FHP's new patrol car is painted all black, trading in bright colored graphics and a light bar for discreet lettering.  Photo via Flickr/Rich Menga

FHP's new patrol car is painted all black, trading in bright colored graphics and a light bar for discreet lettering. Photo via Flickr/Rich Menga

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) has debuted new patrol cars with "disappearing" graphics. The new Dodge Chargers feature reflective graphics that are clearly seen from certain angles, and difficult to see from other, allowing FHP troopers to patrol highways while blending in. One trooper told First Coast News he issued 130 seat belt citations within a few days.

The new vehicles also feature interior lights instead of an external light bar, bullet-resistant side door panels, a wrap-around push bumper, and an additional dashboard camera, which will record inside the vehicle, reports My News 13. This additional camera will provide context for what was happening in the vehicle in the event of a traffic incident.

Trooper Nicholas Dolan told WTSP that the new graphics package not only keeps roads safer, it is also more affordable than the two-toned paint and large light bar used on its current fleet of marked cruisers. 

Only four of these vehicles are in service, but FHP in Jacksonville told First Coast News it hopes to add more in the future.

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