Opening Sequences of Vietnamese Police-driver Traffic Enforcement Interactions

Abstract

This paper examines the opening sequence of police-driver encounters at traffic stops when the police officers state the reasons for the stop, or request documents. Data include 30 video-recorded encounters between Vietnamese police officers and drivers, and are analysed using the methodology of Conversation Analysis. The findings have shown that police officers wield their judicial authority and institutional power right at the outset of the interactions by leading the interaction in a narrowly focused policing agenda, and taking different conversational paths. We argue that these differences in interactional orders may decrease driver co-operation and compliance with police officer directions, and be highly likely to increase recidivism. The present study may give police officers some new ideas about how to behave towards drivers during traffic stops, thus improving police-driver interactions in the Vietnamese policing context as well as in other cultural contexts in some respects.