This paper presents a study of the perceptions of the traffic police in municipal Rio de Janeiro, seeking to answer the question: what is the perception of the municipal traffic police regarding the education and safety of non-motorized road users and are thus more vulnerable (denominated NMVs) in urban traffic? Their views on the nature of their work and the causes underlying the problems that arise in the exercising of their duties were also examined. In this context, perception may be understood as an active process in which views as to the object are built up. The term views is used here in relation to the manifestations, declarations or expressions that might provide insights into whatever guides the officer's professional conduct. In this study of the traffic police officers' perceptions regarding the job they do, and particularly the responsibility for traffic safety, 36 members of the Municipal Guard were interviewed, out of a total of 41 members working on Ilha do Governador, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This qualitative research is intended to assist contemplation of the need for measures that will promote a better understanding and commitment among these professionals towards traffic safety and education, essential features in the process of humanizing the traffic system and in the prevention of accidents. It is hoped that this study will be one more tool to identify proposals for improving the quality of the work of the traffic police. The present manner in which this group is introduced into the professional sphere impairs their quality of life, generating stress and other problems that are reflected in the quality of their work, in detriment to their professional image. On top of this, there are the precarious working conditions of the traffic police in the Municipal Guard. The group that was interviewed specified problems relating to pay, working conditions, professional training, and the relationship with the company, among other areas. Given the need to reverse the historical process of erosion of the image of authority, we draw attention to how the feeling of impotence, evident in the officers' responses, with regard to their role of ensuring the education and safety of the most vulnerable road users, those without motor vehicles, as well as their lack of faith in the possibility that this function will be put into effect, have negative consequences in terms of accident prevention. It was possible to discern an eminently conservative and authoritarian tendency in the conduct of these officers in traffic, reinforced by inflexibility and punitive measures, to ensure a supposed education or "order" in the traffic. Clearly, it is impossible to do serious and effective educational work, involving traffic, without the adequate conditions, which requires much more than oversimplification and the use of force and authoritarianism instead of enlightened authority. One gets the impression that a better understanding by the officers of their role in traffic education and safety will not be possible without developing their awareness of their social role. The officers who participated in this study (can they be very different from other officers?) tend to come across as professionals who are oblivious of the social problems relating to traffic, with a mechanical and limited view of the day-to-day problems afflicting them in the streets. In the light of this result, and bearing in mind the importance of the up-to-date training of officers, it is necessary to put into practice all the talk about giving priority to professional qualifications and the policy of humanizing the traffic, by giving safety and education the importance that is systematically registered in the supplementary study notes for the Municipal Guard training courses. For the covering abstract see ITRD E137120.
Samenvatting