Friday, March 9, 2018

Traffic police personnel need training on anger management, say experts

A.Selvaraj@timesgroup.com  08.03.2018

Chennai: A string of viral videos and Wednesday’s incident in Trichy where a woman riding pillion on a two-wheeler died after falling from the vehicle that a traffic policeman allegedly kicked have put traffic police personnel in the dock again.

In January, cab driver Manikandan set himself on fire on Old Mahabalipuram Road after sub-inspector Thamaraiselvan allegedly beat him up. Before that, a police head constable was caught on camera receiving cash from truck drivers to allow them to ply on the city roads; the video went viral on social media. In both the incidents, the traffic police personnel involved were suspended, but the Trichy incident has cause massive outrage.

Experts said the Trichy case underlined the urgent need for mid-career training of police personnel at traffic signals and on busy roads. Counselling, training, well-defined work hours and dedicated job profile could do a lot to ease the pressure, experts said.

“There has to be dedicated traffic police personnel attached to the traffic wing. Now the policemen are shuffled between other wings in the police department and hence they cannot train them to specialise in traffic management,” retired police officer S Aravindan said.

A police officer posted in Chennai said the department had a separate unit for in-service training at all district headquarters, but that has remained idle. “Only a few seminars and workshops were organised for the policemen,” the officer said. “That is never enough,” he added.

Preethi Manohar, a counsellor at Sooriya Hospital in Vadapalani, said traffic police personnel need to control their anger. “Traffic police personnel who are posted at signals on the city’s roads are directly in touch with the general public. They need special counselling to manage their anger as bursts of bad temper could land them in trouble,” she said.

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