Royal Oman Police to use Pigeons for Capturing Traffic Violations

                       

Here's another reason to hate those pesky little pigeons that sometimes drop a load on your head. Oman Times Reports: Royal Oman Police (ROP) are now using pigeons for capturing traffic violations. As if the cameras and radar at nearly every intersection, with one every 500 metres on the freeway wasn't enough, these clueless fluffy birds will be put to use at Muscat's police headquarters.

Above: Radar-armed pigeon
to undergo a quality control
test at the ROP headquarters.

Animal rights movement groups are against the bold new legislative move that is aimed at cutting down senseless collisions, especially accidents involving complete-utter-lack-of-common-sense, right-of-way violations, cutting into one's lane, and tailgating within 6 inches. Patricia Lyons, an animal rights activist, from a group called, Pigeons Have Hearts Too, remarks:

Patricia Lyons - Animal rights representative
for Pigeons Have Hearts Too

"These poor little creatures need to be respected, just like any other animal. It is not fair to them. They do not know they are being used as slaves, and are unaware of their cooperation with the ROP. It is not their voluntary will to act alongside this traffic act that will triple the traffic fines we pay each month. I am afraid that Omanis will begin to hate these pigeons even more, which may cause extreme acts of aggression against these poor and harmless creatures. I am afraid that the pigeon-loving woman, who brings seeds for these birds, will now become a pigeon-hater."

Above: an Omani man pleads with an officer to withdraw a fine he
received for his wheel touching the yellow line on a shoulder of the freeway.

Ahmed Sulaimon, an ROP traffic enforcement officer, responds, "For animal watch groups to call these pigeons slaves is utter nonsense. These pigeons are farmed in fully-equipped and livable facilities. Some of them we even take off the dirty streets of Ruwi, to give them a better life, being recruited for the police force. We bath the pigeons each week and feed them high-quality meals regularly, ensuring that they also receive proper medical attention, accommodation, air conditioning, and of course, respect. If you were to put all of this into rials, it's nearly more pay than a Bengali construction worker, an Indian restaurant server, or a Filipino maid; so don't give me this non-sense from animal rights groups. We take the traffic law very seriously, and there is no buts or what-ifs for crossing that yellow line or getting caught at a red light. My message to the pigeon-lovers is simple: go and feed the starving dogs and cats on our streets, if you truly care about animals. Kalas."

Above: Hundreds of residents at Ruwi have petitioned to not drive for
several weeks, in protest of the new pigeon traffic law enforcement.

Residents of Ruwi, also known as Little India, have especially become concerned, as their area is overly-infested with pigeons, which means more traffic violations for them. Workers refused to drive for weeks, in order to repeal the new disputed traffic law. Even more alarming is when one man was arrested last week for his rage against a radar pigeon, in which he strapped the helpless bird to the road and drove over it numerous times with a four-by-four vehicle. When police arrived at the scene, they could barely make out the pigeon's badge number. ROP crime investigators were brought onto the scene, and they followed the trail of feathers that led to the suspect's home. The angry man was arrested and held in custody, to be tried in court, with charges equivalent to man-slaughter of a police officer. 

Above: Police inspect the crime scene of a radar pigeon that was completely dismembered 
from being driven over numerous times, wherein all that remains is a cigarette butt and pigeon feathers.

ROP Traffic Enforcement Radar Pigeon shoved into a wired fence.

Harmed pigeon - a brutal result of pigeon-hating and violent assault.

While the ROP act diligently to uphold the new traffic laws introduced in the past few years, they also face numerous challenges, aside from the extra revenue the traffic fines bring in. The jail cells for red light violations, speeding fines, and driving on the yellow line are already over-flowing with people, and new jail cells will have to be constructed. Despite residents' complaints of traffic light programming, road sign problems, strangely-constructed roads, and poor driving skills resulting in collisions, it appears that the jury is still out on the matter. One thing is definite, however: if enough pigeons are recruited in the traffic police sector, this may take less work strain off ROP officers, so that they can be delegated for far more important crimes, while keeping our garbage-filled wadis clean.