THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAFFIC PERSONEL IN TAGUM CITY

A Thesis
Presented to the Thesis Committee
College of Criminal Justice Education
University of Mindanao Tagum College
Arellano St., Tagum City





In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Criminology




ANALIZA B. ELAC
JONATHAN L/ BORJA
MILLICENT JAYSON V. DE JESUS

August 2014

















INTRODUCTION

Traffic management is a primary responsibility of the local government to ensure
the safety of drivers, commuters and the general public. Confronted with the worsening
challenge of accidents and even crimes in the road, system of traffic is effected by the
local government. The planning comes from the local legislature and the local
executive, and the burden of its implementation comes from its traffic personnel.

In the Philippines, the most congested city is Manila where most of the
concentration for effective traffic management is focused. The Metro Manila
Development Authority is task with responsibilities of significance because life is at
stake for accidents if the Traffic Management is not efficient.

Although Provinces is not comparable with the congestion of the traffic in Metro
Manila, still the Legislature did not exclude the role of the local government to install
traffic management in its localities. The City Government of Davao is a role model when
it comes to effective traffic management with its state of the art traffic system and the
calibre training of its personnel.

The neighbouring province, Tagum City, because of its progress and
development, it is also akin to the traffic problems like other cities in the
Philippines.Currently there are many projects and plans effected by the local executive
to mobilize the traffic management units in Tagum City.

Although progress is imminent in the City, its residents are not akin to the
standards of Traffic management since its system is still not prevalent in terms of
technological advancement and the political will of the implementing local branch the
City Mayor. The only visible implementation of traffic management is its personnel
manning the roads and issuing citations for violations committed.

According to Police Inspector Angelito de Castro, the head of Traffic
Management office of the Tagum City Police Station, these traffic enforcers are the
personnel tasked with the responsibility of orderly conduct of rules and safety policies in
the road.These are reliable personnel that ensures the good traffic flow in the citys
major thoroughfares. Prince Charles Araneta, a Traffic Management Officer since the
year 2013, said that the main concern of the neophytes of the Traffic Management
Organization (TMO) is to deal with drivers by avoiding a short fuse as motorists would
usually try to intimidate new traffic personnel in exercising their respective functions.






Statement of the Problem

The purpose of the study is to determine the level of the Effectiveness of Traffic
Personnel in Tagum City. It significantly sought to answer the following questions:
1. What is the level of the effectiveness of the traffic Personnel in terms of:

1.1. Monitoring in the public roads; and
1.2. Enforcing the traffic rules

2. Is there a significant difference on the level of the effectiveness of traffic
personnel when grouped according to:
2.1. Gender;
2.2. Age; and
2.3. Civil Status






Hypothesis
There is no significant difference on the level of effectiveness of traffic personnel
in Tagum City when grouped according to gender, age and its civil status.


Theoretical Framework

The study is based on the concept of Femi (2006) that there can be no effective
regulations and control to set operational standard in the road without the
accompaniment of enforcement measures. This command to compel obedience of
people to a law, regulation or command is backed by the enforcers of law.

In a situation where various efficiency, safety and environmental concerns in a
chaotic and urbanized city, aside from the penalty impose by the law, the effectiveness
of those tasked to impose the law is also equated.





CONCEPTUAL MODEL




MODERATE VARIABLE





Figure 1. Diagram showing the variable of the study






Role of Traffic Personnel
1. Monitoring in the public road
2. Enforcing the traffic rules
1. Gender
2. Age
3. Civil Status
Significance of the Study
The study will help the local legislation to take cognizance on the requirements
for employment of traffic personnel in order to deliver an effective enforcement of rules
and regulations in the road.
Traffic Group will be assisted in terms of effective methods to be employed for
the effectual implementation of their task and responsibilities. Likewise the study will be
an avenue for the personnel to be taught on the positive outcome of the study for their
successful conduct of their tasks.
The study will also correlate with the benefits for the community such as but not
limited to safety and security in the street, reduced accidents, and awareness of a rules
and policies in the traffic.
The researcher will also be given the opportunity to continue the initiative of the
study conducted to enable a continuance of effective traffic control and maintenance
related to the function of the traffic personnel.

Definition of Terms
Traffic Management - The direction, control, and supervision of all functions
incident to the procurement and use of freight and passenger transportation services.
Traffic - The passage of people or vehicles along routes of transportation. Vehicles
or pedestrians in transit: heavy traffic on the turnpike; stopped oncoming traffic to let the
children cross
CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Enforcement as defined by Femi (2006) is a process by which to adherence to
specific rules and punishments is initiated and backed by the laws of the land. Thus,
enforcement of transport legislation is the area of activity aimed at controlling road
users behaviour in order to achieve safe and efficient operations on the road.

The 1968 Vienna Convention on road traffic and safety is the backbone for the
sets of rules and standards in the International law where the Philippines is a signatory
to its treaty. There are also set of standards on traffic tools that are introduced by the
convention to its member-countries for implementation to zero out casualties in the
roads (un.org).

A traffic enforcer is someone who enforces traffic rules and safety standards. At
times they may also be called highway patrol officer. They detailed within
neighbourhoods or local police station or any nearby posts. These days, there are even
imaginative and creative traffic enforcers who do different gimmicks to catch the
attention of the people on the road and make them follow rules and traffic regulations
cheerfully as with the dancing traffic police. It may also be a way to ease the stress and
tension while on the road especially during traffic and rush hours (Wikipedia.org).
Jobstreet.com defines the job responsibilities of Traffic Enforcer onensuring that
traffic rules and regulations are followed by all drivers, passengers and pedestrians. It
also includes extending help on pedestrians, especially the aged and children to cross
the street (at times), and people who might have lost their way. It extends to other tasks
such as catching traffic violators and issue appropriate tickets or penalties. At
oftentimes, they are responsible to attending to traffic emergencies and calling other
departments if cases and situations come to worse.
Often neglected to impart by most traffic personnel is to maintain an
approachable personality so people in need would not hesitate to ask for help or would
not be intimidated and shy off. And also educating people on traffic safety and health.
They mostly focused on recording traffic violations, traffic incidents and other traffic
related situations in the road.
Men who have the power to embody stereotypical masculine traits such as being
unemotional, tough, authoritative and controlling, according to Connell (1995), they reap
status-power benets just by virtue of being men. The combination of these traits has a
positive impact on the enforcement of rules in the road where most drivers are
dominated by men.
The relationship between traffic enforcement and crime was generated by
research conducted by James Q. Wilson and Barbara Boland in 1978.
2
Wilson and
Boland examined the effects of traffic enforcement on robbery rates in 35 large cities
and found that communities in which officers on patrol were more legalistic (measured
by the traffic citations issued per unit) experienced lower rates of robbery. Several more
recent studies have examined these and other related questions. A National Highway
Traffic Safety Administrationsponsored field experiment conducted in Dayton, Ohio,
examined what happened when officers assigned to routine patrol increased the
number of traffic contacts made during discretionary time. While there were no changes
in crime, there was a statistically significant reduction in number of arrests for drugs and
weapons in the experimental area, leading some observers to suggest that once
offenders became aware of heightened police activity in the area, they chose alternative
routes for transporting these goods.( http://www.policechiefmagazine.org)
There are also traffic management research conducted to address the request of
public for safety and security such as

traffic calming measures studies is largely still at
its infancy in Zimbabwe although much information is now available on accidents
reports kept by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), (Mbara, 2002). The police reports
failed to find an answer as to why people die on countrys roads (Sunday mail, 16 June
2012). Reports generated by police after attending the scene of accidents have not
been adequately studied to ascertain the exact causes of accidents. Police
investigations lack the engineering aspect of the analysis there by under estimating the
role of that can be played by road engineering on accidents (Sethi and Zwi, 1999).This
has hindered road traffic authorities adequately deal with the problem of accidents and
coming up with proper measures and planning to curb accidents.
The broad aim of the study is to examine the effectiveness of traffic calming
measures in the city of Masvingo and is directed by the following specific objectives: to
find out if the traffic calming measures in Masvingo, To assess the suitability of designs,
construction and placement and then come up with ways and strategies that should be
put in place in order to promote road safety in the city. Research methods used was
explanatory research. This is an evaluative research method that appraises the
effectiveness of what exists. http://www.ijsk.org

Traffic Control and Management Policy and Measures in Metropolitan Manila The
MMDA through its Traffic Operation Centre adopts and implements various policies,
programs and projects relating to traffic and transportation management in the
Metropolis. New Traffic Control Measures and Their Impacts PUV Lane Scheme: First
introduced in 1989 along EDSA, RMB and Espana by virtue of MMC ordinance 03-89.
There are about 7, 241 franchised PUV units plying in Metro Manila as per LTFRB
records (February 2001). Most of which are operating along EDSA. Average travel time
of buses (MMUTIS) is 79 minutes. EDSA carries most of the vehicle volume as
compared to the other major thoroughfares.

Work related problems are also associated with traffic personnel effectiveness. A
number of studies were carried out indifferent parts of the world for understanding the
level of stress among Police Personnel. In a recently conducted study among the West
Bengal Police Officers revealed that 42 and 12% of the West Bengal Police Officers
were suffering from moderate and high psychological stress respectively. Further
analysis of data revealed that the main areas of stress included un-profitability (32%),
role overload (74%), role conflict (50%), powerlessness (28%), role ambiguity (36%),
unreasonable group and political pressure (58%), intrinsic impoverishment (32%) and
under participation (60%). Findings suggest that special attention is required for taking
need-based measures for each of the above areas of stress for unburdening the level of
stress among West Bengal Police Officers (Deb, Chakraborty, Chatterjee, &
Srivastava,2005a). In another study carried out in Kolkata Traffic Police Officers,
authors found that the main causes of stress were inadequate rest,no leave, abstaining
from social occasions and excessive work pressure (Deb,Chakraborty, Chatterjee, &
Srivastava,2005b). Green (2004) carried out a study among Police Officers with a view
to ascertaining whether the Police Officers had severe post-traumatic stress than PTSD
in civilians.
There is also a study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of traffic personnel
in terms of apprehending problems on the road. The routine checking of license plates
and driver's licenses results in identifying a large number of motorists with outstanding
arrest warrants -- 64 percent in 1994 alone. The other third (36%) of the arrests made
by traffic officers were made in response to officer observations and motorist actions
during a stop. Weapons or contraband in a vehicle are often observed in this way. (Case
Study of the Grand Prairie, Texas, Police Department)