 Kyiv's Ultimate Traffic Cop By Nazar KUDREVSKYY |
The intersection near Bessarabskiy market in central Kyiv is one of the busiest in the country, making it potentially also one of the most dangerous. But for several hours each day when the rush hour traffic is at its worst, there is order to the streets between the market and the Lenin statute.
Nikolai Golenko, a foot soldier in the army of DAI troops that work the country's roads and highways, ensures that order. Among traffic cops, Golenko is a maestro. His directions are given crisply and with authority. His movements are precise and carried out with a sense of pride that is evident. Pedestrians often stop to watch. Motorists applaud.
Like other public-sector employees, Ukrainian policemen generally don't have the best reputation. They are tainted by corruption and presumed to be only marginally interested in their work.
Not so Golenko. Born in 1975 in the village of Loknya in Sumy oblast and the youngest of three brothers, he has been directing traffic at the same intersection since 1998. The job is intense and takes effort, skill and concentration. Kyivans will attest that there are few traffic cops who easily and professionally coordinate traffic during rush hours.
Though Golenko's family hasn't traditionally worked in law enforcement, he and his brothers all chose that occupation.
"I followed the steps of my two older brothers," he said. The eldest of the three died in June 2004, leaving his brothers working for DAI, the State Automobile Inspectorate.
After serving in the army's border troops, Nikolai came to Kyiv in 1995, passed a four-month training course for traffic police, and began wielding his baton on the streets of the capital.
But he wasn't always a virtuoso.
For the first two years of his career, Golenko says that he lacked precision and authority. Then a supervisor told him, "Kolya, learn to control the traffic. The way you do it is just simply not beautiful to look at."
He took the words to heart and began practicing his moves every day for up to 30 minutes while standing in front of a mirror. He honed his skills and since 1998 he has been assigned Kyiv's trickiest intersection.
Kyivans couldn't help but take notice.
Golenko says that hardly a week passes that someone doesn't come to him with praise for his work. He recalled that a trucker who had driven throughout Europe once told him that he was the best he'd seen. A woman driving an expensive car once stopped to tell him that her children watched him every day as she drove them to school. Golenko says that he's proud of his job, and that praise from citizens is the best 'pay' for his efforts.
His employer has also recognized his achievement. After new DAI officers complete their training course, they apprentice with Golenko or one of two other skillful traffic cops, who hone the rookies' skills for about a month before sending them into the streets alone.
Still, Golenko doesn't plan to make a career of standing in busy intersections. He lives with his wife, a kindergarten teacher, and their two small children in a single dormitory room. They share a communal kitchen and bathroom with other tenants. He dreams of entering the Interior Ministry's academy to obtain the education he needs to become an officer.
Golenko says it's all about attitude. "No matter how well I teach a person about how to be a good traffic cop, if the guy doesn't have the desire deep in his heart to do it, then nothing will help," he says.
Golenko likes what he does, and it shows. He says that he enjoys helping motorists who are lost or stuck in traffic. And he says that it feels good to know that there are people who appreciate his work as a traffic cop.
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