For the vast majority of people who travel Louisiana highways, State Police vehicles are easily recognizable. Many people have grown accustomed to seeing our iconic white Ford Crown Victorias and Chevrolet Tahoes with blue Louisiana boot badges and red lettering. Beginning in February 2018, motorists will begin to see Troopers patrolling our highways in Dodge Chargers. Troopers will be using multiple variations of the new Dodge Charger patrol vehicles across the state to perform day to day duties. The fully marked Dodge Charger equipped with the traditional Louisiana State Police logo and overhead light bar will serve alongside the Tahoes and Crown Victorias as our primary patrol vehicles.
New to our patrol fleet will be less visible, semi-marked and unmarked Dodge Chargers. These vehicles will be used to help our Troopers combat aggressive, impaired, and distracted driving. For years we have heard the concerns of the motoring public about increasingly dangerous driving behaviors on Louisiana highways. Unfortunately, the highly visible and detectable patrol vehicles used by our Troopers have often hindered efforts in conducting enforcement related to dangerous driving behaviors. These new less visible vehicles will allow our Troopers to blend in with traffic, and observe and stop drivers who choose to drive recklessly.
The semi-marked Dodge Charger will be outfitted with reflective silver lettering and Louisiana boot badge that will be less visible than our traditional red and blue graphics. The vehicle will be equipped with low profile exterior and interior blue emergency lighting instead of the traditional overhead light bar. The unmarked Dodge Chargers will be equipped with blue low profile exterior and interior mounted emergency lights, and will carry no identifiable exterior markings.
Despite the fact that the exterior look of some of our vehicles will be changing, the interior will remain the same. Troopers conducting enforcement activities in our fully, semi, and unmarked vehicles will still be wearing the official and highly identifiable blue Louisiana State Police Uniform. These new Dodge Charger patrol vehicles will help Louisiana State Police continue our mission of keeping our highways safe for our citizens and visitors.