Thoughts, feelings and emotions that hopefully provoke the purest of minds...Capturing thoughts through written words is like capturing pictures on film.
One day, I had to buy some papers for the office and had my car parked right in front of the office stationary store; half of the car on the sidewalk and half on the street.
While I was busy negotiating the prices of various items; a police tow truck came rolling by.
In Cambodia, there were a few of those police tow trucks available to enforce illegal parking on public streets, public parks, areas by the river front and the Royal Palace. On the top of the responsibilities that those policemen had with parking enforcement; they were given the responsibilities to harass and exploit their power on citizens when opportunities existed for quick bucks.
Have you ever seen what I observed? There were 2 to 3 policemen in one of those tow trucks. They were always nicely dressed, shoes always shine, gold chains on their necks about 5 kilograms each. Of course armed with two sets of mobile phones of latest models. One can only imagine? If the policemen were paid a couple of hundred dollars per month; how can they afford these luxurious items?
The three policemen jumped off their tow truck and yelled on top of their lungs asking for the owners of the cars parked on the street?
Having heard the commotion, I stepped outside the stationary store and I exclaimed that I was one of the car owners amongst many that came out simultaneously.
One policeman yelled in the most despicable remarks straight to my face; then one other policeman started to yank my car with his tow chain. Without any explanation, they started to pull my car. Then, I was told rudely that if I wanted it to stop; I had to go and talk to his boss sitting in the other tow truck across the street watching the commotions.
I panicked and ran across the street to try and get some answers on why my car was being towed.
I questioned myself what have I done wrong? I was confused not knowing what in hell was going on? The big boss immediately told me that all cars must be cleared from the areas because a high ranking official was coming to visit the areas. My fine was $150 and I had to pay right away.
I was shocked, upset and speechless. I argued that their actions were illegal and demanded that they give me a citation ticket for my wrong doing. The policemen refused then went on to threaten me that they will tow my car to the police parking lot and will not able to reclaim it until 3 days later which meant lost of time and money on my part.
I thought to myself; these policemen were nothing more than robbers which were given the license to rob and extort normal citizens for quick bucks in broad day light. $150 for parking on the street where there was no sign whatsoever about parking permits or parking restrictions.
After 10 minutes of negotiation and I was reluctant to give in to their demands. The policemen proceeded to tow my car away. I stood there watching my car being towed away in anguish and dismay because I wanted to challenge the system and was unwilling to pay those corrupted policemen.
I took a motor taxi back to my office; then proceeded to calling the police impound lot to get information on the whereabout of my car. I have tried as many as 50 times before a lady picked up the phone and responded to my car inquiries. She told me that my car had been safely towed to the impound lot and if I wanted to get it back it will have to be Monday morning because the car was towed on a Friday afternoon.
I was without a car for the entire weekend and resorted to riding on cyclo and motor taxi. The following monday morning, I repeatedly called to make arrangement to pay for the fine and get my car released.
What I got was a living hell. I wanted to pick up the car and was willing to pay as long as I had documentation or proper citation for my wrong doing. The policewoman who was working at the impound lot told me that I had to pay $300 to get my car back; but I had to wait for the big boss to come in to the office.
So, I went to the police impound lot and waited. After three hours of waiting; the policewoman came out and told me and the other people who were also waiting to get their cars released that the big boss was still busy. I only found out later that I knew that the big boss was still singing with girls at a Karaoke joint.
My whole day was gone waisted just trying to get my car released from the impound lot. The next day, I went back to the impound lot. I went through the police procedures and paid my fine with no documentation given. When I got to my car, I soon realized that all four of my new tires were gone and replaced with old ones. My stereo and television were also stolen.
What is ironic about this ordeal was that I saw a sign on of the posts at the impound lot which read that the police has no responsibilities in protecting the cars being impounded. Again, I thought to myself, how crazy can that be?
There must have been hundreds of cars being impounded with fences all around the lot and the police was not responsible...?? Hello..something was not right with that picture?? I questioned.
It was just a complete absurdity!
So, the next time you see those tow trucks, please convey my message of peace that enough is enough..Otherwise, those gold chains on their necks will drag them down to joblessness and despair and potentially to hell.
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