The cameras aren’t enough – the Jakarta Metro Police is reinstating manual ticketing just seven months after going all but digital in traffic law enforcement.
The National Police has issued a new directive for manual ticketing in the capital amid a purported increase in traffic violations in areas not covered by Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement (E-TLE) cameras.
It was only in October 2022 that the National Police issued a directive making manual ticketing and issuance of fines obsolete in favor of the E-TLE system as a measure to curb bribery and police corruption.
Unlike pre-October 2022, however, National Police spokesman Sandi Nugroho said that officers will not set up traffic checkpoints to catch violators. Instead, tickets and fines would only be issued by patrolling officers.
The police had previously acknowledged shortcomings in the coverage of static E-TLE cameras, launching the mobile arm of the traffic law enforcement system in December 2022, comprising camera-equipped patrol cars and cops on motorcycles equipped with smartphones to capture violations.
Under mobile E-TLE, however, violators would still have to pay their fines digitally.
Motorists who find themselves snapped by E-TLE cameras will get a digital notification for their warning or their fine. Those who fail to pay their fine after a certain period of time may have their vehicle registration suspended.
Before the launch of E-TLE, it was no secret that traffic violators often paid their fines on the spot, directly to the officer, in order to avoid the hassle of setting up a court date to pay their fines via the official channel.
