Gunning for trouble

Arming Delhi's traffic police is a bad idea

The decision of Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to have traffic police above the rank of assistant sub-inspector carry side-arms is ill-advised and fraught with risk. The ostensible reason for this move is to help the traffic police cope with the growing instances of road rage in the National Capital Region. Admittedly, the incidence of assaults related to road rage on police personnel seeking to impose traffic rules has seen an uptick. But it is difficult to see how arming traffic police officials, even relatively senior ones, will solve the problem. Most policemen are simply run over by rule breakers,