The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday announced that a program using proceeds from traffic violations to reward police officers for their performance would be canceled next year amid complaints the program had encouraged overzealousness.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said the ministry was in the process of amending rules governing the appropriation and use of the fines collected through traffic infractions.
“The bonus for traffic police should be listed as an item in the fiscal year budget of either the National Police Agency [NPA] or local governments,” Yeh said.
“Traffic fines and bonuses for traffic police should be handled as separate matters,” he told Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) at the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
At present, a maximum of 6 percent of traffic fines can be used to reward law enforcement officers. This has led to abuse, however, with some traffic police dishing out tickets to improve their performance and thereby obtain a bonus.
Ministry statistics for last year show the government collected a total of NT$16.5 billion (US$548 million) from traffic violations. In Taipei City, 2.14 percent of traffic fines went to rewards for officers. Kaohsiung City Government used 0.99 percent of its traffic fines for the bonus program, while Tainan did not use any of the ticket proceeds to reward police officers.
New regulations stipulate that the number of traffic tickets issued or the total amount of fines collected would no longer be used to determine who should receive a bonus, ministry officials said.
The amended regulations will require the police agency and local governments to specify how bonuses should be awarded, including measurements on whether the number of accidents has been drastically reduced. Public supervision should also be part of the program, the ministry said.
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