The Traffic Police will deploy officers in unmarked cars within Colombo city for traffic surveillance starting this month, to catch rule breakers unawares.
According to DIG Traffic Administration and Road Safety, Palitha Fernando, traffic surveillance in unmarked cars will be done twice a month on a trial basis to nab offenders.
¨The unmarked cars are being provided to the Police through a public-private partnership¨ he said adding that in the initial stage 10 cars will be deployed while 20 police officers have been assigned to them.
The officers on surveillance duty will be in civilian attire and have been instructed to look out for a number of traffic offences being committed by road users. According to DIG Fernando the officers will then report the offences to traffic policemen on duty in the respective routes in order to nab the culprits.
DIG Fernando told the Sunday Observer said the main aim of the trial project is to identify the many traffic offences being committed by drivers which go unnoticed by officers on duty.
¨Sometimes it can be difficult to notice people using their phone or not wearing their seatbelts while standing on the road¨ he said adding that unmarked cars will therefore look at similar offences and many others during the on-going surveillance.