New leg of Highway 2000
The operations have been successful particularly in Kingston and St. Andrew and St. Catherine, netting traffic tickets for driving offences including improper overtaking, exceeding the speed limit, and sometimes when motorists are stopped there are accompanying charges, such as defective vehicles or failure to wear seat belts. Since the start of the year, a total of 388,811 tickets have been issued on the island’s roads.
“Covert operations target certain areas where indiscipline and bad driving are rampant. We have done a number of operations and you never know where we might be next. Motorists found in breach will be dealt with,” warned Acting SSP Courtney Coubrie, Head of the Police Traffic Division.
The covert operations are done with police officers using unmarked vehicles, with a marked vehicle in close proximity to assist in apprehending offenders where necessary. “We frequent areas where there is a high level of indiscipline and lawlessness. In the past what usually happens is that the marked vehicle is easily seen from a distance as we are normally on long stretches of roads. If the officers tried to respond to those who commit a violation, on seeing the marked vehicles, motorists tend to divert in an attempt to evade the police,” explained DSP Errol Adams, Operations Officer, Police Traffic Division.
Another challenge is that on the highways, once a marked vehicle is in position to do speed checks, if a motorist realizes, there is the usual communication with the flashing of the headlights. However, in a covert operation, because the vehicle is unmarked, the police are able to detect numerous breaches before persons are aware of their presence.
