Law and Order : no contraventions instead lectures given on good behaviour by specialists

The Commissioner of Police, Mario Nobin, has put up a new strategy under the theme ‘Promoting Law Abiding Behaviour with the objective to promote security and safety in the country’.

In this context, a campaign was launched last week, Monday 22nd January, where road contraveners of the city capital Port Louis, instead of being given a contravention notice and summoned to be present in a court of justice, were simply brought to the Line Barracks where they were lectured by specialists on the need for good behaviour on the roads. This campaign was placed under the supervision of DCP Mukhtar Taujoo and ACP Mardaymootoo Rassen while the lectures were supervised by ASP Vinod Dawoonauth.

ASP Dawoonauth told this paper that the campaign is in line with celebrations marking the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Mauritius. “The Mauritius Police Force is launching a series of activities 50 days before, culminating on the ‘Talent Show’ on the 12th of March 2018. Emphasis is being laid on promoting law abiding behaviour among the citizens of Mauritius with focus on road safety.”

As such, on the 22nd of January 2018, Police started its campaign in Line Barracks whereby for two hours (between 11:30 hrs & 13:30 hrs), road users and other persons in the region of Port Louis were invited and sensitized on road safety, crime prevention, offences they may commit under the Environment Act, etc...

On that day, three initiatives concerning road safety and law abiding behaviour were launched. Firstly, a ‘3D Zebra Crossing’ was unveiled as a sample inside Line Barracks, the aim being to create an optic illusion in the mind of road users approaching a 3 D zebra crossing that they have an obstacle in front of them, which make them instinctively slow down.

The second initiative is placing of banners (specimen displayed in Line Barracks) in regions where large number of accidents occurred; focus being to inform them of what happened in a specific region in 2017 (e.g. banner with figure 8 to show eight deaths in Goodlands in 2017).

The third initiative is a leaflet where on one side the citizen can find ‘mo promes’ (my promise) and ‘mo angazman’ (I engage myself) with things to do or not to do on the roads or in your locality. On the other side are wordings of the national anthem so that everyone remembers our motherland.

Inspector Shiva Coothen of the Police Press Office indicated to News on Sunday that this awareness campaign will continue throughout the country until Independence Day, involving the whole police force including 300 new recruits. He added that around one hundred persons were brought to the Line Barracks on 22nd January to be given a lecture on good behaviour on roads.

The Commissioner of Police has, in this junction, set up a Police Research and Development Unit, in order to promote the objective of this campaign.