Crime and law enforcement

Experts warn that soaring population, vehicle use, condominium construction, minimal enforcement of parking and vehicle tax laws and lackluster public transit options could spell decades of gridlock if action is not taken soon. ...

Cambodia and Vietnam’s security ministries signed a cooperation agreement yesterday to fight crime and strengthen security between the two neighbors. ...

Cambodian’s prison libraries are set to receive an extra $600,000 in funding from the French Agency for Development and literacy NGO Sipar, according to a statement released yesterday. ...

At least 78 trucks carrying mining materials including gravel, sand and soil were stopped on National Road 3 by traffic police on Tuesday in cooperation with Mining Ministry officials. ...

National Police on Sunday said Khmer New Year traffic figures were evidence that the new traffic law has been a success, with 98 traffic accidents reported over the four-day holiday this year, a drop from 123 in 2015, when it was a three-day holiday.   ...

Although 254 people were either killed or injured in traffic accidents across the Kingdom during this year’s Khmer New Year, and the fatality rate rose, the rate of injury over the four-day celebration decreased when compared with the same period last year, according to a ...

The Ministry of Justice has announced that Royal pardons and reductions of prison sentences have been pushed back to Visak Bochea Day in May, as a result of prisons not offering enough information about potential candidates. ...

The Ministry of Justice has announced it is unlikely that any Royal pardons granting inmates amnesty or reductions in prison sentences will be given ahead of the Khmer New Year, according to a ministry spokesman yesterday. ...

Tensions flared between military police, traffic police and local officials on Sunday over the impounding of cars alleged to have violated the Traffic Law.   ...

The government is considering candidates who are eligible for Royal pardons and sentence reductions ahead of Khmer New Year. Nut Savenea, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons, said discussions about pardons are ongoing. ...

Phnom Penh’s police chief on Thursday blasted his subordinates for doing an inadequate job of controlling weapons issued to officers, and announced that police had begun a “weapons census” in an effort to deal with the problem.   ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng announced yesterday that his ministry plans to construct a prison capable of holding 7,000 inmates on an 800 hectare plot of land in Pursat province. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport will allow motorists holding what were formerly permanent driver’s licences to extend them for 10 more years. ...

Though the Kingdom’s total number of reported crimes was down in 2015, instances of robbery and armed robbery in some provinces noticeably increased, according to an annual National Police report. ...

The Health Ministry has yet to respond to a request from the Interior Ministry last week seeking assistance in dealing with drug abuse in the country’s prisons and rehabilitation centers, Interior Ministry secretary of state Nuth Sa An said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Interior on Friday threatened legal action against lawbreaking auto shops that work without a licence or illegally assemble vehicles from scrap parts. ...

After focusing their efforts on educating drivers about the traffic law for the past two and a half months, police will today begin strict enforcement of the new rules, imposing fines and punishments on offending motorists, the National Road Safety Committee announced on Friday. ...

The National Committee for Road Traffic Safety announced that from Tuesday, traffic police will start intensifying their enforcement of the recently implemented traffic law after a two-month test period showed positive results. ...

A high-speed collision in Preah Sihanouk province involving two container trucks, a beer truck and a van crammed with garment workers resulted in one death and 34 injuries on Tuesday evening, according to police, who reported that three drivers fled the scene and remain at ...

The provincial court in Tbong Khmum province has charged four inmates with selling drugs in Trapaing Phlong prison after police found a bottle of methamphetamine pills hidden in the prison farm. ...

Authorities say they are cracking down on illegal “press” license plates, threatening imprisonment for the offense. ...

The new US ambassador to Cambodia, William A. Heidt, says the US is currently looking at how much it can contribute to the Khmer Rouge tribunal. ...

A Spanish man who is the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of a fellow Spaniard was arrested in Cambodia, where he is believed to have fled after the victim’s dismembered body was recovered piece by piece from Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, police said Monday. ...

The number of workers killed and injured by traffic accidents nearly doubled in 2015, according to a report released by the National Social Security Fund yesterday. ...