No smokes or shades

Agence France Presse -- English
January 30, 2007 Tuesday 10:56 AM GMT

No cigarettes, sunglasses on duty, Hanoi police told

HANOI, Jan 30 2007

Police in the Vietnamese capital have been told not to wear sunglasses, smoke, swear or keep their hands in their pockets while they are on duty, in an effort to improve their public image.

The order issued by Hanoi's police chief Nguyen Duc Nhanh this weeks follows complaints in newspapers and the city's coffee shops about the appearance of some of the city's estimated 20,000 police officers.

"The Hanoi police director asked policemen on duty not to put their hands into the pockets, smoke cigarettes, wear sunglasses or talk in impolite language to people," one police officer told AFP, asking not to be named.

"This is to improve the image of police before the people."