Dear Editor,
Permit me, please, to share with your readers an unpleasant yet instructive experience I had recently. A little before midday, as I waited in line for the traffic light to change to green, a man came to the window of my car, presented his badge to indicate that he was a police officer, and accused me sternly of having driven dangerously a few moments before. Upon request, I gave him my documents, which were in order.
He ordered me to pull over to the side of the road, which I did. He told me I would have to report to a nearby police station, and proceeded to make a call on his cell phone to someone he addressed respectfully as “Inspector”. He indicated to me that the inspector had instructed him to ask me to give “something”. Initially I refused, but his manner was quite intimidating, so I gave in when he asked for “a lunch”.
I have since learnt that traffic police must be in uniform when they deal with traffic offences so that drivers should be able to see their name and number. Your readers—especially likely targets—should be aware of this stipulation. This man (notwithstanding his bogus badge and his phony call to the ‘Inspector’) was clearly impersonating a police officer for the purpose of extorting payment.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
