Traffic cops to be watched

By: CAR magazine

Traffic officers slacking off under trees and huge unexplained fuel bills will become a thing of the past in the North West with the launch of a tracking device for police vehicles.

Traffic officers slacking off under trees and huge unexplained fuel bills will become a thing of the past in the North West with the launch of a tracking device for police vehicles.

The North West government said the device, called the Power Track, had been brought in to monitor traffic officials’ activities. It is the first province in the country to use the system.

“It is attached to the officials’ vehicles and we can monitor their daily activities. We can check where they are, how long they take to get to a destination and what they are doing on their shifts,” said Piki Mangcope, North West director of road safety and traffic.

Mangcope told CARtoday.com vehicles from 20 district offices in the province would be monitored.

The province bought about 500 devices for R4,4 million. “It should help us recover about 10 times that amount, wasted on fraudulent overtime, heavy fuel bills and unaccounted for kilometres,” he said. Officials in the North West averaged about 3-4000 km per person and Mangcope said this could be reduced if it was monitored.

Mangcope said some traffic officials claimed huge fuel bills and drove long distances, but were unable to say where they had been. “Some traffic officials would write a few fines in the first hour then disappear and check in at the end of the day. That won’t be happening anymore. We can see where they are on the route and how long they have been there,” he said.

Mangcope said: “A number of our officials have been hijacked and this system will help us keep trace the vehicle.” Having the system on the vehicle could also deter hijackers.

Do you think this system is a good idea? Should other provinces follow North West?

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