A new all-black Salisbury Police Department cruiser with "ghost" striping is the department's newest tool to enforce traffic safety laws in the township.

The vehicle, acquired through a Lehigh County Casino Corridor grant, using funds from the Bethlehem Sands Casino, is designed to make it harder for speeders and other traffic scofflaws to detect the proximity of a police presence, said Salisbury Police Department Senior Patrol Officer Brian Losagio, the department's traffic coordinator.

The casino was required by law to provide the grant money to offset the influx of traffic that accompanies new gambling venues. One such increased traffic corridor passes through the township.

Previously, the presence of nearly all-white patrol units made it easier for those breaking the law to slow down entering a speed measurement zone, and avoid detection as a speeder. The new cruiser does not have the tell-tale light bar on the roof which is another giveaway speeders use to avoid enforcement detection.

The "ghost" gray-on-black police cruiser lettering is also a stealth measure making it harder for motorists to practice safe driving behaviors only when they detect a police presence.

"We've found there is always an 'angel' effect adapted by some aggressive motorists who only practice safe driving behaviors when they know there are police in the area," Losagio said.

"These are some of the most dangerous motorists on the road, and we have to do what we can to let them know they are not beyond the reach of traffic enforcement officers."

Additionally, Losagio has been assigned to full-time traffic safety patrol duties. This will allow him to set up speed measurement zones and perform other traffic details, on any township roadway. In the past, state aggressive driving grants limited such traffic details to heavily traveled major roadways.

Losagio will also be free to use the stealth cruiser to shadow school buses in the township to enforce no passing regulations ignored by impatient drivers.

Losagio and other township patrol officers recently completed the latest wave of aggressive driving details along South Cedar Crest Boulevard using PennDOT grants for police overtime duties. The grants allow police to conduct the details without diverting officers from regular patrol duties.

Police made 197 vehicle stops during the traffic details, and issued 186 citations: 153 for speeding, one for careless driving; one for illegal passing; 10 for stoplight violations; three for driving with a suspended license; one seatbelt violation; and, 17 others for miscellaneous moving violations.

"We will continue to enforce this area and target unsafe and aggressive drivers," Losagio said. "Grants, such as the Aggressive Driving grant, definitely help our township by providing extra funding for additional officers to be on our roadways to help make our streets safer for residents and those commuting through our community."