Yesterday, a video showing a traffic cop soliciting a bribe from a motorcyclist who was about to get ticketed for carrying excessive baggage went viral on social media in Indonesia. Not only did the cop ask for a bribe, he called the motorcyclist “anjing” (which literally translates to dog, but is considered more of a grave insult in Indonesian than it is in English) for not being able to pay him IDR150K (US$10.89) to look the other way.
Sure, the motorcyclist did seem to commit at least a couple of traffic violations in the video, but did he deserve to be called a dog — and by a crooked cop, no less?
The motorcyclist certainly didn’t think so, as he repeatedly protested the officer’s insult, to which the cop eventually gives a half-assed apology. Then, the cop decided that he would confiscate the motorcycle because the taxes on it were three days late, which led to more protests from the motorcyclist, who said the cop should confiscate his license and registration instead.
Under Indonesia’s traffic law, a police officer may use his/her discretion to confiscate a motor vehicle if the motorist cannot not show a valid license or registration, which doesn’t seem to be the case in the video.
Based on the conversation and the license plates that were visible in the video, it appears that the incident occurred in Jakarta, and has thus come to the attention of the Jakarta Metro Police’s Traffic Directorate.
“We will check and if he is one of our officers, we will take action,” said Jakarta Metro Police Traffic Director Halim Pagarra, as quoted by Kumparan today.
