At a meeting with employees of the regional State Traffic Police Department, the head of the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Volyn region, police colonel Mykhailo Lebed, noted in his speech: "Stop engaging in extortion on the roads. This is not a request – this is an order," the Western Information Corporation was told by the Central Public Relations Service of the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Volyn region. \n \nThe head of the directorate asked whether the salary of the traffic inspector had increased. Because he believes that decent pay is the first step toward proper performance of one's duties: "I understand very well that your salary does not correspond to the contribution you make to the common cause. But the minister of internal affairs bodies and I personally are doing everything possible to ensure that your level of well-being increases. You are simply obliged to properly perform your duties. Anyone who sees this differently – I will give them paper and a pen, write a report and do not shame either me, or yourself, or the dignity of your epaulettes." \n \nMykhailo Lebed is convinced that "you cannot measure everyone by the same yardstick, because among those present here there are many honest militia officers. Any relationship is based on trust; whoever I stop trusting – that person does not work with me on the same team. It is very easy to ruin a biography, but restoring human dignity is already more difficult." \n \nAt the same time, the police colonel gave another example from personal experience: "I hope that everyone has already seen the head of the directorate face to face and remembered him. Recently a traffic police officer stopped me in the Kivertsy district and tried to solicit a bribe, not knowing that the driver of a foreign car with license plates from another region was the head of the directorate. Remember, in such a case I will simply take away the badge and fire you from the job." \n \nThe meeting with the head of the directorate is not the only method of implementing the requirements of the ministerial directive. Many reorganizations have taken place in the traffic police system in the region. For example, currently traffic supervision and ensuring its safety will be carried out exclusively in patrol mode. The number of squads serving on the roads has decreased, and the main efforts of the service have been concentrated exclusively on accident-prone sections, places of possible traffic jams, and where regulatory and administrative actions are necessary. Unjustified stops of vehicles, their inspection, and inspection of drivers' personal belongings are also prohibited. Checking cars for whether they are wanted must be carried out exclusively when a corresponding alert is entered into working documents that specify the model, color, and body number. And in the event of detection of extortion from road users, the guilty employee will certainly be brought to disciplinary liability up to dismissal from the internal affairs bodies. \n \nThe head of the traffic police in the Volyn region, Sviatoslav Muzyka, during the meeting also emphasized that in the future inspectors and drivers will bear equal responsibility for extortion on the roads. After all, offering and giving a bribe entails criminal liability. \n