Thai police to apply LINE app to make arrest of teenage street racers more efficient

[webfact]

Police to apply Line app to make arrest of teenage street racers more efficient



BANGKOK: -- Motorcycle street racers will now face tough police action following public complaints of gangs of teenagers racing on the streets in defiance of law enforcement officials.

The police will now turn to new channels to communicate among law enforcement officers to make arrest more effective.

They will use Line app and mobile phones in place of CB radios as teenagers could intercept the radio signal, thus making them to avert police arrest and escape before police arrive.

Police said the use of mobile phones and Line apps are finding favor as they are more secure and their signals cannot be tracked or monitored.

Assistant to the commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Department, Pol. Lt. Gen. Prawuthi Thawornsiri, disclosed of the tough action after calling a meeting with the Traffic Police Division to come up with means to tackle the long standing problem of motorcycle street-racers that meet up every Friday and Saturday in many streets in the capital to race.

According to the assistant commissioner, Vibhavadee-Rangsit, Kaset-Nawamin and Bangna-Trad roads are the most favored venues for these street-racers with dangerous consequences for motorists.

Among the measures to be employed will be increased efforts in intelligence gathering, closely monitoring Traffic police Division closed-circuit TV, public phone-ins and the setting up of random (irrespective of time or location) mobile roadblock checkpoints.

These measures are aimed at countering the so called scout units that scouts out roads to warn street-racers of police units.

Other measures that are seriously being considered is a joint effort between local police units in cooperation with the Central Investigation Bureau to identify youth motorcycle gangs as they are being formed which makes it easier for them to take them into custody.

As for the recent development of street-racers monitoring police CB radio bands to locate police units, police are looking into employing mobile telephones and Line apps to pass on secret police codes to counter the problem.

The focus of attention will be to making arrest of street-racers and/or vehicles without license plates and under no circumstances, unless strictly necessary, should firearms to be discharged at the youths.

The public is also being asked to help in the effort by calling in any sightings or leads to the 191 Police Hotline.

If after 30 minutes of making the call, no action has been taken then they are to call the 1599 Traffic police Hotline which will take action and inform the caller through mobile phone.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/police-apply-line-app-make-arrest-teenage-street-racers-efficient


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-24

[Roadman]

Want to be more efficient. Set up a crusher down at the Victory monument and publicly crush their cars with them in attendance.

[ThePlant]

NIce to see they're finally addressing this menace which has been left unchecked for too long until they find one of the ringleaders is the son of some big cheese and nothing gets done.....

[arthurboy]

Oh, where to begin?

'Police said the use of mobile phones and Line apps are finding favor as they are more secure and their signals cannot be tracked or monitored.' Line, the very same app. that the ruling junta said they wanted to track some months ago and which idea fell flat on its face because of the very reasons stated here. Chortle.

The policing strategies noted in the article have all been raised and 'tried' before with - pretty much - abject failure as the outcome.

But to be fair, let's wait and see and expect to see the media full of reports of successful arrests and a major decline in street racing incidents in the near future.

Or not as the case may be.

[jackinthebox]

Wait a second

>They will use Line app and mobile phones in place of CB radios as teenagers could intercept the radio signal, thus making them to avert police arrest and escape before police arrive.
Police said the use of mobile phones and Line apps are finding favor as they are more secure and their signals cannot be tracked or monitored.

So the internal police texting will be via a japanese mass-messenger wich is famous for its Smiley/Emoticon/Sticker-functionality? Instead of (encrypted or digital) radio-communication (like TETRA in europe)? Will they use LINE also in case of hostage, robbery or murder?

(MoonGrin) Attention all, a gold shop robbed in Sukhumvit (*smile) (ConyCho) All units on alert (LOL) (Browny look).

What's next? Facebook-messenger for military affairs? Twitter for judiciary affairs? Wonder what kind of cute stickers they will use?!

[thesetat2013]

Wait a second

>They will use Line app and mobile phones in place of CB radios as teenagers could intercept the radio signal, thus making them to avert police arrest and escape before police arrive.

Police said the use of mobile phones and Line apps are finding favor as they are more secure and their signals cannot be tracked or monitored.

So the internal police texting will be via a japanese mass-messenger wich is famous for its Smiley/Emoticon/Sticker-functionality? Instead of (encrypted or digital) radio-communication (like TETRA in europe)? Will they use LINE also in case of hostage, robbery or murder?

(MoonGrin) Attention all, a gold shop robbed in Sukhumvit (*smile) (ConyCho) All units on alert (LOL) (Browny look).

What's next? Facebook-messenger for military affairs? Twitter for judiciary affairs? Wonder what kind of cute stickers they will use?!

In a way it makes sense since many of these kids are sons of important people and police officers and it is not very hard to buy or get communication equipment that can listen in on the police bands.

Still, catching them is not really the problem. They have caught many and instead of taking their motors they only have to pay a small fine and then are back on the streets doing the same thing.

These vehicles should be taken. The kids arrested for reckless endangerment and put in prison or on probation until they are adults. They most certainly are aware they put others at risk and most certainly know they are breaking the law and they are doing it without concern? They need to be made an example of.

[SoFarAndNear]

Yes come one...just say it.... ban LINE...ban E-Mail, ban Facebook....

If you want a change then just do normal police work and arrest people and charge them or put them in jail and don't just shake them out a few hundred baht and let them go without any consequences....

[Geordie59]

What is the point? Catch them and after a quick call to daddy they are on their way>

[Sviss Geez]

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In a way it makes sense since many of these kids are sons of important people and police officers and it is not very hard to buy or get communication equipment that can listen in on the police bands.
Still, catching them is not really the problem. They have caught many and instead of taking their motors they only have to pay a small fine and then are back on the streets doing the same thing.
These vehicles should be taken. The kids arrested for reckless endangerment and put in prison or on probation until they are adults. They most certainly are aware they put others at risk and most certainly know they are breaking the law and they are doing it without concern? They need to be made an example of.

What is the point? Catch them and after a quick call to daddy they are on their way>

Why is it assumed that these motorcycle racers are sons of the rich and connected? The truth is that these are ordinary youths in it for the social status within their peers and for getting the girls. The rich and connected are not going to bother racing tiny motorcycles, they don't need to as they have access to (in their eyes) much classier vehicles that they don't need to risk their lives in in order to get something tasty on the arm.

[docshock13]

About 10-12 years ago, was about to pull out onto the bangna-trad rd (near swampy) heading east when the police stopped me and just told me to wait. I couldn't believe what unfolded next. Must have been at least 50 of these punks on their noisy mosquito bikes went racing past.

Seconds later two cops jump out from behind a phone box with cement blocks and a couple more emerge from the culvert b/w the frontage road and the main highway armed with bamboo poles and start dismounting the racers. Screeching tires, fishtailing bikes and brake lights! A few minutes later I was allowed to pull out as one group of cops began dragging those they were able to knock off to the curb and another group began picking up and moving their bikes off the carriageway. Quite an amazing show.

I discussed later with my Thai landlord at the time and he mentioned the week prior this group of racers had killed a cop on the same stretch. Have a strange feeling that those they were able to dislodge from their bikes went for the eternal klong nap.

[MrY]

In most areas these kids gather in the same places on the same weekday every time. For years on end. How f@#%ing hard is it to locate, surround them in force, and arrest most of them? "Intelligence gathering" my a$$...

[transam]

Fink the BiB should get their staff out there....................Where are they...............?