Is every taxi driver a former police officer? Deconstructing the myth in the context of political transformation.

Have you ever wondered why your father instinctively lowered his voice when getting into a taxi in the 1990s?

In Polish collective memory, the archetypal taxi driver is more than just a driver—he's a figure bordering on urban legend and conspiracy theory. For decades, we believed that former police officers were behind the wheel of the "fare," and that every trip was a potential interrogation.

In this article, I will dissect this myth, separating pop culture fears from hard historical data, so that you can finally learn the truth about who has really been driving us all these years.

1. The Anatomy of an Urban Legend in a Scarcity Society

2. The Cultural Foundation of Myth: The Semiotics of the Taxi in the Works of Stanisław Bareja

3. The Sociology of the Scarcity Economy: The Taxi Driver in the Second-Circuit Network

4. The role of secret collaborators and the status of an officer: a fundamental distinction

5. The 1990 Transformation and Service Verification: Statistical Analysis

6. Legal, biological and pension barriers

7. The Modern Transport Market: The Final End of a Legend

8. Who Was Really Behind the Wheel? The Real Faces of Polish Fare (1989–2014)

The Anatomy of an Urban Legend in a Scarcity Society

In Polish public discourse, and especially in the minds of generations remembering the communist era, the figure of the taxi driver has become as thick with mythology as the smoke from "Sport" cigarettes. A taxi driver was no ordinary service provider.

The taxi community was generally perceived as saturated with officers of the Citizens' Militia (MO) and the Security Service (SB).

This myth has evolved over the years:

• Stage 1: Whispered thesis about "secret collaboration" and informing.

• Stage 2: Conviction of a mass "drop" of negatively verified SB officers to taxi companies after 1990.

The problem, however, isn't a simple yes or no question. The real mystery is why we, as a society, wanted to believe in this arrangement so much.

The answer lies in the complex fabric of socio-economic relations of a bygone era, where the taxi was a vehicle not only for transport but also for illegal trade.

The report's key takeaway: What we interpreted as "identity policing" was actually a survival strategy in a scarcity economy .

In this study, using hard demographic data and legal analysis, I will demonstrate the unfounded nature of common suspicions.

The Cultural Foundation of Myth: The Semiotics of the Taxi in the Works of Stanisław Bareja

To understand the power of this stereotype, we need to go back to the 1980s and look at how pop culture processed our fears. In his series "Zmiennicy," Stanisław Bareja didn't just create a comedy of errors .

With hindsight, it is clear that he made a sociological documentary of extraordinary impact, which shaped the image of the taxi driver profession for decades to come.

Taxi 1313 as a mobile operations center

In the Bareja universe, the yellow Fiat 125p with the side number 1313 is a microcosm of the entire country. This car isn't just used to transport passengers from point A to point B.

It's rather:

1. Mobile currency exchange office.

2. A transfer point for scarce goods.

3. Logistics center for the underworld.

Characters like Jacek Żytkiewicz and Kasia Piórecka operate in a reality where the boundaries of the law are arbitrary, and legal work is merely a facade. The key to our discussion is the topic of drug smuggling in newspaper parcels.

For the average viewer in the Polish People's Republic, the message was clear:

"Such a large-scale operation and the freedom to move around the city would not have been possible without protection. In a police state, conducting such advanced activities "on the side" without the knowledge of the services seemed impossible."

Bareja, wanting to laugh at absurdities, inadvertently reinforced the belief that the "złotówa" must have "backs" .

Since the taxi driver in the film participates in scandals with impunity, the conclusion was obvious: either he collaborates or he is one of them.

Hermetic environment and entry barriers

The series also perfectly highlights the hermetic nature of this environment, which is ideal fodder for conspiracy theories.

Remember the story of Kasia Piórecka, who had to pretend to be a man to get hired at WPT? This portrays taxi drivers as a closed caste, a "brotherhood" whose access is regulated by connections, not competence.

In the sociology of closed groups, a simple mechanism operates:

• The group defends access to its resources (car, fuel voucher).

• The outside group (society) sees this closure as suspicious.

• If entry requires "scams", then staying in the profession requires – in the eyes of public opinion – even greater moral compromises, including cooperation with the authorities.

The Taxi Driver as an Observer and Informer in Pop Culture

In "The Replacements," the taxi drivers know everything. They know where they "threw" the sausage, who's sleeping with whom, and where to buy dollars at a good exchange rate. This omniscience was an attribute of power in the Polish People's Republic.

The average citizen lived in a state of misinformation , while the services sought to establish an information monopoly. A taxi driver who broke this monopoly became an ambiguous figure in the eyes of the passenger.

On the one hand, he was an ally in the fight against the shortage of goods, on the other – having such extensive knowledge about the “city” suggested that it was a currency exchanged for security with officers of the Citizens’ Militia and Security Service.

The Sociology of the Scarcity Economy: The Taxi Driver in the Second-Circuit Network

Let's now move from pop culture to hard economics. As historian Jerzy Kochanowski's research on the black market in the Polish People's Republic indicates, taxi drivers were key actors in the so-called "second circulation." And it was economics, not ideology or official identification, that brought them closer to the militia.

Taxi as a shop window

Imagine an economy where formal stores were empty. In such a reality, the taxi served as a mobile department store.

A passenger getting into a car often did not pay only for the ride – he paid for the information:

• Where to buy furniture?

• Where to get shoes for your baby?

• And above all – where can you exchange currency safely?

The average citizen was not looking for uranium on the black market, but for everyday items, and the taxi driver was often a necessary intermediary in this process.

Being a taxi driver or money changer was risky, as trading currency was severely punished. To be able to park outside hotels or train stations and trade, taxi drivers had to work out a modus vivendi with the local militia.

Here's a key distinction: This relationship was purely corrupt , not professional. The police officer turned a blind eye in exchange for a bribe or a free ride.

The public, seeing this intimacy, misinterpreted it as a professional identity, when in fact it was a classic client-patron relationship.

Fuel Geopolitics and Counterfeiting

The strongest link between taxi drivers and the underground economy was fuel. Gasoline rationing and the coupon system created a massive market for abuse.

Party reports from 1972 and later analyses from the 1980s indicate a massive scale of counterfeiting of PZU insurance contributions that authorized the purchase of fuel.

Taxi drivers often gave up transport services in favor of trading in allocated fuel, which was more profitable than driving itself.

In order to falsify insurance documentation or avoid a road check with canisters full of illegal gasoline, an agreement with the militia was necessary.

A logical paradox: If taxi drivers were, en masse, officers, they wouldn't have to resort to such complex fraud schemes. They would simply have access to operational fuel.

The role of secret collaborators and the status of an officer: a fundamental distinction

In deconstructing this myth, we must make a surgical cut between concepts that are commonly confused:

1. Officer (full-time employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs).

2. Secret Collaborator (a personal source of information, often obtained by force).

Taxi as a listening post

It's undeniable that the Security Service treated the taxi industry as a priority – but in terms of recruiting agents, not hiring officers as drivers. A taxi driver was an ideal candidate for the Secret Service for several prosaic reasons:

• Anonymity in the crowd: Passengers often treated the driver like air or a confessor, confiding their plans and views.

• Access to foreigners: Serving the Orbis and Victoria hotels provided invaluable counterintelligence input.

• Mobility: Ability to monitor moods in different districts of the city.

The fact that the rate of secret service (TW) in this environment may have been higher than elsewhere (often due to passport or tax-related blackmail ) does not make taxi drivers militiamen. A secret service (TW) is a civilian who informs. The myth has blurred this distinction, creating the "taxi driver-policeman" hybrid.

The social status of a SB officer in the Polish People's Republic

Let's look at it from a prestige perspective. In the 1970s and 1980s, a SB officer belonged to the ruling elite. He had access to yellow-curtain shops, resort vacations, and housing allocations.

Working as a "patient" was indeed lucrative, but socially perceived as a plebeian and suspicious occupation.

It's extremely unlikely that active officers, concerned with their status, would engage in mass earnings on the payroll. This would be perceived as a demotion and risk exposure.

The myth of the "money-earning secret service officer" is rather a projection of later times onto the rigid realities of the Polish People's Republic.

The 1990 Transformation and Service Verification: Statistical Analysis

The strongest pillar of the myth is the belief that after the fall of communism and the vetting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MSW) personnel in 1990, dismissed SB officers "occupied" taxi ranks en masse. Was this really the case? Let's check the numbers.

Statistics of dismissals in the Citizens' Militia

According to archival data, after the 1989 breakthrough, the Citizens' Militia was not "plowed" to the same extent as the Security Service.

The transformation into the Police was largely based on existing personnel. Approximately 3,000 police officers (out of a total workforce of approximately 100,000) lost their jobs, primarily from management and political departments.

A figure of 3,000 people nationwide is statistically insignificant for the labor market. Look at it this way:

Even with the unrealistic assumption that 100% of the dismissed police officers became taxi drivers, this would give an average of only 60 new drivers per voivodeship .

Such a number is unnoticeable and could not have influenced the sociological structure of the profession.

Verification of the Security Service and the fate of the officers

The situation was different in the Security Service, where vetting was commonplace. Where did these people end up? The myth says: taxis. The data says: business and security.

The 1990s saw a boom in the security sector. Former officers possessed unique skills:

• Weapon handling.

• Surgical techniques.

• Network of contacts.

They established detective agencies, security firms, and debt collection companies. Reports also indicate that a significant portion of the "elite" remained in the new services (UOP, later ABW).

A taxi, requiring its own capital (a car was expensive in the 1990s) and a license, was not the first choice for people with knowledge and strength that could be sold for much more.

Legal argument: the Geneva case

The legal aspect is also worth mentioning. Dismissed officers fought to return to duty, even appealing to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva.

Their identity was strongly linked to the ministry, and professional degradation was the subject of a legal battle for compensation and privileges, not a tacit acceptance of the driver's fate.

Legal, biological and pension barriers

Another layer of myth is the belief that active police officers "moonlight" by driving taxis after hours. An analysis of regulations and human physiology effectively undermines this possibility.

Statutory restrictions (Article 62 of the Police Act)

The regulations are ruthless here. According to Article 62 of the Police Act, a police officer may not engage in gainful employment outside of his or her duties without the written consent of his or her superior.

Why is working as a taxi driver almost impossible for an active police officer?

1. Conflict of interest: The taxi driver is exposed to criminal elements and ambiguous situations.

2. Image risk: Commanders rarely agree to work in this sector.

3. Control of declarations: Systematic asset verification makes the legal combination of these two professions difficult to conceal.

Of course, in the wild 1990s there were pathologies, but they were not a systemic norm sanctioned by the state.

Pension documentation and biological barrier

Bureaucracy also hinders this. Uniformed workers are documented by the Ministry of Interior and Administration's Pension Office, while taxi drivers are subject to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). This bureaucratic separation of systems makes it difficult to seamlessly transition between systems without leaving a trace.

Finally, the simplest argument: there are only 24 hours in a day . Serving in prevention or traffic police involves shift work and stress. To be profitable, working as a taxi driver requires availability at night and on weekends.

Regularly combining full-time police work with paid driving is simply physiologically impossible in the long term.

Who really worked on the tariff during the communist era?

• Pensioners: They constituted a significant group (often supplementing their low pensions) who viewed taxi driving as a flexible form of income. Their presence fostered the image of an "older man" who, after years of working for a state-owned enterprise, switched to his own car.

  
  

• Farmers and Farmers: The "farmer-taxi" phenomenon was widespread. Farmers with farms (e.g., at least 8 hectares) participated in tenders for equipment and transportation services. Farmers working in the city used taxis to combine farm work with urban wages, often sparking conflicts with "urban" workers over access to scarce parts and fuel.

  
  

• Intelligentsia ("Rescue Tariff"): The absurd wage system of the Polish People's Republic meant that engineers and other technical specialists earned many times more in taxis than in government jobs. People with higher education also entered the profession, seeking independence from political pressures in their workplaces.

  
  

• Women (Drivers): Although male-dominated, the industry had a female presence. In Warsaw alone, in the late 1970s, there were approximately 70 female taxi drivers who were highly regarded by passengers.

The Modern Transport Market: The Final End of a Legend

The final nail in the coffin of the taxi driver-police myth is the contemporary market transformation known as "Uberization." The demographic structure of drivers in 2024 leaves no doubt.

What was the so-called Taxi Mafia?

The phenomenon of the so-called "taxi mafia" concerned mainly the most profitable points: airports (Okęcie, Balice), railway stations and nightlife centers.

Groups of drivers not affiliated with low-cost corporations (often affiliated with high-rate "transport" associations) took control of the stops by force.

The "mafia's" methods of operation included:

• Physical blockades: Preventing "foreign" taxis from entering the rank.

• Property damage: Punctures tires, scratches on bodywork.

• Chemical attacks: A particularly drastic method involved injecting butyric acid or other foul-smelling substances into the interior of competing vehicles through seals. This attack permanently damaged the upholstery and prevented operation for weeks.

• Passenger intimidation: Forcing customers to use the "first taxi" in line, often at inflated rates.

This was a defense mechanism of the "old guard" against falling incomes, but at the same time it was a factor that alienated the public from traditional taxis and prepared the ground for the enthusiastic adoption of Uber.

Demographic revolution: data from 2024

Reports on ride-hailing apps (Uber, Bolt, FreeNow) show a radical shift:

• In Warsaw, over 70% of drivers are foreigners (Ukraine, Georgia, Central Asia).

• For many of them, the Polish language is a barrier and the history of the Polish People's Republic is completely alien.

These people have no connection to the Security Service or the Citizens' Militia. They are economic migrants for whom work in transport is an easily accessible starting point, not a means of exile for former officers.

Police vs. Carriers: Antagonism Instead of Cooperation

Today's relations between the police and taxi drivers (especially those using apps) are openly hostile. Massive police checks, fines for not having a Polish driving license, and car confiscations demonstrate that the police are an agency of repression, not protection.

If the myth about the police provenance of taxi drivers were true, the police would not be "hunting" their former colleagues with such intensity.

Who Was Really Behind the Wheel? The Real Faces of Polish Fare (1989–2014)

Now that we have established that the legend of the "SB raid" on taxi companies has more in common with film fiction than with history, it is worth asking the question: who was driving us?

An analysis of the social structure of those years shows a fascinating cross-section of Polish society.

In the era of transformation, the taxi was not a shelter for the services, but a lifeboat for people whose lives had been turned upside down by the free market.

Looking at the market from the perspective of 1989–2014, two dominant groups are clearly visible, each bringing a completely different work ethic and experience to the profession.

The Great Improvisation: Engineers and Workers of Transformation

The largest group were those brutally affected by the Balcerowicz Plan. When large industrial plants—shipyards, mines, and textile factories—collapsed, thousands of men faced the specter of unemployment.

For a graduate engineer or a qualified technician, a taxi became the only sensible alternative to keep the family afloat.

The mechanism was simple and dramatic at the same time:

• Start-up capital: Severance pay from a liquidated plant often went entirely towards purchasing work tools. This is where the legend of the indestructible Mercedes W124 ("Balloons") and the Volkswagen Passat B3/B4, imported en masse from Germany, comes from.

  
  

• The Ethos of Drudgery: This group brought with them habits from heavy industry. They built the myth of the taxi driver, who works 12-16 hours a day, with no weekends, just to pay off the car and earn a living.

For them, taxi driving wasn't "money-making." It was a fight for survival, fought from behind the wheel of their own, often well-maintained car, their only asset in the new capitalist reality.

Intelligentsia on the "Post": Teachers and Renaissance Men

The second, and extremely vibrant, segment was the working intelligentsia. Low wages in the public sector pushed teachers, civil servants, and even artists onto the night streets of cities.

For many of them, taxi driving was a "second job" that helped them supplement their household budget.

It is this group that is responsible for the nostalgic image of the taxi driver-confidant.

In the days before smartphones, the driver's role was:

1. City informant – he knew where to eat well, what was going on and which places to avoid.

2. Psychotherapist – the enclosed space of the car facilitated confiding. For the passenger, he was an anonymous listener, for whom the course was a therapeutic session.

3. Logistics for special tasks – they made purchases by phone, escorted drunk customers' cars ("drink taxi") or transported discreet parcels.

This type of driver combined the skills of a mechanic (because the car always broke down at the worst possible moment) with the empathy of a psychologist. These were true Renaissance men in nylon jackets.

Uniformed Margin: System Pensioners

Where did the infamous "dog people" fit into all of this? They certainly existed, but they were a fringe force, not the core of the industry.

They were mainly retired uniformed personnel (army, police) who, after 15 years of service, aged 35–45 , were looking for something to do to kill time or supplement their already secure pension.

Taxi Economics: Earnings and Costs in the Cash Age

Now that we know who was driving, let's take a look at how much they were earning. The myth of "złoty" sleeping on money was confronted daily with harsh reality. An analysis of industry forums from 2000 to 2014 allows us to reconstruct the business model of the time.

The math was tempting, but brutal. In a good month, in a large city, a resourceful driver could generate a net income of 5,000–7,000 PLN .

Sounds great? Yes, but look at the context:

• In the years 2005–2010, the national average was approximately PLN 2,500–3,200 gross.

• A taxi driver earned twice the national average, which in those days allowed for a really high standard of living.

However, this money came at the cost of a lack of personal life. It wasn't a "work-from-home" job, but a lifestyle where weekends off were nonexistent, and vacations or illness meant zero income.

High earnings were therefore a premium for risk, lack of social security (self-employment) and exploitation of one's own body beyond the norm.

What follows from this?

A few takeaways that help us close this chapter of our history:

1. Myth as a defense mechanism: The legend of the taxi driver-policeman was not a factual record, but a social reaction to the pathologies of the Polish People's Republic. Seeing the corrupt symbiosis between drivers and the authorities, people attached an identity ideology to it.

   
   

   1. The numbers don't lie: Transformation statistics refute the notion of a mass influx of dismissed officers into taxis. These people went where the money and power were—to security and business.

      
      

2. A new era: Today's market, dominated by immigrants and algorithms, is definitively breaking away from the roots of the communist system.

The myth of the taxi driver-policeman should therefore be consigned to the dustbin of history. It is a fascinating example of how a society under oppression attempts to rationalize reality, seeking out agents where, in reality, only brutal, Eastern capitalism operated.