Royal Oman Police to take strict action for unruly behaviour on streets

Muscat: Negative behaviour of youth during national holidays and events should not spoil the joy of the occasion, Lieutenant Colonel Khamis bin Ali Al Battashi, the head of the Traffic Awareness Department at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said in a statement tweeted by the ROP on Wednesday.
“Some youth express their happiness through behaviour, which does not reflect the customs or traditions of Oman,” he said.
According to Al Battashi, the most commonly observed wrongdoing on the part of such youth is violating traffic laws and the laws of assembly while gathering in the middle of the streets and roads and dancing and singing while causing major traffic obstructions, making too much noise, wearing improper clothes and vandalising public infrastructure.
He added that such behaviour hurt the image of the country and its people.“Unfortunately, such behaviour is being repeated every time during a national event and it reflects a weak culture of celebration with some youth. This sends out the wrong meaning of happiness and turns expressing a love for the nation into imprudent behaviour. This also infringes on the freedom of others, causes them trouble and violates used of public infrastructure and obstructs roads,” he stated.
According to Al Battashi, groups have a significant influence on such behaviour.
Wrongdoings
“Such wrongdoings are practiced in groups and when groups gather, they imitate each other in such acts. However, if a person is alone, he will not be tempted to act in such a way, since some of those who take part in this behaviour, are not convinced with what they were doing, but have been influenced by others,” he said.
Al Battashi also said that most people do not approve of such behaviour, which leads to all who see and hear about such acts condemning them.
The ROP plans to deal strictly with perpetrators of such actions going forward, he said, doing everything it can to protect public safety and security, public property and maintain law and order in a way it deems appropriate.
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The senior Royal Oman Police official also noted that such behaviour can only be countered through cooperation from all members of Omani society and with the efforts of the ROP, starting with families who should monitor their children and make them aware of the
Responsibility also lies with schools, colleges and universities, to stimulate students to develop good behaviour, which does not infringe upon the customs and traditions of Oman, according to Al Battashi.
He added that the media also needed to inform society about the proper way to behave, which everyone should follow in order to celebrate national holidays happily.