Generally, the car we used in Haiti was a business car associated with FINCA, which was a partner of USAID. Therefor, we were given special license plates, similar to diplomatic plates. We rarely got stopped, and when it did happen it was usually by inexperienced cops who were stunned we spoke Creole. Amiable conversation usually won the day.
Once, I was driving a rental car with a Norwegian family. THe traffic cops stopped me, and I portrayed myself as the driver for my boss sitting next to me. The cop asked if we were american, I said no, we were Norwegian. THe cop asked what language we spoke, I said Norwegian. The cop got flustered, asked if it was like English, and I said no, it was like Swedish. That did it, he didn't want to deal with us at all, and waved us through!
In Kinshasa, you have to lock your doors and roll up your windows. Otherwise the police will jump into the vehicle with you and force you to either take them where they need to go or take you to a police station where your car will be impounded. I've seen it happen at traffic stops. Once a FINCA business car was "hijacked" by a traffic cop, back when FINCA was still a partner of USAID and therefor had diplomatic plates! THe US Embassy had to intervene to tell the police that they were obliged to return the vehicle.
But my favorite story is still when I was singled out in a traffic jam and, being new to driving in Kinshasa, I was naive enough to actually pull over. (by the end of my first year, I figured out that everyone usually just swerves around the traffic cops, or else sits there and blocks traffic until they let you go.) My 2nd mistake was to roll down the window to speak to the gang of cops hovering around my car. I knew enough not to let them INTO the car, as they requested, but one managed to reach inside and grab my car registration, then scurry to the other side of the boulevard. They refused to give me back registration!!!!
I was so furious but tried to think of what to do. Paying a bribe just means you have to pay again and again, and I was absolutely not going to live in this city paying bribes to cops all the time. I called up Mike who was with the FINCA driver to get their advice. The FINCA driver is a total mover-n-shaker in Kinshasa, and I thought if anyone knows how to handle this situation, he does. THey were close by so they showed up along with another FINCA colleague. It was a wonderful scene: the FINCA guys are all 6'4" and big, and they walked like a gang up to the gaggle of traffic cops. Mike stared down the one with the registration and simply said "Give it back now" The group stuttered out a few "calmez vous" and meekly handed it back. I never had a problem at that intersection again.
I was stopped fairly regularly after that, often without any explanation or reason. But I soon caught on that it was better to avoid the regular cop stands, swerve around them, or sit blocking traffic reading a magazine until they let you go. I made sure I had all my ducks in order, and obeyed all the traffic laws (well, as much as everyone else did) so that I knew there was no actual reason to stop me. (But the fact is that in Congo I don't think anyone knows what the real laws are, especially not the police.) Pretty soon the harassment was almost entirely stopped. Somehow, they knew the gig was up with me. By the end of our first year in Congo, I started to sympathize with the cops: their job is so crappy. They stand in exhaust fumes, the hot sun, all day, for something like $30/month, and they usually don't get paid for several months at a time. At Christmas I handed out water bottles and gave them a small bonus, on my own terms without their request and without being harassed for it.
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