Ukraine’s traffic police say ‘live shields’ are unacceptable
The European Radio for Belarus explores what instructions the Belarusian traffic police follow when they put ‘live shields’ to stop runaway drivers and how their Ukrainian colleagues would act in this situation.
Ihar Vanitski, a deputy chief of the Belarus Traffic Police, confirmed in a conversation with the European Radio for Belarus that such instructions for road inspectors indeed exist. Under those instructions, traffic police officers allegedly have the right to block roads with civilian vehicles in order to stop speeding drivers. However, he declined to read out the associated paragraphs.
“We had this right. But I will not tell you what we had to do according to the instructions”, he said.
Aliaksandr Mendzeleyeu, the chief of traffic police department at the Interior Ministry, was also vague on this matter.
“Officers must act with caution in order to prevent other people from getting injured. They must use all the means and conditions”, he said.
The European Radio for Belarus also called Ukraine’s Traffic Police Inspectorate to ask how their officers would act in a similar situation that occurred on the Minsk-Mikashevichy highway. According to Nina Khmelevskaya, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s traffic police, Ukraine’s officers DO NOT have the right to block roads with civilian vehicles to stop runaway drivers.
“Our laws do not allow using civilian cars for stopping speeding drivers”, she said.
She confirmed to the European Radio for Belarus that road patrols have procedures that regulate their actions in complicated situations under the Law on Road Rules and Law on Police.
The list of measures includes barriers at checkpoints, “hedgehog” belts that puncture tires. Another option is to force the speeding driver into a deadlock.
“In our country and in your country, there are police vehicle that can speed up to 180 km/h. There are also people who can drive at that speed. In this case, it will be sufficient to lock a violator between four patrol cars and force it into a deadlock".
Nina Khmelevskaya was surprised that all the people involved in the notorious live shield accidents survived.
