Latvian Association of Large Cities has voiced concerns about the proposal to have municipal police enforce road traffic rules.
Previously, the Saeima Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee decided to support the proposal submitted by Jānis Patmalnieks and Gatis Liepiņš that provides for having state or municipal police to ensure order on the roads, regulate the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, perform road traffic monitoring and the state of roads, as well as monitor the technical state of road technologies and vehicles.
In a letter to the committee, the association voiced concerns about the word “ensure” mentioned in the proposal.
An interview of the association’s members and heads of local governments did not inspire belief that the proposal is unambiguously understood and interpreted by the law enforcers. The Association of Large Cities concedes that such a wording of the provision of the law could set a precedent in the future: if the state police for some reason are not able to provide this function, this duty would fall on the shoulders of local governments.
“Considering the tense situation in municipalities when it comes to the budget, such a new function, if it were to be performed necessarily rather than optionally, is unlikely to be fulfilled,” the association stresses.
The association invites the committee to compose a regulation that provides the municipal police with the right to choose, not to impose an obligation to ensure compliance with the aforementioned norms of the Road Traffic Law.