New police cars have been given to the Louisiana State Police patrol fleet.

Some of the newer vehicles looks like this:

The rationale is that the new vehicles will allow State Police to blend in with traffic and more readily "combat aggressive, impaired, and distracted driving.”

Releasing a statement, the police department claims that: “Unfortunately, the highly visible and detectable patrol vehicles used by our Troopers have often hindered efforts in conducting enforcement related to dangerous driving behaviors," the post says. "These new less visible vehicles will allow our Troopers to blend in with traffic, and observe and stop drivers who choose to drive recklessly."

However, the Louisiana state police department maintains that officers will still wear the “highly identifiable” blue Louisiana state police uniform.

While some don’t seem to mind, others feel that the markings being less visible is problematic & a slippery slope.

Thoughts?

*** NOTE: description of the new cars ***

• A fully marked Dodge Charger, which has the traditional Louisiana State Police logo and overhead light bar.

• A semi-marked Dodge Charger, which has reflective silver lettering and a Louisiana boot badge that will be less visible than the traditional red and blue graphics. The vehicle will also be equipped with low profile exterior and interior blue emergency lighting instead of the traditional overhead light bar.

• An unmarked Dodge Chargers, which will have blue low-profile exterior and interior mounted emergency lights, and carry no identifiable exterior markings.