Low bonuses pushing cops to corruption

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/14/2007 2:34 PM  |  Jakarta

JAKARTA: Low bonus incentives for issuing traffic tickets are pushing police toward corrupt practices such as taking bribes, an officer says.

The head of the traffic education and engineering department of the Jakarta Police's Traffic Directorate Adj. Sr. Comr. Chrisnanda said Wednesday that traffic police were ""only getting a Rp 500 (around US$0.05) incentive"" per ticket issued to motorists found violating traffic regulation.

""The amount is ridiculous. It's too small so no wonder many police personnel can't resist the bigger amount of money to compromise. Compromising with outlaws provides more money than enforcing the law,"" Chrisnanda told a seminar on road safety in Jakarta, as quoted by Kompas online.

Chrisnanda said the incentive scheme must be completely revamped to be effective.

He said at least 20 percent of the total fines collected per month could be paid back to police, 30 percent to administrative staff and the remaining 50 percent to state coffers.

""Police salaries are so small, but I believe if their incentive (for issuing tickets) was raised they would be more serious about enforcing the law,"" Chrisnanda said. --JP

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