', the Minister said.

Seretse, along with the commissioner of police, Thebeyame Tsimako, launched the volunteer policing in style at the Grand Palm last week although the project involved only the Block 5 and Block 6 communities of Gaborone in the meantime.

In a separate interview Minister Seretse told the Monitor that the program will not be rolled out to various parts of the country indiscriminately but authorities will first consider the efforts and initiatives of a particular cluster, adding that the two communities of Block 5 and Block 6 had shown amazing commitment.

'These communities have shown outstanding initiatives. We will compliment those seriously active clusters...It is going to depend on the efficiency of a particular cluster', Seretse said.

He also hinted that the financial rewards would also differ from one cluster to another, as well as from one individual to another, adding that the police will maintain performance records of the clusters and individual volunteer officers.

Seretse said among others they would use the funds to install floodlights especially where the volunteer police officers operate, although the long-term plan is to have all the streets fitted with floodlights, in conjunction with the City Council.

The minister said they will assist the needy households to own two-way radios so that they are also able to communicate with volunteer police to report incidents of crime. He also announced that his ministry is encouraging households in satellite police stations to own two-way radios, adding that each cluster will have its own radio channel to communicate with the police in the satellite area. According to the minister the volunteer officers will work for six hours a day, with 12 officers per cluster for the night shift. The Block 5 cluster opened with 60 volunteer officers.

Minister Seretse said the volunteer officers have a guidebook, and that they will go through an induction programme. They will also wear 'beeps' or tops, written volunteer police. They will also have two-way radios, adding that this is the first use of the traffic fines funds they have been authorised to use.

Last year government introduced new steeper traffic fines such as P5000-P10 000 for causing death by reckless driving. Driving without a license now attracts a fine of P500-P3000 while speeding attracts a maximum fine of P5,000. Crossing a railway line when it is unsafe to do so attracts up to P5,000 fine, while owners of stray animals found on the road can be fined anything between P2,000 and P5,000.